Happy Hour Friday

Ah...the life of a teacher. I have a four day weekend. For those working a five day work week, happy hour shall be coming your way soon.

This week's happy hour takes place at Monsoon Thai on the corner of Mississippi and Skidmore. A little piece of history, I went to college in a city known for its Thai food. We would eat Thai food every Sunday evening at little place on Queen Anne where spicy is spicy, no matter what. To this day, Seattle/college friends and I will argue of a few things about Seattle: best coffee shop and best Thai food. In college, I could have written a book on all the different coffee shops in a five mile radius depending on light, comfy chairs, large work space, late hours, fireplaces, places for large groups for games, etc. I knew them all.  But there is only one amazing Thai place.

When I moved to Portland, I had serious withdrawals. There was nothing that measured up. After living in our house for over a year, I finally found the guts to try out Monsoon. It is about a half mile from our house and attached to a laundry place so it doesn't scream great Thai food. But the place is small and the food is amazing. It is worthy of comparison to Seattle Thai food. (Gasp!)

I always get the same thing: Thai Peanut Curry with tofu and medium spice. Seriously amazing, the right amount of veggies (lots) and tofu. I could eat this all day. And nothing beats leftover Thai, it is always better the second day.

Jason tends to stray toward the Green Curry with tofu and medium spice. Pour this over rice and you have a party in your mouth.

Like the shirt Jason is wearing? His awesome girlfriend got it for him for Valentine's day, this required some secret maneuvers.

Happy Friday and find yourself some amazing Thai food tonight.

Happy Valentine's Day 2012

I am not one for celebrating Valentine's Day. I hate the explosion of pink and red at the stores back in January. Every year, Jason and I tend to exchange a small gift and a card. This year, I saw an awesome chance to have a pre-Valentine's Day at Mimosa Studios on Alberta.

Mimosa Studios is a paint some already made pottery place in our neighborhood that was hosting a Valentine's event last Friday night. For a small purchase, we enjoyed romantic music, chocolates and champagne while paint pottery. It was relaxing after a crazy week. I have taken my share of pottery class and, hoping, to take more this summer.

I chose to paint a chip and dip plate and Jason painted a bowl. I tend to over-decorate things, so I am embracing less is more mentality.

Jason painted a shamrock at the bottom of the bowl.

I went with petals and a "B" at the bottom of the "dip" portion.

Finally, we signed and dated our pieces. We got to take them home Valentine's Day and they mark a great time talking and painting. What a great evening! I cannot wait to go back. Painting anyone? I am thinking I am getting my creative itch back.

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Happy Hour Friday!

Hello Friday!

It is about time. Friday, you are welcomed to stick around for a while.

Nothing beats working a full week to make you miss 2 weeks off for Christmas Break (add into it a little 7th grade drama and it will make you want to drink).

So, in honor of the great Fridays, I bring you Hopworks Bike Bar. When this place opened up down the street from us, we were excited. I have always been a fan of  the original location but the place was always packed and parking was a pain. 

Since the place opened, we tend to eat there at least once a week. They have great beer, great food and a great place to watch sports, talk with friends and an impromptu date. Our favorite is Pint of Pretzels with their yummy cheese sauce:

Jason has a few favorites on the menu, he rotates from the Tofu Po Boy to the Portland Bella Sandwich. 

Here is the Tofu Po Boy with their awesome fries:

My two favorite items on the menu is the Hopyard Black Bean Burger and the Pear and Nut Salad. Depending on the mood, I will get one of them and an ice tea.

We had my birthday event there and they were gracious to house 10-15 of my friends. We love Hopworks.

Happy Friday the 13th. It's a great day. 

Just Like a Fresh Coat of Paint

I was lucky and received a Target gift card for Christmas. I heart Target. I cannot leave there without spending at least $50.

The days after Christmas had me shopping. I sure stretched that gift card, I stocked up on girl essentials (makeup), next year Christmas needs (wrapping paper, cards, etc), and splurging on some new curtains for the living room. I stood there in the store doing mental math to make sure I got long enough curtains.

I came home and learned a lesson. MEASURE first. I thought 84" was enough. Um....nope. We needed 95".

Yesterday, I went to my favorite Yoga class and there is a Target next door. So, I returned the old curtains and upgraded to better ones. I was in and out in 10 min and on the treadmill.

After waiting for Jason to come home from golfing, I got bored and hung those bad boys.

With the new rod, these brown babies are awesome. I also replaced the sheer behind the brown curtains. Our old sheer had a lovely hole in it from an earlier incident so it was time. To prove that 84 was too short, that is the length of the sheers and I like the brown ones touching the ground. Now it's time to motivate the BF to hang the new rods on the side windows.

Happy Monday, it's back to work tomorrow.

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a lovely New Years! We sure did.

A great New Years needs to have the following:
1. An awesome black dress and a very cute BF
2. Champagne at midnight
3. An epic kiss at midnight

This year, we met all three requirements and then some. We made it to double digits and back to single digits, latest we have stayed up in a long time.

We started the night out at a friends place on Mississippi. From there we had a late dinner plans with friends at Montage.

We had some lovely drinks at Le Merde. I love this place so much that I request dinner there for their grapefruit drop....to.die.for. I love it. I am not a lemon drop girl, I am a grapefruit girl.

