Yamhill-Carlton District Tasting

I started my day with a very upsetting 2-hour Drop Dead Diva finale.  It wasn't upsetting because it was a bad episode; it was upsetting because they did a great job leaving you hanging and waiting for the third season to answer questions.  This is one summer series I really do like because Brooke Elliott does a phenomenal job playing Jane / Deb the smart & confident plus-size diva.  I have also come to love Jackson Hurst & Margaret Cho.  Their characters are great!

My plan was to continue chilling and taking care of some things around the house while studying my wines for Solena Estate.  But shortly after watching DDD, I got a call from my supervisor asking me to work a special event pouring in NW Portland tonight.  Of course I accepted!  We were going to be pouring just one wine (our 2007 Domaine Danielle Laurent pinot noir) at Yamhill-Carlton's 2nd annual Taste the Place event.

I left my house early to relieve my supervisor since she was starting to come down with a cold.  I happened to arrive right at the start of the event's one-hour break so she suggested going out for food.  When do I ever turn down food?  She suggested Ten 01 so we went there for their happy hour specials.  I ordered a yummy little cheeseburger for $4 and a huge side of amazing french fries for $4.  Definitely a place I want to go back to.

My event was pretty short - just three hours, but I had a blast.  So many people approached me because they already love our wines and many newcomers to Solena came back for seconds from my booth.  I was working a table next to the Shea family of Shea Wine Cellars.  Father & son were both friendly to work alongside.  I asked them about doing a single bottle trade and I was thrilled when they agreed to it.  They got a bottle of my '07 pinot and I took a bottle of their '08 estate pinot.  That's one bottle I am looking forward to trying.

Eddie drove up and met me after the event for a round of beer at Deschutes.  Nothing new to report there since I've already talked about them in this blog.  One sad note: they no longer have my hop in the dark IPA on tap so I had to try a different IPA that I didn't care for as much.

WCWC Wrestling

Tonight I got my redneck on and went to a WCWC wrestling show - no joke!  My friend, Tom, has been into wrestling since I've known him (about eight years).  In that time I have only seen him wrestle twice - once at practice and the other time at a live show.  But at that show he was badly injured during his ladder match and I missed it all because I was coming late from work.  So tonight was a great change to actually see him wrestle for an audience and defend his ACW World Title.

Let me tell you that I had such a blast!  I started getting into WWE wrestling about nine years ago - thanks to my last boyfriend.  So I've always enjoyed knowing that Tom wrestles; hence why I was able to have such a great time tonight.  I never once stopped grinning during the show.  They had some really good characters that were fun & silly and very easy to like.  I was disappointed to learn that "Tommy" was the bad guy in his match, but he makes for a fun and likable bad guy - that could very well be a biased opinion since I know him.

After the show the fans and the wrestlers went to the local Round Table Pizza who was one of the main sponsors for tonight's event.  Eddie was able to meet up with us there and we shared good pizza, beer, and stories.  I am so happy to know that "Tommy" will be making more wrestling performances in Portland so I'll be seeing more of him now.

To change the subject a bit, tonight's media mention is going to be another one of my "bad" summer TV series I was telling you about.  I started watching Persons Unknown because the original cryptic advertisements drew me in.  I was under the impression it would be a summer miniseries event; much like last year's Harper's Island (which I loved).  PU (hehe) fell short in the overall plot, character development, and wrapping things up in the finale.  After doing some research on my end though, it appears that maybe the finale was a bit of a cliffhanger because it wasn't actually intended to be a miniseries and should actually have the story continue.  Like I said, this fell short of my expectations, but that didn't stop me from keeping up with the show each week.  Make of that what you want...

Date Night in North West

Since Eddie and I haven't had much of a routine the past few weeks, we finally decided it was time for our "weekly" date night.  Eddie didn't have any suggestion for dinner so I took it upon myself to plan the evening.  I knew I wanted to go to a sushi restaurant because Eddie has not had proper sushi since we moved up here.  I read through the Yelp reviews and decided on Hiroshi in the North West district of Portland.  Before Eddie got home from work, I saw on my Twitter feed from PearlPortland that there was going to be a free wine tasting at Wine Unwind.  When I realized they were also located in NW, I knew we had to go.

