Tiny Tuesday: Crow's Feet

Tiny discovers a family of crows outside of Roomie's window, Arthur explains to her gently why they can't ever be friends.  

Daily Food 11/23/09
Breakfast: bagel with Tofutti
Lunch: lentil soup
Snack: almonds
Dinner: fondue with baguette, glass o' bubbly (that's a classy dinner right there) 

Best Day Ever, part III

Holy hell what a Sunday!  Woke up and had some excellent Tiny Time, headed to breakfast at Slappycakes, where I had a most delicious blood orange mimosa, then back to my apt where apparently there was a brunch planned that I had no part in whatsoever.  Keep in mind, this was around noon, and I'd already been up for six hours, thankyouverymuch.  Neighbor was texting me from across the courtyard to make him a bloody mary.  Roomie was texting me from the other room to make her a bloody mary.  Nothing else for me to do but comply sweetly and turn the Samantha Fox channel on Pandora up very, very loud.  This little brunch party quickly turned awesome after a couple of more friends showed up, CatchPhrase and Trivial Pursuit (Pop Culture Edition) made an appearance, and we watched several Chris Farley clips, including one of my favorite clips of all time:  Coffee Switch.  Oh, man, I could watch it ten times a day. I've already watched it twice today, and it's not even 8 am yet... 

I also made a disastrous dinner last night that started out well but ended up mostly weird.  Roasted Brussels sprouts, curried delicata squash soup, wheat baguette with failed fondue (it completely separated and turned into a science experiment), arugula salad.  The soup was so-so.  The salad was pretty much the only saving grace of the meal.  Spicy, farm fresh arugula straight from the farm in Canby...  delicious. 

Daily Food 11/22/09
Breakfast: roasted veg (chanterelle, zucchini, eggplant) eggs benedict, potatoes, mimosa
Snack: delicious scone from Grand Central Baking
Dinner:  see above
Misc: Sunday bubbly!

Back From SeaTac!

Yesterday, took the bus back up to Seattle from SeaTac (wild ride... apparently those buses are required to drive 95 miles an hour on the freeway), had just enough time to grab a quick bite at a quiet little Japanese restaurant near the train station, and we were back on the Amtrak just in time for another, "All aboooooard!"  We got settled into our sets, then broke out the magnetic travel chess set (and I broke out a little train bourbon).  After that massacre game wrapped, my traveling companion took a little rest and I tried to do anything possible to not listen to the dude in front of me, one of those super irritating college-y traveler types who begins every sentence with something like, "Well, when I was in Amsterdam..." or "Oh, yeah, well when I was in India..."  blah, blah, blah.  Guarantee you this dude didn't pay a cent for any of this world travel.  If that's presumptuous and judgmental of me, then so be it.

He was trying to scheme on a very pretty girl, even moved seats to be across from her, though he had no chance whatsoever.  A1, she had a boyfriend, to whom a very passionate goodbye kiss was given just before getting on the train.  B2, she made it very clear to him before we even pulled out of the station that she had a paper she really needed to read, which she did, as he talked non-stop the entire three hours.  It was less of a conversation and more of a one-man show, with 100% of the things coming out of his mouth being totally assinine.  I was pulling for her for awhile, hoping this dude would leave her alone, but as soon as she started whining about how it was sooo difficult to be a middle-class white girl (relating to getting financial aid for college), I bailed on that hope.  She called it "reverse discrimination".  Brilliant.
 
Roomie picked us up from Union Station, then over to Fire On The Mountain, where JT totally tricked me into eating the super hot El Jefe sauce.  Add that to the list of things that will never, ever be in my mouth ever again.  I don't even want to be in the same room with it.  It was insanity.  And people routinely take the El Jefe challenge at FOTM, including a friend of ours!  They eat upwards of twenty, thirty-plus wings coated in that devil juice!  I had just one little dip and I nearly passed out, with tears running down my face. 

Daily Food 11/21/09
Breakfast: egg, spinach, mushroom, jack, potato scramble
Lunch: vegetable tempura, miso soup, rice, some strange (pickled?) bean sprout salad, green tea
Dinner: green salad with balsamic dressing, meatless chicken nugget-type things with peanut dipping sauce, some kind of microbrew that I cannot remember now.  El Jefe sauce got into my brain.

Amtrak Love, part I.

