vacation's all i ever wanted

Hello, internets!! I have returned, you may rejoice! Or roll your eyes, that works, too.

So vacation is officially over and I am officially depressed. (not really) Nineteen days away from work is really the bestest invention ever and should be something I do every month. Ha ha, I kid. (no really, nobody fire me, kay?) The downside of nineteen days of vacation is the coming back part, which is decidedly not part of the bestest invention ever, but I knew that going into it, so.

yes, it's really a screenshot of my Inbox (we don't count the Sustainability folder since it's all from automated online mailing lists)But you know what else is also not the funnest thing ever invented? THE TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN EMAIL MESSAGES WAITING IN MY INBOX THIS MORNING. Jesus H, people! Email in the workplace is srsly of the devil. I suppose I should be grateful(!) that I was gone when many people were also gone for various lengths of time for the holidays, because holy buckets I would not even want to contemplate the horrors. I'm hoping that half of that will be variations on "hey everyone I will be gone for the next 3/5/whatever days so long losers" and "oh yay vendors have brought holiday treats don't trample each other on the way to the kitchen" and thus deleted with no further effort. I AM VERY OPTIMISTIC IN THIS WAY. I kind of don't know yet how bad it is because I am feeling particularly avoidant today and thus haven't delved too deeply. Well, and I had meetings from the moment I walked in the door until, well, right now. Let's see, lunch or cleaning out my inbox...hmmm....

So, vacation! Was, as I mentioned, totally badass! It was a little more hectic at the start than either of us would've preferred due to some scheduling obligations, but nothing too traumatic. Things That I Did On My Vacation: A Thesis:

• completed the creative room, woot woot! (now renamed officially to the studio, except on the web pages here because it would break all the links and I don't feel like fixing them all)
• created our little hearts out in our creative room studio, woot woot! and left projects half-done, and all our stuff out, and it's totally okay because it's not in the middle of the kitchen or the living room and the cats can't get into any of it to chew on things and barf them back up and just generally yay for dedicated creative spaces!
• did some writing on Book 2 in the new creative room studio; also, at the coast
• made some way awesome presents for the homemade Christmas with our Smiley family, as mentioned in the last post (and yes, I still owe a write-up and pics of that...coming soon!)
• finished Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which makes me sad because ye gods and little fishes that show is goddamn freaking awesome and joins the list of great shows that died too soon and I may now be madly in love with John Connor and his almost-human Summerbot and also also ALSO Sarah Connor the mother of us all and Derek Reese of the Reese clan and omg Shirley Manson still a Scottish badass and also in addition I need to see more John Henry playing D&D oh woe why why why was this show cancelled
• went to the movies (saw Voyage of the Dawn Treader but still haven't seen Tangled so we're hoping we can fit it in next weekend before it's gone from the theaters)
• played utterly ridic amounts of Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on the Wii; in other news, we are hilariously behind on gaming trends (hahaha as if we have ever been up-to-date on gaming anything, we are srsly 124 years old)
• got my website clients updated for January (those who sent me their updates, anyway) -- not really a vacation-y thing, but a considerable accomplishment considering my general attitude throughout vacation was "if it looks like work, then I'm not doing it, damn it"

a winter storm raged like a banshee the entire time we were at the coast, and of course the morning we left, it looked like this

• spent four quite glorious days at the Oregon Coast
• went out to eat at a new restaurant (Tasty & Sons); well actually, two, since we tried out Little Big Burger for the first time, as well
• went to brunch on Alberta -- hahaha Tin Shed on any day of the week what was I thinking trying to get in for brunch? god bless Alberta's many coffee shop alternatives or we would have been hungry and thus cranky otherwise -- and then to Collage with Sal and managed not to buy everything in sight
• started (finally) Wheel of Time: The Towers of Midnight and spent much happy time curled up with a satisfactorily heavy book either at the coast with a terrifically ferocious storm raging outside or at home in my terrifically cozy library; also, I have an addiction to adverbifying adjectives
• slept in...like, a whole lot
• did silly time-wasting things like playing an embarrassing amount of Angry Birds on my phone (what I don't even), for which I make no apologies because I freaking PWN that game, dude
• oh yeah, and spent every available moment with my dear and beloved Sally Bear which was still not enough but way, way more time than we've had together in a long, long while

Our vacation clearly rocked it, I think we can all agree. There were a few things not done that we'd hoped to -- no LOTR marathon this year, unfortunately -- but there's no reason we can't do them anyway. It's going to take some time to get back into the routine of things, and there's always that period of the doldrums following a vacation, but it was worth it. Also, the cats have gotten WAY too used to having our attention practically 24/7 so I expect retaliation when I get home tonight. In other news, we live with terrorists.

And you know, we actually aren't planning to get back into the routine of things. We've long since decided -- and vacation was partly used for the planning of making this happen -- that we need to refocus our efforts on boundaries with the demands on our time versus spending our time in a way that's important to us. That refocus is something you just have to do on a regular basis, that resetting of boundaries, and we just haven't had a chance to catch our breath long enough to do it. So we did. Will. Are.

New Years' Resolutions? Nay nay, for we do not believe in them! Instead, these are Our Goals That Just Happen To Coincide With The Beginning Of A New Year No They Are Not Resolutions Shut Up. Anyway, 2011 will hopefully be a good year, better than 2010 was and it better be a damn sight better than 2009 or I'll demand a refund because holy crap, 2009 sucked it.

Anywhoodle, I'm back to work, back to posting, back to catching up on the past house projects so I can post on the creative room studio project, back to folding laundry and doing dishes and other illusions of responsibility, but in a new and revised format in which responsibilities and obligations get a portion of the pie than they were getting prior to vacation.

I'm also back to bentoing. I missed doing it, and I didn't. It was nice being all free spirit-y and lackadaisical about mealtimes and such, but I sure enjoy my pretty packed lunches, lo they give me great joy, Charlie Brown. Still, it's good to take a break sometimes, just so it stays fun and enjoyable instead of becoming another obligation, non?

lunch, Paris slimline:

• jasmine rice with a stripe of peas
• orange sections and Rancho Royale apple slices
• Sal's custom blend of flavored nut mix (part of his homemade Christmas gifts)

special treat, cute animals sidecar:

• sugar cookies Sal made for me last night as a special treat for my first day back to work, which he presented to me as bento animal cookies I KNOW RIGHT HE MADE ME HOMEMADE ANIMAL COOKIES HE WINS ALL THE AWARDS IN EXISTENCE

lol somewhat homely bento I maybe didn't put much effort into it. The protein part of the equation is a tad, um, lacking, but whatever, it's still a bento and it's still one more meal I'm neither skipping nor resorting to less healthy means for.

whale sighting!

snapped on our way into Oceanside yesterdayHello from the stormy and extremely wet Oregon Coast! It's been raining no-stop, with intermittent bouts of wind, since we arrived. It is fabulous.

We braved the rain and slight (though not terrible) chill for a bit of a walk this afternoon. Down to the public lot/overlook just below our cabins and just above the beach, and up and down the length of downtown Oceanside proper (all two blocks of it). The tide is too high to go down on the beach itself, but the lot/overlook provides a terrific viewing point for enjoying the beach in lieu of doing so from the sand.

Since it's about 30 feet above the water, you get a little further view out past the three arches than you do from the sand. And despite the leaden skies and rain, visibility was good enough to spot a whale about a mile or two out from the beach, just past the southernmost of the arches, moving northward. (I know they're currently migrating south, but this one was definitely moving north. Perhaps one of the 400 gray whales that are said to live off the PNW Coast instead of moving between Alaska and Baja?) We of course didn't have our camera, so we just stood and watched with great glee and awe. Our first full day here and already this vacation is a win!

This is actually the second time we've had a whale spotting. The first was during a visit to Cape Meares about four or five years ago -- we saw two small pods migrating north about two miles off the point (three miles off the shore proper). (I still need to catch up on posting old pics from trips like that one, so I'll have to look to see if we had a camera with us then....) Since Cape Meares is such a high vantage, you have a good view all up and down the coastline, so we were able to watch that pod for more than half an hour before they passed beyond our view. And since it was a spring migration, they had several calves in tow, which made it all the more amazing and inspirational.

