Vegas 2012

Vegas
We had a great time on our annual trip to Vegas with our friends, Vic and Mike. It was their first weekend away from Bear, who will turn 1 this coming weekend. Mike's dad did call them at 5 am one morning to tell them everything was going great, but other than that, it seemed like a much needed break for them. These weekends away are, for me, no longer about getting away from parenthood as much as they are about reconnecting with good friends and enjoying good food. We ate at several great restaurants: Joël Robuchon, Lotus of Siam, RM Seafood (Rick Moonen's restaurant) . I highly recommend all three restaurants should you find yourself in Vegas hungry and unsure where to go to satisfy this hunger.

Vic and D played poker. I read (Gang Leader for a Day). I toured the shark reef in Mandalay Bay. I played Scramble with Friends and Hanging with Friends obsessively, as I have been for the past month or two - sigh - such a time sucker. I ate a lot of frozen yogurt.

Avery, meanwhile, had a wonderful long weekend with Nain. They went to the zoo, went swimming, went shopping, went to the library, and I'm sure other things I'm forgetting. Each call we got Avery was very happy and didn't seem to miss us at all, yet she was thrilled when we got home. I love coming home to Avery. It was awesome when Mom left last night (she picked us up at the airport). I hugged Mom and Avery saw. Then she yells to D that he should hug Nain. He does so. Then she says we need a group hug! I should note she's commanding all these things from her throne, well, THE throne. After she finished and washed her hands, she came out and we had a big group hug. Avery loves a good group hug.

Chair
Good news! Ethan Allen agreed to make us the chair for our sectional that they've stopped selling. This is by far the easiest and cheapest solution to our first world dilemma.

First Day
And now it's time to pick Avery up from her first day of pre-k! I did take the obligatory first day picture, but I haven't downloaded it to the computer yet. In due time, people.

Avery!

Avery's coming today! AAAAVVVVEEEEERRRYYY!
I'm so excited to see Avery! And Damian, of course. But anyone whose been a parent to a 4yo knows how awesome it is to see them after an absence of even a couple of hours. I can't wait to give her a big, gigantic hug and kiss, and to hear her stories about the past few days, the flights, etc.

We've been able to Face Time (like Skyping via our iPhones for those who don't know what that is) several times. At one point, Amber was FTing with Josie and her Avery while I was FTing D and A. Amber brought her phone in and we showed (my) Avery Amber's phone, which was Josie and (her) Avery. After Amber walked away, (my) Avery asked me, "Where is Cayden?" She is very acutely aware of who Cayden is. I'm not sure the crush is the right word, but considering she's spent very little time with Cayden, we spend an inordinate amount of time talking about him.

Felipe - meal #2
We had meal #2 cooked by Felipe last night. It was delicious, as was the first one. We had paella for the main course. For the first course, it was a dish with mozzarella, artichoke hearts, cucumber and tomatoes drizzled with balsamic vinegar. I would never order if presented with a menu, but I really enjoyed it. The appetizer was sweet peppers stuffed with crab with some sort of sauce drizzled over it, as well as sauteed mushrooms with bacon/ham & maybe peppers? Whatever it was it was good. Dessert was a delicious fruit cup, which sounds a bit lame, but it was not lame in the least.

Meal #1 consisted of an entree of sea bass with grilled potatoes. The first course was zucchini, chayote and corn. It sounds bland, but it was delicious. The appetizer that night was a corn quesadilla with cheese & chorizo - ah.mah.zing. Dessert was a lemon sorbet with pinapple. I didn't have the pinapple since that was drizzled (cooked?) with alcohol, but the sorbet was delicious.

I've asked Felipe to come twice while D and the kids are here. That's a bit tougher because I'm not sure where D is with his elimination diet. Plus, I do find it difficult to say, "Please cook for us, but here's a massive list of ingredients we can't eat ..." And between D and I, that list is adding up. I think I'll feel better about it once the list stabilizes, but this is just going to be something I'll need to get comfortable with since our allergies/sensitivities are not going away.

Crisp

From blurry to crisp

The gluten seems to have cleared my system.  I'm feeling much more energized, awake, and focused.  As I described it to Stacey at dinner tonight, comparing my life with gluten to my life without gluten is like comparing a nice, crisp, colorful, vibrant photograph with one that is of the same object, but is instead blurry, unfocused, and generally a bad picture.  Yes, it's a picture of the same thing, but the effect of it is entirely different. 

