Portlandia!
Spent the weekend in Portland visiting davidlevine and kateyule (with bonus camillealexa thrown in).
Arrived Friday after a long-than-usual drive (traffic accidents and downpours conspired against me, but I was victorious). My hosts offered up a delicious stew for dinner, and we then spent the evening playing Scrabble.
Saturday, we had brunch with their friends D and B at Bread and Ink Cafe. I had possibly the prettiest omelet I've ever been presented with (though I admit that the next day's was tastier). There was much discussion of Weight Watchers since kateyule and I are doing the program, and B and D are lifetime members. I liked the cafe a great deal. D and B were charming. It was a lovely way to start the day. We followed up breakfast by poking in and out of a couple of shops on Hawthorne. I picked up some beads at the bead shop; we stopped into a used DVD and CD place where I picked up a copy of The Ghost and the Darkness for cheap. The afternoon was quiet, with napping, writing, and chatting.
For dinner Saturday evening we went to Andina, where we had delicious Peruvian tapas. We rounded out the evening by attending "Jack Goes Boating" at Artists Repertory Theater. It was a fine production and a really sweet play. I knew nothing about it before we went. It's the story of Jack, a sweet if socially awkward limo driver, his friends Clyde and Lucy (and their troubled marriage), and what happens when they introduce him to Connie, herself a little socially backward. When Connie expresses a desire to go boating with Jack in the summer, Jack panics because he doesn't know how to swim. When Connie misinterprets his invitation to dinner as a promise to cook a meal, he panics because he can't cook. Clyde promises to teach him to swim, and introduces him to a cooking teacher--and the play takes off from there. It was a feel-good evening, and I couldn't have been more delighted.
On Sunday, we took a half-hour walk and met camillealexa for an early lunch at Circa 33, where the food was inexpensive and outrageously good. I shared a mushroom omelet with Camille. The mushrooms were prepared with garlic in truffle oil and herbs, and made the omelet a transcendent experience. I wish I could have eaten more, but half plus some potatoes was really just enough. We walked a bit more, had more quiet time at home, and then I hit the road.
I stopped at the Centralia Outlet Mall (specifically Dress Barn Woman) looking for something to wear for tomorrow evening's gala excursion with e_bourne and markbourne. I did find a dress that I liked well enough to purchase, though it's not especially gala-ish. It may be more appropriate for my brother's wedding (in which case, I need to try on some stuff in the back of my closet for tomorrow evening). It's a sweet black-and-white dress with a flared skirt, thick black waist band, and a little black bolero jacket--very Mad Men. For the wedding, I'd actually prefer something with colors rather than black and white, so I may not stick with this, but it could do nicely.
Got home around 6ish last night, well pleased with the weekend. Was I ready for the week? Well, am I ever ready for Monday?
Arrived Friday after a long-than-usual drive (traffic accidents and downpours conspired against me, but I was victorious). My hosts offered up a delicious stew for dinner, and we then spent the evening playing Scrabble.
Saturday, we had brunch with their friends D and B at Bread and Ink Cafe. I had possibly the prettiest omelet I've ever been presented with (though I admit that the next day's was tastier). There was much discussion of Weight Watchers since kateyule and I are doing the program, and B and D are lifetime members. I liked the cafe a great deal. D and B were charming. It was a lovely way to start the day. We followed up breakfast by poking in and out of a couple of shops on Hawthorne. I picked up some beads at the bead shop; we stopped into a used DVD and CD place where I picked up a copy of The Ghost and the Darkness for cheap. The afternoon was quiet, with napping, writing, and chatting.
For dinner Saturday evening we went to Andina, where we had delicious Peruvian tapas. We rounded out the evening by attending "Jack Goes Boating" at Artists Repertory Theater. It was a fine production and a really sweet play. I knew nothing about it before we went. It's the story of Jack, a sweet if socially awkward limo driver, his friends Clyde and Lucy (and their troubled marriage), and what happens when they introduce him to Connie, herself a little socially backward. When Connie expresses a desire to go boating with Jack in the summer, Jack panics because he doesn't know how to swim. When Connie misinterprets his invitation to dinner as a promise to cook a meal, he panics because he can't cook. Clyde promises to teach him to swim, and introduces him to a cooking teacher--and the play takes off from there. It was a feel-good evening, and I couldn't have been more delighted.
On Sunday, we took a half-hour walk and met camillealexa for an early lunch at Circa 33, where the food was inexpensive and outrageously good. I shared a mushroom omelet with Camille. The mushrooms were prepared with garlic in truffle oil and herbs, and made the omelet a transcendent experience. I wish I could have eaten more, but half plus some potatoes was really just enough. We walked a bit more, had more quiet time at home, and then I hit the road.
I stopped at the Centralia Outlet Mall (specifically Dress Barn Woman) looking for something to wear for tomorrow evening's gala excursion with e_bourne and markbourne. I did find a dress that I liked well enough to purchase, though it's not especially gala-ish. It may be more appropriate for my brother's wedding (in which case, I need to try on some stuff in the back of my closet for tomorrow evening). It's a sweet black-and-white dress with a flared skirt, thick black waist band, and a little black bolero jacket--very Mad Men. For the wedding, I'd actually prefer something with colors rather than black and white, so I may not stick with this, but it could do nicely.
Got home around 6ish last night, well pleased with the weekend. Was I ready for the week? Well, am I ever ready for Monday?