Anyway, Whale Watching Week continues through the 1st, so if you have a chance to get to one of the designated watch spots, I highly recommend it!

boxing day

a sneak peek at the much talked about creative room; or, a pic in which the kitties prove that they do in fact own every room in the houseI have the "Christmas Time is Here" theme from Charlie Brown Christmas running through my head. I was never a fan of that soundtrack when I was a kid, but it's one of my favorites for Christmas now. (It also contains the only version of 'O Tannebaum' I have ever liked.) I love the introspective, melancholic feel of the music, even though I don't feel that way at all. It seems to suit a grown-up Christmas mood more than a kid's; maybe that's why I didn't like it then and love it now.

We've had quite a vacation so far. We finished the creative room a week ago Friday, amidst other obligations -- including an evening dinner party down in Oregon City -- and have been spending pretty much all our time since then in there, playing. I need to finish updating on the work from three years ago and then I'll have posts and pictures about the work we just finished. I'm so excited to show it to you! I have a gazillion pictures, so be prepared.

We've also been to the movie (Voyage of the Dawn Treader) tried a couple new restaurants (Little Big Burger in the Pearl and Tasty & Sons on North Williams), mainlined more of S2 of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, made gifts for each other and Sister and Guy (we exchanged homemade gifts this year), shopped for the Fabulous Miss M, passed new levels of Zelda on the Wii, slept in a lot, and traveled to Salem and back to celebrate Christmas with our beloved Smiley family.

We headed to Salem Friday afternoon, to arrive to a warm house that smelled yummy and smiles and hugs from Sister, Guy, and Miss M. We had seafood chowder for Christmas Eve dinner, then bundled up and headed to their church for the candlelight service. (And oh man, talk about Charlie Brown Christmas...I can never listen to someone reading the traditional passage from Luke without thinking of Linus' KJV reading.) Then it was home again to get Miss M in her jammies and off to bed, set the coffee table with plates of cookies, and relax on the couch to visit. We brought our Wii controllers so we could do a fun foursome of Wii Sports Resort, but just never got around to it. No complaints here...I love just visiting, and especially around the Christmas tree. Guy read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, we shared our favorite Christmas memories, stuffed each others' stockings, and went to bed waaaay too late.

Christmas morning was opening our stockings, then breakfast of egg dish (a traditional casserole-type dish from Sister's family), orange sweet rolls and pecan sweet rolls (all homemade, of course!), and then we opened gifts from under the tree. Miss M was commendably patient for a three year-old, waiting her turn to open packages in between the opening of the homemade gifts among the adults. (More about the gifts in the next post.) After a bit of play, it was time for a much-needed nap for everyone, Miss M to her bed and the adults crashed on the couches and recliner in the living room.

We enjoyed a late afternoon snack-lunch of cold honey-baked ham, cheeses, veggies, bread, and cookies, and watched a couple of the old Rankin/Bass Christmas classics together with Miss M while we ate. (You forget how scary the Abominable Snowman was to you as a little kid until you watch it with another little kid for the first time. Miss M had to check a few times that Sal was still sitting beside her during those parts, in case she needed protection from the monster.) Before we knew it, it was time to head home to be sure the cats hadn't burned the house down, with Sister cramming plastic containers with leftovers for us to take with us and Guy making sure the beer was all packed safely for the trip home, and Miss M refusing to say goodbye because she didn't want us to leave. A good visit all around!

Hobbes is exhausted after a long day of sleepingWe came home to a house still standing and no immediate signs of destruction, which was perhaps the best Christmas gift of all, considering the state we've come home to at times in the past. The kitties were glad to see us instead of refusing to get near us as punishment for being gone, there wasn't a lot of unpacking to be done (we'd packed light and of course there weren't a lot of gifts to be unloaded) so we were able to just kick back on the couch in contented weariness to watch a couple of movies and then go to bed.

So today is a play day, a do-whatever-we-want day, a this-is-an-awesome-thing-about-being-an-adult-because-you-can-do-anything day, and then ProcrastiGirl arrives tomorrow to watch the cats and the house while we head to Oceanside for our winter coast vacation, a much-needed dose of Oregon Coast. It's supposed to be rainy and yucky, which means it will be awesome. The New Seasons grocery delivery arrives later today so we'll have plenty of deliciousness to munch on (along with everything Sister sent with us), we have a couple of shows to marathon, a new book to read, another to write :), and of course wi-fi and our laptops to keep us entertained if we need it (no seriously: what did we do before the internet??) in between walking the beach, visiting Cape Meares, or simply staring out the window at the beauty of waves crashing on the sand. God bless us, every one.

bento-versary!!

Today marks one year since I officially renewed my bento obsession with bento 2.0 baby!, resulting in about 130 bento lunches and breakfasts in the last year. It's safe to say, I think, that my plan has been a success. I've eaten out for lunch only a handful of times, stopped my (very bad) habit of not eating at all during the day, cut down on lunch expenses, eaten better, felt better, refined my bento routine, and converted a few people to the bento way of life along the way. I've even had a few pretty lunches here and there.

If it weren't the first of the month -- the busiest time of my very busy life -- and if I had my act more together, lunch today would have a bit more panache (and be a tad less monochromatic) to mark the day than simply using the same container as my lunch from a year ago. Then again, that wouldn't really be in keeping with my way of bento-ing, where pragmatic takes precedence over picturesque. Still...there's always room for a few carrot shapes!

lunch, Ms. Bento:

• garden vegetable soup, with a julienned carrot lattice" and heart and star carrot cutouts for garnish
• wraps: herb roasted turkey breast and cream cheese in a flour tortilla
• heart and start carrot shapes, grapes

1,600+ food items filling our lobbySpeaking of food and doing very good things, our office just completed a month-long canned food drive for the Oregon Food Bank and we were, as you can see, mightily successful.

pumpkins from the decorating contest that ProcrastiGirl handpainted with the company mascotOur office is divided into teams so to make things interesting, the food drive was actually a competition among the teams to see who could bring in the most items, with a prize for the winner at the end of the month for the winning team. We also challenged our vendors to try to beat us, and as a result, we ended up with over 1,600 food items.

And finally, just randomly...a week ago, I was on my way home late after an especially stressful day, rushing to pick up my CSA before the deadline and thinking about all the things I needed to take care of when I got home afterward. As I got onto the freeway, I remembered I needed to put gas in the car lest I be stranded on I-5 NB waiting for Comet in busy Tuesday evening traffic. So it was right back off the freeway at the next exit, wading through traffic to a gas station and waiting for the busy attendant to get to me, all the while thinking, "and miles to go before I sleep".

We'd had some impressive storms throughout that day and the three or days before, with dark, dark clouds and rain that came down in a torrent, relentless. But as I was sitting at the light waiting to get back on the freeway, the sun had come in under the the clouds as it was setting, lighting everything up -- including the array of trees in many colors in front of me -- against a backdrop of sky so dark blue gray that it was almost black. A reminder when I probably needed it to be mindful of the now and not to lose sight that life is happening in this moment, and this one, and this one.

the glowing of such fire*

Is there anything better than autumn in the Pacific Northwest? NO THERE IS NOT. We have had days and days of the most beautiful, clear and warm days and cool, crisp nights, interspersed by dark, foggy, wet days that are perfect for curling up with a book and hot chocolate. The leaves are a riot of color everywhere you look-- greens, yellows, reds, purples, oranges, browns -- and the late summer and autumn roses are still blooming. The crape myrtle we planted last year next to the house went completely bonkers this summer (after I thought for sure it had died this winter and was just heartsick over it) and it's blooming this year. Just a few magenta flowers, but a hint of autumns to come.

I love that the season that eases us into the dark and cold and wet of winter is full of fire and beauty. There are many reasons autumn is my favorite of the seasons, but I think that may be the biggest.

lunch, Laptop Lunch:

• bagel sandwich: sesame seed bagel, egg omelet with Australian boxing cheddar
• cucumber shapes in apple cider vinegar; grapes and kiwi berries
• rainbow carrots (including a little deformed one that looks like a curly cue!) with honey peanut butter for dipping
• Spitzenberg apple

* from here

taste of fall

click to see the full gallerySal had a cooking demonstration to do at the annual Apple Tasting festival at Portland Nursery yesterday, so ProcrastiGirl and I spent some time there to show our support. Oh, and there might have been apples (and pears).

