I feel like a slug. It's too hot, and I just don't have the energy to do...anything. Right now (at 11pm) all of our lights are off, most of our windows are open, I have one fan pointed directly at me, Brett has another fan pointed directly at him (we're in the same room, and these are large fans), and we're STILL uncomfortably hot.
We've been very busy lately, and I've spent hardly any time online in the past few weeks. Some things that have happened since my last post:
NAFY Fundraiser
Chris & Sarah, Maria & Indra, Jeff, All, Mike, Joe, Sam, and Brett & I (aka "the sibs") gathered in Portland a few weeks ago to show support for our parents and fork over some cash for New Avenues For Youth. John Oliver performed and was hilarious. Oma (my mom's mom) was there as well, and didn't find him as hilarious as us gd liberals did, so I made sure to laugh extra hard to make up for it.
Japanese & Chinese Gardens
The day after the NAFY event, Marindra, Brett, and I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and spend some time in Portland's Japanese and Chinese gardens. They were beautiful, and I'll post pictures to flickr soon, I swear. I really need to update my flickr photos.
After the gardens we met up with Oma, mom, and Mike for some late dim sum, at which point I realized just how sunburned I'd gotten. I started the morning in a tank top and light sweater (with no intention of spending much time outside and therefore no intention of taking off my sweater), and we decided to go to the gardens on a whim while out at breakfast. I'd put sunscreen on my face, but not my arms, so when I took off my sweater while walking through the Japanese garden (it was so hot!), my arms got FRIED. Enough to make me sun sick when we got back to the hotel after dim sum. By dinner I looked like I had lobster arms, and by breakfast the next morning my shoulders were shiny and crisp. My bra straps cut little angry red cracks into them, and Brett kept forgetting how burnt I was and squeezing my shoulders affectionately, and I would make angry noises at him. It was horrible. By the end of the weekend they were peeling BADLY, and as I write this I STILL see peely bits all the way down to my forearms, even though I've been exfoliating and moisturizing obsessively. Boo.
Seaside
After Portland we went to Seaside, which was fabulously calm. Mom, Oma, Brian, and Brian's brother Steve were there (as well as Brett and I). We arranged and rearranged mom's new collection of glassybaby about a million times, chatted about random things, shopped, enjoyed the nice cool Seaside weather, beach combed, and slept in late. We basically did NOTHING all weekend, and it was very relaxing.
On the way home from Seaside we stopped at Custard King for the first time. In the past, I've been known to make fun of Custard King because frankly, I don't have much need for drive-in custard. But Brett had a hankerin', so we stopped by. He got custard and some sort of giant burger (I think it was a "King" burger or something), and I got fries and a chicken sammich. All items purchased were well worth the non-dollar-menu price. We will definitely go again, but I really wish they had dairy-free custard. :( Oh! Speaking of places that make dairy-free accommodations...
Cacao
Okay, so rewind back to our visit to Portland. While we were there, we stopped in a new shop down by Powell's called Cacao - Drink Chocolate. If ever there was an appropriate time to say OMG, it would be in describing this place. O. M. G. As I leave behind my youth (*sniffle, sniffle*), I find myself drawn less to chocolate-as-candy, and more to chocolate-as-...wine? gastronomic artform? cultural experience? I'm not sure how to describe it in words, but Cacao does an excellent job describing it in inventory.
They have beautiful chocolates from all over the world; some large bars, some medium, small, or even packs of tiny sample bars so you can try lots of flavors without ending up with way too much chocolate to eat. Brett and I came away with a full sized, 41% cacao "Naga" bar ("sweet Indian curry powder, coconut flakes, deep milk chocolate"), a set of eight tiny 52% cacao bars infused with cardamome, cumin, anis, and ginger (one spice per bar, two bars per spice), and a set of ten tiny 75% cacao bars titled "Des Pyramide Tropiques" because each bar is made with chocolate from a different locale (Papouasie, Indonesie, Sao Tome, Trinidad, Venezuela, Tanzanie, Ghana, Madagascar, Colombie, and Equateur).
We've since eaten the whole Naga bar (which was delicious and not at all strange), a cardamome bar (which was really comforting, almost like gingerbread), and a cumin bar (good - almost like the naga bar, but simpler, smoother, and less sweet). We've been too busy to sit down together and try the other bars, so they'll have to wait for now.