A representative from Sineann, a local winery, was at the wine bar to pour a few of their wines.  It seems like they focus on the warmer varietals which was fine by me because I'm starting to get pinoted-out up here.  After the free tasting we decided we should spend some money in the shop but since we didn't want any bottles of wine, we decided to share a glass of prosecco.  Then we made a very quick three-block walk to the sushi restaurant.  Of course I only ate a bowl of steamed rice, but Eddie seemed to really enjoy the sushi.  We were able to sit at the bar and watch the chef as he prepared all of Eddie's rolls.  The patron sitting next to us made a few suggestions since it was our first time there and they turned out to be excellent suggestions for Eddie.  On our way back to the car we passed Olive Or Twist martini bar.  I think it is such a cute name so even though Eddie had already been here before (without me), I made him take me in for a round of martinis.  I ordered some gin & orange concoction and Eddie had a gin & rose water drink.  Both were very good.  And that was our fun NW Portland date.

Now for today's media mention.  I'll be honest and come right out and tell you that I slacked today.  This is kind of a back-up mention.  I had been wanting to discuss Pretty Little Liars for some time and figured I would just wait until the summer TV series ended.  I didn't realize until just a few days ago that the last episode I saw a few weeks ago was in fact the finale.  I first heard about the PLL TV show on ABC Family so when I saw it on Hulu I gave it a try.  I had a really hard time following the story because all of the girls looked alike to me and I didn't know who was supposed to be the focus.  I read up on the show and realized it was based on a series of books by Sara Shepard so I bought the first book from Amazon.  I read it that very night.  I'm not sure why I powered through when these books are even cheesier than the Twilight series, but I kept with it.  A week later I had read all eight books in the series and was ready to stick with the show.  I'm still undecided about which version of the story I like better.  I think the novels are more interesting with the stories, but I think I like the characters better in their TV forms.

The Bounty Hunter

I spent a quiet day at home today.  I didn't sleep well last night so I spent most of the day veging on the couch.  After both Hulu & Netflix failed to play on my computer I decided to look for something ON Demand and purchased The Bounty Hunter.  I love Gerard Butler so this is a movie I had been wanting to see for some time.  It wasn't anything fantastic, but it was a fun, light & entertaining film.

I should have a real & better entry tomorrow.  Eddie and I have made plans to get back into our weekly date nights so we should be going somewhere fun tomorrow.

Eat, Pray, Love

No real adventure today - just a media mention.  I had my first interview today for a part-time tasting room associate position at a winery in Yamhill.  When I got home from that I felt like being out of the house so I told Eddie I was heading out to catch a movie at Bridgeport.  I decided to see Eat, Pray, Love - the very first book I read in our new apartment in Oregon.  I didn't even know it was going to be a movie until two months ago.  I think the movie was excellent and I loved Richard Jenkins' portrayal of Richard from Texas.  Seeing the movie was both enlightening and sad.  It made me think about some of the things I've done right in my life, but mostly it made me focus on the mistakes I've made.  So I didn't care for that and I wound up crying through all three countries in her adventure.  But for all who have read the book, I highly recommend the film.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

I loved my second and last day of work.  The air show was once again spectacular.  And even though the three of us working the booth were less exuberant today, we managed to walk away with the same amount in tips as yesterday.  Not too shabby.  We got out a bit earlier today so I drove down to wine country to meet Eddie.  I'm not sure why my GPS told me to take Bald Peak Road but I'm glad it did because I had spectacular views of both the Tualatin and Willamette valleys.  I met Eddie at Stoller Vineyards to watch a small & local production company perform Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.  They had snacks and wine for sale before the show so we armed ourselves with a bottle of rose and a wheel of brie with crackers.  I had a blast except for the twenty minutes I missed due to a power nap.  This was a very funny troupe and I especially enjoyed laughing at some of the more homoerotic scenes.

You might expect my media mention to have something to do with Shakespeare, but it does not.  Several weeks ago I suggested to Eddie that we do our own private book club where we make recommendations to each other.  Eddie read a great book and then passed it on to me and I have not been able to put it down since.  I look forward to finishing it tomorrow.  It is Stephen Clarke's "nearly true, uproarious account of a year in the life of an expat in Paris," A Year in the Merde.  There have been several laugh-out-loud moments for me and I am finding it to be an excellent and fun summer read.  This is something I probably would have never picked up at any bookstore so I am glad Eddie suggested it.  He and I agree that this book makes us want to travel to France but since we don't have the money for a big trip like that, staying at home to drink bordeaux and listen to Edith Piaf will have to do.

