Bonny Portland

The Chicago Bears had a game stolen from them today. The defense didn't hold a 10 point lead with less than 7 minutes left and a 7 point lead with 2 minutes left. Then, Peanut Tillman got called for an unnecessary roughness penalty for jumping to protect another Bears player getting his head slammed to the ground. That turned Tampa's 4th down punting situation deep in their own territory in OT to an automatic first down that eventually lead to a Bears loss. I really thought we had won the game. We caught it at the Broadway Grille and Brewery again. We're becoming regulars, even catch our waitress at the grocery store.

The rest of the weekend was pretty nice, though its hard to recount it well with the sting of 1-2 still burned into my soul.

On Friday night we headed into Old Town Portland and ate at Dan and Louis' Oyster Bar. As you might expect, the oysters were super fresh. Overall, the atmosphere inside was very cool. Lots of nautical themes, pictures of older Portland, and an extensive collection of coat hangers. The meal was rather depressing for me because, without notice, they put Indian spice on my Razor Clams. #1, that tasted horrible, #2 thats a pretty strong flavor to not give a heads up about. I'd go back for the Oysters, but certainly not the Razor Clams, which have started to be a favorite of mine out here. Olivia was going to finish them at home, but the bar is in a less economically successful part of town and she gave the leftovers to a man who had asked for them.

Saturday morning was back to the Portland Farmer's Market! Olivia has got the house pretty much together so I had a green light to stock up the freezer with some sustainably produced meat! The market did not disappoint, we were able to get bacon, ribeyes, and t-bones all from family farms, all completely grass fed. I'm looking forward to trying them and I'm just a little sad I don't have a BBQ grill anymore.

After the market, we headed over to EcoPDX to try and find a desk. My old desk had been with me in LA for 8 years. It was just a simple but heavy particle board/Ikea special that got a little less useful everytime I had to break it down and then put it back together. At EcoPDX they didnt have a desk but they worked with me for a custom plan to turn two nightstands into a walnut topped desk. Why would I choose this method? The work is done in Portland, by local owners. The wood they use is all salvaged or reclaimed wood that would otherwise be wasted. How can you beat the chance for a custom, but still sustainable, piece of furniture that should last me indefinitely. If not as a desk, but as two nightstands!

Saturday night we had our Olivia cooked natural Duck. It tasted as good as it looked! Olivia did an awesome job. It was nice to have a home cooked meal and now that all the pots and pans are unpacked I look forward to all the nice meals Olivia will prepare for us at the homestead.

We covered the horror of Sunday morning already. The weekend winded down when we were graciously invited by a boss at Olivia's job to the Ronald McDonald House charity fundraiser. It was a silent and live auction with a little casino action thrown in at the end. We bid on a few things but just ended up with a evening at some sort of Christmas show that is a local tradition. It came with a bottle of nice Pinot Noir and a gift certificate for dinner. We easily are getting more than what we paid for the package. Charity is awesome! We wound down the night playing craps for pretend chips (and raffle entries.) Olivia was a decent roller (I really sucked... my max rolls was "3"). We lucked into a one-time roller who rolled for almost 30 mins. She made us so much fake money we wished we were playing in Vegas.

A good weekend, if we don't mention those darned Bears!!

So yesterday harkened the arrival of our long awaited couch. I had agreed before we left LA that I would be willing to leave the Ikea couch that had served me valiantly for 8 years. I did insist that we find an affordable couch made of solid construction in the United States. Our couch is 100% All-Oregon. People who claim they can't find stuff made in the United States are just lazy.



We also went to a Thursday location of the Portland Farmer's Market. We didn't buy that much, but we did buy a duck for our first fancy home cooked meal. I've never had an animal this fresh, It was slaughtered Thursday morning and the farmer told us NOT to cook it for a few days so it can "relax". Crazy. I thought it would be best to eat it right away, but I assume he knows what he's talkin' about.

Since we couldn't cook up Donald, we hit The Italian Joint on the way home. It was nice and quaint, but nothing special. Olivia's Crab and Artichoke Ravioli with Alfredo and Cheese looked alot better than my Chicken Marsala. I made the mistake of telling them I was lactose intolerant so my Caesar salad (which I can eat) was deconstructed. Blah.