But I digress. My original intention in bringing up Cacao was to say that not only do they serve their popular "drinking chocolate" (melted chocolate mixed with cream, milk, and a variety of optional spices, served in an espresso glass), but they also have "hot chocolate" (less chocolate, no cream, optional soy milk instead of regular milk, and a larger mug). I had a sip of Brett's spicy drinking chocolate (he picked a mix of chilies and ginger), and almost a whole mug (it was huge and very rich) of soy hot chocolate. Brett's drinking chocolate was sophisticated, complex, and amazing - like chocolate's answer to good espresso. But the soy hot chocolate was the creamiest, richest, most heavenly hot chocolate I've ever had, and my stomach didn't complain at all.
Whenever we go to Ben & Jerry's I'm always left with my choice of fruit sorbet or fruit sorbet while everyone else gets sundaes made with delicious ice creams filled with chunks and swirls, and topped with gooey fudge. I hate going to Ben & Jerry's. Love their contributions to society; hate their lack of rice or soy ice creams. How hard would it be to have ONE frigging flavor of soy-based ice cream?!? Seriously?!? So you can imagine my delight at the thoughtfulness of Cacao's owners. :)
Anyway, moving on...
Birthday Shenanigans
After we got back from Seaside, it was my birthday. Well, Brett's dad's birthday first (May 23rd), and then mine (May 24th). So we went out for Thai food with Brett's parents and sister, and exchanged pressies. I got some gift certificates, and some gardening supplies (since I'm trying to learn to garden).
Another plug - we went to the new Thai restaurant in town...I forget what it's called, but it's two doors down from Noble Palace...if you live in M'ville you'll know where that is, if you don't, it probably doesn't matter. It's NOT Mai's. That place is grode. This new Thai place is great - we've eaten there three times now, and every time we've gone the service, atmosphere, and food have all been top notch. I highly recommend it. AND! They have Shirley Temples. I get one every time. ♥ :D
So the Thai food was on Brett's dad's b'day, not mine. My b'day was the next day, and I mostly just sat around watching tv by myself. All of my presents (awesome as they are) came either before or after my actual birthday, so the whole day kind of felt like Christmas afternoon. A couple of people called, I got a couple of cards, some emails, some myspace action, and Brett made dinner (spaghetti) when he got home from work.
I'd pooh-poohed the idea of a big party because I knew I'd be doing most of the work for it, but at the last minute I changed my mind and decided that I wanted more pomp and circumstance in my honor, so Brett threw an impromptu get together with Shannon, Dan, and the two of us. The theme of the party was a combination of sloth and gluttony (sluttony? that sounds bad...) where we ate tiny eclairs, chocolate cake, pizza, pop, and crackers, and sat around talking and watching a marathon of "What Not To Wear." It was perfect. And now I'm 29, which still feels strange and foreign.
The Camera
Mom & Brian, Brett, and my grandpa Joe all chipped in to get me my first digital SLR camera. Woo! Actually, it's my first SLR camera period. I've only ever used point & shoot cameras, but I love my new camera SO MUCH. I'm really ignorant when it comes to photographic lingo and technique and all that, so I was worried that I'd have trouble using it, but it's been easy as pie. Like taking candy from a baby. Or rather, like taking a picture of someone taking candy from a baby.
I knew this gift was coming in advance, so I had time to really research what I wanted. Because of my tiny hands (it has a small body), lack of skillz, and love of Nikon, I chose the Nikon D40. I did NOT go for the D40x because the ONLY difference is that it's 10 megapixels instead of 6. I have no need for a 10 megapixel camera. Imagine megapixels like...well, like the size of a johnson. You should really leave 10 for the professionals, because it may sound nice in theory, but ultimately it's more trouble than it's worth.
We ordered the camera in a special package from Wolf/Ritz Camera that came with a body, two lenses (18-55 & 55-200), a camera bag, some instructional DVDs, a lens hood, and all the normal caps, cables, and random accessories. We also ordered an extra battery (I think I suffer from some sort of battery charging impairment, because I always forget to charge my shit until it's either dead or dying) and a 2gb sandisk extreme III SD card.
