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.

The Two Minute Rule

Eddie and I were supposed to have date night tonight, but I canceled because I hadn't felt well all day.  And I figured we'd be better off waiting for tomorrow when both of us have the day off work.  I know it's been a few days since I've had anything fun to blog about, but I just haven't gotten out and about to have anything worthy to say.  I promise that will change tomorrow.  So for now I can at least entertain you with my next media mention.  I finished reading Robert Crais' The Two Minute Rule tonight.  One of the ladies in my Orange County book club recommended this author to me over a year ago so I started reading the books in his Elvis Cole series.  They are just fun mysteries to read.  The Two Minute Rule is the first novel by Crais I've read that doesn't star Elvis Cole or Joe Pike.  I don't think he developed the characters very well in this book, unfortunately.  I was rooting for Holman and his son the whole time, but I could never get into Pollard or really "believe" her romantic interest in Holman.  One thing I did enjoy about the book was reading about bank robberies since most of the mysteries I read deal with kidnappers and murderers so that was a fun change of pace.  And I'm thrilled to report that I bought this book used from Powell's at a very cheap price.  :-)  And if Eddie takes me downtown for our date tomorrow, I'll get to sell it back to Powell's and buy something "new."

Get Your Hot Dogs

Today was a successful "Sunday."  Eddie and I were on a mission to scope out apartments in SW Portland today.  We mapped out several that we were interested in from our online research so we parked our car in lower SW and walked around the area for a few hours.  We toured several communities before we had a chance to break for lunch by PSU.  We decided to check out SuperDog on SW Park.  Eddie ordered one of the fancy dogs and I had a plain beef dog on a white bun.  The dog was cooked superbly - plump, hot, and juicy - and the bun was incredible.  I'm still not sure exactly what kind of bread or roll it was, but it was perfectly chewy and was hand-cut when I placed my order.  And everything in the shop was affordable - even the beer.  Just $3.75 for specialty microbrews.

Fueled with a good lunch, we set out for the second half of our search.  It started raining so we decided to head in and call it a day.  But I insisted on visiting one last community - RiverPlace Square.  I am so glad we went there because it was definitely the best apartment we've found.  Very cheap price for the location and one of the better floorplans we've seen.  We even filled out applications and put a hold on the unit so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

The rest of our night was pretty lazy - except for the thirty minutes we spent at the gym.  We watched an episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay where he actually wins!  According to Wikipedia, he only has 31 wins to his 65 losses.  And let's not forget the one tie.  Apparently people like his lasagna.  But the other episode we watched tonight was the eggplant parmesan throwdown that he lost.  Probably because he insisted on adding peppers to make the marinara sauce spicy.  Eddie and I think we could make a good drinking game out of watching any Bobby Flay show - just take a drink anytime he mentions using any pepper as an ingredient.  Just watch - your drinks will add up fast...  Especially if you add a two-drink rule for any mention of poblanos or ancho chiles.  :-)

Rooftop Bar

I was excited but bummed to have to work today.  Excited because I can certainly use the extra hours & money, but bummed because I had been looking forward to spending time with Eddie on his day off.  Since Eddie didn't have much planned for the day, I invited him to check out my beautiful Solena Estate winery.  Even though he's tried all of our wines since I bring them home after every shift, I worked him through our tasting flight.  Eddie brought his Thai food cart lunch with him so I got him set up on the patio with some pinot gris to get started.  By the time he finished the tasting it was time for me to close shop and head home.  We decided to hang out in the area and get some drinks at a local restaurant.

Our plan was to go to Zippy's pizza parlor in Yamhill - about three miles from my winery.  But Eddie was in desperate need of a gas station so when he realized Yamhill has no gas stations he decided to drive on through to McMinnville.  We wound up meeting at McMenamins Hotel Oregon Rooftop Bar.  Eddie was already part way through his Manhattan so following his lead, I ordered a cocktail instead of beer.  I chose the Penney's gin fizz made with McMenamins' own Edgefield Distillery Penney's Gin.  Fairly tasty but there was too much lime juice for my liking.  Unlike Eddie, I was actually hungry.  I missed the cut off for happy hour by about two minutes so I had to order a pizza at full-price.  Not a big deal since it only cost about $6 for a pretty decent 8-inch pepperoni pizza.  Though neither food nor drinks were spectacular, I can say that one thing about this place was fabulous: the view.  The Rooftop Bar is - as you can imagine - on the rooftop.  It has an amazing view of the surrounding wine country.  It was just unfortunate that it happened to be raining (the day after Labor Day truly is the first day of fall up here).  We'll definitely need to return in better weather to enjoy the place at sunset.