Oregon Air Show

I had a fantastic time today.  I started out working my first of two shifts at the Oregon Air Show in Hillsboro.  My only task was to work one of the beer & wine tents so I knew I was going to have fun doing that.  What I didn't know was that I'd be working on prime real estate - one of the tents facing the landing strip with awesome views of the entire air show.  I don't remember the names of any of the planes I saw, but my favorite aircraft was this plane that could hover and move side-to-side just like a helicopter!  I had never seen anything like it before.  I worked my booth with two other gals who were fun to spend the day with.  We were told that our booth was the busiest and made the most money.  I was excited to come home with almost $50 in tips.

After the shift, I went out for a beer with one of the girls, Geneiva.  She suggested meeting at Moon & Sixpence near her home in NE Portland.  I was glad she suggested it because it was a great British Pub.  We sat at one of the tables on the patio and enjoyed the live music they provided.  Very chill atmosphere.  But alas - I have no pictures of either event.  Sorry.

To top it all off, today's media mention is lame.  I picked up a copy of J.D. Robb / Nora Roberts' Fantasy in Death at PDX on my way to San Diego because it was one of the books on the read & return program.  I bought it in such a hurry that I only had time to scan the back cover and read words like "murder" and "death" which is what tempted me to buy the book.  But apparently I should have read closer to find out it is a futuristic story about a holographic game that can be programmed to kill people.  Very bad read in my opinion.

Scoundrels

No adventure today...  Just a media mention.  I watched the season one finale of Scoundrels.  Hulu recommended the series to me so I gave it a try.  It took me a few episodes to get into it, but by episode five I started to enjoy the characters and the overall plot.  The finale was a bit predictable with its last-minute cliffhanger, but even though you could see it coming a mile away, it makes you interested to see how they'll resolve it if the show gets picked up for a second season.

And I am going to apologize in advance because with summer drawing to a close, I'm sure to have more media mentions about not-so-great summer series.

Pictureless Adventure

Today is a first.  I actually have things to write about but no pictures to accompany the story.  :-(  The first part of my day was rather lazy.  I was pretty emotionally drained and spent my day resting on the couch catching up on some TV shows and reading my book.  Eddie invited me to the Sokol Blosser employee barbecue around noon so that's when I started to get my butt in gear.  I took a nap, then had lunch, hit the gym, then got ready for the bbq.  I listened to an old CD during my drive to the winery and heard "The Weight" by The Band.  This is a song I hadn't heard in several years so I played it on continuous loop all the way to the winery (and all the way home).  I just love the vocals in this song - not that they're incredible, but I  can't help but sing along when I hear it - and it's simple beat.  This put me in a great mood for the barbecue which was really nice.  All of Eddie's co-workers are so friendly and they all had wonderful things to say about working at the winery.

I had to leave the event early and miss out on frisbee golf because Shaunna and her mom were driving down to visit.  I met them at Juan Colorado and Shaunna announced she accepted a job in Guatemala and will be leaving on Tuesday!  I am so sad to see her go because I was looking forward to having all of these great Seattle & Portland adventures with her.  But I am so happy for and proud of her because this is a fantastic opportunity.

Funny little story about "The Weight."  I first heard this song on my classic rock station in the Bay Area so naturally I wanted to download it so I could play it at my leisure.  This was one of the first songs I ever tried downloading - back when that was a new thing and probably right after we got DSL so it seemed the ultra cool thing to do.  I never found the song though.  Probably because the group is simply called The Band and I wasn't even sure if the song title was weight or wait.  It wasn't until I got to college and we had better downloading programs (and a T1 connection) that I finally found it and made the CD I listened to today.

Oregon Coast - Pacific City, Tillamook, Cannon Beach

Eddie and I set out on a mission this morning - to avoid the heat in Portland at all costs.  Checking the weather we figured the coast was the best place to go as it would be 30-40 degrees cooler than near our house.  We set out to try the beer at Pelican Pub & Brewery in Pacific City.  We shared the beer sampler (all mediocre beers) and then split a bottle of their Belgian saison which was delicious.  A very good find indeed.  What was lovely about this brewpub was being able to sit on their patio which is parked right on the beach with a great view of the big rock in the ocean (very similar to Morro Bay in California).