This gluten sensitivity discovery is seriously a life changing thing for me.  Why else would I still be blogging about it when I've done, what?, 20 or so posts about it already?  I have little doubt that this event will be like 9/11, my wedding, and Avery's arrival: an event that has a definitive before and after. 

I also realized how truly and utterly grateful I am to have discovered this sensitivity.  I am so freakin' happy I'm gluten sensitive.  That means that I wasn't crazy, I wasn't lazy, I wasn't pathetic!  I really had started to think that maybe I was all those things.  After all, who else needs to nap 2 hours a day plus sleep 8 hours at night and is STILL tired?  RHG sent me this article from CNN, which at first glance appears to be about celiac disease, but is more about gluten sensitivity.  It made me feel so much better.  There are other people that feel like they've been hit by a bus when they merely eat gluten.  That is precisely how I felt for years.  For whatever reason, I never had any gastrointestinal distress (TMI: I never have any problems in that area - something to constantly astounds my naturopath and acupuncturist).  But I'm putting together that I'm much more prone to headaches and general unwellness when gluten is in my system.  It may not be the gluten triggering it, but it definitely does something to my body that makes it less able to fully function.  And it definitely robs me of all my energy.

Oh, and the woman in the article also experience acne.  Guess what also cleared up when I stopped with the gluten?  Yep, acne. 

The 38

It was just Stacey and me for dinner at Ned Ludd tonight.  If anyone in PDX is looking for a great place to eat, I highly recommend it.  The entree was very good, but it was the salad and the dessert that stood out for me.  I got the sour cream panna cotta with rhubarb sauce.  I don't particularly like sour cream, nor do I usually order panna cotta (boring), but the rhubarb sauce was irresistible.  Thank goodness it was because it was divine.

I should note that everything about the restaurant screamed Portland.  Portlandia could film there as is, without even making fun of it, and it would be hilarious.  Air plants everywhere, the waiter was quintessential Portland hipster/foodie worker, the bathroom looked like a homesteader museum, and I shit-you-not I swear the notepad the waiter used to take our order had a bird on it (maybe it was a pine cone or something, but it was in that genre).  And there were nettles and soba and farro all over the menu.  So Portland.  I love Portland.  I love to make fun of Portland.  And I love living in Portland.  

Go Timbers

Before dinner, Avery and I stopped at D's office to get her changed into her Timbers gear and pick up D.  I dropped them off at the McDonald's near the park.  Avery was so freakin' cute in her Timbers gear.  In McD's, D warned her that it would be very loud in the stadium.  I told her that meant that she could yell, "Go Timbers!" as loud as she wanted any time.  I meant during the game, but she turned and yelled, "Go Timbers!" to the patrons of McDonald's.  I swear, there is nothing cuter than a 3yo in full-on Timbers gear.  It's enough to make me a sports fan. 

I just checked and it looks like the Timbers won!  Woohoo!  Hopefully it wasn't too rough on D and Avery sitting through the game in the pouring rain.  D was told their seats are under cover, but D wasn't overly confident they were, so fingers crossed. 

Dates

Saturday date night

We had dinner at Paley's Place last night.  It was very good, but not as good as it has been in the past.  In fact, the past few times I've been, there has been something not quite stellar about at least one dish I've ordered.  As such, we've decided to demote Paley's from our favorite Portland restaurant to a number further down the list (5 or 6?).  It was very cool, though, to go in and enjoy a good meal and then just get up and walk out without so much as seeing the bill.  D's dad bought us dinner as a BD gift to D.  It was a stroke of genius on his part as that is pretty much the ideal gift for us!

I made our reservation for 6 PM in hopes that we'd still be able to squeeze in a movie after dinner.  We were able to see 127 Hours, which was good, but not as good as I was expecting.  D and I found it interesting that I had no trouble watching the scene where he amputates his own arm, yet I couldn't watch the scene where Jesus is being beat in Passion of the Christ.  D, on the other hand, couldn't watch the arm amputation scene, but had no issue with the Passion of the Christ.  For me, it's not difficult to watch someone inflict pain on themselves, but it's difficult to watch pain being inflicted on someone who is unable to fight back.  I think the key for me is whether the person is able to fight back, whether he has control over the situation. 

