blog.circusgeek

a personal blog with nerdy bits thrown in

Category: Food

  • Leverage, Lolo, Lompoc

    After the KABOOM on Wednesday, Kelly and I saw a bit more Leverage filming Thursday on our way to work. They were filming outside the US Bank on Broadway. Nothing too exciting, loads of people, filming gear, etc, but I caught a glimpse of two of the actors I recognized from what little I’ve seen of the show (Christian Kane and Aldis Hodge).

    Yesterday after work Kelly and I went to a tapas restaurant near our house for dinner called Lolo for dinner. Good food, good service, and a good atmosphere. Granted, it wasn’t massively busy (it was a Thursday after all) but the happy hour prices are worth the visit alone.

    Today I worked from home since I needed to take Kelly and one of her coworkers to the airport at 10am. During the day a friend arranged a meet-up at the New Old Lompoc on NE Williams for some after-work drinks. I decided to walk the 3.25 miles there to get a bit of exercise in. After a couple beers and some good conversation with friends, I hit the streets for the walk home. Good amount of walking. My feets are now sore. Good thing I have Guinness on tap to help soothe the pain. 🙂

  • Dentist, White Eagle Saloon, Trebol

    Today I had a dental exam. I have been a slacker when it comes to dental health, and now get to pay steeply for it. I get to go in for two rounds of fillings (total of four, three on one side of my mouth, one on the other), and a deep cleaning session or two with a periodontist. This is what I get for not going in for my regular cleanings for over 10 years. A lesson for all you young ‘uns, take care of your choppers.

    Tonight Kelly and I went out for some dinner with friends. On our way, we stopped by the White Eagle Saloon for a couple pints. I really like the White Eagle, especially early before the live acts go on. It was empty while we were there, probably about 6 other patrons. Kelly and I had a couple pints of the nut brown ale while we got caught up on each others days.

    Then at 6:30 pm we met Miranda and Brian at Trébol, a mexican restaurant in North Portland, for dinner. Had a great time hanging out with M & B, and the atmosphere and service at Trébol were fantastic, but I will say the food wasn’t great, not bad, but not fantastic for the price. Still, it was a good night out.

  • Henry’s, Montage, Mash, Thatch and Rose

    It’s been a crazy weekend so far.

    Yesterday, to celebrate the end of a busy week at the work, I joined a few coworkers at Henry’s Tavern for some happy hour drinks and grub.

    Later last night, Kelly and I met up with several friends at the Montage for dinner. The primary reason for the dinner was to meet up with our friend C, who was in town from New Jersey looking at some houses here in Portland (looking to move back after spending several years on the east coast). I hadn’t been to the Montage in many years, but their spicy mac & cheese is still utterly nummerific. The portion was quite small (smaller than I remember), but that’s probably a good thing, considering I could easily eat my weight of the stuff, and then die from a heart-attack. It would, however, be a very happy death.

    C stayed with us last night and left early this morning (shortly after Kelly, who sadly had to work today). After the house was emptied, I sat and sipped coffee, tried to get caught up on all my blog reading, and played a bit of Call of Duty 4. At around 1pm I took advantage of the sunny (if cold) day and got a 2+ mile walk in, just wandering around the neighborhood. Felt pretty good to just get out in the sun for a bit.

    Tonight Kelly and I had dinner plans with our friends Jason and Jen. Prior to meeting them we stopped in the Mash Tun for a beer. I hadn’t been there for a few months, and they redecorated the inside. It looks very nice, and it’s much more warm and inviting than the warehouse feel it had before. Plus, when we were there it was very empty and mellow, which suited my mood.

    We met up with J & J at a tiki bar called Thatch at 7pm. Tiki bars aren’t typically my ‘thing’, as they tend to be places for fufu drinks and a brand of kitsch that I don’t typically find appealing, but this place (despite the street-side appearance) was pretty fun. It had a cozy and ‘warm’ feeling, with the right music and food options that made it feel like an escape from the usual (which is, I suppose, a must for any themed bar/restaurant). I will say, however, that the service was less-than-warm (the server seemed a bit ‘too cool for school’ and at one point was kind of rude to Kelly, which automatically made me hate the wench), and the food was pretty spendy for the portions. However, overall, it was a good time.

    After leaving Thatch, the four of us headed down the street to the Rose & Thistle for another round of drinks and some more grub.

    Had a good couple nights out. Now, if only I could spend tomorrow in solitude, but alas, we have dinner plans with my folks. Oh well.

  • The past few weeks

    Yeah, it’s been a few weeks since my last post, which means it’s recap time!

    Work has been keeping me plenty busy. Many long hours and late nights. It’s been good, but very exhausting.

    We had a petty nasty wind storm a couple weeks back. The large tree in front of the house lost about five 8-9 foot long branches. The front yard looked like a war zone. Branches, twigs, and needles blanketing everything. It took a good few hours of sawing and raking to get it mostly cleaned up.

    On the morning of Obama’s inauguration I had to rush into a dentists to get a filling replaced (one that’d started breaking loose from a molar a few months ago). It wasn’t what I would call fun, but it’s all good now.

    Portland got a bit more snow earlier this week. Just enough that my bus got stuck trying to go up an incline (the bus wasn’t chained up). After getting stuck, I got off and walked back home and worked from there for the rest of the day. The strangest part was by 5pm it was 40 degrees and all the snow was gone.