Our next stop was one I have wanted to do for quite some time.  I begged Eddie to let us stop by the Tillamook Creamery which was my favorite spot of the day.  We shared their special centennial anniversary grilled cheese sandwich then ordered their ice cream.  I got Eddie a scoop of their "Sweet Centennial" thinking it would be a special vanilla flavor (which he loves).  We're still not sure what was in the flavor but it looked like chocolate and vanilla mixed together.  For the life of me I could not decide on one flavor to fill my waffle cone so I opted for the 3 scoops for $3 sampler.  I tried their sticky bun, coffee almond fudge, and a caramel toffee flavors.  I figured the three flavors would each be great on their own but would also work well together if they melted and mixed.  And boy was I right.  Eddie and I agree that the sticky bun was the best.  We made a quick pass of their gift shop and I bought a brick of mozzarella and 4 pieces of their caramels.  Eddie and I only opened one of the caramels but it is the softest caramel either of us has ever tried.  So glad we have a few more to enjoy the rest of the week.

Then we set out for Cannon Beach (home of Haystack Rock which can be seen during the ORV chase scene in The Goonies).  I was a little groggy while driving there so in an effort to help me stay awake, Eddie started singing "Bohemian Rhapsody."  Just a few bars later I chimed in and we belted the whole song out - definitely kept me awake for the rest of the drive.  Back to Cannon Beach...  Eddie found a wine shop he wanted to visit and then we went to Bill's Tavern & Brewhouse down the street.  For the second time today we opted to share the beer sampler.  We got to try their five beers for just $3.75.  Not too shabby.  The only disappointment today?  Realizing upon our return home it wasn't all that hot here today.  Oh well.  We had a great adventure!

Emmons / McCook Wedding

What a memorable day!  Sean & Heather's wedding was so beautiful.  I think the worst part about the day was the heat, but other than that everything was spectacular.  You know any day that starts with a meal from In-N-Out is going to be a great one.  Eddie and I knew we had to get our fix since the closest In-N-Out to us is 6.5 hours away in Redding, CA!  This photo, though taken at the end of the day rather than the beginning, is significant because we wound up making a second trip to In-N-Out at the end of the night when the wedding ended.  Disgusting in so many ways but the most delicious thing ever!

Eddie and Kyle had to get ready and leave the hotel before me to perform their duties as Sean's groomsmen.  I used the free time to go to the gym and read before prepping for the wedding.  The ceremony and reception were held at Heather's parents' house in Fallbrook.  They have a lovely backyard that is laid out well to host a big event like a wedding.  Unfortunately I didn't have a good view of Eddie during the ceremony because I was forced to one of the last shaded seats in the back row but the ceremony was incredibly short so that didn't matter.

Some notable mentions and things I learned from the event:
- The audience is going to cringe when the father-of-the-groom's speech opens with a story about his son's ex girlfriend.
- Garters are difficult to toss so whoever wants it needs to be willing to shove a kid out of the way to get it (Eddie).
- Weddings are really fun when you are surrounded by good friends (nearly all of Eddie's core group of friends from college made it out).
- Probably the coolest scene from the night was having the DJ blast Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" while everyone surrounded Sean and sang from the tops of their lungs.  Very cool indeed.
- The end of the wedding doesn't have to mean the end of the party.  There's no reason you can't assemble a group in a hotel room with some beer and keep the good times coming.

That sums up the wedding quite well.  After the after-party we made our second trip to In-N-Out which brings up today's media mention.  While waiting for our order to be prepared, these two friendly guys started chatting with me and Eddie.  One of them noticed that Eddie caught the garter and made a comment to the effect of "Uh oh."  So I turned around and told the guy that I already made it clear to Eddie we will not be the next couple to marry (I just don't think we'll be ready for that in the immediate future).  The guy seemed very impressed with my reaction.  He got his food a few minutes later and on his way out he turned to Eddie and said, "If you like it you should put a ring on it."  And that made me laugh.  :-)  Thank you, Beyonce!

