Bachelorette Lessons

My dear darlin’ friend Liz is getting married next month. Last weekend we had her bachelorette. And we learned some things

1. Sometimes the nice people at the sour beer place don’t quite hear what you ordered and you end up with TWO tastes of every single beer they have.

But you’ll be too busy taking pictures of the pretty drinks to care.

2. There are food carts located conveniently close to the barrel house to help soak up the beer

3. Vegetarian friends will be excited when there’s poutine with meat-free gravy.

(Becca, if you’d just move to Portland you could have it EVERY DAY)

4. Fried pie is always a good choice

and the sort of girl who will share fried pie with you post-fried food lunch is the best sort of girl (yay Rachel!)

5. I know some super pretty ladies

6. Becca (the fantastic matron of honor!) brings the best dresses for Liz to wear (Liz is the disco ball in the middle of us. How great is that dress?)

7. Five hour energy drink is the worst

(This may win the prize of “ugliest picture of me I’ve ever blogged”. And that says a lot)

8. Having pretty cocktails means you’re classy ladies

9. Even if later on you attempt to push the bride to be in a shopping cart.

10. There’s a karaoke “I’m on a Boat”.

I know this because I’ve now done karaoke “I’m on a boat”.

 

(Most of these pics were taken by our beloved Matron Becca, who is awesome)

Happy almost-wedding Liz! I promise to not feed you quite as many shots at your wedding.

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?

Foot Traffic Flat Half Recap

Guys, I have a MEDAL

This has made me realize something: more things in life should give you a medal. Get a job? Medal time! Grad school? Medal! Successfully wash your hair two days in a row? Medal!

When I have a baby if I don’t get a medal I’m going to smack someone. Not kidding.

Anyhow, we ran our half on Monday, and it was fantastic. We got up supah early and headed out to Sauvie Island.

Sauvie Island is, clearly, and island near Portland. It’s got a bridge and then it’s 2 miles to the start line. With one lane taking you there.

So, you can imagine, there’s traffic

But we were prepared for it, and it wasn’t terrible. I drove in rush hour to Vancouver last week. I hate that more.

Since we did Foot Traffic University we got our own special little prep area. With our own port-a-potties. Fancy!

The race was fantastic. Sunny, but since it started so flipping early (6:45!) it wasn’t hot. The island is gorgeous

(pic from Run Oregon)

And the whole race felt awesome. Awesome as in, when I looked it up on my garmin after the race we ran mile 8 at an even 10:00.

That’s the sort of pace I normally run a mile or two at. Not what I do when I’ve already busted out 7 miles.

Although, I foolishly use the VIP port-a-potty before the start. So I spent miles 8-10 worried I’d piss myself. I gave up and used a port-a-pottie at an aid station. Pretty sure if I had that minute back I would’ve won the race, right?

We finished in 2:22 and some change, 10:52 pace.

We ate strawberry shortcake

And marveled at how we felt awesome

(We didn’t match on purpose. I’m not sure if it’s more or less lame that we just dressed the same without meaning to.)

I’m a little worried now though-the husband felt so awesome post race that he started saying things about full marathons.

That’s not happening. I have two black toenails from doing a half. I’ll be a hobbit if we do a full.

Cars man, why?

So, I told you guys a few weeks ago, I got a bike to ride to work.

Well, summer employment started so guess what I did

No makeup + iPhone self portrait = sexy.

Not going to lie, given that I can count on one hand the bike rides I’ve taken in the past decade I was skeptical of my ability to actually ride to work.

So, I did the wise adult thing.

Ride the route on a day I don’t have to go to work? Got a pump in case I got a flat? Bought a stylish reflective vest?

Nah, I bribed myself

There’s a bagel store AND a doughnut store en route to work. I promised myself that if I didn’t wimp out and get on a bus I could buy breakfast with my bus fare.

Carbs beat laziness every time.

Riding to work was fabulous. My summer job is 3.75 miles from my house, so it’s not super far. And most of it is a nice straight trip down Beaverton Hillsdale Highway, which is pretty flat, and has bike lanes. Winning.

(I tried to find a picture of the road. Only picture I find? Of where the bike lane disappears. Of course.)

Although, lesson learned, my trip there I found myself thinking how it felt like a nice, gentle downhill the whole way.

That’s because it was. Home was totally all uphill. But mostly not steep, so hey, could’ve been worse.

And I think riding to work makes me a better Oregonian. It’s only a matter of time before I’ll be doing this

(With the hat. And the whistle.)

Pseudo-Half

Guess what I did this weekend friends?

I ran a half!

Well, kinda.

See, Saturday morning we had Foot Traffic U, and ran 10 miles

(It was hot. There were hills. So “run” might mean “we walked an entire mile in the middle”. Whatevs.)

It was hot here. And humid. I’m a desert animal, and humidity makes me hate the world.

We went home and made some breakfast

(The bagel, the sausage, and the ham are all from Costco. We have issues)

(We ate outside despite being sweaty messes. You gotta enjoy the sun when it’s here.)

and I iced my knees

So that I’d be ready for my 5k that night

Because 5ks are awesome 10 mile chasers right?

I was a run buddy for Girls on the Run. Our practice 5k was in late April, and it was WET. So it’s only fitting that the real one was the hottest day Portland has had so far this year.

(I’m honestly in this pic. I swear. Look towards the middle-see the super long brown hair? Me.)

We did the Starlight run, which goes before the Starlight Parade and follows the parade route. This means you get lots of people cheering for you, which is rad. My girl’s family showed up I think 4 or 5 times along our route screaming for her. Also rad.

We had good intentions of going to watch some of the parade, but running the route it was super crowded. And running 13 miles meant I needed a beer

I left the race bib on because I figured it made it look like there was at least a vague reason I was in a bar looking a sweaty mess in my running shorts.

After my beer I was still hungry, so we went to Hot Lips

And because I’m part hungry caterpillar, I was STILL hungry. So we went to Plaid Pantry

I eat a balanced diet.

Real half is less than a month away!