All you gotta do is Dance?

Gotta love the corporate luncheons. The small talk, the name tags, the assigned table, the soggy salmon, the hard rolls, it's enough to make you think twice about the "free lunch" you're eating. The elderly man in the chair next to me was sulking into his rice pilaf. "Young people these days," the old man grumbled. "They have no idea what real dancing is, they just sit in bars and rub up against each other, you call that dancing? When I was a kid, we could dance for real, there was always a live band, a good band too."

I considered what he said. The Crystal Ballroom with its famous sprung dance floor is typically host to surging throngs of jumping bodies.

The next week my uncle invited me out dancing. "So you're hitting up the club scene these days?" I joked, elbowing him in the arm. "Not clubs, way better. A bunch of us get together and go out swing dancing, maybe a little lindy, whatever's playing. There's a live band, It's a great time." I imagined old church ladies wearing florals hanging out in a rec hall or grange. I thought of cold pasta salad, sheet cake, and watery punch diluted by the melted ice ring.

"Thanks I'll pass..."

So when I found myself lining up outside the Imago Theater, to get into someplace called the Mambo Lounge, I was a bit confused as to where we were going. But there was a line and a wooden signboard on the sidewalk, so I went with it. We paid $10 to get in and joined a crush of people leaving a show at the Imago. After climbing about three floors up a back staircase that appeared to go head nowhere, we emerged into a huge ballroom. There was a band warming up on stage, (a real band) and people gathering for a salsa lesson. After learning a few basic steps, the place quickly filled with the Salsa dance enthusiasts of Portland. The atmosphere was laid back and so much more pleasant than any "club scene." I left at the end of the night having spent roughly $20. Way less than a night out! We immediately made plans to not only go back, but find out what the dance hall scene in Portland really has to offer.

Making new friends!

Reasons you should go out dancing:

1) You may drink some, but you'll drink way less. And you'll burn twice the calories!

2) Meet interesting new people!

3) Dance with people, without feeling like you are being physically violated at a frat party.

4) You can pretend you're on Dancing With The Stars

5) You can learn something new!

Where to go! (most of the dances are cheap cover, anywhere from $5-10, $15-20 if it's a special event, like New Years's Eve)

http://www.swingout.net/ Find out where the Portland swing/lindy scene meets

Norse Hall http://www.norsehall.org/

Crystal Ballroom (there is still real dancing here!)

Scottish Rite

Viscount Studio <---you can also take lessons here

Parkrose Ballroom

Portland Police Athletic Association

Andrea's Cha Cha Club @ The Grand Cafe

Beware the Ides of March!

"Beware the Ides of March"

This foreboding comment was a warning made to Julius Caesar, which predicted his eventual demise. I think most of us are safe from suffering a similar fate, unless you've got a friend named Brutus who seems to be angry with you. But there is still something to be said about the Ides of March, March is just weird.

There is something surreal about the month of March in Portland.

First, the weather is weird. Given it's always weird to some degree; March is like Portland's PMS time. Only in March will you see ice and snow/torrential rainfall, beautiful sun, frigid cold and 60 degree days all peppered in together. Often times this will all happen in the same day. Perhaps our City of Roses is hormonal, she is feeling everything, all at the same time.

Another thing that is weird about March is spring break. The once much-anticipated week goes forgotten these days by most people, until one day you are walking down the street and notice a group of what appear to be grown-ups wearing Hollister, usually topping off their look with some blingy sunglasses. They are typically wearing big sunglasses, really tight jeans, have designer purses and wear flip flops. They are most likely all texting (probably each other).

This may reminds you that right now, somewhere in the world (most likely Cancun), Girls Gone Wild can't print waivers fast enough, margaritas are flowing, and there is such thing as sunshine.

Then there is the cabin fever. Thanks to lack of planning, a bad economy and subsequent waning resources, few of us are able to take trips to the exotic locales we are lusting for.

We've got months until summer, even more months until nice weather actually happens, the tires on my beach cruiser are flat from non-usage, I'm sick of the bottoms of my jeans getting wet. I'm tired of wearing close-toed shoes, and so sunlight-deprived that if I attend a Twilight release party, I just might fit in.

Some ideas to combat the Ides of March if your own personal spring break is out of the question:

• Treat yourself to a spa day. Get a massage, a facial, and a mani pedi. Then go barefoot inside and show it all off. I'm a big fan of following the last minute deals at The Dragontree Spa. You can like them on Facebook and get their Last Minute Deals in your feed.

• Go out wine tasting. Check out Walnut City Wineworks and arrange for a group tasting and feel like a high roller.

• Treat yourself to some new of the moment accessories to jazz up your boring winter clothes and help you transition your wardrobe to spring. I'm currently a huge fan of Send the Trend. You'll take a short little style quiz so they can get an idea of your style, all their accessories are only $29. You can become a member and for $29 a month they'll send you a monthly trend from your profile in the mail. It's like having a personal stylist.