His demo involved making mini apple tarts (which are kind of pretty much the best thing ever), in which he sautees fresh apples with a bit of butter, spices, vanilla, and Grand Marnier and then pipes it into pretty little tart shells. The part where you gobble them up greedily while they're still hot and bubbly? Entirely optional. BUT I DEFY YOU NOT TO. (He also had samples of a pear coffee cake to try, which caused ProcrastiGirl's eyes to roll to the back of her head...so, yeah.)

click to see full galleryAfterward, we wandered around the various tents and displays, and we snacked on apple streudel and caramel apples, and took pictures with scarecrows, and filled bags with a variety of fresh apples and pears at $0.89/lb. Seriously, 50 varieties of apples and pears. I took some beautiful pics, which you can see here. It was a perfectly perfect Pacific Northwest kind of thing to do on a perfectly perfect Pacific Northwest kind of day.

So there's a bit of yesterday and fall in my bento today, in the form of a Spitzenberg apple, which was supposedly Thomas Jefferson's favorite apple and is the variety he grew at Monticello. Your fun apple fact for the day.

breakfast, pink natural lunch:

• half an herb & cheese bagel (w/foil as baran, which yes, breaks my rule about disposables, but it was necessary and since it's recyclable, I'm okay with it)
• cream cheese in the cup
• half a Spitzenberg apple

lunch, ms. bento:

• broccoli cheese soup Sal made Saturday night*; contains cheese, broccoli, potatoes, squash, onions, red pepper, and tumeric (hence the vivid yellow)
• sourdough bread; rainbow carrots, with carrot stars for garnish
• half a Spitzenberg apple; grapes, dark chocolate-covered raisins

*We had a series of downpours over the weekend (though it cleared nicely in time for Sal's demo on Sunday), the type of days when you have to turn on the lights during the day because it's so dark out there. In other words: perfect. So fo course I was craving soup to suit the cold and rainy weather, and Sal was very sweet to oblige.

the sea sings to her in wind tossed whispers

Hello friends and internet denizens! We have returned from our Fall Getaway, our annual September-ish escape to our Oceanside hideaway for an extended weekend. For those following along at home, we make this trek at least four times a year -- extended weekends in spring and fall, longer vacations in the winter and summer. We try to make it to the coast at other times, too, even if only for the day, but having those four getaways proverbially circled in red in on our electronic calendars are our talismans against the humdrum of life that can wear a soul down with routine. Of course, returning to said routine can be a bit harder in those initial days, but it's a price worth paying.

From Friday night until Monday morning, we escaped to a cozy little cabin and holed up together while weather raged outside. It was a particularly -- awesomely -- stormy weekend, with buckets of rain and intermittent wind, yet freakishly warm. Especially for the coast.

We didn't bother taking a whole lot of pics since it was mostly gray, gray, and gray (though beautiful!). But the sun did peek out for a brief time near sunset, because even Nature isn't above showing off from time to time. So we did snag a few to memorialize yet another wonderful retreat to our beloved Oregon Coast.

It all made for the perfect atmosphere for curling up under blankets and watching movies and reading books and nibbling on many yummy things. Hence my lunch today....

breakfast, pink strawberry sidecar:

• Honeycrisp apple
• Bartlett pear
• Reliance grapes

lunch, laptop lunch:

• meats: Niman Ranch ham, herb roasted turkey breast, Applegate Farms pepperoni; cheeses: Mahon, Jarlsberg, gouda, smoked mozzarella, Cotswold, maple smoked cheddar, Dubliner
• French batard slices and carrot sticks
• more French batard
• Honeycrisp apple and Reliance grapes

ahoy, mateys!

Sunday be International Talk Like a Pirate Day, the finest holiday o' the year!

If yer lookin' to buckle yer swashes, heave to the starboard side fer the 5th Annual Portland Pirate Festival! Ye olde festival be this weekend in me own port-of-call, Cathedral Park (under ye olde St. Johns Bridge). Bring all yer landlubbin' mateys fer a weekend o' singin' sea shanties, plunderin' fer treasure, and drinkin' down the best grog o' the Seven Seas. Thar be lots more swashbucklin fer the whole crew (even the littlest scalawags) and ye can even shiver yer timbers with an actual ship-to-shore cannon battle! Hope to see ye thar, ye scurvy dogs...ARRRR!

[BTW: Having trouble accessing our site the last few days? Have you been getting an error when you try it during the day, and then it'll work later in the day/evening? Yeah, I don't know what's up with that but I'm trying to sort it out. In the meantime, please bear with me and keep checking back...we're still here, I promise!]

I haven't been posting pictures of breakfasts lately since I've ended up eating them in meetings a lot recently, and get enough grief about my "fancy meals" as it is without snapping pics of my food with everyone sitting there at the conference table. (Well, grief isn't the right word. There sure is a lot of interest whenever I open my bento boxes, though. One coworker even comes into my office for the unveiling each day...I think she'll be purchasing her first box any day now. Muwhahahahahaha....)

breakfast, cute animals sidecar:

• heart molded egg -- well mangled egg, really...the shell broke while I was boiling it and I had trouble getting the shell off when I was peeling it, so
• apple slices -- no idea of the variety...Chris and Nolan picked apples at one of the old public apple trees on Sauvie Island and included them in this week's shares as a treat
• cashews and raisins

lunch, black strawberry:

• star molded egg
• smoked sausages
• rainbow carrots
• cherry and lemon drop tomatoes
• apple slices
• maple smoked cheddar
• cashews and dark chocolate raisins

Yesterday was overcast all day like it would be for rain, but there was none and the air was heavy and muggy. It finally started sprinkling a bit late in the afternoon, and by early evening, was steady. And then last night...oh, last night. Steady and heavy, but the air so incredibly temperate and fresh that I had every window in the house thrown open as far as it would go. This, this is the weather I love the best, in the season I love the best. I baked chocolate chip cookies and sat at the kitchen table with the door open to the back porch, listening to the sound of the rain in the trees while I worked on my art journal.

It should come as a surprise to no one that I'm a water sign.

i am the heart that you call home

The Decemberists, "The Engine Driver"This Saturday was the Decemberists concert at Pioneer Courthouse Square we've been looking forward to for months. And it was everything that is awesome about The Decemberists, Portland, September, and people in general.

But first -- today's bento, using a box I haven't broken out in awhile.

lunch, deli club:

• herb roasted chicken
• pan sauce Sally made last night from pan drippings (pork chops for dinner), onions, and basil
• baked potato with sour cream and butter
• cucumbers and cherry and lemon drop tomatoes (from our garden)
• Gala apple slices and red grapes

Except for the tomatoes, the veggies are all from our share, the fruit from our bin delivery. This has been a terrible year for the garden, and everyone we talk to says the same. Seeds from last year's end-of-year tomatoes that got composted got spread into our garden as a result, and they completely took over both beds, strangling what few things were able to make it through the months of cold and rain we had in May and June and into July. But of course we had hardly any hot weather this summer, so we have two beds chock full of insane tomato plants absolutely covered with green tomatoes. (And the majority are cherry and lemon drop tomatoes, so they're far too small to justify the time of making green tomato relish.) Sigh. The vagaries of nature, I suppose.

So anyway, the concert! Was awesome! And I still love The Decemberists the mostest! Like of all the things in all the world!

Pioneer Courthouse Square on a perfect September daySaturday was actually part of MusicFest NW, which is 200 bands at 20 venues in 5 days. The Decemberists played at Pioneer Courthouse Square, known locally as "Portland's living room" because it's smack in the middle of downtown and there are always events and rallys and concerts and activities going on there. The weather was absolutely spectacular -- clear and warm -- and just being there, in the center of our city on a gorgous September evening with our favorite music right there, live...well.

