Another Lovely Weekend

It didn't go as planned. Kendra had invited us to go to the NW Cherry Festival in The Dalles but the Jeep had to stay parked all day. I was upset because I loved the idea of leaving the city for the day and checking out a festival with Kendra and Isla. But we made it work...

Our great friends Ashley and Tyler who live across the courtyard from us decided last minute to join us for brunch at Grain and Gristle (where Tom used to work). It was the perfect way to start the day. We all rode our bikes there, it was great to have someone to talk to and to take it easy instead of my usual rush to work.

If anyone who lives in Portland reads this, check out G&G for brunch, it was great food, no wait, and affordable. Plus some yummy pickled veggies with my bloody mary.

Tom's bike needed a little work (oh yeah, he just got a bike this past week!) so we ran by Community Bike Shop and Ashley and I grabbed coffee and a couple cookies and did some window shopping. Two girls in a mixed media store full of crafting supplies and mini everything is a bad idea. But this latte was a great idea.

Tyler and Ashley were already planning on riding down on the waterfront so we all headed down there to check out the view! I already took the waterfront path after the farmers market last week but I was thrilled to go back. This is why.

That last picture is in the exact same spot as the first two, I was just aiming towards the left. That's Portland for you. Clouds are always right behind the sun.

After enjoying the view we starting heading back to the apartment. Tom and I insisted we stopped for beer at a brewery we almost passed. Because why in the world wouldn't we? Cascade Brewing was awesome, they do a bunch of sours which I love. I had an apricot sour and a cherry sour. So good.

The ride back was even better than the ride there. We made a detour through Laurelhurst Park, finally! I've been meaning to take Roxy there for a while.

Riding through the neighborhoods in that area is great too. That's the same way I took to go to the farmers market. 

Once we got home we all played track ball in the courtyard while the dogs ran around (we also jammed out to R. Kelly for a few songs, be jealous). Overall it was a very eventful and fun day. Tom and I hadn't had a full day off together in almost two months, so we were ready for it. What about the rest of my weekend you ask? I worked! Today is the rest of my weekend. And Tom is cooking dinner without me so I better finish this up.

Peace.

Biking Is A Blast!

To start off this post, here is a picture of my blue beauty. I'm taking suggestions for a name.

I knew I enjoyed biking, I've done it before.

I think it's this city. The people of Portland have designed the roads for bikes. For some people I'm sure this isn't new, but I've never experienced roads that are marked specifically as a "bike route." Not only are these roads everywhere here, but Google always gives me directions for the most gorgeous rides. My ride to work is so quiet and peaceful. I'm rarely passed by a car, and have less than ten stop signs or traffic lights. It's a workout, but it's a workout that involves so many sights and smells that make me feel alive. I have no desire to drive anywhere now.

It helps that the sun was out for four days this past week, but even when it was raining I felt so invigorated by the time I got to work. It's the perfect way to start my day.

Last Saturday I road to the PSU Farmers Market, and by the time I got home I had biked about 13 miles. I never would have guessed I would enjoy that, but I can't wait to do it again this weekend! This is the route I chose to get there. I had to write it down on a small piece of paper to keep in my hand because there was no way I could remember all of that.

There were so many opportunities for photographs, but I just soaked it all in. People are serious about their yards/lawns here. They are covered with flowers and filled with trees, and a house on every block has some kind of vegetable garden or small greenhouse. Maybe it has something to do with overcompensating for all the gray days. When the sun comes out all the flowers open up and the colors seem brighter than I've ever seen. Tulips are very common, I'll have to take a picture of a yard close to our apartment that I pass every day. It makes me so happy.

On the way back from the Market I screwed up the directions and ended up down on the waterfront. Not a bad mistake. I tried to take pictures without looking, just held up my phone and "clicked." You can tell.

Last weekend was a lovely one. My bike and I are new best friends. And I have a feeling this is going to be one of the most beautiful summers I will ever experience.

                            ____________________________________________

Most of this post was written earlier in the week. To update, I still love my bike, haha. But I had no idea how much goes into biking here! People take it so seriously. I guess I need to take my kickstand and fenders (after the rain stops) off to make the bike lighter, I need a dry bag and waterproof pants, and I need to learn the bike routes. The whole city is bike friendly but within the city their are bike routes that are like highways for bikes. I'm sure I'll get it down this summer.

Oh, and my brakes don't work in the rain. A man at a shop I went to mentioned the wheels being chrome just make it hard for the brake pads to grip when they're wet. Really though? I'm taking it back in soon to see if there is anything I can do to fix it, if not I'll have to buy new wheels :( Stupid rain.

If you can't tell this is pretty fun and exciting for me, and definitely new.

The PSU Market Is Back!

We had a gorgeous weekend here in Portland, and now we're starting the week off with rain and clouds. Good thing I have these beauties to keep my spirits up.

We had a pretty uneventful weekend. I worked Friday night, Tom worked Saturday, and Sunday I worked a double. Podnah's has been insanely busy lately so I'm hoping they hire a hostess pretty soon so I can start serving. And have Sundays off. 

Last week I looked up the Portland Farmers Markets to see when they were starting back up for the summer season and I saw that the PSU Farmers Market has been open for a month! We've been going to the Hollywood Farmers Market during the winter since most markets closed in November/December so I was pretty pumped to go back to this huge market. The PSU Market is on Saturdays so I went by myself after I dropped off Tom at work, and I'm glad I did so I could take my time admiring the beautiful flowers!

