Monday, October 4, 2010

Oregoniversary, REI date, Greek Festival

Before I get into the blog about this weekend, let it be known that TODAY is my two year OREGONIVERSARY! Two years ago this day I went to the DMV and took my test that gave me an Oregon driver's license. I am registered to vote in this state. I may have a sassy little license that says I'm Oregonian, but I will always be Alaskan at heart. I think Jonathan should take me to do something extra Oregonian, but we'll see. I do know that we're going to North on Wednesday, so that might be it. :oD

Did you ever read about my Portlandiversary on August 18?

Anyway!

Wow, what a weekend! It started off by Andi and I going to the Bhakti Shop and listening to the Swami B.V. Tripurari talk and share a kirtan with us. It was the first time I'd ever attended anything like that, but it was really neat. I would definitely go again. The Bhakti Shop holds a kirtan on the second Sunday of every month, so I might check it out on the 10th.


On Saturday I got a lot of stuff done before Jonathan got up. I cleaned the bathroom, did homework, and did some work online for the coffee shop. Our plan yesterday was to go to REI so I could pick up some socks and a water bottle. It was a great, sunshiney day out. Not too hot and perfect for bike-riding! It's about five or six miles to REI from where we live, so not too bad. I was able to find exactly what I was looking for, which was this stuff:
Image from here.
Pearl Izumi socks (2 pairs)

Image from here.
CamelBak fern water bottle

I love going to REI. I would live there if I could. There's always so much adventure wear & gear that I want. I'd love to work there, although I might not have a paycheck afterward! I'd had a few questions about bike gear stuff and the sales guy I talked to answered every question. I felt so much better after talking to him. I'd wanted to find something to wear on my bike commute on weekdays (I am going to try one of my Capilene 3 shirts) so that I stay warmish, but don't overheat, which is my big problem. Unless it's 50 degrees out, I sweat like crazy until I get to work. (Since I knooowww you were curious.) I don't know if my body has a hard time regulating my temperature or I'm just a sweaty person when I work out and that's just how I am or what.

I also tried on a few things from REI that I want. The members only sale is coming up and I want to use my 20%!

I'm going to get this with the discount:
Image from here.
Ibex swallow sweater! I've been wanting this for, oh, most of this year. Finally! On sale!

I also tried these boots on that I've also been wanting for awhile. The REI lady told me that they're being discounted down to $99 this week. Booyeah!
Image from here.
Teva waterproof boots. Perfect for Alaskan gals in Oregon!

After we left REI we were going to go to Deschutes' brew pub because we've never been to the one here in town, only the one in Bend. This was the first time I'd ever ridden my bike downtown and, my friends, I had my first bicycle accident. I didn't cross the streetcar tracks at a more perpendicular angle like I NOW know to do, so my wheel slipped into the track and I kind of got thrown off/slipped through my bike and went face first into the street. It was a moment of beauty, I'm sure. I slipped through my step-through frame, so now I am calling it my fall-through frame. :o) My scariest part is hearing one of my beloved wood fenders crack. It ended up being okay, but they are my favorite part of my bike, so I was going to be reeeaaaallly sad if something was broken (they were fine). Luckily, Eleanor (my bike) and I are okay, although I did get my first road rash ever. My right elbow was scuffed and I am SO glad that I was wearing my gloves that Jonathan got me, because my hands would have been hurting! But they were fine and everyone was okay, so we continued onto Deschutes.

I earned this sampler tray!!

The beer was delicious and, dare I say, I think I like this menu than the one in Bend. There are a few differences, but there was more on this menu that was making me say, "I want THAT! I want that, too! Oooh, but what about this!" They have elk, venison, buffalo, wild salmon...all the things that make my mouth water!! But we weren't there for a big meal, so we will be heading back! We realized that the price difference between the apps and the lunchy-type foods was a dollar or so, so we decided to each get our own plate instead of getting two apps to share. I had a tough time deciding between a falafel sandwich and a veggie sandwich. They both sounded AMAZING. In the end I decided on the falafel sandwich. Jonathan blurted out after we were done ordering that we wanted a pretzel to start with. Granted, these pretzels are super delicious, but I was surprised because we never order an appetizer with our food. However, these things are pretty crazy good.

Ginormous pretzel with Black Butte Porter mustard and magic cheese. DELICIOUS.
There are no pictures of my delicious sandwich because I pretty much inhaled it when I got it. Or, inhaled a third of it. I'm small! My beer sampler and half a pretzel filled me up. I can't eat a ton of food in one sitting, but I eat lots of small meals throughout the day. So it was only a matter of time before I finished off my sandwich, which I did.

Nothing else of note really happened later that evening. When we got home Andi picked me up to go grocery shopping (which I am super thankful for, as that is one of the things we use the car for - did I mention we probably get it back on the 14th? YAY!) and when I got home I puttered on the computer for awhile and then later Jonathan and I watched three episodes of Dirty Jobs. We are a crazy bunch (of two).

Sunday I got up and did some coffee shop work and relaxed a bit. Later in the day we were planning on going to the Greek Festival, which is something I have been SO excited to do since I moved here in 2008! Greek food is one of my favorite ethnic food choices so I was so ready to go eat Greek food made by Greek people. It was so super busy, but the food was absolutely delicious!




 The talents to pay for food

Lamb!

Tiny puffballs of joy, covered in honey and cinnamon

I also managed to find my mom a Christmas present at the Greek Festival! Oooooh! ;o)

That's it for now! I am stuffed full of delicious food and will probably end up on the couch with a book soon. I hope everyone had a great weekend!

7 comments:

  1. happy to hear u and your bike are ok! ;)

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  2. Ugh, thank you! It was a little scary for a split second but then I was mostly just shaken up and was fine after that. Still not fun!

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  3. Oh no! I have to ride my bike over those tracks all the time, and I get scared every time! I'm glad you're okay.

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  4. Thanks! I have now learned my lesson. More "across" the tracks, less riding alongside the tracks slowly. Note to self... ;o)

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  5. Oh, my! Glad you and Eleanore are A-Ok! Do you wear a helmet when you ride? I absolutely love that Ibex swallow sweater, too cute! Anyway, stay safe!!

    ~M~

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  6. Oh, yes, ALWAYS a helmet. I'm not one of those people that is too cool to wear one. I don't care if my hair gets messed up. :o)

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  7. I'm glad you're okay! Aaron did the same thing and cut up his hand pretty bad when he flew off his bike. It's scary!

    And thanks for the review of Deschutes. I've been wanting to go there for a bit, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

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