Weinland, who were awesomeThey had three bands opening for them, starting at 4 PM with Weinland, who were fabulous. Blue Giant followed, who we liked but didn't love, and then Laura Veirs with Hall of Flame. They were okay, too, but totally the wrong vibe right before The Decemberists. Which, I get why she got that billing because of her collaboration with them on Hazards of Love, but it was music better suited to a coffeehouse than pumping up the crowd before the main act at an outdoor venue.

another side of Pioneer Square, the view directly behind where we were sittingWe opted to sit on the bricks toward the back of the square (one side of the square is an amphitheater-style series of sloping walkways and steps) rather than stand on the square closer to the stage. Not so great for being close to the band and hard on the keisters after 6 hours, but our ears and our feet thanked us for choosing that option. We were at just the right range to see everything on stage and enjoy the music without hurting our ears or needing ear plugs.

taking the stage with "The Infanta"By the time The Decemberists came on stage (7:30), our butts were sore and Laura Veirs had sucked our will to live right out of us, but as soon as they came on, it was totally worth it. Colin Meloy was adorable and hilarious as usual and they sounded terrific. They launched right into "The Infanta", followed by "Billy Liar", so things were hopping in short order.  The set list:

The Infanta
Billy Liar
Yankee Bayonet (w/ Laura Veirs)
Rise to Me (new song off their upcoming album)
Down By the Water (new song off their upcoming album)
The Engine Driver* (and yes, I flipped out, and got a vid, and multiple pictures)
O Valencia!
16 Military Wives
The Rake's Song
Won't Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga)
The Island

Encore:
June Hymn (new song off their upcoming album)
Sons and Daughters

closing out the show with "Sons and Daughters'That last was such a fitting tribute for the day that it was, and I appreciated that instead of some kind of long monologue about 9/11 or choosing to cover something as a commemoration -- neither of which is their style -- they opted instead to simply acknowledge the day and that there's nothing that can be said, really, and then play the song that has so much to say about events that define us and generational grief, asking us to join in as harmony with "here all the bombs fade away".

I took a million gajillion pictures and several short vids, so be thankful I didn't post them all. (I would've liked to take advantage of my Droid's capability to do long vids and shoot at least a few minutes of a song or something, but they had security people roaming all the damn time, so I couldn't do more than 10 or 15 seconds at a go. But I did get them singing my two favorite lines from "The Engine Driver", so...score.)

*from "The Engine Driver", for readers who aren't familiar with The Decemberists**:

I am a writer, a writer of fictions
I am the heart that you call home

**(and to you I say: OMG WHUT GET THEE TO A MUSIC PROVIDER OF YOUR CHOICE SRSLY WTFBBQ)

i'll point in the direction you sing to me

I could swear the weather man said yesterday was going to be in the 80s. Which means he basically lied or doesn't know jack (or I'm mistaken, as vanishing a possibility as that is), because yesterday? Was hot. Not surface of the sun hot, but when you're expecting 80s and you get mid 90s, that's not good times, y'all.

Which means the dinner I'd planned to make for myself had to be scrapped because I have no desire to eat anything when it's hot, let alone cook anything. Which meant no leftovers, and thus, today's lunch of randomness. Like that's anything new.

breakfast, pink strawberry sidecar:

• half a Granny Smith apple
• blueberries
• blackberries
• slice of (homemade by me!) zucchini bread

lunch, blue bunny & moons:

• ham rolls
• cucumber slivers
• smoked gouda
• cheese crackers (Annie's organic bunny crackers ftw!)
• the other half of the Granny Smith apple, sliced
• another slice of (homemade by me!) zucchini bread
• blueberries
• dark chocolate covered raisins

Needs some more veggies and a carb/starch, but oh well.

I've been on the hunt for a CD by a short-lived band called Blue Merle, and didn't want to have to resort to Amazon* if I could help it. Stopped by Everyday Music downtown last night, but they didn't have it, and it showed as backordered (read: unavailable for order) on their computer. The guy offered to call their other stores and thankfully, the store on Sandy had it (and put it on hold for me), but I wasn't in the mood to slog through rush hour traffic down Burnside to the east side and through all that construction where they're diverting Sandy onto Couch.

*(No iTunes, either, unless I'm desperate and/or lazy. I HATE that they make it difficult or impossible to burn (some? most? all?) songs as MP3s on a disc (vs. being able to make a regular audio CD...so nice of them to "allow" us dirty peasants to start doing that finally) so I don't buy much music on iTunes, unless I'm sure I won't want to make a big mix MP3 CD with it. I'm a slave to all things tech and electronic as much as the the next geek girl, but don't fuck with my music, for that way lies badness.)

So I texted Sally to see if he wanted to head over there with me after he got home from work. And this is reason #65,782 that Portland is awesome, because Everyday Music is not only open, y'know, every day, but they are also, ALSO open until midnight every day. We've taken advantage of this very feature many times in the past, and I was quite pleased to be able to last night, because I really wanted that CD nowish. I know! What is up with me and this instant gratification thing? It's like I'm five years old.

Sal picked up the new Mumford & Sons while we were there, and we had a nice drive home listening to new music with the windows rolled down, cruising through our nighttime city.

I've been all over the place with music lately, which is generally an indication of my mood. So I guess that means I've got a lot knocking around in my noggin of late. Broken Bells, Fleet Foxes, Aimee Mann (of course), Cat Power, Mirah, Blue Foundation, Bon Iver (I can't imagine ever tiring of them) and then randomly, early No Doubt and Journey(!) and Nirvana. Wtf, brain?

Oh, and I'm obsessed with that new Brandon Flowers single, "Crossfire". (And revisiting The Killers because of it, along with Pet Shop Boys, because holy crap, do they sound like each other.)

Weirdly, though, I haven't been in the mood for The Decemberists lately, which has me a bit freaked out, frankly. (Though I expect my burning love will be reignited after the concert in a couple of weeks.) I mean, The Decemberists are my constant! What happens if I get caught between time dimensions and my nose starts bleeding and then the smoke monster comes for me? What then?

a feeling of fall in the air...

It's not even September yet and already it feels like fall. Last week's heat wave came (thankfully) to a halt with the cooler weather of the PNW that we know and love, and it seems like the switch has been flipped into fall, even if the calendar doesn't say so. This happens to me every year, the feeling that fall is coming by the end of August, and with it, a deep-seated drive to get the winterizing done before the first frost in September.

Which is hilarious, really, because if we get any frost at all, it won't be until November/December, and we have months of warm weather and beautiful days ahead of us still. What can I say, 27 years in Wyoming, those old instincts die hard. But the vine maples do start changing right around this time, so it's not entirely without premise that I would be sensing that autumnal feeling in the air. Although I did hear on the news last night that we're not done with the heat yet...another 90 degree day coming up tomorrow, supposedly....

Regardless, a roast/stew in the crockpot yesterday seemed just the thing. And I did a bit of baking to use up the zucchini and summer squash that've been in our share for the last few weeks now. So I'm ready for fall, even if the mercury has decided to make a few more jumps upward.

lunch, Ms. Bento:

• stew: potatos, carrots, onions, green & royal burgundy beans, chard, and tomato with a pork shoulder roast
• onion sesame crackers and some gouda
• fresh-picked blackberries* (with a few leaves of greens for contrast)
• homemade zucchini bread

*We had a wonderful, wonderful family weekend with Sister, Guy, and the Fabulous Miss M, which included berry picking at a nearby farm. More about that hopefully tomorrow, when I have a couple of pictures that we took together.

(NOTE: I fixed the issue that was making the small pictures unclickable. Now when you click it, the small image above should open up a larger version.)

heat and the marking of a decade

This weekend was the kind of hot I loathe, the kind that sucks every last bit of will and energy you have and spits it out on the baking sidewalk to sizzle into oblivion. We had exactly two things on our to-do list for this weekend -- 1) washing the Prius, and 2) washing the Camry -- and accomplished neither of them.

