march madness!

I've been keeping pretty busy lately... Gabe was up here visiting over my birthday, and then two days after he left, Emily came for the weekend. Let's see... my birthday was pretty good. I was bummed about being away from my family to celebrate but it turned out ok. The day of my birthday was mellow - Gabe, Tawny, and I went to lunch, then did some shopping, Gabe and I watched a movie... nothing too crazy. That night, Gabe, Margot, Tawny, and I went to Saucebox for dinner. It's sort of an asian fusion kind of spot with really really good cocktails. They make my favorite drink ever - a thai basil gimlet. Yum. There was lots of drama that went down but it's probably better left unmentioned. After that we went back to my apartment to make some drinks and hang out before going to the bars. A few other friends came over (John, Cheyne, Cameron) and Lindsey and Joe were there too. We ended up having a bit to drink but finally made it to one of my favorite bars, Life of Riley, where I dominated the pool table and then decided to try some shuffleboard, which I've never really played but somehow managed to be exceptional at. Must have been some birthday luck. I also made friends with a guy from Villa Park, who it turns out knows a few of my friends from home. Random. All in all, a good night.


The rest of Gabe's visit was pretty uneventful - I had to work for a lot of the weekend, but we ate some yummy food and went to the movies and hung around. He left on St. Patty's Day, and then I had the brilliant idea to make irish car bomb cupcakes. With Tawny's assistance I finished them in time to take to a friend's house, where he and his girlfriend made a St. Patty's feast - corned beef, cabbage, boiled potatoes and carrots, and soda bread. I did a little eat and run (it was delicious) and then had to go to work, where I waited on the UW basketball team (they were in town for the NCAA tourney).


Em got into town on Thursday night and it was really really great to see her. We had tons to catch up on, plus I was really excited to show her Portland. We crammed a lot of stuff into a few days, including (in no particular order):
-lots of happy hour: jake's famous crawfish, masu sushi, typhoon
-a little bit of shopping downtown
-manicure/pedicure (pictured above)
-farmer's market
-hiked multnomah falls
-made a yummy healthy whole wheat/pesto/roasted veggie pizza for dinner
-bikram yoga (she kind of got me hooked on it now)
-a little stop at pf chang's for a late dinner one night
-met up with paul, her friend from oxy who was in town for the weekend
-fancy cocktails at teardrop
-brunch on mississippi
-saw duplicity (we were both a little confused by it)
-walked along the esplanade
-nw 23rd
-voodoo donuts
-powell's city of books
-watched paris, je t'aime (in preparation for my trip!)

here is a picture of Em at the falls


that's all for now, Lindsey's mom is coming into town today for the weekend so I'm going to do a little bit of clean up before I head to work!

the list

there are a million restaurants here that i'm just dying to explore. portland really is a foodie town... the more i read and yelp the more excited i get about all these awesome culinary adventures. so today i decided that i need to make a list, and start conquering them. probably no one else will be very interested in reading this (except shaina), but i'm doing it mostly for my own reference.

the downside is that i really don't have too many dining companions that want to go on these adventures with me. margot and katie are both pretty busy with tax season. tawny doesn't have very adventurous tastes. cameron doesn't have the cash. lindsey is always down, but i have to make most plans with her when joe isn't in town - they pick up food and eat in most nights. josh is my best bet, but he works until 8 every night so i guess i'm going to have to start eating dinner later.

anyways, here is this list. or at least the beginnings of it.


ken's artisan pizza - this is one of molly and brandon's favorites. open kitchen, floor-to-ceiling wood burning stove... sounds familiar. a little like the model for their own delancey, maybe? i really want to try the vegetable trio plate and lately i have been absolutely craving pizza. this one needs to happen soon.

bamboo sushi - it's on the same block as ken's, which i didn't realize until just a moment ago. it looks super delicious and fresh, and it's the first sustainable sushi restaurant in the US. so far the only sushi place here that has been to my liking is masu, and since bamboo was formerly masu east (and word on the street is that it has only gotten better since then) i'm pretty sure i'll be a fan.

pok pok - i've been wanting to go to pok pok since before i moved up here. it was the oregonian restaurant of the year in 2007 and since i'm pretty much obsessed with thai food, of course i've been dying to check it out. josh swears by the kai yaang - roasted natural game hen rubbed with lemongrass, garlic, pepper, and cilantro served with a spicy sweet and sour dipping sauce. a half bird is only $6.50... crazy.

mother's - i NEED to go to brunch here. i have tried twice already with no success. on weekends the wait is monstrous, and both times i tried to come here it was a weekend morning around 11. prime time, basically. i really want to try mike's special scramble and the wild salmon hash. oh, and supposedly the crunchy french toast is amazing. and that's just off of the breakfast menu. i haven't even looked at lunch...

tanuki - josh told me about this spot. super authentic, delicious japanese food. apparently you can do an omakase dinner - you just tell the chef/owner janis how much you want to spend and she'll make you a meal, sake included. i can't wait try this place out... i know this is a spot i'll have to go to with josh.



more to come...

2 months.

I can't believe I've lived here for two months, already. I don't have a lot to say - not too much excitement here right now. There are some things going on at work, but I can't really talk about them at the moment... but other than that things are pretty uneventful. I've been hanging out with Tawny and Cameron a lot, and last week we had a little homemade happy hour. I made these delicious turkey meatballs with yogurt dipping sauce, and Tawny put together a plate of bread, cheeses, and veggies, and we had some wine and chatted. It was nice because it made me feel like I am sort of settling in here, and making some good friends. Of course happy hour was followed by a full evening of Donkey Kong - I got them kind of addicted, so they are always asking if they can come over and play.