    My kid brother C turned 24 this week, and he and brother T came over to my pub (my garage) for a few beers, some pizza, and some dart throwing. Happy birthday C!

    Tonight Kelly and I met some friends at the Goose for some dinner and beers. Yum.

    I picked up a Roku (used for $80) earlier this week. So far I’m pretty impressed, the streaming quality is pretty good. Kelly’s watching An American in Paris as I write this. She’s quite excited.

    Oh, and I got another keg of Guinness today (after the last one ran dry about two weeks ago). I swore I was going to get something different, but I couldn’t help it, Guinness is just too delicious. Yum!

    Other than that, I’ve been watching Lost and Battlestar Galactica now that those are both back on, and as I said above, working.

    That pretty much covers it, I think.

  • Work, work, GOOSE!

    Back to the grind today. Sadly, I had a terrible night’s sleep. After going to bed at around 11pm I laid there, wide awake, until nearly 1am. And then woke up frequently throughout the night. I probably got about 4 hours of sleep before my alarm went off. I then promptly cursed the gods (and my alarm).

    At work, I spent most of my day in meetings; planning and coordinating the next couple weeks, and looking ahead to the next couple months. Hopefully tomorrow I can get some real work done.

    After work I met up with my friend Timmy, visiting from out of town. He and I both share the love of the Goose Hollow Inn reuben sandwich, so we met there to gorge ourselves. I had a couple pints of Guinness, and was pleased to learn that one portion of their patio still (for now, anyway) is allowing smoking, since said area sits just outside of the 10 foot range from the door. I was pleasantly surprised. At least I know I can go there if I want a smoke AND a beer at the same time. Fellow smokers (and reuben lovers) rejoice!

  • Hey look, it’s 2009!

    Last night Kelly and I had a small group of frinds over for our annual New Years Eve party. It was smaller than expected, but that didn’t stop Kelly from making enough food for a small army (as usual). I was unable to get a keg of the beer I wanted (Guinness) in time, so the kegerator was sad, but it all worked out fine. We ended up spending a couple hours playing with our new Wii, and while we were playing Wii Bowling, I learned that my friend J is something of a Wii Bowling master, and that Ghost Dog has some nice spin technique. We had a great time, and thanks to those who were able to make it. For everybody else, Happy New Year.

  • Christmas with the family (finally)

    Finally had Christmas at my folks place today. The snow in Portland is pretty much gone, and it had finally melted enough in my hometown that the family thought we all might manage to get to my parents house safely. Even then, there was no way I could have driven my car up there (there was still over a foot of snow on the ground and lots of deep slushy roads) so Kelly & I met my brother C in town a few miles away and left our car. This year we’d all agreed to do a small Christmas, with the goal of making things more than buying things. This lead to some nice gifts (Kelly made jars of cookie mix with attached recipies, my mom knitted stocking caps, that kind of thing). It was very nice and relaxing. We also had a large brunch and I ate way too much. Still full.

  • A day at home, a night at Goose & Moon

    Yesterday I got a few Blu-ray discs I picked at Amazon.com for fairly cheap (on black friday). Watched two last night, Batman Begins and Sunshine. Can’t wait until Dark Knight is delivered in a week or two, I’ve been waiting to see that again since I saw it in the theater.

    I woke up early today and got quite a bit done around the house. It was a nice sunny, and cold winter day, and was good for puttering about the house while Kelly was out shopping with friends. Among all the housework and bill-paying and other nonsense, I discovered how easy Handbrake makes it to convert DVD’s to iPod-friendly files, and added a movie to my iPod Touch. Hooray!

    Tonight Kelly and I went back to the famous Goose Hollow Inn for dinner and drinks with friends. Had a great time out, eating reuben sandwiches, drinking beers, and chatting the night away out on the heated patio. After we left for home, Kelly and I stopped at our local pub (Moon & Sixpence) for a couple more pints before heading home.

    Had a great day, and a great night out.

  • Winter brewfest, and Moon

    After a few days of very intense and focused work (meetings galore!), today several coworkers and I went to the Portland Holiday Ale Festival at around 3pm to sample some tasty, malty, and strong holiday ales. The Santa Baby Stout from McMenamins was my favorite, but I sampled a few stronger, smokey stouts that were also pretty darned good.

    I was going to go to dinner with my coworkers at Clyde Common, which I hear is fantastic, but I had a prior engagement with my brother T at Moon & Sixpence to have a few more beers and some dinner. I hope to go to Clyde Common soon, however. A coworker says that even their burger is fantastic, and well worth a visit. Fortunately it’s right up the street from my office.

  • A second turkey day, and some bowling

    Last night Kelly prepared our own Thanksgiving dinner, cooking a 11 lb turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing. While the turkey prep and cooking was a bit involved it turned out delicious. After an early dinner we plugged ourselves into the living room furniture for an evening of movie and television watching. Nice relaxing night. I ate too much.

    Tonight we went out to Beaverton for my friend Eric’s birthday, meeting at a McMenamins for dinner, and then heading over to Sunset Lanes for some Cosmic Bowling (you know, music played loud with videos projected above the lanes, black lights, etc). It’d been quite a while since I’d bowled, and I never have been very good, but it was fun anyway. Top score: a pathetic 128. That was almost double the first game (70), so I figure that if we’d played a third game, I’d have gotten 240. Or, more likely, I would have gotten another 70. But again, whatever, it was fun.