We enjoyed dinner and more drinks and laughter. From there, we made it to our hood for drinks at The Box Social, a new bar on Williams.

Here, we parked ourselves for the remaining hour and half of 2011. This lead for people watching, including a random dance party.

At midnight, Megan, Ryan, Jason and I toasted with champagne and a time stopping kiss.

It was a great night, we had a blast. I hope 2012 is a year of balance and adventures.

Here is to a great Twenty-Dozen!

P.S. Watch your camera, I ended up with some crazy pictures from this awesome couple:

Time to read on the couch. Happy New Year, my friends! 

Christmas Card Display

I am a horrible friend this year, I did not do Christmas cards. I bought the cards and they are sitting by my to do list. I haven't touched them since school got out last Friday. It does not look like I will be sending out cards this year, yet, all our friends and family have sent us cards and pictures. This year, I wanted to display the cards. So I hung some left over ribbon and pinned them with clothes pins. I got the idea from another blogger who painted the clothes pins with glitter. I would like to do that next year (hopefully, the need to do anything crafty will bite me in the bum).

I have added previous cards from the past that I loved and I hope to frame next year as art pieces for the season.

Jason and I are making an effort to not eat in front of the television and at the table, the cards are a conversation starter, especially since most of our friends have kids and they are growing. 

And on the table is a jar of pins for the future cards we receive. (They would be lovely with some glitter, next year!). 

I hope you have a merry and bright Christmas.

 Love from Brittney, Jason and London

A Spendy Postcard

On a lovely walk last Saturday, we checked out a local printing press shop. They had lots of cute cards and clothes. I have been eyeing the alphabet poster for a while. I wanted to check out the price tag.

While browsing, we found a love postcard that said, "I'm so happy we both showed up here" and the background was the state of Oregon. I decided to buy it.It was $9. A quick trip to target for a frame and we have a lovely new art piece.

All of this was for $25 and I am thinking it should hang on the exposed brick. In the words of Jason, we can cover up all the mistakes.

I hope you enjoy, I am in love with it.

Our Toes Thanks Us

This last week was a busy week. Between Jason and I, we had something planned every night. One night, we went to Mumford and Sons. We were lucky, we saw them in Seattle last year and again last Tuesday night. Both times, they did not disappoint. Despite it being a late night, we rocked out and had a good time.

On Thursday, Jason was getting his Charter, I was staying late at school. My students had invited me to their choir concert. Since I had a couple hours before the show, I had dinner at my parents house. My mom informed me that Big Lots in the area was going out of business. With 45 min to spare, I was able to find a lot of treasures. I found a lovely 5 by 7 area rug for the T.V. room. Jason came home to a lot of Big Lots bags. I also got curtain rods and curtains (I have taken them back since they are too short and the brown looked reddish in the living room).

So, on Friday, I had Jason help me place the rug in its spot. Instantly, I was happy. It is nice to have a rug under our feet. The room is coming together. We are slowly adding finishing touches to the house (since most of the major remodel work is done, for awhile).

The room is looking good, right? I think London loves the rug too, she is often laying on the rug. 

Christmas Cheer

Since Thanksgiving is over, I am ready to embrace the holiday cheer. Last weekend, Jason and I drove to St. Helens to run Reindeer Run. Jason did the 5k and I did the 10k. Through the countryside, I noticed a lot of Christmas tree lots. This made me want to cut down our tree.

After a shower and some warm food, we ventured to our favorite farm on Sauvie Island and cut down our Christmas tree. We did a quick walk to the Douglas tree and found "the one" in a hurry. Jason got to cut down the tree. Despite it being in the 30s, he was working hard and sweating by the end.

Our tree measured to 8 feet and then we had to tie it to the top of the car. We made sure this baby wasn't going anywhere.

Twine everywhere in the car. A lovely drive home. We got the tree home and on the porch it went. We had some errands to take care of. That night, we set our tree free.

I was slightly worried that our eyes were bigger in the forest and the tree would be too big in the house. But that was not the case, our tree might be a little bushy or chubby, it still looks wonderful. We had a great time decorating and London became friends with the tree. She loves to eat the bottom branches and I often find her sitting underneath the tree.

Time to get some presents under the tree. 

The other day, Jason got his Charter and our tree made for a lovely backdrop. I love it.

Thanksgiving: My Favorite Holiday

Happy December, dear readers. I am loving the holiday cheer. November came and went, my head is still wondering what I did for the five days off.

I wanted to share our Thanksgiving feast. Even though it was Jason, Pete and I, we ate like Kings and Queens.

I made out a out a timeline for events. I spent Wednesday baking and preparing. On Wednesday, I baked a pumpkin pie, cleaned and saw The Help at Mcmenamins, I went during the mommy matinee. Interesting time.

The day of, Jason and I ran a 5k. We came home and literally spent the day cooking/baking. We made almost everything. He made a lovely apple pie and I attempted potato rolls (success).

Pete brought some wine and we ate. We had a quorn roast (fake turkey), mashed potatoes, green beans, bananas and whipped cream, stuffing, cranberry sauce, rolls, veggie gravy (from Pine State), and Jason's famous scallop corn. Top it off with apple pie and pumpkin pie, it was perfect. I love Thanksgiving, it is an awesome holiday: eating and no gifts. 

Let the holidays begin.