But! We do get to sleep on the back porch when it gets hot like this, and we have a perfectly idyllic backyard to enjoy, so there are things to be thankful for. Plus -- and I do feel guitly about this -- as hot as it's been and is forecasted to get, we've had an insanely cool and mild summer while the rest of the country has sweltered. So really, I have no business complaining.

lunch, blue bunny & moons

• grilled Thai peanut chicken skewers
• jasmine rice
• green and royal burgundy string beans
• rainbow carrots
• cherries
• Babybel cheese with sour cream & chive bunny crackers as gap filler

Yesterday marked the 10 year anniversary since we packed up our possessions and left Wyoming for our Great Oregon Adventure. Tomorrow will mark 10 years since we became Oregonians. Ten years. It seems simultaneously like it was just yesterday and like it was another lifetime.

and the stars, they fall, but they burn brightest then

After Sal got off work last night, we packed a small cooler with snacks, a bag with warm clothes, grabbed the camp chairs, threw it all in the trunk, and around midnight, headed to the Gorge to catch the Perseids. Last night (early this morning) was supposedly the best night for the shower and they were forecasting as many as 188/hour at the peak.

taken on our daytrip; this is the view from the lookoutI'd had the idea to try a lookout on the Old Columbia River Highway -- it was fresh in my mind after our daytrip with Cat a couple of weeks ago -- called "Portland Women's Forum" (yes, I know, it's a weird name for a lookout point). The lookout point is actually on a hillside so the entrance is at the top, there's a long driveway with parking along its length, and then a turnabout at the bottom, with fir trees on the western edge and a vantage that looks east toward Vista House and across the Gorge. We figured there was a good chance that either 40 billion people had the same idea, or that it hadn't occurred to anyone and we'd have the place to ourselves. But it was only an hour from the house and would be a great vantage point and we were on an adventure, so we figured we'd give it a shot.

Well, we didn't have the place to ourselves, and there were cars parked along the highway leading up to the lookout point, but it wasn't bad at all. We didn't have to park far from the entrance and after a short walk, found a nice spot at the bottom of the hill to set up our chairs with some space all around us. There were probably a few dozen people at the bottom of the hill with us, spread out across a clearing that's a few hundred feet in diameter, so it wasn't crowded at all. And then we just settled in facing east/northeast, munching on snacks and enjoying the show.

Earlier in the evening, the stargazing n00bs (or straight-up dumbasses) did the usual n00bery of driving the whole length of the parking lot as if they're going to magically find a spot that all the other people parked up on the road didn't find, and blinding us all with their lights -- or, god help me, fog lights -- and generally earning the ill will of a hundred strangers. The morons who'd parked directly across from us and left about 45 minutes after we got there will never know how close they came to a messy demise -- they piddly-dinked around their SUV for about 10 minutes while they were getting ready to leave, the SUV's rear lights and brake lights on the whole entire time. They were apparently oblivious to shouts from the crowd to turn off the effing lights, so they fail at not only stargazing etiquette, but also, basic common sense and general courtesy.

But dumbasses notwithstanding, it was great fun. People talked and laughed softly and there was a kind of low-key party atmosphere about the whole thing. Whenever a particularly good meteor streaked across the sky, there'd be a collective "Ooooooh" all across the lookout area. At one point, some wit hilariously quipped, "Double rainbow!" which had Sal and I busting up for quite some time. Ah Internets, what was life like before you?

from the NASA websiteThe night was beautiful and calm and perfect for watching the meteor shower. Which was breathtaking. We saw quite a few meteors and in between, just sat in comfortable silence enjoying the moment and being together and thinking how incredibly lucky we are.

We left at 2 before it really ramped up because we had an hour long drive back and had to work today. So worth it, though! We hadn't done that kind of thing in a long time -- way too long, in truth -- and we were reminded how much we enjoy them, love being able to throw some things in the car at midnight and take off somewhere...I think there'll be more night time jaunts in our future.

weekend fun, then back to the grind

I purposefully chose the Ms. Bento this morning as a motivator to get myself out the door at lunch and eat at the park. I haven't had a chance in awhile to do that. It's so easy each day for me to get to a point where I just can't get away and end up eating at my desk, so sometimes I just have to Have A Plan. And the only way I could drag myself out of my comfy bed this morning, after such a fun weekend, was to promise myself that I would eat lunch at the park today, dammit.

lunch, Ms. Bento

• stir fry -- kale, rainbow chard, bok choy, onion, garlic, chicken, broccoli, snow peas, peanuts, secret special sauce ;)
• jasmine rice
• half a Jazz apple (the other half, along with some blueberries, served as breakfast)
• chocolate covered raisins

So Cat arrived Friday evening and we headed over to Screen Door, which was her suggestion. She'd heard about it online somewhere -- she has a love and fascination for all things Southern -- and we'd never been there, so it was perfect. Always love trying a new place, but especially with someone who's as interested in a new culinary adventure as we are.

There was a half hour wait, so we walked down the block for iced tea/coffee until our turn for a table came up. We were lucky to get a table on the patio, and the evening was just absolutely PNW perfect: mid-70s, no wind, sunny with a few high clouds. So glad it wasn't hot, because I just have no appetite in the heat and nothing on the menu would've sounded good to me. When she was here this time last year, we were in the midst of 100 degree temperatures, and it sucked.

Unhampered by heat, then, we proceeded to order a gazillion different things: hush puppies and fritters, corn on the cob and buttermilk fried chicken, and a banana and caramel and shortbread pie thing that we probably would've sold ourselves into indentured servitude for. Sally had to work, so we decided early on we'd start a box of leftovers to take home for him, which freed us up to oder so many dishes...win/win!

We rolled out of there stuffed and content and headed home to relax and visit until Sally got home. We probably could've talked well into the wee hours, but since we were planning to spend our Saturday in the Gorge, we decided to be responsible adults and turn in for a good night's rest.

Saturday started out cool and overcast, then cleared and warmed up later, which seems to be the pattern for the last week or so. Cat had never been to the Gorge, nor seen Multnomah Falls, so we decided this had to be rectified immediately.

So we spent the day on a leisurely drive on the Historic Columbia River Highway, stopping at different view points and landmarks along the way, as well as each of the falls that lead up to Multnomah. While we were up on the ridges portion of the highway, there was no wind at all -- unusual for the Gorge -- so it made the stop at Vista House in particular especially nice.

We stopped for a picnic at Wahkeena Falls, then on to Multnomah at last. Which...well, the sky had cleared and it was a beautiful day by then, but we were reminded why we've never been there on a Saturday at the height of tourist season. HOLY CRAP! People everywhere, and the bridge across the falls was packed, and it eliminated any desire we normally have to linger and enjoy the view the way we usually do when we're there. Despite the hordes of people, however, we did still get lots of beautiful pictures.

We kept going east to Hood River, where one of Sal's former students had recently opened a bakery and he was hoping we'd be able to stop in for a bit. Except he couldn't remember the name. So Cat and I both googled madly with the vague clues for some hint of what the place was called and where we'd find it. Thank goodness that man has passengers with unstoppable google-fu or he'd never find anything....

But find it, we did. Unfortunately, the bakery was closed for the day, but he could see someone (not his studen) inside working some dough. He didn't want to disturb them, but Cat and I insisted that we knock on some windows, find a back door, something. Which earned us designations as rabblerousers, like that was a bad thing. Joke's on him.

We were let inside and got an after hours tour of his former student's bakery, met both her and one of her pastry chefs, talked about the challenges of opening a bakery in a small town, providing product for less traditional-pastry-educated palates, the differences between East Coast and West Coast, and the surprising things that do and don't sell. It was a great experience to see the effect of Sal's work, and how much he inspires his students, and how much they look up to him.

We ended up back at home later than originally planned so scrapped our original dinner plans and instead (thanks to the gracious suggestion of Cat, who is the most thoughful house guest imaginable), opted for pizzas from Pizza Fino and a homemade salad. We were able to eat outside on the patio, then once the mosquitos drove us inside, changed into our jammies and curled up on the couch to visit until bedtime.

