Friday Fiver, posted on Sunday. :)

1. Tea or coffee?

This one's easy ... COFFEE!

2. Do you speak your mind?

Not as much as I know I should. I am too nice.

3. What is your escape?

Long bike rides on the weekend with my husband. Bubblebaths. Travel. Retail therapy. Massages.

4. When is the last time you cried?

I think it was a week or two ago, and probably related to job stress which has been rather high of late.

5. What are your bedtime rituals?

I always take a snack and something to read. And I listen to talk radio to help me stop my mind stop spinning and get to sleep.

Although some interesting (to me, at least) things have happened this week, I've been slammed at work what with our new product launch less than a week away. Still, I feel guily for neglecting my poor blog, especially in it's tender stage. So in the interest of keeping content fresh here's the first in a series of Friday Fivers:

1. Favorite pastry?

Anything with strawberries and cream, or the Tarte Citron at St. Honore .

2. How do you like to waste time?

Watching endless episodes of What Not To Wear on the telly.

3. How would you describe your complexion?

Olive and tans very easily.

4. What do you hang on to that you should really get rid of?

This pair of Seven For All Mankind jeans that I bought on eBay that I thought would fit,
but they don't. I wear an 8 in jeans but these fit more like a 6, but I refuse to give up the dream.

5. What is the last thing that made you hurt?

Falling off my bike a week ago Monday. I have a huge bruise on my right leg and was sore for days.

Time to get back to work. Have a great weekend, y'alls.

(at last, the seattle trip!)

friday july 13

Michael picked me up in front of my building at 2:15. It felt strange to be leaving work so early, but I was happy to embrace the change! After making our way through downtown and over to the east side for Starbucks, we got on I5 about 3:00. About four and a half hours later, we rolled into Seattle. Yes it's supposedly a three hour drive, and yes, traffic was a nightmare. But we forgot about that once we walked into our beautiful little restored 1928 apartment in Capitol Hill:















After freshening up a bit, we walked to Elysian Brewery and met up with my friend Keri who recently moved there to work for Microsoft. Over the next couple of hours we indulged our passion for microbrews and fatty foods and got caught up on each other's crazy lives. We said our goodbyes and then Michael and I walked back to our apartment with a brief stop at Dick's Drive In for milkshakes. Dick's seems to be to Seattle what In-n-Out Burger is to California, and damn - those greasy burgers sure looked good. But we had already had a huge dinner at Elysian, although we managed to make room for the milkshakes.

Got back to our apartment late and collapsed into bed.

saturday july 14

We took our time getting out of the apartment (it *was* a weekend getaway, after all) but were able to walk to a bus stop and promptly catch the #43 to downtown Seattle. We got off the bus near Westlake Center and took some photos of the surrounding area. We then stopped for espresso at a little cafe' next to Pike Place Market, commandeering an outside table to watch the human parade go by. Briefly braving the crowds to purchase some fresh berries, we made our way out of the madness, walked along the waterfront, and eventually to the Olympic Sculpture Park and toook about a million pictures. My favorite sculptures were Stinger, by Tony Smith: and Eagle, by Alexander Calder:

Stinger

, by Tony Smith

Eagle

, by Alexander Calder

By this time it was well after 2:00 and we were starving. We walked up Queen Anne and met Keri for a late lunch at Phuket Thai - a place we had seen on previous trips to Seattle (and, to be honest, indulged in excessive adolescent-style giggling over a mispronoucing of the name). The food was delicious - definitely better than average Thai - and as an added bonus, they cook your food right there in the bar:

After stuffing ourselves with Papaya Salad and Pad Ga Prau we stepped out in the rare Seattle heat and walked around Seattle Center. All three of us waded in the fountain:

Keri and moi.

Keri and Michael.

And then we went and watched all the kids play in the main fountain - I didn't realize it put on such a show - complete with music and explosions and everything! Keri then gave us a ride back to our apartment where we rested a bit and then headed to the Mariners game. Funny thing is, we weren't entirely sure how we were going to get there, but wound up using the bus, our legs, and a taxi - in that order. After spending $25 on two hot dogs, a beer, and a soda, we found our seats and settled in for the game - Michael's birthday present from me.

The game was an okay experience for me (watching people is always fun) but it wasn't about me that night anyway. The game went on for awhile and so we had to supplement our hot dog dinner with garlic fries (yum) and "dippin dots" (yuck). Caught a taxi back to our apartment and then jumped into the car and drove to Kerry Park to take night photos of the beautiful Seattle skyline:

Space Needle after dark.

Tired from our day of fun, we headed once again to our apartment.

sunday july 15

We took our time getting out of Seattle, reluctant to leave our charming urban oasis. After another trip up to Kerry Park (for daytime photos) we headed home, stopping for lunch at McMenamin's Olympic Club in Centralia. We arrived home to find our place still intact, with four cats absolutely ecstatic to see us.

It should be illegal to be this happy.

fresh in the city

It's been raining a bit over the past couple of days, which isn't something we see much in the summer. And, as much as I love the sun and seem to draw energy from it, the grey skies are a nice change. So nice, that I felt a sense of urgency to make my way outside today.

So, during a break between meetings this morning, I snuck out of the office to visit the Portland Farmers Market which I am very lucky to have just two short blocks from my building.















Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pamrentz/267373915/

Every Wednesday from 10am - 2pm, a smaller version of the large Saturday market sets up in the South Park Blocks with a great selection of fresh produce, bouquets of flowers, artisan cheeses and breads, pastries (I am enjoying a blue cheese, tomato, and asparagus torte now that is absolutely divine) and other goodies direct from local farms and kitchens. Today I also purchased strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and a walnut panini (for the afternoon snack attack, which I will no doubt pair with an Americano from Caffe Viale).

