New

There are some new things going on in my life.

1.We got a new bike rack!

(This photo sums up why I could never be one of those bloggers who puts a dozen pictures of themselves in every post. I am just too painfully attractive most days)

By “new” I mean we got the towers and bars from a family I used to nanny for, and then bought used bike racks at Rerack (which if you’re in Portland and need a bike rack is the place to go-super helpful, and cheap!)

So we’ve been getting in more bike rides. I broke down and bought spandex shorts. Hawt.

2. I got a new job! Part time, so I’ll still be teaching as well, but I’m working about 15 hours a week at a church so that’s fun. I get to travel to exotic places like Olympia and Spokane. Yay?

3. We got a new restaurant in our hood! And oh my word friends it’s legit. It’s called Verde Cocina and it’s mexican food with a focus on fresh and local ingredients.  They have a lot of vegetarian/vegan options and pretty much everything is gluten free. Delicious, and Hillsdale was in need of somewhere new to eat. We’ve been twice. The first visit I had the gringas

Which were pork tacos with mole sauce and garbanzo bean mash served with veggies and beans.

And the husband had the Buenos Dias which involved local eggs and bacon over veggies and beans plus tortillas (which they make in house)

We did a dinner there too. Our grill is out of gas. And somehow, repeatedly eating out wins over refilling it (or using the actual kitchen in August). Meals out have been winning lately.

And who doesn’t like an excuse to eat some salmon for dinner?

it came with the garbanzo mash and veggies plus blackberry salsa (which was fantastic-had some nice spice!)

Also exciting? Two doors down from Verde Cocina we’re getting a new brewery! More places to get crunk in our hood = better. Always.

and on not new notes, Bliss is an idiot, like always.

Ignorance really is Bliss.

What’s new with you friends?

Realizations

I’ve come to some realizations this past weekend

I realized too late if you run 10 miles*, a normal lunch isn’t going to cut it and you will end up ordering nachos the size of a small child for dinner

Plus a burger that I’m fairly sure used about half a cow. And bacon, just for good measure.

And a salad. Because between the running and the salad you can totally justify the rest of your meal.

And I realized no matter how many baby-sized plates of nachos you eat, when you get home you still need dessert

It happens.

I also realized that helping in my community is awesome. Mostly because my weekend volunteering at Springfest in my ‘hood resulted in this

Free beer. In a parking lot. On a Sunday evening.

I heart community service.

I also realized that when I drink my small-town roots show and I want to make fires.

And if I’ve been drinking I may also want to make s’mores. True story: if you have no chocolate bars, no marshmallows, and no graham crackers your s’mores dreams don’t have to die. You just end up doing this

Those are charred peeps. With the ear of a chocolate bunny shoved in them.

It happens.

And when you’re drunkenly eating molten peeps I’ve realized if you have a loving husband like mine he’ll laugh, tell you that you look homeless, and then take pictures.

Thanks baby.

And most importantly I’ve realized I’ve got less than a week till my husband’s birthday. And since my birthday comes a week after that, I need to get him some killer presents to insure I get awesome ones. So it’s shopping time!

Happy Monday friends!

*Um yeah, I ran 10 miles. Madness. I get pissy if I have to drive 10 miles normally.

Negation

If you’ve been reading this blog for very long you know I live in Little Beirut (aka Portland, Oregon).

And if you live in PDX you may have also figured out I’m a westsider.  Which is how I had no clue there were TWO Petit Provences on the eastside-thanks to my far smarter local readers for letting me know in the comments!)

I know that there’s all sorts of cool things on the eastside of Portland.  I do.

But I buy my jeans at Costco.  I’m not cool.

So we hang out in our hood.  We like our hood.  Plus, walking to dinner totally negates the calories you consume.  It’s a fact.  (I should add that to my rules)

So recently we had these amazing calorie free sandwiches at Caffe Autogrill

Delicious (pancetta and turkey)

And even more delicious (ham and salami)

Plus, the other perk of going places you can walk?

You both get to drink.

(The walking burns off those calories too.)