Her departure on Sunday morning came all too soon, but such is the way of things when you have a dear friend visiting. We're so fortuante to have friends who visit as often as they do, and who welcome us for visits, too. Now if we could just get that whole "independently wealthy" gig going so we didn't have to limit ourselves to weekends in between job obligations, we'd be able to make those visits far more frequent....

there's an old-fashioned countrified theme running through this weekend

This weekend was such a jam-packed weekend that I had to spend Monday recuperating! Actually, I wish that were true, because I really could've used yesterday to recuperate, but instead, had a massive, time-crunchy project that needed to be done and in fact necessitated working from home to finish it. So yay! working from home but boo! working, period.

And although I could've used the evening to rest -- and it was a fine, fine evening for sitting out on the back patio -- I was all responsible and shit and folded the approximately seventy gajillion baskets of laundry that somehow multiplied like rabbits when I wasn't looking. Well, that and Sally is laundry ninja and stays on top of the washing/drying, so one has to be totally kung-fu to keep up with him.

Which meant another lunch packed at late o'clock last night, lots of terrific produce to pick from but no proteins and/or starches/carbs. Well, none that would magically cook themselves, anyway. I resorted to my freezer stash of mini organic sausages -- like li'l smokies, except you know, not evil and full of poisons -- and called it a wash on the starch-y/carb-y goodness.

lunch, black strawberry:

• mini-sausages, broccolini (from our garden!), and cherry tomatoes on a bed of butter leaf lettuce and romaine, with a bit of dressing to make a wee salad
• grapes and strawberries with blueberries as gap fillers, and the last little pieces of chocolate cookie from breakfast

Also, not pictured, sadly, my breakfast. It was tasty and looked so nice (using the Paris slimline), but I ended up eating it in my morning meeting and forgot to bring my phone with me to snap a pic. But it was yummy:

• nectarine-cherry galette that Sally made for dinner Saturday night, bits of chocolate cookie leftover from the batch he made for my company picnic on Friday -- SHUT UP THAT IS TOTALLY A HEALTHY BREAKFAST IT HAS FRUIT OKAY
• cherries, grapes, and strawberries with blueberries as gap fillers

click to see the full galleryIt's been a busy, busy few days. Friday was my company's picnic, held at Oaks Amusement Park. It's this wonderful old-fashioned (and historic) amusement park right on the Willamette with picnic areas all around and the original dance pavilion at its center. We had just gorgeous weather and I took a short stroll to snap some pics from the riverbank and through the park.

Later that evening, I had a dinner invitation with the lovely and erudite DarkEm, who kept dinner simple but elegant and was ever so willing to squee with me over my new phone (DROID X BABY WOOT WOOT). Conversation stretched into the late evening hours, as they are wont to do in her company, and it was an altogether pleasant evening that I didn't want to end.

Saturday, we had a friend coming over for dinner, which meant whipping our poor neglected house into shape and then concocting some wondrous meal to ooh and ahh over. Well, Sal concocted, I did the grunt work of staying on top of dishes. It was a warmish afternoon, but at least that made it perfect for sitting out on the patio for dinner.

The menu Sal came up with was a green salad with a homemade vinaigrette, then a main course of slow-grilled lemon-garlic chicken, parmesan polenta, and cherry tomatoes, and a yummy galette, which of course makes an appearance in today's bento. You can see pictures in his Homemade Masterpieces gallery (though sadly, minus the galette, which we forgot to take a picture of. But it was delicious!)

Late Sunday afternoon was reserved for a wedding of one of Sal's students. He seems to make a real impact on a lot of his students so we often get invites for special events, which we try to attend when we can because it's such a special honor. This was the first wedding invite he's gotten, though, so it was even more important that we go.

The wedding was down in the Canby/Hubbard area, about an hour's drive from the house, at an old homestead smack in the middle of hops fields. They couldn't have asked for more gorgeous weather -- clear blue sky, warm (okay, hot, but not unbearably so), and no wind (not that we get a lot of that anyway).

The wedding theme itself was really sweet, an old-timey country fair sort of idea, and they had some really neat ideas like a candy buffet for guests with lots of old fashioned candies in big glass jars, canned preserves for wedding favors, a cotton candy machine, and lemonade served in mason jars. Dinner was ribs and grilled chicken and all the usual things you'd find at an outdoor country affair, and there was even cotton candy later. Simple and summery and very clever.

The bride was Sal's student and she made the wedding cake herself, so of course there was the requisite discussion with her before the cake was served to discuss technique and whatnot. It looked beautiful and tasted great, so she must've done something right. And of course her chef instructor was pretty proud. :)

We got home and collapsed, but it was a good weekend, full of fun. Between all the time spent eating outside, enjoying the company of friends and reminders of bygone days, we had good reminders to be mindful of these days, to take a moment and enjoy it as it's happening and not let it all pass by in a blur. This is summer, this right here, and we got a full-on dose of it this weekend to remind us.

they're baaa-aaack

Hee. For months and months, dark chocolate-covered (and yogurt-covered) raisins featured in almost every bento. And then I finally depleted my 1 pound supplies (meaning 1 pound of each) -- purchased in January! -- so bentos have been -covered raisin-less since. ::sadface::

I bought some more while I was at New Seasons the other day (not a pound this time) and had a big ol' gap to fill, so it was clearly time to bring back a little treat for myself. Well, that and we're completely out of fruit, if you can imagine such a thing. And the next bin doesn't come until Monday. But raisins count as fruit, and if they just happen to be covered with chocolate? Well, that's hardly a bad thing, is it?

Lunch, blue bunny & moons:

• joi choi sauteed in a bit of toasted sesame oil and soy sauce with crushed peanuts for garnish
• omelet of eggs*, broccoli*, basil*, tat sois*, and a bit of Dorset Red cheese for a smoky, salty bite
• broccoli* for gap filler
• onion sesame crackers
• Marcona almonds
• dark chocolate covered raisins

*from our share

We're in dire need of ordering some groceries. We have a ton of great produce, but are out of staples like bread, milk, sugar, flour(!)(in a chef's house? that's practically a crime), etc. etc. Sigh. Where's my personal assistant who's willing to work for free and live in my basement?

Yesterday while I was out and about running errands, I had some time to kill between appointments. Not long enough to run home, but too long to just sit in the car, especially on such a beautiful summer afternoon/evening. So I pulled over at the Columbia Park Annex and kicked back for a few minutes on a bench overlooking the bluff.

It'll be 10 years next month since we moved here, and I still pinch myself.

lunch reminder of family fun at the farm

Enjoying veggies and the last egg from last week's share and it's got me in mind of the terrific day we had at the farm on Sunday. (More about that -- including pictures! -- below.)

lunch, Fit 'n Fresh:

• salad greens: red oak leaf lettuce, red leaf butter lettuce, romaine lettuce
• snap pea pods, carrots, broccoli; Jarlsberg and smoked gouda cheeses
• more of the mini pound cake Sally made and blueberries from our bushes

Sunday was Kids' Day at Wealth Underground (our CSA) so I invited Sister, Guy, and the Fabulous Miss M to come up for some fun at the farm. We hadn't seen them since Sally's birthday -- far too long! -- so it was nice to get to see each other. And of course to get a refill of Miss M loves and cuddles! We had lunch when they arrived and did some catching up, then headed to the farm.

I know I've mentioned before how much I love the drive out there, but it bears repeating. It's just a few miles from the house, but any time we go north past the bridge, it's like driving backwards in time a little bit. Usually I'm driving from work, so it's a longer trip, but no matter how long my work day is on Tuesdays, I know I have that drive waiting for me at the end of the day, and I know that there's peace waiting for me at the end of the road. I was so excited to share that with our little family.

We were the first to arrive so we got to visit with both Chris and Nolan at length. We got to see the chickens and geese, feed the goats, meet the turkeys (that will be our Thanksgiving birds), and pet the rabbits. We learned that the geese have separated into two cliques and they get into rumbles like any respectable rival gangs should -- they're the Sharks and the Jets of geese! And even though we were conflicting with Miss M's normal afternoon nap, she was a real trooper, content to catnap in mom's arms for a bit while we visited. 

Another sharemember family soon arrived so they joined us as we began the garden part of the activities. Chris and Nolan led us through the old wood door that acts as the gateway to the planting area of the farm. We got to pick and taste flowers, try out our sour faces with some sorrel (which has featured in previous weeks' shares), munch on a bit of dill, water some plant starts, duck through the hothouse to check on the progress of the tomatoes and peppers, climb the sod mountain, and pick (and eat, of course!) pea pods and broccoli. Along the way, we met Eric and Katherine, who also work at the farm.