Sunday dinner date

Tonight we're having dinner at the house of some fellow Loreto Bay homeowners.  They just recently completed their home and stayed in our home for a few days while furniture was being delivered to their casa.  They are parenting their grandchildren, so Avery will have someone to play with while we're there. 

Sick

Damn it! I'm sick!

I woke up in the middle of the night, swallowed, then realized it wasn't going to be good in the morning. Yep, I have a sore throat. I'm achy.  I have a headache.  At first, I figured I was just going to have to plop Avery in front of the TV.  Then I realized I could call her school and see if they have room for her today.  We have to pay for an additional day, but given how awful I feel, it's worth it.  Thankfully, Avery was totally up for a day of school.  I didn't even try to convince her that wearing a dress with a skirt underneath isn't the best look - I just put on some sneakers and let her go in that.

You'd think that since I have a day off from parenting and that I'm sick and that I love to sleep, that I'd be napping now.  Apparently, my constant need/desire to nap is subsiding (could the acupuncture be working?!)  I went upstairs and tried to fall asleep, but realized I couldn't, so I decided to at least make good use of my time and organize pictures on my computer.

Avery's favorite person in the whole wide world

When I got home from Yummy Group last night, it was clear that the evening wasn't relaxing for D.  Avery had fallen asleep at 6:50 on the chair downstairs before I left, so I didn't say goodbye.  She apparently woke up at 9 and had been crying on and off for 1.5 hours to see me.   Anyway, I was exhausted and I didn't want to do battle with the sleep in your bed, or sleep in our bed when I knew D was so tired, so I scooped up Avery and we headed into the guest bedroom (I love to sleep in the guest bedroom - I sleep sooooooo well).  Anyway, Avery settled down quickly enough.  As we were laying there not talking and both drowsy and about to fall asleep, Avery sits up and says to me, "Mommy, Aunt Chele is my favorite person in the whole wide world."  I said, "Including me?"  And she said, "Yes."  There you have it, folks.

Yummy Group - Ten 01

When I got the menu at the restaurant, I was not overly happy with the choices.  You know how something on a menu often jumps out and sounds delicious?  Well, that didn't happen, so I ordered the sturgeon and hoped for the best.  Well damned if it wasn't delicious!  I was most pleased.  I just tried to find the description of it on their online menu, but it's not there.  It must have just been on it yesterday or something.  It came with grilled watermelon, corn, and pickled shallots.  Sounds weird, tastes delicious.  Perfection.

Dessert was the same thing.  Nothing much appealed to me, but I persevered and ordered the Zeppoli: ricotta beignets with orange custard. It was perfect!  Just my kind of dessert: no alcohol and nice and tasty without being too rich.

While the food was excellent, the conversation was even better.  Being able to get unbloggable things off my chest with friends is invaluable. 

Landscaping

They are currently putting in our new landscaping.  The trees are looking great.  I'm so happy we moved the tree that was located too close to the house.  It's now in the middle of the yard in front of the window to my office.  In a few years, it'll give me a ton of privacy, you know, for the very important tasks I do in my office like blogging and Facebooking.

I'm also so happy to see they chose to put a lot of heather plants in.  I love heather.  We didn't specify a whole lot in terms of what we wanted for plants.  I described things I like and things I don't.  I asked them to remove the weird evergreen tree and put in something else.  I asked them to move our Japanese Maple to a better location.  Other than that, I just trusted they know more about this stuff than us and let them go to town.  I think I'm going to be very happy. Plus, the guy whose doing it is so very nice.  While things haven't gone all that smoothly with our designer, he really knows how to hire people.  I don't think I've met one person he has hired who has been anything other than friendly, professional, and competent.

It's not done, but here's an in-progress photo.  You can also see in it how the last corbel is now installed. 

Relax

Down Time

Since returning from Vegas, I've been quite busy.  A few of our activities the past few days: babysitting Nolan a couple of times, Henry's 1000th day celebration, watching Kung Fu Panda at the free summer movies, and several trips to the grocery store. 

Today, Avery is at school.  As a result I got the dogs walked (first time in a while - the guilt was eating me up inside) and can now do a quick blog post and then get to relaxing and reading my book.