I feel like I've been slacking with my media mentions lately.  Part of the problem is that I haven't started reading a new book since I finished Dexter.  The other part of the problem is that most of my summer TV series have already ended and have been reviewed.  But the real problem has been that instead of reading or watching TV during my down-time, I have been focused on apartment hunting.  Eddie and I are looking to move to SW Portland when our lease ends next month.  And I get a little crazy when it's time to apartment hunt...  Anyhoo...  For the media mention.  How about music for today?  This is a unique music mention because it is a theme song for an ice cream truck.  The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck.  Seriously.  It's a gourmet soft-serve ice cream truck operating out of New York City by my mom's long-time friend.  And the theme song comes courtesy of spunky Go-Go's guitarist & songwriter, Jane Wiedlin.  I downloaded the song from iTunes a week ago and I understand it is now available on Amazon.  It's cheesy & super catchy.  Enjoy!

Salvador Molly's

Work was super busy today but it's been fun handling the rush from the holiday weekend.  I'm hoping it's still busy tomorrow because it's not as much fun being at work when it's slow.  Bree picked me up after work and we met Eddie at the house to decide on our dinner plans.  We finally settled on Salvador Molly's which we had heard about from Man Vs. Food.  We started with a round of yummy cocktails and some appetizers.  I was able to convince the bartender to let me order the mac n cheese from the kid's menu.  It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad.  I personally prefer Kraft's blue box special to the plate I had tonight.  But is it really fair to judge a restaurant based on one of their kid's meals?  Besides, when I make the blue box special at home, it's not garnished with a cute umbrella.  :-)

Bree had a few things she wanted to see in Portland so we drove around to find them after dinner.  Most of the fun stuff was by the Tom McCall Waterfront Park.  We saw the world's smallest park, the lights on the Morrison Bridge, and the neon rose.  We also snapped a few fun photos in front of one of the fountains.  We spent the rest of the night driving around Portland in search of the fun Portland sign at the Arlene Schnitzer Hall.  Of course when we found it, the lights were off.  But we still had a good time driving around.

Then we finished the evening at home watching TV.  Thanks to Netflix we were able to watch Adam Richman's Man Vs. Food episode in Portland (season 1).  It was fun to watch him visit Voodoo Doughnuts and Salvador Molly's - two establishments we have visited in the past 24 hours.  Now after having eaten at the restaurant and watching this episode, Eddie is convinced he could pass the eating challenge at Salvador Molly's.

Wine & Bree

Not brie the cheese, but Bree, our lovely friend from San Diego.  But first about the wine!  I didn't have any fun plans to occupy my time while Eddie was at work today so I was thrilled when my cousin, Chris, invited me to join him for a little wine tasting expedition today.  We met up in the afternoon and headed to Quailhurst in Sherwood.  Chris had seen the owner advertising for the event in the morning and heard they had horses on site so he thought it would be fun to do.  We were both impressed with the beautiful grounds and all the horses & stables on site.  Though we were a little taken aback at the steep $20 tasting fee, we decided to go for it.  They had about 15 wines they were pouring - two roses, three port-style pinot noirs, one future pinot, and 8 or 9 pinots.  The $20 fee didn't seem so bad once we realized that (not that we actually had the time to sit there and try all those, but we put a good dent in the list).  They also had a beautiful snack spread that included about a dozen different block cheeses to try.  And homemade brownies.  Mmmm...  My little cousins had fun petting the horses and playing with the croquet course they had set up on one of the fields.  It's too bad Quailhurst is only open to the public for major holiday weekends like this one.