Fallbrook

Eddie and I had a long day.  We left our house before 6:00 A.M. to catch the MAX light rail in Beaverton to take that to the airport.  Apparently there is no overnight parking at the two MAX stations we drove to so we had to park at the airport.  No big deal but I was looking forward to getting some reading done on the train.  Luckily we were able to get to the airport and through security with enough time before the flight for me to finish Nancy Grace's The Eleventh Victim.  This book was a fun read but nothing spectacular.  And there was one plot question that was never answered at the end so that bugged me.

Eddie and I flew in to San Diego for his friend Sean's wedding.  We had to first attend the wedding rehearsal at Heather's parents' house in Fallbrook then we all went to dinner at Garden Center Cafe and Grill.  Kyle, on of Eddie's friends since junior high and through college, sat with us as well as the wedding ceremony's officiant, and two of Sean's friends from his hometown.  Conversation was excellent and I laughed all night long.  Now I'm waiting in the hotel for the after-party to start.  Probably just some drinking, more conversation, and Indian Poker coming my way.  Should be a fun night.

Virginia City

Today was our last full day in Tahoe so I decided to venture out to Virginia City, NV with my Uncle Joe and cousin Nicholas.  We walked up and down the main drag stopping in several saloons, museums, candy stores, and gift shops.  My favorite stop was the tour of one of the ore mines.  It was very informative and actually pretty cool to see.  We were also suckered in to seeing the Suicide Table thanks to all the signs advertising it along the drive in to the city (think of all those billboards advertising the Mad Greek in Baker, CA when on your way to Las Vegas).  Okay...  I shouldn't say we were suckered in since the suicide table turned out to have an interesting story.  It's an old poker table whose three owners each committed suicide after suffering heavy losses.  And we took pictures behind the jail bars - as a funny side note, my mom is the one who suggested we do this, but when she was explaining it, I heard her tell me to take my picture behind the gel on the street.  I clearly was not in a right state-of-mind since she was obviously talking about taking pictures behind the jail.  Stupid me.

Nothing else of interest to report for today.  We did take the long way home when leaving Virginia City to drive through Carson City and around the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe.  Oh...  I did finally finish The Clan of the Cave Bear so I started on my next book.  Mom gave me her copy of Carrie Fisher's memoir Wishful Drinking.  I'm nearly halfway through and loving it.  Part of the reason it's going so quickly for me is that every other page has neat photos of her parents - neither of which I really know.  I had never heard of Eddie Fisher's music and only know that Debbie Reynolds starred in Singing in the Rain (a movie I have never seen).  Even though I know so little about Carrie's Hollywood upbringing, her prose is drawing me in to her story and I am really enjoying it.

Kings Beach

Went to the beach today.  I swear that in the last four months of living in Portland I have gone to the beach more than during my eight years in Orange County.  Bizarre... no?  The family went to Kings Beach on the northern shore of Lake Tahoe.  We didn't stay too long - just long enough for me to burn the top of my forehead where I neglected to put sunscreen.  Whoops.  I stayed on the beach playing cards with my cousin and sister while the others rented jet skis and kayaks.  We had a pretty crummy lunch at Jason's Beachside Grille so that was a disappointment.  The rest of the evening was spent taking family photos, playing UNO, and relaxing in the hot tub on the patio.  Very nice day.

And once again I am at a loss for a decent media mention.  I think it's only fair that after two days of mentioning this game, tonight's mention should be UNO.  But I'll be more specific and talk about the Family Guy UNO edition which is what we have been playing in Tahoe (I also have the Simpsons edition at home in Oregon).  Nothing too special to note about this version except that in addition to the "wild" and "Draw 4 wild" cards they have included a "Domination" card - with Stewie's picture, of course.  This card acts as a wild card with the bonus feature of being able to block "draw 2" cards.  Definitely a fun game to bust out on a rainy day.