Whine Out

I've started a renewed attempt to get Avery's whining under control.  I call it the whine out.  Basically, when she asks for something in a whiny tone, I tell her she's got a whine out which means she has to wait a minute before she can ask again and she has to ask in a nice tone at that point or she'll get another whine out. 

In one respect, it's working very well so far in that she forgets to re-ask about 50% of the time and simply asks nicely the other 50%. However, it doesn't seem to be reducing the whining which is the ultimate goal.  I've only been doing it for a few days, so maybe after a couple of weeks we'll see some reduction.  All the online suggests for whining reduction have done diddly-squat, so I figured we'd go with a homegrown idea. 

Date Nights Galore

Tonight is the G's date night.  Tomorrow, D and I head out.  Last night, I had a date with Stacey at Beast - yum!

Picking

Strawberries & Mud

That was the theme of this morning's outing.  It was more mud than strawberries, but Avery and I had a good time nonetheless.  We met Christie & Henry for some picking this morning on Sauvie Island.  The trek from the parking area to the strawberries was very muddy.  Avery fell once, at which point I knew all hope of trying to remain clean was done and over with, so I told her to wipe her hands on my pants and we'd keep going.  I'm glad we went, even with all the mess, because yesterday was a miserably long day.  Avery was well behaved enough, but I just didn't want to be a SAHP yesterday.  I wanted to lay around and be a total sloth. 

Yummy

Tonight is, thank goodness, Yummy Group.  There are six of us for our dinner at Genoa.  Kerry is driving me again (it pays to have pregnant friends), so I plan to indulge in some wine and merriment. 

Books

I finished my latest book, Island Beneath the Sea.  I'm not sure what I'm going to read next.  Perhaps I'll read the book for our newly formed book club: That Old Magic Cape.  Or I might read another gulag book, or I might reread Grapes of Wrath.

Sleep

My sleep right now sucks.  It's like I never quite get to sleep.  In a tandem brutal hit, I am also unable to properly nap.  I'm exhausted, but my mind just doesn't shut down.  I just lay there.  The end result is that I feel like a zombie much of the day.  I'm hoping that this is a temporary blip caused by increasing the dose of my antidepressant. 

Zagat, I Love You!

Well, last night's dinner made up for the strange meat-fest the night before. I looked up restaurants on Zagat, which I find to be a very accurate food rating system, and chose a food = 28 place called Lampreia (decor = 23, service = 25 ... all ratings are out of 30). I've never had a food rating of 27 or higher be a less than stellar place to eat and Zagat continues to serve me well. It was delicious and the service was excellent. There was a winter storm going on, so the restaurant didn't have too many diners in it, which might have accounted for the perfect service; nonetheless, I'll take it!

Unfortunately, their menu is not online, so I'll do this from memory and I am not great at recalling specifics. For a starter I had an Orange Carrot Veloute with Tapioca and Vanilla Cream, basically a very velvety soup. It was delicious, though D thought it was too sweet for an appetizer. For my second course, I had Dungeness Crab with Honey Crisp Apple. This was absolutely stunning, in both taste and presentation. It came as a long tube of crab wrapped tightly in thinly sliced applies with a piping of an apple sauce (obviously it was some fancy sauce) beside it. I loved this. For my entree, I had Lamb Shank with Pureed Potatoes, Sauteed Zucchini, and a Cipollini Onion with a Balsamic Vinegar Sauce. The lamb was perfectly cooked and very tender. It just fell off the bone and was so moist. D passed on dessert and got the cheese plate instead. I ordered Strawberries filled with White Chocolate Mousse. Again, it was perfect. I didn't feel too full when I left, which is one of the reasons I love going to more expensive restaurants - it's about quality, not quantity.

As we were leaving the chef asked us how it was and shook our hands, which was nice. He even complimented D on his silverware usage and said it was nice to see someone who knew how to use their silverware (referring to the European way of eating vs the American way of cutting and then switching hands with the fork and laying down the knife). I decided that this compliment extended to me, as well, since I now use my knife and fork in the same manner. I feel fancy.

Shortly I'll check out of the hotel and head over to pick up D for our drive home. The weather is nice right now - let's hope it stays that way. It's been a nice little visit to Seattle. I like this city, even though I didn't see a whole lot of it due to weather.