We were then given the solemn duty of scooping a handful of compost and choosing our favorite plant to feed. Miss M decided we should feed the peas, so we did as ordered. She got a little boost from Dad to reach them.

Our tour ended with the awarding of "garden badges" in recognition of our mad farm skillz in the form of comfrey leaves, which stick to your shirt like magic! (Well, magic to an almost-three-year-old, anyway.)

Oh what a lovely day we had! We talked sustainability and small farming and kids becoming vegetarian when they realize where chicken really comes from and plans for future plantings and childhood memories. We met a rooster named Milton Freewater and delighted in a trampoline repurposed into a turkey pen (coop? enclosure?). And oh my, all the wonderful things that are yet to come in our shares! The weather was perfectly Oregon -- clear and comfortable -- and everything about the day was the stuff of good memories with family. Miss M had lots of fun and the adults had a pretty terrific time, too. As we settled into the car for the ride back to our house, Miss M declared from the backseat, "That was way fun!"

Yes, yes it was.

back to work

The sucky thing about vacation is the part where it's over and you have to go back to being all responsible and stuff. That part blows.

I was actually back to work yesterday, but it was a work-from-home day, so no bento. It seems rather strange to have gone two weeks without making one (I didn't really, but more about that soon in another post). Plus, it's hot, which means I don't have a lot of energy for either making dinner/lunch or for eating, so I'm keeping it simple.

Breakfast, pink strawberry sidecar:

• homemade blueberry muffins (yes, made with fresh berries! that I made!)
• cherries

Lunch, pink natural lunch:

• red oak lettuce
• "sneak preview" carrots from this week's share (as in: not quite ready yet, but they pulled a few to get us excited for the carrots in the upcoming weeks)
• broccoli -- can you tell it's my favorite veggie?
• sugar snaps
• molded egg
• sweet vinaigrette underneath the broccoli to make it all kind of a salad thing (see? the heat makes me even lazier than usual!)

Everything in this box except for the vinaigrette is from this week's share.

Lunch/snack, cute animals sidecar:

• cherries
• raspberries
• strawberries (sadly, not Oregon!strawberries)
• blueberries

Everything in this box is from this week's organics bin. If you're thinking to yourself, "Wow, that's a lot of produce", YES THAT IS A LOT OF PRODUCE YOU SHOULD COME VISIT SO WE CAN PAWN IT OFF ON YOU.

And in the Portland Is Eternally Awesome Department, Reason #65,172:

Portland Officially has the Greatest Hold Music in the World

this vacation brought to you by the letters h and s and the number 2

click to see full photo galleryGUESS WHAT YOU GUYS WE HAVE BEEN ON VACATION AHA. We were being all sneaky.

Actually, would've very much liked to be posting whilst on vacation, because welcome to the 21st century and all, but since scary internet predators love posts that basically say HELLO WE ARE GONE FROM THE HOUSE PLEASE ROB US NAO THX, this is why we can't have nice things. Scary internet predators ruin it for everybody, you guys. Haters be hatin', yo.

So instead, we have had to save up our many days of vacation squeeage for one ginormous post. (We actually returned yesterday -- TO THE SURFACE OF THE SUN I MIGHT ADD -- but this post is so ginormous that it took us a day and a half to get it posted.) Think you can handle it? I don't know, the squeeage here is pretty heart-explodey, you may want to consult with your physician first....

Okay, so now that all the legal clappity-trappity is out of the way -- HELLO INTERNETS WE ARE BACK FROM MANY DAYS OF VACATION AND FUN TIMES. This is actually quite an accomplishment, on many levels and for more than the obvious reason. (That reason being, of course, that the fact that we ever return from time spent at the Oregon coast is a testament to our superhuman skillz of being responsible adults.) The less obvious reason -- at least to most of you -- is that we took the cats with us.

Put the phone down -- you do not need to call the mental health professionals for information on how to have us involuntarily committed.

See, Sally gets two weeks of paid vacation per year and due to the school schedule, they're fixed by the school calendar, so it's a week around the holidays and a week sometime in late June/early July. We take the opportunity during both of these vacation periods to spend at least 4 days at Oceanside, longer if we can. This year, his summer vacation just happened to begin during the 4th of July weekend, and so we were all WOOT WOOT 4TH OF JULY AT THE OREGON COAST BITCHEZ.

What we failed to take into account was how the holiday weekend would affect the availability of our primary and backup pet & housesitters. Whoops. This was a problem entirely of our own making, since we didn't really realize it until a month before, when availability for later in the week was of course gone so we couldn't move our reservations, and cancelling would mean forfeiting our holiday weekend reservation deposit.

So by this point last month, it was looking increasingly grim for our heroes. But! When Sally called the place we usually stay to see about possibly moving our reserved days, Sherry (one of the owners of the place; they know us by name and give us priority reservations because we stay so often) reminded him that they're a pet-friendly place, and that the cabin we already had reserved was one of the "pets allowed" cabins. For a nominal fee and a refundable damage deposit, we could bring the cats with us. And thus, faced with bringing the cats with us or not going at all, we opted to bring them with us. See, I told you: it wasn't craziness, it was desperation. Not the same thing. Same zip code, though.

click to see full photo galleryWe did not choose this course without considerable trepidation, however. Hobbes' cystitis has increasingly become an issue in the last year, and any change in routine has resulted in many frustrating messes to deal with, not to mention the potential of expensive vet visits and medications. Neither of them travels well and the cabin, which is very small for two people, would be close quarters indeed for two people and two high strung cats. We figured we'd just prepare as best we could and make the best of it, no matter what happened. At least we'd still get to go to the coast. This is the "Everything's Better At The Beach" theory of problem-solving.

We brought extra linens and our own pillows, hoping that using familiar-smelling bedding would prevent them from wanting to mark it, and of course their food and cat box and all of that. We brought a few of their favorite toys, some catnip, the Feliway diffuser and some Feliway spray, and we got a prescription from the vet for a mild sedative to help with the car trip and transition to new surroundings.

Our plan was to leave as soon as we could after Sally got home Friday night. Friday night, however, saw both of us having worked an especially long day, ending an especially long work week, with little sleep. These are not ideal conditions for trekking to the coast with four days' worth of your own crap and two demon hellbeasts.

I'd given the kitties their sedative a few hours before, but rather than making it easier to gather everything and pack before Sally got home, it made it infinitely harder. They were both loopy within about 30 minutes of taking the sedative, and completely wobbly and disoriented, but while Hobbes was content to just lay on his cushion and mellow out (at first), Smaug wasn't having it. She kept wanting to jump up on things or suddenly dash off madly to no place in particular, but with the approximate agility of a dog on roller skates. She kept tripping over things, including her own feet, and missing whatever she was trying to jump onto and falling backwards, then skitter/wobbling into a nearby wall, doorjamb, table leg, etc., all the while pitifully crying, "Aroo? Aroo?" I felt simultaneously guilty, sympathetic, and exhaustedly amused -- c'mon, you wouldn't laugh at that? I call bullshit.

So I spent a great deal of time just trying to keep her from accidentally breaking her neck, and then Hobbes freaked out about an hour after she started and suddenly I couldn't keep him out of anything. When Sally called to see how it was going, I'm sure he could hear the hysteria in my voice; I'm still kind of astounded he came home at all, knowing what might be waiting for him there.

But come home he did, and we managed to get them crated (this is a two person job in the best of circumstances) so we could get on with the business of packing and getting out the door. Our plan had been that I would already have everything packed so we could leave as soon as he got home, but thanks to Stoned Cat Theater, we were a good two hours later than planned. We got out of town at a quarter to 1 AM and hoped to hell that neither of us would fall asleep. But Smaug helpfully yowled most of the way so we were in no danger.