I got home just a few minutes before Eddie and we had about two hours to chill at the apartment before heading to the train station to pick up Bree.  We had to make an emergency trip to Powell's so Bree could replace her book that was stolen earlier today while she was in Washington.  Then we headed over to the infamous Voodoo Doughnut.  We all agreed the line was way too long so we took a quick drive to NE Portland to the Voodoo Doughnut Too location.  Another long line was awaiting us but at least this one appeared to be moving.  Armed with five doughnuts and two cartons of milk, we piled into a tiny photo booth and took a strip of four pictures.  I'll have to borrow it from Bree to scan and share with you.    I was worried that my Loop doughnut (yeast doughnut with vanilla frosting and Froot Loops) would tear up the roof of my mouth.  Somehow I managed to avoid that nasty scenario and found myself really enjoying my colorful treat.

Today's media mention will be a bit of a shout-out to Eddie's Sokol Blosser winery.  We have been following the newest season of Top Chef all summer and were thrilled to see Sokol Blosser's wine featured as part of this week's quickfire challenge.  Angelo made the winning dish which he paired with SB's evolution wine.  This season is winding down and we're about to head into the finale.  Normally at this point in the season I would have one or two favorites that I'd love to see take it home.  Unfortunately I feel this season has been a bit of a dud.  I can't even name the remaining contestants and I don't have any clear favorite.  I guess Tiffany would have been at the top of my board, but she was sent home this week so now I really don't know who I want to win.  Last season was so much more fun with the Voltaggio brothers.

Twilight Pizza

Eddie and I turned lunch into today's adventure.  We drove out to Camas, WA to check out Twilight Pizza & Bistro because I have been curious to try them ever since I started following them on Twitter.  Their menu looked good for a pizza parlor and we were pleased to see their decent (yet slightly over-priced) selection of good beers.  We shared the cheese bread appetizer, Eddie ordered a lunch portion pasta, and I ordered a slice of pizza.  They let you custom order your pizza-by-the-slice which I found interesting.  I haven't seen that at other pizza parlors - normally you can only choose a pre-made slice of cheese, pepperoni, or some veggie option.  Twilight does things differently.  $3.00 gets you a base slice of pizza with pizza sauce and cheese and then you choose up to four toppings which vary in price from $0.50 to $1.00.  I ordered a pepperoni and olive slice for $4.75.  I thought that was a reasonable price for the size of my slice.  I wound up taking half of it home since I couldn't eat all that food.

After lunch we walked around 4th Street / the historic downtown district, but didn't find anything fun to do.  Eddie had seen the Chamber of Commerce near where we parked so we checked with them to see if they had information on English Estate Winery.  Eddie had seen a sign for them off the freeway so the lady at the CoC gave us their phone number and driving directions.  It's a good thing we called first because they are only open on the weekends.  Cancel that plan.

We were nearly all the way home when I suggested going apartment hunting.  Eddie and I have been talking about moving to Portland when our lease ends in October because we think it would be fun to live in the city and be exposed to more nightlife and fun things.  We had been checking out one tower apartment building online and since we were driving near there anyway we decided to check it out.  It's a pretty apartment but much smaller than what we're used to.  And there's almost no counter space in the kitchen and it doesn't even have a pantry.  Those things aren't critical for me to have, but we do have a lot of stuff currently in our kitchen and I think it would be hard to downsize.  But this might be the only place we can afford in that neighborhood so we'll see what happens.

I apologize for not having any pictures today but I forgot to take my camera with us when we ran out the door so my picture for the media mention will just have to suffice.  I started reading the Dexter series last year.  I had never seen the show because we haven't had Showtime but I had seen previews and knew it sounded interesting to me.  Plus I like Michael C. Hall from Six Feet Under.  Anyhoo...  I found the books by accident one time at Barnes & Noble last year and fell in love with our dark hero, Dexter.  These books are part of the reason I joined Netflix - because I realized I could start renting the show.  I have only seen the first two seasons because that's all Netflix has made available for online streaming but I look forward to continuing with the series very soon.  Back to the book...  I'm finding this third book not quite as enjoyable as the first two but I'm still curious to turn the pages and find out where Dexter's dark passenger has disappeared to.  I need to get caught up because the fifth and newest installment in the book series is set to be released in a few days.