I feel like I go through cycles with this whole job search thing - I get super excited about possibilities and send out tons of resumes and cover letters, and then, a week later, with no response, I sort of fall into a funk about it. For a few days I don't even want to look at job listings or think about them, and I start to get really bummed out about the fact that I graduated over a year ago and I'm still waiting tables. Yesterday I was really down about it but today I'm already starting to feel better.

Gabe is coming back for another visit on Tuesday - staying for a week. I'm not taking any time off work this time (can't afford to) but I'm sure we'll have some fun adventures regardless. He'll be here over my birthday... I was actually a little bummed about my birthday because Emily was going to come up but she can't that weekend, and I was just feeling like I didn't really have anyone to celebrate with. Tawny was saying we should just do a fun girls' night and get dressed up and go out for cocktails, so that's the plan for now. Margot, Lindsey, and Tawny are going to celebrate with me. Plus Gabe will be around, so hopefully we will meet up with him and some other friends after. Emily FINALLY booked her flight (after lots of prompting from me) and she's coming up the weekend after my birthday. I'm really excited to see her.

On Monday night I was walking home and I saw this:



Orangette at Powell's! Her book signing is on Friday... I got so excited!! I'm totally going to go - probably by myself though. I wish Shaina was here to go with me!

gabe visits portland

Gabe came for a visit last weekend and we had a really good time. He got in late Thursday night and I picked him up after work. We were both pretty tired so we just hung out and watched a movie. Friday morning we went to a really yummy breakfast at Bijou Cafe... so good. I had an amaaazing omelette with goat cheddar, bacon, and scallions in it, and an oatmeal pancake. They also had fresh marionberry syrup. Yum. We wandered around town for awhile and did a little shopping, and then went to see Synechdoche, NY at Living Room Theaters with John. The theaters have super comfy seating and ottomans to put your feet up, and you can order cocktails and food. The movie was really trippy - put very very simply, it's about a guy who is writing a theater piece that is based on his own life, and at some point real and fake get intertwined. It kind of left my head spinning (or in Gabe's words, "I feel like my head is going to explode!") Afterward we were all a little overwhelmed. I told the boys that someone had mentioned that it was the kind of movie that you need to see twice to understand, and John's response was "I don't really think I'd want to see it a second time." That pretty much sums up our experience. Movie theater was cool, though.

Friday night Gabe had dinner with his cousins who live in Lake Oswego, and afterwards they went out with us. We met up with some Chapman folks and went to some bars. I had fun playing pool with Gabe's cousin at Marathon (one of my fav spots) and dancing at this really awful bar downtown.



Saturday we went to the coast with Lindsey and Joe during the day. We got on the road much later than I had hoped because Lindsey is the slowest person ever!!! but we finally got to Cannon Beach. We wandered the town a little, checked out a candy shop where they were making taffy, and then waalked down the beach toward Haystack Rock (top photo). It was really really pretty and the weather was super nice. It was a little hazy and the sun was behind the rock, but as we walked close it kind of all cleared away - it was awesome.



Saturday night we went out again - to Lindsey's favorite bar, Shanghai Tunnel. We wandered to a few other places and ended the night at a random hipster bar called Tube. It was like a big American Apparel dance party... good times. Not really Margot's scene but Gabe and John were loving it. I also saw pretty much the best thing everrrr.... this purse:



I kind of couldn't believe its ridiculousness so I had to take a photo. I made Lindsey pose nearby and pretended to take a picture of her, but I was actually taking a picture of the horrendous purse. After a little more dancing, Lindsey and I decided turn in early while the boys stayed out. Sunday we just kept it low key, went to a coffee shop called Half + Half for a breakfast sandwich and a latte, and then hung around and played Donkey Kong and Mario Kart on our Super Nintendo until I had to go to work and Gabe had to go to the airport. All in all a good weekend.

snow!

it snowed yesterday! i woke up to a text from margot that simply said "snow!" yet i was still surprised when i looked out the window and it was coming down. only a little bit stuck and it melted rather quickly but it was still a pleasant little gift.


work has been keeping me super busy - i've been working 3 doubles and an additional 3 nights per week, so i don't have too much time to job hunt or explore. i have to really plan ahead and budget my time (bringing gym clothes to work and walking over straight from chang's, etc) otherwise time just flies by and i get nothing done.



we finally got our couch on monday. it's a huuuuge sectional and it makes our place feel way more homey. jake is still exploring it. :) i have more pictures to post - the rest of the apartment, and a few from a night out last weekend - but i have to leave for work in a few minutes so i have to run!

settling in

it's crazy to think i've already been here over a week. chad was here mon-thurs, and then the parents visited from fri-mon, so today is my first real day by myself. i've been trying to get a bunch of stuff done (pictures hung, clothes put away, etc.) and it is just starting to feel homey to me. i still have lots of odds and ends to take care of but i will definitely post pictures in the next day or two.

i am absolutely cravinggg sushi from my favorite places at home - izakaya wasa, bluefin, and zen. hopefully i can find something just as tasty here.

also i'm just starting the job hunt and it sucks. not much else to say about that.

i leave sunday.

i keep alternating between nervous and excited...