We stumbled into our cabin at a little after 2 AM. Once we'd gotten everything put away (read: out of their reach) and appropriately Hobbes-proofed the cabin, we let them out of their crates. After an hour of loves and cuddles to help them feel safe about their new environs, and helping them onto and into the bed (the sedative lasts for 8 to 12 hours so they were still wobbly), we turned in for the night, exhausted. Hobbes proceeded to yowl for the next 2 hours, which is pretty much the only sound two exhausted adults are unable to sleep through. I assured Sally it was simply a reaction to the sedative, and that we did not in fact have nightly yowling to look forward to for the rest of the trip. I had no idea if it was or wasn't, but we were facing catricide here, so I had to think of something.

click to see full photo galleryThat inauspicious start notwithstanding, however, they were amazing the entire rest of the time. Mellow, loving, completely well-behaved. Not once did they pee anywhere other than the catbox. The normal craziness of mealtimes -- in which they go competely batshit at least an hour before feeding time, in which valuables are broken in an effort for attention and humans are heard to utter the phrase, "YOUR SISTER IS NOT A CHEW TOY!" -- was replaced with a calm, orderly manner. There wasn't a single, miniscule threat of a cystitis flare-up and it was nothing but peace, love, and harmony all the live long day. We were seriously freaked out at the change in these cats while were there. Could it be that cats need a vacation, too?

As for us, we were in desperate need of this vacation, and wow, did we ever get it. On the first day, Sherry mentioned that our cabin had just opened up for the night of our departure date and would we want to stay an extra night. And you guys? That right there was proof of a benevolent universe after all, because there was no way we could've been all OMG YES PLEASE to such a thing if we didn't already have the cats with us.

click to see full photo galleryThe weather was a.maz.ing. We had nice but cool, cool and then cloudy, cloudy and then deliciously foggy, nice and a little bit warmer, really really nice and quite pleasanty temperate. Our last full day, we woke up to a perfectly cloudless blue sky that stayed that way the entire day. Most of the day was spent on the beach.

The day before had been mostly clear with a mild breeze, so we'd spent that day walking the length of the beach, in the water the whole way, stopping at tide pools and picking up shells and rocks and sand dollars. (We always bring home at least a rock or two when we go to the coast, so we have something from every visit, but this is the first time in a long time that we've brought home so many.) The first two days, we got to enjoy at least some beach time before it got too chilly, and then we cozied up in our little cabin with our fuzzy little kitties and good food, and marathoned our next new show. (Friday Night Lights, FINALLY! Cat: we must now squee because omg!!)

click to see full photo galleryGood food, of course, is a staple of our getaways. Our cabin this time was one of the ones with a mini fridge and hot plate instead of full fridge and stove/oven, so we have to plan our grocery list accordingly and make more things ahead of time, but still feast like Damn Hell Ass Kings. Tacos the first night, smorgasbord the second, crockpot chili the third (the night of the 4th). We'd intended to build a fire on the beach for the evening of the 4th, and to roast hot dogs and marshmallows and eat s'mores, but it got too cloudy and chilly for that, so we decided to try for Tuesday night and had smorgasbord. Yeah, feel so sorry for us and our awesomeness.

Unfortunately, Tuesday night was too windy for us to feel safe building a fire to roast hot dogs for dinner, but we had plenty to eat so we were in no danger of going hungry. Then near sunset, the winds calmed down and it got downright balmy (the temps all day had been in the 80s, but the wind throughout the day was enough to make it a tad chilly at times). We'd already eaten dinner so it was too late for hot dogs, but hey, we still had those marshmallows that needed a good roasting!

So we hightailed it back to the cabin, changed into some warmer clothes, stuffed a bag full of supplies (matches, newspaper, skewers, marshmallows, graham crackers, chocolate bars...oh, and a beer for Sally and jug of water for me :), and set out for the spot we'd marked for our clandestine beach fire a few days before.

click to see full photo galleryWe'd stockpiled some good dry driftwood and stashed it up in the rocks above the high tide line when we'd been out picking up rocks and seashells. We'd had our eye on a couple of nice firepits someone had built up (probably for the 4th), hoping that at least one of them would be unused once the holiday crowd was gone. They were quite a ways down from the beach entrance, a good mile and a half down the beach, and since most people tend to cluster right around the entrance (something I will never understand -- you have 3 miles of gorgeous beach, people, why the hell are you all concentrating within the same 100 yard radius???), we felt pretty confident we'd be able to use one of those pits.

A decent fog was rolling in by the time we were about halfway there and it well past sunset, so it was a bit dicey whether or not we'd find our stash. We ended up picking the closer of the two pits we'd staked out, which turned out to be the nicer of the two, with a huge log that was the perfect size for seating and a well stacked ring of rocks to give the fire a chance to take hold even with a decent wind.

In no time at all Sally had a good fire base going, and then got it built to a size that was strong and steady without being too big. And from there, we proceeded to roast half a package of giant marshmallows, eating one for every one that we used for a s'more. We watched the waves dwindle away behind the dark and the mist, and most everything around us turn hazy and distant. But it was clear overhead and the sound of the waves echoed back at us from the steep wooded slope behind us, and we could see swathes of stars above. We talked about how long it'd been since we'd sat at a campfire together, how long since we'd roasted marshmallows, how long since we'd seen so many stars, how long we'd been married. It'll be 14 years in a week, and that number seems both too big and too small in all the right ways.

We were done eating long before we were ready to leave, so we just sat and enjoyed the fire until it had mostly burned down, then doused it with sand and headed back in the dark, the waves at our left, the cliffs at our right, the stars overhead. And that ended the last full day of our summer beach vacation.

click to see full photo gallerySo basically, we did like we always do on these secret coast getaways. We read big books from our tottering To Read Pile and listened to iPods and dozed in the sun. We talked and we laughed. We started a new show and ate lots of good food. We waded in the water and got used to sand in and on everything. We took pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. We watched sunsets and listened to waves crashing and dreamed about the tiny little place we'll have on the coast someday.

site news, artwork, and a strawberry theme

Still working on adding things, so keep checking back. We hope to have Sal's beer making adventures up soon, and then I'd like to tackle updating about the house projects we've completed in the four years since the old site was last updated. Including! Pictures from converting the spare room into a library! And of course we're blogging here on the main page regularly. With non-bento posts, even!

Speaking of bento madness, I've just completed an additional page of the site called, funnily enough, Bento Madness. (You can find it in the Smorgasbord dropdown menu.) The new page explains a basic overview of what bento is, how I got started doing it, my own personal bento philosophy, and rules I've made for myself in packing them, as well as two photo galleries that can be viewed as slide shows.  So if you're one of the people new to my obsession with all things bento, perhaps that will make Teh Crazy a little bit clearer.

The first photo gallery contains all of my bento pics since bento 2.0 baby! began, and will include new pics as they're posted. It's interesting to see the evolution of my lunches since my revitalized interest began...well, interesting to me, anyway. (Note that the gallery is actually split into two pages, so they're viewed in two separate slide shows.) The second gallery includes pictures of each of the boxes I use and a short description of each, including its volume. It can also be viewed as a slide show.

Breakfast:

• Oregon strawberries! (if you missed it, read my ode to Oregon strawberries! from yesterday)
• mini sidecar with plain honey yogurt and a dollop of marionberry jam

Lunch:

• stir fry -- onions, scallions, lemongrass, turnips, chicken, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, kale, bok choy, sesame seeds, peanuts, and secret sauce, with more peanuts for garnish
• jasmine rice
• Oregon strawberries! in one half because I just can't get enough, orange creme cheesecake made by Sally in the other half...a bit on the decadent side, but on Mondays, you're allowed a bit of decadence

The weather is beautiful today so I made it a priority to get out of the office for lunch and eat at my little hidden park nearby. Haven't done that in far too long; time to get back in the habit. My day is always better for it.

Another thing I haven't done in awhile: my little notes in my lunch. The quote in my lunch today:

Each life converges to some centre
Expressed or still.

This is the first line from the poem Part One: Life -- LXI by Emily Dickenson. I incorporated this line into a piece of artwork for my office as a gigantic reminder to myself every day I'm there of where my real center lies. (More pics of that artwork to come...I'm thinking it's time for another photo gallery that groups our various creative endeavors in one place.)