A view from the top.
I'm not going to lie, I was pretty convinced there would be some other natural force that would prevent us from getting to the top of Multnomah Falls yesterday. However, this time around we weren't impeded by snow and ice, or gale force winds. It was a beautiful day. Perfect for a hike. Graham and I would slow down to check out the cute pooches on our way up to the top (and young ladies would slow down to check out Graham in a similar fashion). Luckily, we had Jesse keeping us focused by leading the charge at break-neck speed. At some points, I felt that I was running up the hill rather than hiking. I don't think they were doing it on purpose, but my stride is a lot smaller, meaning that I had to go double-time to keep up.
After making it to the top and catching my breath, we continued on for the rest of the 5 mile loop. The hike was absolutely gorgeous. It rained pretty much all last week, so everything was lush, which made up for the paths being quite muddy. Green moss coated the trees and rocks and the sound of rushing falls felt kind of like a fairy tale. It would have been the perfect setting to take a cheesy nature photo for a poster featuring elves and pixies. I'm pretty sure Little Red Riding Hood walked through this forest to get to her Grandmother's cottage.
We actually saw quite a few animals: a snake, two chipmunks, a giant slug, a few woodpeckers. And a pair of striking bright red bugs. I didn't realize this until I took a close-up shot, but they appear to be mating. Score! Nature in action. I felt a little bad when my flash went off (and the red-eye reduction feature to boot), but they didn't seem to be bothered. Does anyone know know the type of bug?
It was a great afternoon. This morning, though, I woke up with incredibly sore legs. It's like I climbed a mountain or something. I think I'm going to have to walk it off and stretch a little so I'll be in tip top shape for the "Cheers to Belgian Beers" festival this afternoon.
I know I sound like a broken record, but Portland's springtime weather is weird. The past few days have been really cold. It's so strange, because it should be warm and beautiful. I mean, look at the trees! They're exploding with blossoms. It looks like there was a giant pink wedding all over our neighborhood. Even the trash cans are lovely and pink with petals.
Today I took a walk to 23rd Avenue to send out a FedEx package for Jesse and decided to do a little window shopping. I stopped in at the Paper Source, one of the few stores that compel me to spend lots of money for no good reason. I am helpless in it's grasp, so I try to only go in when I have a specific item to purchase. It is also one of those stores that Jesse swears sucks oxygen out of his lungs -- that and shopping malls. Therefore, I choose to go alone. I spent about 30 minutes just looking and dreaming. It was nice, I picked up a lot of good ideas and left the store empty handed. I'm pretty sure that was a first!
I walked down the street to head home and was pulled into another shop, as if by gravity. It was Moonstruck Chocolatier. I know from experience that they love to give samples. Lucky day! I am not averse to trying samples! I tasted a raspberry Chambord truffle that was out of this world. They are smart, those Moonstruck ladies, because I never leave the store without a goody or two for later. I mean, I did it for Jesse. He'd be really sad that he missed out on chocolate. So, I picked out a milk chocolate banana truffle, and a Tuaca liqueur truffle with caramel. Did I mention that I am a mere selfless creature and bought the chocolates just for Jesse? They're being reserved for after dinner, but have been tempting me all afternoon.
As for now, I have a large task at hand. Graham, Jesse's youngest (yet tallest) brother, is arriving sometime tomorrow and the apartment needs a good cleaning. I think the truffles will be a nice reward for vacuuming and scrubbing the bathroom!
We woke up on Saturday morning and prepared ourselves for an epic day of errands. J needed another pair of pants and I wanted to get a new pair of sunglasses (since I've managed to destroy three pair in the past couple of months). And of course, we needed toilet paper etc. As a treat for doing the boring shopping stuff, we took a ride over to Penzeys Spices on 82nd Avenue. Since we got rid of all of our spices before our move from D.C. to Portland, I have slowly been trying to build up a good stash again. Penzeys is one of my favorite companies, but I've always had to use mail order. I was excited to visit an actual store and see the range for myself. Both J and I sniffed so many jars that our noses burned afterward and Jesse swore that his raisin croissant from Ken's (that we picked up as a snack before heading out) tasted strangely like curry. As you can see, we've already broken into the Chili 9000 and the Jerk spice.
J was almost giddy over the idea of making food as soon as possible with our new found gems. Saturday night he took charge of making Jerk chicken wings and I filled in with potato salad and sauteed greens. The meal was delicious and felt very much like a summer picnic (despite the cold rain outside). While J slaved over the chicken wings, I started working on a pot of chili. The Chili 9000 is so much more complex than any chili spice blend that I've ever had. I can't imagine how I ever managed a good batch without it!