I'd heard some bad stuff from several people about Nikon SLRs being abnormally confusing to use, but my point & shoot is a Nikon, and though this one is definitely more complicated, a lot of the basic symbols and functions are similar enough that it hasn't been a problem. Yay new camera!
Turkey
We ate almost an entire 20 lbs turkey this week. Not all at once, though. We're not THAT fat.
Brett's mom accidentally bought an extra turkey last Thanksgiving, and it's been in our freezer but was due to expire in June, so we thought we should eat it while we still could. Brett was going to grill it, but because we didn't think of it until the night before we wanted to make it, he didn't feel like he had time to properly educate himself on the art of rotisserie cooking. So he was going to grill it in our non-stick roasting pan that, according to the manufacturer, is oven safe up to 425 and is NOT broiler safe. Because the care information didn't mention that it wasn't GRILL safe Brett insisted he should be allowed to try it, but I argued that when left without confirmation we should err on the safe side and use the oven. If a roasting pan were grill safe, don't you think it would advertise itself as such? So I said no way. He grumbled, but agreed to oven roast it as long as we brined it first, which we did. And it was delicious.
I'm a little tired of turkey sandwiches now, but so far we've also had regular turkey dinner (twice - complete with cranberries and stuffing), turkey soup with wild rice, turkey stuffed quesadillas (it tasted like chicken), and turkey & broccoli coconut curry (it tasted like duck). I think we have about a pound and a half left, which is pretty good. And we spend about $50 on groceries last week, which is even better.
Um...
I can't think of much else to say...we went to Marindra's for a BBQ with some of the other sibs last night, it was very enjoyable...our brother Jeff was in town with his girlfriend Tara, who we'd never met. She is awesome, which is great.
Today we did some stuff around the house, then we got too hot to work, so we laid around in the living room for awhile not wanting to move. I did some research online for one of my brothers at my mom's request, I worked on some event planning stuff for our trip to Sunriver at the end of the month, I sent an evite out to my near-by sibs for a yard work party at our house next weekend (muahaha), Brett worked on some stuff for an OM reunion-type thing he's doing in August, we looked up some flight info for his business trip to Bend the week after next, we watched The Grudge II (it sucked)...and...that' all I can remember. Now Brett's asleep, and in a few minutes, I'll probably be asleep too. Good night! :)
2 comments:
Cat Muffin!
Good to hear an update for you -- you're keeping really busy this year! Happy Birthday, by the way. 29 is a good number, though I think I understand a bit how you feel about certain years now being behind you. Today I had my kindergarten class and there were a couple of student teachers helping out with the older kids. They were 19! 19! That can't possibly be old enough to teach kindergarten! Then a couple weeks ago the Moms were in for Open House and half of them had babes-in-arms, which pulls one in an entirely different direction.
I would have loved to have seen John Oliver -- he and Aasif Mandvi are my favorite reporters on Daily Show these days. Ah, and Wilmore!
Please let me know how you like your SLR camera. I would like to get one, but I am not sure that I can really afford to with my New Zealand trip.
I miss turkey -- it's almost impossible to get here. Your cooking is awesome.
Take care dear!
Courtney Muffin! ♥
I know how you feel about the 19 year olds. When Brett and I got married we were 21 & 22 respectively, and now I look at kids that age and think it would be CRAZY for them to get married - they're just babies!
I hear you on the babes-in-arms thing too; at this point we still only have a few friends with kids, but we'll probably start having them too in the next couple of years. Which is a scary thought, but scary like a high-dive, not scary like a mugger.
John Oliver was HILARIOUS. And blatantly, unapologetically, viciously liberal. Which I found refreshingly satisfying.
I LOVE my SLR camera. My one peeve is that I have to change lenses to get different kinds of shots, but the fact that I *can* change lenses is also a plus. I've also reeeally enjoyed manually focusing the lens, and having better control of the aperture, etc.
I want to say that you should get an SLR camera *because* you're going to New Zealand (what a place to photograph!) but at the same time, my new camera bag is about the size of a large lunch box and it barely fits my camera equipment. And my tripod goes in a different bag. If you're traveling internationally and trying to minimize baggage, a good point-and-shoot might be easier to haul around, and would still take nice photos.
Turkey is awesome. It never occurred to me that it would be hard to get in Japan, but I guess it makes sense. By the end of the week we'd eaten almost the whole thing. :)
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