Road Trip: Portland

About a month ago I said, "I'm going to take Friday, May 11th off of work.  Let's go to Portland!"  I don't know that Aaron thought I was serious...but I was!  ...and as the day got closer and closer we both got more and more excited. 

It was only a day and a half, but sometimes it doesn't take much to recharge. In this case it just took some art, great food and some bright sunshine.  It also gave us a chance to visit Gilt and change out some of Aaron's jewelry there.  Everyone there was SUPER-nice.  Plus the store was full of wonderful vintage and art jewelry.  It was a feast for the eyes.

With weather in the 80's the fountain was a gathering place for kids from around the city.

We spent Saturday morning at the Portland Farmers Market - which was incredible!!  It was table after table after table of organic freshies!  There were all sorts of small batch products.  It all looked sooooo good.

We dined at Pok Pok, which you may have seen in Bon Appetite a couple of months ago.  It's some really innovative Southeast Asian food.  They were flavors we never have, but not so weird that it was unpalatable.  We had fried catfish with noodles and a yummy sauce on it, curried noodles, and braised/curried pork (well, Aaron had that one, but Anner admits to tasting the curry).  We'll leave it to Bon Appetite or any of the myriad of online reviews to describe it.  We'll just say it alone was worth the drive from Seattle and the 40 minute Thursday night wait.

We brunched at Tasty and Son's.  The name alone drew us in, but everyone (and we do mean every single website we researched) recommended T&S.  This is the sweet biscuits and blueberry compote.  It was sweet, buttery, flaky, light, and absolutely soaked in blueberry flavor with fresh whipped cream.  We've gotta learn how to make these at home.  Simply amazing! 

We also wandered through the Saturday Market.  Aaron bought this mask for the garden.  I say, Aaron imitating Art.  So cute.  Both of them.

We went to a couple other galleries, walked all over town from end to end, explored a couple of adorable little neighborhoods, bought a few artisan items, relaxed, dined at a couple other good restaurants including South Park - where we had the coolest server ever, and we went to a champagne, dessert and coffee bar called Pix.  One word: Yummy.

Finally on the long trip home Aaron's car passed the 100,000 mile mark.  We look forward to the next 100,000 miles!

A is for Austin

Aaron and I have just started to recover from our amazing trip to Austin, Texas.  Lots of our friends thought we were crazy taking a vacation to Texas...like it was some sort of punishment, but they would be totally wrong.  

We picked Austin back on "Cyber Monday" when the airfare was cha-eeeep!  We debated LA vs San Fran and then at about the same time Aaron said, "I've never been to Austin.  You?"  "Nope. Let's book it!"  And just like that we were off!

A is for Amy's Ice Cream

The first night we found the local ice cream chain.  There's better ice cream around, for sure, but there's not better service.  We received our many samples and eventually our sundaes from a college student who was dressed like a giant strawberry..."because I was bored and the costume was just sitting in the back".  I don't know about you, but my work doesn't have a strawberry costume in the back.  Hmmm.... 

He put his heart in it for sure.

A is for Amazing Signage

The signs in Austin look totally retro.  A local informed us that these are actually only about 10 years old.  That's what some urban revitalization will get you.  The "So Con" (i.e. South Congress Street) area was totally fun, hip and full of fabulous signs.

A is for Art and Art Stuff
In addition to cool signs, SoCon had tons of art, crafts, independent boutiques, music and food ....and food trucks.  An entirely different thing than just plain food.

We spent hours...and I mean HOURS looking around in shops like this...PACKED with vintage, antiques and just crazy stuff hung everywhere.  We loved it!!!

This particular store had an entire area full of sock-monkey adoptees.  Some of them were quite loved or worn or old or all three.  They each have a personality.  Sock monkeys are like that, I think. You can kind of see into their socky soul.

A is for Aaron:
This is Aaron trying to look into my socky soul....no luck though.

This is the Austin skyline.  In spite of being a little baby-city, it had TONS to offer.

We spent one day at the Lyndon B Johnson Presidential Library.  It's currently being updated, which it is in need of.  As we checked in the women behind the counter told us that there were exhibits on several floors of the library and "don't forget to stop on the fourth floor where the animatronic LBJ tells jokes and funny stories".  I said, "Animatronic!" and she said, "Oh yes!!  Just up on the fourth floor!"

Then with equal enthusiasm she said it again...and again...and again, to everyone in line.  

The animatronic LBJ had all the charm of 1970's Disney display.  Or maybe Chuck E Cheese.  You could see where his finger had fallen off and had been taped back on.  Like I said...it's being rehabbed, but they should keep ALBJ.  Clearly, he's a fixture in the library.

That said, we learned a lot.   We can thank him for oodles of civil rights legislation, not to mention Vista and Job Corps and Medicare!

