Last night was my friend Jamie's birthday (28th, I think?). We use to work together at the Pub. She's hilarious. Everyone met for dinner and wine at BridgePort, and then the plan was to head over to Lola's Room at the Crystal Ballroom for 80's dancing.
I got home from work a little late, had a glass and a half of some Rose wine while I 80's-ified myself, and biked over the Broadway Bridge. What a beautiful view. Last night may have been the prettiest evening in recent memory.
Arrived at the pub, sweaty and late, and had another glass of wine. My friend Patrick thought shots were a good idea, so Katie, me Jamie, Patrick and Erin (L-R) all sucked down some Tuaca:
I shared 1/2 of mine with a girl I didn't know. Tuaca is a sticky sweet vanilla liquor. Good in cocktails, like a Bourbon Tuaca Sidecar, but not my favorite by itself.
Mini Cupcakes were brought out. So was a huge cake from VooDoo Doughnuts and a maple bacon bar. ( I wish they made a soy bacon maple bar!) I didn't try the cupcakes, or the doughnut, obviously, but I did try a bite or two of the cream cake. Yum.
(By the way, is doughnut an outdated spelling now? Has our language seguayed that beautiful descriptive word into donut? I guess it makes sense, it's shorter; but it's not as round and inviting. I think it's a shame.)
I biked over the few blocks to Lola's and was the first to arrive. I paid my 5 bucks and sauntered upstairs, ready to kick off my sunday shoes, to take a Holiday. Everyone else arrived shortly after, and we all got so sticky sweaty shiny. In a good way.
Ingrid showed up after work and proceeded to wow the entire crowd with her sweet break-dancin' moves. I wish I had a picture, but I was too busy laughing and clapping with glee.
I think the heat combined with lack of dinner and a shot of Tuaca made me slightly more drunk than I usually would be--I can knock back 3 glasses of wine and a shot no problem most nights. Hell, I've been known to knock down a few bottles of wine. Stopped drinking pretty early on, but still was a little unsteady on my feet. Thank god I was wearing flats. First time I've been somewhat sensible in my shoe choices.
Arrived home and fell into a blissful and deep sleep.
***
Note: While writing this, one of the ferret's got sick and I went with Ingrid to Dove Lewis 24 hour Pet Care. Turns out Mustango is fine. I think she just has heat exhaustion--I'm sure moving down from Alaska and sitting in 90 degree weather all day doesn't exactly work wonders on a ferret. Ingrid was very worried though and I'm glad she's doing alright now.
***
My camping trip this weekend involved the following:__a small plastic horse 
__eating a Tasty Bite dinner I brought, and watching Andrea use some smarts in cooking it for us
It was good!
__eating french fries at the BlueBird in...what was the name of the town? Starts with a B? Bickleton? Bickford? Something like that. Population 90. About 1/2 that was on the "86ed" list posted on the wall. Hilarious.
__attempting to take pictures of deer--there were some 6 pointers! (Just found out this weekend "points" refers to how many antlers a deer has. or something. I think it's a hunting term. Ewww.) 
you have to look carefully to see them, but they're there! And they were MUCH more majestic in person.__watching Andrea and the guys shoot a gun (or rather, shoot bullets) at PBR cans attached to trees. They had a blast. Shooting a gun is something that I don't think I ever want on my Have-Done list.
__spending hours in the hammock, reading and delving into deep and satisfying talks with Andrea regarding relationships, career choices, and personal growth. I reread Personal Velocity which is great collection of vignettes centering on radically different women. It was made into a movie with Parker Posey (Eeeeeee!) but I haven't seen it yet. I also FINALLY started The Red Tent. Took me about 6 attempts over 3 years. Turns out, when you're stuck on 20 acres of land in Eastern Washington it's easy to give a book a second, or in this case 7th, chance. And--it's amazing! Loving it so far. Has anyone else read it?
Okay, also, here's some music Craig Steele sent me; it's a rad playlist. Check out Frente--Bizarre Love Triangle.
Vgun Playlist
Oh, and I'm including a few pictures from the other night, 1st Thursday, when Dave Pendleton and I attended a party at The Wyatt (a gorgeous property that had been destined as condos, but with the Portland housing market the way it is now, they're merely REALLY expensive rentals) and shoulder-rubbed with the rich and the hip. And later, Ingrid give Gracie drunken break-dancing lessons.
