Grüner

Hooray for another successful date night... I mean date day.  Eddie and I started out with a trip to the gym and then two quick errands for me and finally a trip to our *hopefully* future apartment.  We applied for an apartment in Portland last week but they asked us to come in today to provide proof of income.  Then Eddie drove us to a surprise lunch location for our date.  I was very pleasantly surprised when he led me to Grüner, our fancy local German restaurant.  We started out with a round of specialty drinks.  Eddie ordered a glass of the Meßmer dry riesling that was on today's special and I ordered a yummy basil-infused gin cocktail.  Neither of us can remember the name of the drink at the moment and the restaurant's website is down so I can't check on this.  But it was a beautifully made drink.  I'm not a huge basil fan by any means, but this had just the right amount of flavor to accompany the gin.

And lunch was fabulous.  I ordered the burger that is only offered during their lunch hour.  It was so pretty and one of the best burgers I have had in Portland.  Right up there with Deschutes and Ten 01.  Eddie ate my "smashed" potatoes because I only cared for the crispy edges.  Eddie says the house-made ketchup was also very good.  Since I ordered the only American dish on the menu, it was up to Eddie to place the traditional order.  At my suggestion he gave the Spätzel a try.  Also delicious - according to him.

Oh.  Funny story about a customer who approached the bar where Eddie and I were sitting.  She waltzes up and asks if they have tequila.  I started to snicker because we're in a German fine-dining restaurant; not in a cantina.  But the bartender responded that they have one tequila - Sauza blanco.  So the lady orders a shot and asks for a Bud Light to go with it.  The bartender shakes her head and says they don't have BL.  So they lady says, "Okay.  I'll take a Miller Lite."  So now the bartender has to explain that they don't have any light beers so she hands the customer a beer list for her to peruse.  The customer glances at it and immediately asks for the Heater Allen.  They're a local microbrewery who specializes in German lagers.  But now it's the bartender's turn to laugh because that is the only beer they have on tap that happens to be out.

We had an hour left on our parking meter when we left the restaurant so we spent the time walking around SW.  I dragged Eddie into Gap so I could use the $50 Groupon I purchased a few weeks ago.  I was able to purchase four new tops to wear to work for just $58 - thanks to three of the four shirts being on sale.  I bought three of these button-detailed shirts for $12 each but I paid full price for this one.  I think I'm a pretty good shopper.

And now we're back at the house just relaxing while it continues to rain lightly off and on.  We're probably just going to play Dominoes tonight and maybe I'll be able to convince Eddie to watch a movie.  I'm in the middle of watching the season finale of The Good Guys, one of my other summer TV series.  I've enjoyed watching detectives Bailey & Stark get into stupid situations but somehow always manage to find their way out and make the big bust.  It's quirky like Get Smart.  I laughed pretty hard during the taser scene in this finale.  I kind of doubt this show will get picked up for a second season, but I've enjoyed it.