A is for Anner and Bronze LBJ:


We saw lots of pretty nature scenes including our walk along the river.

A is for Audubon:
We even saw buzzards flying about.

A is for Architecture:
We toured the Texas state capitol.  Two observations about the capitol - 1: they were big into symmetry and 2: they stamped "Texas" or "Lone Star" on anything they could (including the door hinges)!

Interesting thing about the capitol.  If you bring your "concealed weapons" permit with you, you don't need to go through the metal detector.  If you're a tourist with barely a purse on you, like me and Aaron -- plan to be all but stripped down and stared at with scorn as you walk (maybe several times) through the metal detector.  Not 100% sure how that all adds up.

The capitol is beautiful.  We even watched a little bit of testimony in one of the chambers.

A is for Adorable LaCasita

We stayed in this guest house while we were there.  It was super-duper cute, art on the walls, comfy bed, spotless, and an organic chocolate bar awaited us.  Pretty darned nice.  The owners live a few yards away and are just home from their round-the-world trip (count me jealous!).  They were kind enough to share their RTW stories with us.  The next time we're in Austin we will definitely stay here again!

A is for A++++
That would be our grade for an Austin vacation!  You should do it.  And take us back with you.  :)

Sock Critters!!

I'm not sure these critters ever were posted. 

I'm putting them on the blog so I can repost them to my Pinterest board. 

Ahhh...so many places to post. So little time.

This is Brainiac.  He's one of my favorites. 
I like the look of him so much that I had greeting cards made with his picture.

This is Estelle.  I made her from a pattern in a book. 
This is a few years old and I made her at Hannah's request. 
Mostly I think Hannah wanted me to make the hardest pattern of all.

Froggy. 
We meant to give him away but then fell in love with him.
He sits on a shelf watching our every move.

This super soft little guy was a gift for Baby Jasper.

Mister Wiggles. 
Is soon to be given to a little baby....should I ever finish the 75% completed baby blanket that goes with him!

This is a pink sock monkey, with ears.
 I hate making ears, but did it because I can hear my mother saying, "Where are the ears!?"
I gave this to a co-worker who had a baby girl last week.  Along with a WAY cute baby blanket.

In other news - the snow is melting (thank goodness!) and tonight's my birthday party. 

Now it's time to sign off and make birthday cake!

Crunchy on the Outside. Fluffy on the Inside...

That's what Aaron said as he plodded around the back yard this afternoon. A short spurt of falling ice this morning gave our snow a crunchy top layer. It was supposed to warm up and turn to rain today, but instead it stayed cool and snowed all day long.  We're up to about six inches so far.

Today I took what just might be my first-ever Seattle snowday - largely the result of having a cold and just not feeling like dealing with a long commute for a short day of work. Yesterday was fairly easy bus commuting, but it was r-e-a-l-l-y s-l-o-o-o-o-w. As in: two hours each way. The bus home got stuck and we had to wait to get chains, but once that happened we had it made. Luckily I left early and still got home before dark.

Since then I've been sipping an assortment of warm drinks: cocoa, tea and the last bit of apple cider from Christmas. Aaron and I celebrated with Snow Day Brunch, although it was interrupted continuously because I was working from home. Still, any day that starts with eggnog waffles can't be too bad!  At 4pm I signed off of the work email and went for a short walk with my Honey.

Here are a few pictures:




Looking down our street.

Aaron under the arch - he was brushing snow off of our little trees and shrubs.

Front yard...doesn't the flag in the foreground and the orange studio make for nice spots of color?



Misty, our penguin, finally sees the snow!!!



Aaron's noticed these cool branches with the snow looking like veins on a leaf.

By the way - my birthday week has been super-fun with presents arriving every day and celebrations galore.  I'm one lucky birthday girl!

Happy New Years - Redux

OOPSIE!  Not a flawless start to the New Year as my fingers went much faster than my brain and *POOF* The blog was sent out without any words.  Here's Take 2.  This time - with feeling.


As party season comes to a close and Anner's Birthday Month begins, here are some pictures to catch you up to date:

Aaron's prized gift this year is an antique(ish) miniature plane.  It's that little doo-dad in his fingers.  A little tool for the little pieces of wood in his jewelry.  Everything's cute when it's little, right?

Adam LOVED his crazy straw that we got him.  It took three adults to help him use his creation, but he was way into it. 

Anner loves Aaron.  Happy New Year's!  It looks like he's trying to wrestle himself away from me, but really he's going for the s'more.

Ben and Karen love homemade s'mores.  Who doesn't???!!!!

It only appears during the holiday season, but here it is.  The infamous Homemade S'more!  Homemade marshmallow, homemade graham cracker.  Theo Chocolate.  It's everything good in about three gooey bites.