This is a pepper-infused vodka with passionfruit juice and a cilantro leaf garnish. YUM!These cupcakes below were made @ BridgePort Bakery for the party. What tasty-lookin' morsels.
Okay, so. I'm exhausted from my stripper night last night, and am headed off to bed after my cup of tea.
Oh my goodness. I've been so busy with the move, and work, and then camping, that I haven't had time to post. I meant to post days ago, about all these yummy things I've been eating, and then I meant to post about my camping trip. I still might post about that sometime-so much fun, and good food, good company, good sunburn? yikes.
Well, here's a picture of our grilled pineapple . Yum.
BUT--tonight--so great I have to focus on it.Went to Tube--Ingrid and I biked there to meet my brother Ahimsa and his wife Michelle for a show. This band is from New Zealand, but lives and plays here now. I don't remember their name, but they were awesome. All short, energetic & cute boys. We had a blast. Ordered some food:
Meatball Sandwich with a green salad. Good, but I think the bun was microwaved. Definitely go there for Happy Hour food. Maybe not after that. Decent, but worth $7? I dunno.
Ingrid got the Taco Platter.
Danced, chatted, told stories. Ingrid wrote messages to a boy on a napkin (the boy wasn't on the napkin, but the messages were. Sheesh.) Some guy came up to me and asked, "So, you from Portland, or wherever?"
I said, "Portland. I don't know where Wherever is."
He looked at me. I looked back at him. That was the end of the conversation.
Ahi and Mik had to catch their bus. Ingrid and I took off for home, around midnight. We drove past Magic Gardens, an Old Town Strip Club.
"You wanna go in?"
"I dunno. You?"
"Sure."
We parked our bikes, were accosted by a guy in the street, wanting money and a dance (!) and we promptly decided on moving on to Union Jack's. I haven't been to this strip club in maybe a year? Maybe two? But it's my favorite. The girls are alternative--ballet flats, leg warmers, tattoos EVERYWHERE, attitude, and sometimes big smiles.
We biked up Burnside, ordered a martini, and took a seat. Came across several fun people, who were even more fun when we decided to introduce ourselves as lesbians.
I've never done this before; I feel kinda cheezy when I lie to people about who I am. But tonight was... different. Everyone was so nice. The guys weren't creepy, the girls were sweet, and the sky was limitless.
We met a couple who said they were introduced on Ashley Madison, a dating site for married people seeking extramarital affairs. Ingrid is pretty sure they're just a really nice couple from Beaverton pretending. I fell for it. Dove into their stories, offering advice and smiles. Once Ingrid clued me into the fact that they were pretending, I felt much better about being a lesbian for the night. I would love to post pictures about this part of the evening, but it involved a lot of martini's, a lot of boobs, and a lot of punani. No pictures allowed.
HOWEVER, Scott, or Doug as Meghan sometimes accidentally called him, offered to buy the 3 of us girls a lap dance. His lover Meghan and her two new lesbian friends.
We picked our favorite and went into the best booth. Curtains, plush chairs, and a naked lady. What a nice night. The 3 of us ladies chatted a bit. Then Krista got down to business.Ummmmm...... Oh my gosh. Mmmm. Wish I could put pictures up. Never had a lap dance before. Let's just say--if you haven't, please go out and get one.
Closing time. Headed out and took some pictures. Biked home, a little worse for wear, but one of the funniest nights I've had yet. Next time I'll write about food and drink. This time I got too caught up in strippers and affairs.
*************** Okay, I posted a picture of the happy couple, but realized that on the off chance that they really were conducting an illicit affair, I probably shouldn't put pictures of them online. But, rest assured, they were cute. Here's a picture in substitute:
Well, my friend Anna and her boyfriend Eric are here staying with me. They hail from the lovely city of Charleston, South Carolina.
They've been in town visiting while I've been attempting to haphazardly move some stuff over to my new house/opulent loft/huge living space thing I'm moving into.I stayed the other night at my new place with Ingrid and Jameson (who's going back up to Alaska today.)