Northstar

This will be a quick update just to tell you that today was a fairly lazy but very good day.  We started out with a late breakfast of chocolate aebelskivers (a yummy spherical Danish pancake).  We spent the afternoon at Northstar Village wandering around the shops and doing kid-friendly activities.  The three young boys each took turns jumping on the bungee trampoline and worked their way through a ropes course.  We had lunch at Rubicon Pizza Company which is probably not related to Rubicon Brewing, but they did have Rubicon's IPA on tap.  After our low-key afternoon at the village, we went back to the house for the rest of the evening.  I taught the young boys to play dominoes, UNO, and some card games so we spent most of the night doing all that.  I had a great time with that because it brought back happy memories of my great grandparents teaching me those same games twenty years ago.  Okay, my great grandparents didn't teach me UNO - I learned that at day care - but they did teach me Dominoes and classic card games.

I'm not sure what the media mention should be since I didn't watch any TV or movies and I'm still reading Clan of the Cave Bear.  Hmm...  I guess I can be lazy and piggy-back off yesterday's mention and go with Garth Brooks' Double Live album (one of the ten I listened to during my drive yesterday).  One of my friends from high school played it during one of our sleepovers.  I didn't get into it then, but years later when I started giving country music a fair chance I remembered about this album and purchased it at Target.  It is now one of my favorite albums.  He is one of the few artists who actually sounds better live.  He has so much energy and emotion when singing these songs live.

Klamath Falls

Another road trip for me!  I drove 10 hours from Portland to meet up with my family in Truckee, CA for an extended weekend vacation.  The highlight of my very long day was my pit stop for lunch at Klamath Basin Brewing Company in Klamath Falls, OR.  Klamath Falls is the biggest city near the midpoint of this journey so I thought it was a good place to rest.  I foolishly ordered a beer sampler hoping to get to have a few sips of a couple of different beers.  Boy was I surprised when the lady came back with a huge tray of 11 big 5 ounce tasters.  I didn't even put a dent in all that.  But I had a sip or two of each one and decided I liked their IPA best.  I forget what they had on their nitro tap, but that was also surprisingly good.  The burger...  Not so great.  Didn't eat much of that either.

I really enjoyed the drive through Oregon and California (with a quick trip into Nevada too).  It was kind of funny entering California twice and going through the agriculture inspection twice.  But what kept me going was all my music.  When I got bored with my CDs I checked out the ones my grandma left in her car (I was in the privileged situation of driving her Lexus for this trip - very smooth ride).  I was pleasantly surprised to find she had Billy Joel's The Stranger in her CD player.  I listened to it twice (back-to-back).  I love nearly every song on the album and they are fun to sing along with - especially "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) and "Only the Good Die Young."  Give the album a listen if you haven't heard it in a while...

Inception

I got Eddie to see another movie today!  I think we have been to the movies more these past four months in Portland than we ever did during our four years together in Irvine.  It's scary but I think it's true.  I wanted to see Inception because of all they hype I saw about it on Facebook and Twitter.  And unlike Avatar, this plot seemed interesting - except for it being similar to The Matrix.  I didn't actually expect it to be as much like Matrix as it turned out to be, so that was a disappointment for me.  But it was still an entertaining film and the special effects were great.

I also have to take a moment to comment that Judge Walker announced his decision on California's Prop 8 and found it unconstitutional.  Yay.  A small victory in the right direction.  I still don't understand why supporters of Prop 8 are so passionate about this cause.  What does it matter to them if a gay couple wants to marry?  How does that destroy the institution of marriage?  Why do they feel so threatened by gay marriage?  I just don't get their side.

Lost & Found

Oh my goodness!  I have been searching for this clip on the internet for years now and finally found it tonight.  I am so excited.  This is probably my favorite SNL moment.  It's a Mary Catherine Gallagher skit with Will Ferrell, Whitney Houston, Rosie O'Donnell and Penny Marshall.  You can watch it here.  I think it's funny that I had to find it on a Russian site.  But whatever works...  What got me thinking about it again today is that Hulu was advertising the newer SNL clip of "Motherlover" - the follow up to "Dick in a Box."  Both are pretty darn funny.

Keeping with the SNL theme, tonight's media mention will be the Chris Farley biography that I read a few months ago.  I picked it up at an airport and didn't really have high expectations for the book - mostly because I really didn't know anything about him besides a few classic skits on SNL (the Chippendales audition and the Matt Foley motivational speeches) and Tommy Boy.  The bio was very moving and made me fall in love with Chris Farley.  He was such a lovable guy and you just feel so bad for all the pain he was carrying around.