Anner made cookie after cookie after cookie this year.  Aaron's done a find job of keeping up eating cookie after cookie after cookie.  He's just keeping up his part of the wedding vows.

This is the very cool pendant Aaron gave me.  It's enamel on copper.  Love it.

I got "red-lights" put in my hair.  Not at all sure that I like them.  Positive I'm not in love with them, but definitely a fun try for ending good ole 2011.  2012?  Who knows?  So many possibilities...

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday and are as excited to see what happens this year as I am! 

Stimulating For the Tummy...or something like that

What a Thanksgiving adventure!  Aaron and I hosted the big day yesterday...and by "hosted" we mean Ed joined us for lunch.

I became obsessed with making a "real" Thanksgiving dinner.  No.  Not turkey...mostly because neither of us like turkey too much... but a good down home roast instead.  Having never cooked a roast, I took a test run at it two weeks ago.  It wasn't great, but I thought I could pull it off.  Everyone says it's easy.  Well, once more I'll prove I'm not everyone.

It started on Wednesday night when I tried - twice - to make the Pear Upside-Down Cake out of the Bon Appetit magazine.  Aaron said he wanted it and I was determined to make it.  Well, determined until I screwed up the caramel sauce twice in a row and spent the next hour cleaning burnt caramel out of my sauce pans.  "Honey, pass me the All Cakes Considered book...I need something with pear...."  Finding none, I picked Spiced Apple Cake.  Apples and Pears aren't that much different, are they?  Turns out that was WAY easier than the two-sauce-pans-and-it-still-didn't-work caramel cake! In a little more than an hour we had a near-perfect dessert.   This will prove to be the most successful dish of the day.

Next up: Pumpkin Pie. Another first.  This time I agree with the reviews.  Pumpkin Pie is easy to make.  I used cookie cutters from grandma Obermeyer to make a little edge on the pie.  Doesn't quite look like the pictures in the Williams Sonoma catalog.  How do they do that?

Thursday morning Aaron got up and before even eating breakfast he made his carrot cake. Really it's more like a "carrot bread", but he grew up calling it a cake, so cake it remains.  Now we don't feel guilty having cake for breakfast!  He knew I needed the oven for Roast 2011 no later than noon, so early morning baking was the way to go.

Now let the roasting begin!! This is Bessy. She was raised living a hippy dippy organic life on a farm in Oregon. I like to think of her as being scratched behind the ears and living a good cow life until I purchased her from the guy at Central Market. Following directions from all my friends and family in the Midwest with a few hints from Paula Dean and the Neelys I forged ahead.... Except for two weeks ago I've never really cooked a hunk of meat before.  Let's give it a whirl, why don't we?

I browned, I seasoned, I put in a roaster with veggies and a little water (later I learned, a little too much water and not nearly enough seasoning).  I kept vigil with a meat thermometer in hand.  Mom said, "you can tell when it's done just stick a fork in it".  I'm sure she's right.  Her and dad just push on the roast with a finger and declare it dinner time. Me?  I'm filled with the fear of botulism and don't want to accidentally end up with beef tartar -- so I repeatedly poke Bessy with the thermometer starting about an hour after she went in.  It doesn't seem to be done...but it's been hours, the appetizers have all been eaten and the men folk are getting restless.  Now what?

Finally Aaron tired of the football game and waiting for dinner declared the roast finished.  I do think the thermometer was correct...it was a little bit rare - thought I don't think the guys minded one bit. 

The roast?  Well, it was a decent second shot, but not anywhere as good as mom made. Since I know some of you are wondering...yes, this semi-vegetarian went right ahead and tasted the roast. I had to know for myself how it was and couldn't count on the polite nods from Aaron and Ed. It was a little rare, the veggies a little al dente and the au jus a little thin.  *sigh*.  Isn't that how it goes? All that prep and attention and it's just not quite right.  Humpf.  I give myself a B.  Aaron gave me an A just for getting a meal on the table.  Thanks, babe.  You can have more spicy pear cake.

Me?  Well, I'm thankful for guys who don't complain and eat what's put in front of them.  THAAANK YOU!
 
This is our Splendid Table. At least it looked good. Oh! And Aaron said the fruit salad was his favorite.  Eat up honey!  Next year I'm going to carve a pineapple to look like a turkey and shout "dinner time". 

And now for the most important course of the day - Dessert.   Yes, you count correctly.  Three people = four desserts + whipped cream.  Now it's a "real" Thanksgiving!  Everything here is an A+.  Yep, definitely stick with what you're good at!

And here's Ed.  It's important that your guests get into the spirit of the holiday.

Next up?  I will attempt to make beef stew with all the left overs.  Wish me luck...I've never done that before either.