And yesterday we had a happy hour at Salvador Molly’s.  We’ve been there before a few times.  Food is absurdly cheap, so you gotta get a bunch of things.  Like pulled pork

and fries

and duck wings

(plus the quinoa in the background)

and tempura apples

The quarter mile walk home totally works all that off.

And if you have a few drinks with your happy hour (because again, walking = we both drink!), it’s hard to resist stopping at Baker and Spice on your way home. Especially when there’s a whoopie pie with peanut butter cream in the middle

and ganache on top.

Plus a chocolate cream pie

With possibly the most amazing chocolate cookie crust ever.

And since we walked there?  Calorie free!

I’m thinking it may be time to go get some no-cal Baskin Robins now.

That .15 mile walk means I can get a large shake, right?

Are there spots in your hood you walk to?

Rules

I have some rules about eating.  Not diet “no carbs after 5 pm” type of things.  More “balance is good” type of things.

They’re rules like:

anything can be a breakfast food if I eat it for breakfast

so long as you eat lots of veggies the amount of fat you eat doesn’t matter

pizza should always be hot enough to burn your mouth a little

tequila shots are always a bad choice

yogurt is never an ok substitute for sour cream.  They’re not the same at all.

Costco samples are an acceptable lunch sometimes

coffee can and should have more cream than coffee in it.  That just means it has more protein!

and my favorite:

if it’s whole wheat it’s good for you.

Case in point?

Yesterday’s breakfast:

That’d be a whole wheat croissant.  From Baker & Spice of course.  With sea salt, poppy seeds and sesame seeds on top.

Flaky butter healthy food my friends

My husband went for a food rule of his own:  if it has meat, it’ll fill you up more.  He had a ham and cheese croissant

I also follow the rule that if it’s cold enough to see your breath Jesus wants you to drink something warm

How pretty is the tea strainer?

And while, not going to lie, I tend to put splenda in my drinks (because otherwise I’d eat enough sugar to kill a puppy before 9 am), Baker & Spice has the cute lumps of sugar

And I have a rule that when you see the cute lumps of sugar, you have to use them.

I also made cookies last night for two reasons:

1.  When your husband is having a busy week at work you should bake for him and

2.  You should never turn down the chance to make things that give you an excuse for ball jokes.

So I made the man some balls

Mama Pea’s balls.

What’s a food rule you follow?

Don’t Get Too Jealous…

Guys, I don’t wanna make you too jealous, but there’s been lots of cool things in my life lately.

This weekend, I went on an empty bus

(I’m pretty sure that’s how horror movies start. )

Public transit is cool kids, it’s cool.

And after drinking at the art museum (it was free beer night!  You can get a little jealous of that) I may have demanded McDonald’s, because they have monopoly right now.

I understand if you’re a little jealous because McDonald’s monopoly is super fun.  But don’t be.

1 in 4 wins my ass

That face sums up my feelings.  And my sobriety.

I’ve mentioned it before, but my house is full of apples.  Don’t get too jealous but in addition to snacking on apples the size of my face

I’ve been making things like caramel apple waffles

With oozy deliciousness on top

Apple pie, apple cake, apple waffles… It’s a tough life.

Don’t get too jealous, but I subbed at a Catholic school yesterday, and this is what greeted me at the teacher’s desk

Happy Monday to me! (yes, that’s from last week, but it hadn’t been flipped, so that’s what greeted me)

And then I taught about sin.

Not even kidding.

Don’t get too jealous guys, but in addition to teaching about sin, I get recess

And after school snacks

Grilled cheese with bacon.

(Dearest husband:  don’t get too jealous, but I cooked bacon and didn’t tell you.  Because I didn’t want to share.  Sorry!)

And, you ready to work really hard at not being jealous?

The husband and I went to a neighborhood meeting thang tonight and guess what I found

Oh yeah, Baker & Spice.

FREE Baker & Spice.

Community involvement is delicious.

I understand if you’re just a little jealous now.

What have you been up to that I should be a little jealous of?  (Besides Diana, who got a sparkly ring-I’m a little jealous of new diamonds!)