This weekend, we also met up with an old friend from D.C. who was in town for a local comedy festival. It was great to see him and hear all about how he's doing in L.A. When Ed called to meet up for brunch on Sunday and said that he wanted to find some good pancakes, we decided on a nearby diner that is known for their "mancakes". These legendary pancakes are said to be so large that it takes a true man to eat just one, let alone a whole stack. If you manage to down a full stack, they'll put your picture on the wall. Naturally, we all agreed that this was a place that could not be missed. Jesse ordered a full stack (with the intention of sharing one with Ed), but could only eat one and a half. Toward the end, he was just picking blueberries from the fluffy flapjacks. After breakfast, we were both ruined for the afternoon and I took a nice, long nap.
It was a great weekend. A refreshing way to recharge and start another week!
I sort of fell off the boat this week with my running schedule. The insane heat in the apartment Monday through Wednesday made the thought of exercising and having to come back home not very appealing. Also, Jesse was gone and sometimes I need a running buddy to get out the door. Not all is lost though! I went for a 1.5 mile run yesterday and my time was significantly less than last week. Even though my schedule indicates that I should have a rest day between runs, I'm going out again today. My legs aren't tired and my energy is good. I think the rest days will probably be more important if ever manage to run more than 2 miles at a time.
After my run, I had a conference call to discuss the upcoming team interview for the survey project on Monday. It's going to be a relatively quick interview, 15 minutes for a presentation and a 30 minute question and answer section. I still think we have a really good chance, but the competition is pretty stiff.I didn't worry about the competition for too long, because I was eager to start on dinner!
On Wednesday, I picked up a couple of beautiful pieces of halibut at a local meat market and couldn't wait to get them in a pan. I also picked up a couple of sweet potatoes and some fresh watercress. For some reason, I remembered watercress tasting quite different. I was shocked when I bit into a leaf just before serving and it tasted surprisingly like a radish -- sharp and hot. I panicked because I also had radishes sliced for the salad. I threw the watercress in a pan to wilt it slightly with the hope of mellowing out the spicy bite. While they mellowed, the texture was never quite right, they were a bit chewy afterward. I'm going to have to work on my watercress skills in the future. The radishes were delicious though, with just a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, and rice vinegar.
I sliced the sweet potatoes into shoestrings and tossed them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic and baked them. If we were expecting fries (which I wasn't), they would have been a little disappointing -- they aren't crunchy at all. However, the flavor was out of this world. And the halibut, oh the halibut. It was so good that I savored every bite. We pan cooked it in just a little olive oil, salt, and pepper and served it with a dollop of leftover chimicurri sauce over the watercress and radish salad. It was the perfect springtime/summer meal; fresh, light, and incredibly tasty.
My dress experiment is complete. I certainly can't complain anymore that I don't have a thing to wear to Ben & Daphne's wedding in May. The Vogue pattern fit almost perfectly right out of the envelope. At $20-30 a pattern, I guess you get what you pay for! I'm so happy with the results, I can hardly wait wear it out. I still haven't hemmed the skirt or pulled out a few of the basting stitches that are poking thorough, but even Jesse agrees, it certainly doesn't look like a $35 dress.
I'm already plotting to make another (maybe this time without the sash) and will adjust the neckline to be a v-shape or maybe even square. So awesome! Sewing rocks!
I'm not going to lie, I was pretty convinced there would be some other natural force that would prevent us from getting to the top of Multnomah Falls yesterday. However, this time around we weren't impeded by snow and ice, or gale force winds. It was a beautiful day. Perfect for a hike. Graham and I would slow down to check out the cute pooches on our way up to the top (and young ladies would slow down to check out Graham in a similar fashion). Luckily, we had Jesse keeping us focused by leading the charge at break-neck speed. At some points, I felt that I was running up the hill rather than hiking. I don't think they were doing it on purpose, but my stride is a lot smaller, meaning that I had to go double-time to keep up.
After making it to the top and catching my breath, we continued on for the rest of the 5 mile loop. The hike was absolutely gorgeous. It rained pretty much all last week, so everything was lush, which made up for the paths being quite muddy. Green moss coated the trees and rocks and the sound of rushing falls felt kind of like a fairy tale. It would have been the perfect setting to take a cheesy nature photo for a poster featuring elves and pixies. I'm pretty sure Little Red Riding Hood walked through this forest to get to her Grandmother's cottage.
We actually saw quite a few animals: a snake, two chipmunks, a giant slug, a few woodpeckers. And a pair of striking bright red bugs. I didn't realize this until I took a close-up shot, but they appear to be mating. Score! Nature in action. I felt a little bad when my flash went off (and the red-eye reduction feature to boot), but they didn't seem to be bothered. Does anyone know know the type of bug?