I feel so fortunate to live in a part of the country where we have a great climate for agriculture and "good food" and "eating local" are viewed as important, and thus the locals really come out in force to support family farms.

I still owe a blog entry on our fun weekend in Seattle - I've uploaded the photos to Flickr and now I just need to write the narrative. More later.

ah ... friday

I was reminded once again this morning that we Portlanders live a highly caffeinated existence. In the three block walk between my bus stop and my building I pass, oh, about three bazillion espresso bars - all of them busy. What would happen if some freakish disaster blew through our city and wiped out every single espresso bar? Oh, the panic!

I used to be a huge Starbucks fan but for the past few years, not so much. I think they really started to go downhill when they started offering gallon size milkshake-type drinks and sandwiches that can be warmed up. It seems every time I do visit a Starbucks all I hear is the migraine-inducing roar of the frappucino machine or smell the nauseating odor of old burnt crumbs in the warming oven.

Not so at Caffe Viale. This tiny little cafe in the lobby of the Congress Center building serves up my morning caffiene made with Cafe Umbria espresso. They use an old school espresso machine - not a push-button model like Starbucks uses these days. And, their morning pastries and lunchtime sandwiches and made-from-scratch soups are delicious and reasonably priced. My favorite breakfast item is a banana and mango muffin - featuring huge, juicy chunks of mango - perfectly paired with an Americano. And for lunch the other day, I enjoyed an Italian Salami and Prosciutto panini with fresh mozzarella and garlic spread and a cup of their delicious Italian Wedding Soup. Mmmmm - comfort food but slightly dressed up. I've become so hooked that the nice baristas at Pioneer Square are probably wondering what happened to Miss Grande' With-Room Americano.

Today I am leaving work early (!!!) and we're heading to Seattle to see a Mariners game (my present to M for his birthday) and to meet up with my friend Keri who recently moved there for a great new job. As is always the case when we go to Europe, we're renting a furnished apartment this time in a trendy neighborhood with lots of shops and restaurants we can walk to. And although I've been to Seattle many times, a lot of those trips have been for business and I've stayed in typical "business" hotels. I'm really looking forward to this chance to live in a real Seattle neighborhood and soak in the culture.

riding the slow boat

This morning, I decided to take my time getting into work. My boss had scheduled me into a 5:30pm meeting tonight, meaning I won't get home until 7:30 or 8:00. And, with this new product launch just two weeks away, I've been working a *lot* of hours lately so really didn't feel like putting in another long day if I didn't have to. The downside of that decision is, the last 94 Express bus leaves the transit center at 8:15am. My alternative after 8:15am is to take the #12 bus, also known as the "Slow Boat".

The Slow Boat arrived about 5 minutes after I parked at the transit center. Scoping out the other people waiting for the bus, they seemed harmless enough although I did have to question the fashion sense of one 300+ pound woman sporting a belly shirt.

But that's a topic for another entry.

I board the bus with one eye on my BlackBerry, just barely noticing a man sitting in the sideways-facing seats just behind the driver until he drunkenly shouts out HI!!! to me as I pass by. With my nutter-avoidance response in full effect I sat as far away as possible in the very back of the bus.

Drunk guy notwithstanding, things were moving along pretty smoothly as I diligently worked my way through emails and checked my calendar for the day when suddenly, the driver stops the bus, walks over to this guy, and starts yelling at him. Apparently, he was sitting up there shouting obscenities and freaking out the other passengers. After many threats of eviction from the bus, the driver convinced this guy it would be in his best interest to just shut the hell up. The drunk guy stumbled off the bus at 4th and Hall, and disappeared into the buzz of activity of a city morning shifting into high gear.

You just never see this kind of stuff on the 94 Express.

Let's just keep this between us for now.

Over the past five years, I can't tell you how many times I have started blogs with great enthusiasm and then unceremoniously abandoned them due to lack of time, lack of interest, or lack of inspiration. Is it because I'm just so damn busy that I can't possibly be bothered to maintain a journal? (No, because I know people busier than I that still manage to maintain engaging and often, entertaining blogs) Is it because it's part of my wiring to pursue the new, new thing voraciously and then ditch it when the shine wears off? (Maybe, but thank goodness I'm not like this with relationships.) Or is it none of the above?

Whatever the reason for my past flakiness, I've recently become re-inspired to begin writing again. I think a lot of it has to do with my recent job change - after nine months of working in a situation that was a bad fit in many, many, ways, I've recently started an interesting and challenging position with a great company -- complete with a world-class management team and perks galore. The best perk being, the fact that I work in a high-rise right in the middle of downtown Portland after years of commuting to bland suburban office parks.

It's true I'm working a lot of hours and have joined the ranks of the BlackBerry Nation, but I'm energized and excited to come to work for the first time in months. Working where I do, I see a lot of interesting people -- some more "interesting" than others -- and it gets my creative juices flowing. (Today, that creative juice is aided by a cold and delicious Mirror Pond Pale Ale -- the unofficial "Beer Friday" being one of the afore-mentioned perks.)

Lest you think I'm an all work and no play kind of gal, visit my travel blog to read about my adventures big and small.

It's sunny here, and my husband Michael is headed downtown shortly. We're going to grab a quick bite to eat and then go to the Moody Blues concert at the Schnitzer Concert Hall.

Great way to wind down a week - see you on the other side!