The spring produce hasn't really arrived yet so the flowers stole the spotlight. More beets, carrots, and greens. 

I did find a few fun purchases though. I bought daikon radishes to make daikon kimchi with Tom (hopefully we'll do that today!), some INCREDIBLE goat cheese (splurge), milk, cauliflower, bok choy, cilantro, and some duck eggs! Last week I got rhubarb at the market and made a yummy coffee cake. I need to start giving away half of these baked treats, Tom ends up eating the whole thing and then complaining about it, haha. It did turn out pretty delicious. 

I want to try this cauliflower gratin because it looks simple and delicious. Not very healthy, but it's fun to go a dish packed with cheese every so often. I really like Smitten Kitchen in case you can't tell. 

Well I think that's it for today. Oh, I tried Baiyok Thai Restaurant on Saturday (from this list I keep talking about) and I was not impressed. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't Thai Emerald. I can't wait to stuff my face with some cashew nut chicken when I'm in Atlanta in May. Oh yeah! I finally bought my ticket. I'll be arriving in Atlanta at 6 pm Saturday, May 19th and leaving Sunday, May 27th around 8 am. I'm so excited! 

Happy Monday! I hope it's the start of a beautiful week.

A Real Chinese Experience

This whole post is going to be about food. I figured I should warn you.

I came across this list on Eater a couple weeks ago and I've been dying to try every place listed. 82nd is right around the corner from us, and packed with Asian restaurants. Actually Portland is known for having Asian restaurants on every corner, so we have had a hard time figuring out which ones are legit. So far this list is dead on! I was craving some authentic Asian food all day yesterday so when I picked Tom up from work I let him know I was starving for Chinese. We also wanted a place that served beer so we headed to ShenZhen. (After a quick detour at a crappy Mexican place with a cheap happy hour, bleh.) I realized I've never really had Chinese food before. What we order for take out in America isn't usually real Chinese. I'm sure there are some authentic Chinese restaurants in Atlanta (probably on Buford Highway) but I've never experienced one. So this food was pretty mind blowing for me.

The first thing we noticed when we walked in was the dry erase board over the counter with menu items written in Chinese.

And we were the only... Caucasian people there. Score! The two main signs of something authentic, a language you don't understand and no other white people. The menu was the big book with huge pictures of each dish next to the names, like lamb intestines and chilled chicken feet! We didn't get anything that adventurous. We started with a sesame, scallion cake and shared Sizzling Glass Noodles and Crispy Duck.

I will take a picture of the menu next time we go. Which will be soon because I will probably have dreams about this food. The duck skin was crispy and salty and the meat was tender and sweet. It didn't need a drop of soy sauce or any condiments. The noodles had great charred and crispy bits from the sizzling pan it was served on, and it was also packed with flavor. A little chili oil made it perfect. I will never be able to eat crappy Chinese take out every again!

I am trying to cut back spending to save for my visit to Atlanta in May, but I want to go to another spot on that list today. Maybe the cheap Banh Mi one.

Just so this post isn't ALL about food, here is a picture of Roxy and Ava playing their game of "Queen of the Couch." Roxy is winning at the moment, but Ava puts up a good fight.

Ava belongs to Tyler and Ashley, our neighbors. She has quickly become Roxy's new best friend. And Tyler and Ashley aren't too bad either :) We feel so lucky to have a young couple who live right across the courtyard who are so much fun to spend time with! We all had happy hour and saw the Hunger Games a couple Fridays ago, it was a much needed night out. Tasty n Sons has an awesome happy hour menu, I wish I had gotten more pictures of the food. 

How awkward is it that I'm the only one in the shadow!

That's it for now, I'm off to bake a coffee cake with the rhubarb I got at the Farmers Market :)

Hood River

Now that we are both working Tom and I have been going out and enjoying Portland more. Breweries/restaurants mostly. A few weekends ago we went to Hood River to check out Double Mountain and Full Sail. Double Mountain is probably my favorite brewery we've been to so far. This is what the view was like for the quick hour drive out there.

Before we went to the breweries we wanted to take a little hike and enjoy the scenery. Once we got to Hood River someone recommended the trail to the Twin Tunnels. What we didn't realize was that the trail was paved... boo. But we walked a total of eight miles, and we all enjoyed the time outdoors. Yes, Roxy came too! The tunnels were pretty amazing, you could see how they were carved out of the mountain. The view wasn't bad either...

We were pretty wiped out once we got back to the Jeep, Roxy was happy to nap in my seat while we had a pizza and beer at Double Mountain.

Full Sail had some great beer too, this is their Bourbon barrel aged Imperial Porter. Yum.

I started this post weeks ago (slacker!) and since then we have had some more delicious restaurant experiences but nothing as fun as this day. Unfortunately we don't have a scheduled day off together, so that makes it hard to leave the city together. The weather has been a little nicer this week though so I want to start hiking with Roxy on my days off. 

I still feel like this blog has no direction or theme to keep people entertained, so I've been staying away. Having these day to day experiences written down to read later hasn't been enough motivation. Maybe if I post a couple times a week that will help me find my niche.