That train ride yesterday was tops!  Here's how excited I was about getting in the train in Portland:  I bought a trashy celeb smut magazine, raced out to get on the train, sat down just as they were yelling, "All aboard!" and realized I'd left the mag right on the shop counter.  Despite not having any trash to read, it was a delightful trip!  The headphone jack at my seat was broken, so no movie for me, but I had a wonderful time eating my train snacks and staring out the window.  We happened upon a family of deer approaching the Vancouver stop, right before we were stopped on the bridge halfway over the Columbia river... sweet view. 

I'd take a job on a train in a heartbeat.  I love it.  I love it so much.  The sounds, the motion, the sights, the ticket-checkers coming around every so often, the low-tech organization (handwritten seat assignment cards, hello!).  I wonder what those people who work the Bistro Car make... enough to keep living in my slum apartment?  That's really all I need.   

Daily Food 11/19/09
Breakfast: onion bagel with Tofutti, orange juice
Lunch: green salad with black beans, corn, peppers, and cotija
Train Snacks: almonds, sesame honey sticks
Misc: waiting for me at the hotel- my fav bubbly, pre-chilled, plus my fav cheese and crackers, more train snacks  

But Can My Cat Be A Stowaway?

I'm off to work for a few hours and then it's all aboard the Amtrak to Seattle!  So excited.  I love, love, love riding the train and everything about the train stations.  Haven't actually packed yet as I was up late writing letters with some bedtime bourbon, but I'll get my act together shortly here.  I wish I had an old-timey traveling outfit and a hatbox (and a hat to put in it), but alas, my sweatpants and crummy suitcase will have to suffice.  Practically counting down the minutes.

In other news, passed the CPR class yesterday and learned a lot!  It was a little dicey returning to the office with dilated eyes yesterday and I did not wear the super dorky inserts they gave me to wedge between my glasses and my face.  But if for some reason I'm in the midst of giving someone CPR and my glasses get knocked off of my face (and everyone knows I can't see an inch without them), I think I can feel my way through it.  Got pretty well acquainted with my dummy, who I referred to as "Gordon" for no reason whatsoever.  Am now fully capable of working the AED and practiced yelling, "Clear!" just like on ER.  

Daily Food 11/18/09
Breakfast: onion bagel with Tofutti
Lunch: beans, avocado, salsa, pepperjack, corn tortillas, zucchini
Snacks at CPR class: veggies/dip, crackers
Dinner: lasagna and a piece of garlic bread, courtesy Moon ladies 
misc: bedtime bourbon

What a Waste of Spray Paint.

Woke up this morning to a clip on the news showing that overnight, the Keller auditorium has been tagged all over with such enlightening phrases as "Change the system, not your light bulbs".  Not that tonight's Keller visitor, Al Gore, is going to be perusing the perimeter of that building or anything... he probably won't even see it.  And this after Portland PETA people already made a fuss over challenging him to be meat-free for 30 days.  While I think that's a reasonable request from a group like that to a figure like Al ('tis a responsible, green way to eat, with the least impact on our climate crisis after all), he didn't really bite. In any event, while I reserve no opinion on whether or not the 'tags' were relevant, it's just stupid to do that, in that way... and gives actual graffiti people a bad name, too.  Now we all get to pay for the Keller to be scrubbed off and our humble town comes off looking like fifth-graders.    

In other news, I am getting CPR-certified today and I've just found out via email that there will be class snacks involved:  cheese plate, fruit tray, veggie tray.  My office really knows how to feed people.  I am getting my eyes dilated in a few hours though, and I hope I can mouth-to-mouth my dummy ok while cross-eyed.  

Daily Food 11/17/09
Breakfast: Tofurkey slices, pepperjack, wheat bun, V8
Lunch: leftover squash risotto
Snack: almonds, hot chocolate
Dinner: pinto beans with salsa, avocado, corn tortillas
Misc: popcorn and some Dots at the movies

Tiny Tuesday: Totally On Edge

She was pretty freaked out by the wind storm, but so was I as the tree branches outside my bedroom window were smacking up against them and my roof all night long.  

Daily Food 11/16/09
Breakfast: veg sausage/pepperjack/whole wheat bun, V8, trail mix
Lunch: leftover risotto, green salad with pears/walnuts, quinoa salad
Snack: almonds, sesame sticks, fruit leather, hot apple cider
Dinner:  nothing