We drank copious amounts of booze--I had boxed red wine--more delicious than one might think, especially after a few glasses of white wine and sangria--and they had beer. We wandered around the place, glasses in hand, planning what Ingrid and I were going to do with all the space. Great Ideas were bandied about--like a movie projector in the living room.Snacks seemed like a good idea, so Jameson headed to the Shell Station with 15 bucks. Gross.
(The best combination I came up with was a jalepeno corn chip and a square of Hershey's chocolate. *shudder*)
Yesterday my brother came over and helped me take a load over. We went over to Por Que No on Mississippi after. He hadn't been there before, and he loved it. We had a raspberry limeade and chips and salsa.
and I ordered 2 veggie tacos--home-made corn tortilla, beans, and veggies. Not just wimpy veggies either, but mushrooms, broccoli, tomato, yellow squash, zucchini, and tomatoes. Delicious. Typically, I forgot to take pictures of our food. I get so excited I just dive right in! Just know--it was fresh and filling and...just good.
I took a nap and then headed to the gym and then met up with Anna & Eric and our friend Erin at Serratto for Happy Hour. I had a green salad with garlic chips (left out the beets and chevre) that was pretty good and then Erin and I split the pizza of the day (Pizza Del Giorno): tomatoes, basil, mozarella, and tomato sauce. I don't think there was a single vegan option there.
After, I had a glass of Muscato and we all shared some dessert:
Headed over to 21st Bar and Grill, where my camera died. After a few beers, we decided to try out Bar Mingo, the companion area to Cafe Mingo that just opened a few months ago.
We had a few drinks, but I got sleepy, and was ready for home. Craig Steele and his friend visiting from Boston came by for a drink before heading to Sinferno @ Dante's, and then Anna and Eric and I were done. We headed home for sleep.
Today I'm going to go get boxes--maybe at BridgePort?--and do a lot of packing and cleaning. I stepped on a stupid roll of tape yesterday and cut my toe on the serrated edge. I have 3 band-aids on it. Ouch.
Today I've been feeling very cantankerous and grouchy, so will instead focus on yesterday.Yesterday was the last Thursday of the month. Here in Portland, that means Alberta Street turns into a big hippy/art/drink/fire dancing/food/etc party. This happens every last Thursday during the good months, folks.
It's awesome.I met my brother and sister-in-law for a bite to eat before we were to venture down. My friend Shelley joined us. We ate at the Vita Cafe on 30th and Alberta. This place is one of the oldest, that I know of, vegan/vegetarian restaurants in Portland. It's the first one I ever went to, at any rate.
As a snack, my brother and Michelle and I decided to share the Spicy Tempeh Sticks with a peanut dipping sauce:
I think it's their "chicken-fried steak" tempeh, just cut up into strips, but it was pretty good. The peanut sauce was a little thick and not very peanut-y, and the whole thing could have used more of the hot sauce, but honestly, any time I get a plate of fried tempeh I will probably be pretty happy.
Shelley showed up and the two of us split a Supergrain Salad--black and white quinoa, currants, pumpkin seeds, some other stuff I don't remember, and a carrot ginger dressing. Nice and lite. Great meal to split after deep fried tempeh.
After dinner, we meandered over to Tour de Crepes a few blocks down. My friend Marcy and her husband John own this adorable little shop. You've got to go out back to this food cart thing, order, and then take a seat at their tables-half of which have old awesome doors as the table top.
We shared a vegan crepe (!) that had hazelnut liquor and dark chocolate. Mmmmm. Marcy, you're a genius.
Michelle, Shelley and I also had a champagne cocktail. I had a belini--peach puree, a slice of peach, and champagne. They both had the raspberry lime belini. I definitely recommend stopping by here (closed Mondays and Tuesdays I think.)
We wandered a bit after that, every single bar was at capacity, and it seemed the streets and sidewalks were as well. After Shelley and I stopped by a party for a minute to say hi to our friend Maryanne, (and have a pint of IPA), we headed down to the Bye and Bye on 10th and Alberta.
All vegan bar, all the time. This place is AWESOME--it's always so packed, and is frequented by meat-eaters and veggies alike. They have a killer meatball sub, and make some delicious braised greens and tofu.
I had a perfectly tart and sweet margarita, and was ready for bed.
Also, this really awesome thing happened to me yesterday: My review of Alu Wine Bar on Yelp was the Review of the Day! That made me pretty dang happy all day. Go check it out!
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