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Chuppah

In September we flew back to CT to see one of my friends from college get married. They lucked out with the weather, lots of rain the day before and after, but the day-of was slightly overcast with pockets of sun. It was perfect, since it was an outside wedding by the beach. The ceremony was very personal and sweet and they had a lot of nice touches. After the ceremony they handed out rocks and we all threw them into the ocean with our well wishes for the couple. I even saw a few people from UConn that I hadn’t seen since I graduated.

We spent about a week in CT, visiting various family and friends and enjoying the northeast woods by taking a few hikes. It was a pretty low-key trip and we were able to spend some quality time with friends and family we hadn’t seen in a few years. Thanks to everyone who shuttled us around and let us sleep in your homes. My maternal grandma is turning 93 this year, so it was good to see her and play some cards and chat. We also got to see a good friend’s baby who is now walking, talking and using the potty. She was in love with Matt and thought it was funny he took a nap She was a newborn at our wedding, so it was a shock to see her so big so quick. I guess I really have been married for 2 years!

Chocolate Mousse Marshmallow Pie

Whoever has a low opinion of vegan desserts is crazy. I think the majority of vegans have a serious sweet tooth and developing awesome desserts is part of the initiation. Luckily for me and my blood sugar, there was plenty of savory food to eat as well. Matt and I went to a PPK vegan potluck last week and stuffed ourselves to the point of passing out (Matt). While Matt was napping, I learned a new game called Jungle Speed. It’s sort of like a group Spit with more focus and you match shapes and colors. It involves reaching for this wooden totem that inevitably results in scratching someone or hitting them. It was fun.

Ready to eat

I wasn’t sure what to expect, having never been to a vegan potluck in a park before. We went to Laurelhurst Park, which reminds me of the treed duck pond part of Central Park. There were picnic tables and we set up an immense spread. The photo was taken by a friend, as I forgot my camera that day. Imagine the spread times 3, the picnic table was full by the time everyone arrived. There were about 20 people there and the food ranged from blackberry bbq gluten ribs to variations on potato salads, pasta salads and tempeh empanadas with a spicy sauce. I made a wheatberry salad with apples and mint and it came out good. I’ve been trying to use different grains lately, as I’ve just been eating a lot of bread (well, it’s free…and delicious). What else? A pasta bake with almond cheeze and sauce, tempeh kale concoction, plum torte, apple torte, the marshmallow madness pie, peach bbq tempeh, chocolate strawberry cookies, a tofu olive spread and I’m sure a bunch of other dishes I can’t remember but my belly enjoyed. I sucessfully tried a little bit of everything, which equalled 3 platefuls. Everyone was friendly and nice (oh, Portland) and we enjoyed the day. Someone even drove down from Seattle for the potluck and brought Mighty-O donuts (yum), proving just how good the food and company was. I can’t wait for the next one!

Logger soapbox

We had a special NRME guest visit us last weekend, for one day only, during our crazy heat wave. We enjoyed all the best that Portland has to offer (Powells, breweries, Saturday market) and a bunch of special events were happening all over the city. We went up the extinct volcano Mt Tabor to see part of the adult soapbox derby which was fun. Crazy costumes and contraptions going down the volcano at human-powered speeds. From there, we headed to the Hawthorne Street Fair where a lot of the trendy shops had sale racks on the sidewalks and there was live music and additional vendors (crafty stuff and food-we had blueberry cinnamon soup!) in parking lots. It was fun and our friend’s wife wanted to shop around, so we ducked into Bridgeport Brewery for a beer sampler. I have to say their beer is alright, nothing amazing. So far I like Rogue the best of Portland beers.

Tour de Fat

That afternoon we headed to the classic Saturday market and saw lots of handicrafts and ate Mexican food. I’ve noticed an increase in the art/screen printed t-shirts at the market. There were some really beautiful shirts for sale, but at $20 each, I’ll wait until another time. Matt and I headed to the Tour de Fat for an hour to take in the crazy circusy bike party hosted by New Belgian Beer every year. We got there just in time to ride some insane custom-built bikes, have a beer and dance to music by March Forth, a really fun live band with people on stilts and some acrobats. We’ve seen them perform in Seattle before and they are a great time. I recognized one of the stilt walkers as someone from our neighborhood who had a tag sale the first week we moved to Portland. It’s already become a small town! It was such a hot day that we played in the fountain to cool off and met back up with our guests at Powell‘s. I like visiting Powell’s City of Books but it overwhelms me. There are SO many books that I feel like I should go to every section and walk down every aisle that I end up just grabbing a book and sitting down and reading. It is an impressive place.

Bike bonanza

For dinner we were going to get Lebanese or Ethiopian food but one of the group had an upset stomach so we got Chinese. (Silly Vermonters, going all the way to Portland to have Chinese food…that’s all there is to eat in VT except pizza). We went to Vegetarian House on 4th ave and I had my usual, General Tso’s fake chicken. This place is currently my favorite Chinese restaurant (but I won’t allow myself to compare it with China Pan, the ultimate in Buddhist Chinese food). Oh, and the night before we went to the Pied Cow to have a drink and it was our first time there. It’s an old Victorian house converted into a restaurant/bar/lounge/hookah patio and they have a great outside area where you feel like you’re in someones backyard. So, all in all, it was a hot, exhausting, busy day but lots of fun.

I look forward to more visitors as we learn the city better and can take you to our favorite places.

We’ve been doing well, settling into Portland, enjoying our jobs and the summer.  We haven’t been hiking yet, but hopefully soon it will happen.  There is just too much going on in this city on a daily basis that it’s hard to leave the city.

Flying dragon

A noteable event we went to recently was Flugtag, a crazy event hosted by Red Bull.  Basically, people build flying contraptions, push them off a 30 foot ramp into the river.  We joined 79,998 other people watching the inventive contraptions and enjoying seeing them crash and hit the water.  There were some fun dance routines and too many rip-off pants on guys who should have kept their pants on.  It was great.  We only took a few pictures but if you want to see the other participants, go here.

Earlier in the week, we went to Rooster Rock State Park with a friend to see the Perseid meteor shower.  There was a science presentation by OMSI and a telescope group was there, sharing their giant telescopes so everyone could see Jupiter, the Andromeda galaxy and more cool stuff.  The meteors were pretty cool.  I saw one giant meteor that burned green across the whole sky.