I took all my Ted Cruz posters down before you came over, declares Carrie Brownstein, leaning against the arched doorframe of her Portland dining room. ELLE: 21 imaginary tv couples we wish were real Brownstein's delivery is thoroughly deadpan, but anyone even mildly familiar with the 39-year-old would know the claim could n't be dripping with more sarcasm. After all, along with co-star Fred Armisen, Brownstein -- founding member of riot grrrl cult band Sleater-Kinney and, more recently, Wild Flag -- has made a second career out of portraying a constituent of the kale-eating, craft-beer-drinking, lumberjack-shirt-wearing, jewelry-making crowd on Portlandia. ELLE: What's behind Portlandia's comedy chemistry ? While the locally filmed show, which returned for a fourth season on IFC in February, has made the Washington state native something of a hometown hero in her adopted city, she's quick to point out that Portland was merely a convenient backdrop for the series. Portlandia is n't as much about a place as it is about a state of mind, says Brownstein. It's about people who like to feel special, who like to believe that this certain thing has been tailor-made just for them, of which I 'm definitely guilty too, at times. ELLE: 9 TV actresses who deserve a raise Given the show's penchant for incredibly nuanced observations of hipster culture -- municipal recycling guidelines