David Gray Concert!

Mr & I have been in Portland for the past few days. We decided to get some last minute tickets to the David Gray show at the Schnitzer downtown. We ended up getting 14th row on the floor! SWEET seats! That is until the guy with the hugest hair in the entire place sat right in front of us and blocked our awesome view. Mr took one for the team and sat behind him for the show. Ugh..so frustrating! But, the show was great, he played quite a few songs from the new album and rocked out to lots of old ones. Glad we went!

Set list:

Fugitive

First Chance

Sail Away

Jackdaw

World To Me

Life in Slow Motion

Nemesis

T.Y.L.

Babylon

Meet Me In The Morning

Breathe

Everytime

T.O.I.L.

Otherside

Be Mine

PFM

Portland, Part 2

Part 2 of our trip had both of us working for the week. I was commuting again to Tigard and dropping of Mr_BTM at work downtown. The week went by fast! On Tuesday we went to dinner at Sarah and Tom's house and met up with Lynlea and Anthony. Tom's parents were in town and they cooked us a huge korean meal. So delicious! Wednesday we met up with Dave and Teresa and McMenamin's for some beer and a late dinner. I wish we had McMenamins in Baltimore! I miss their food and beer...so good. Friday night had us traveling to Chris and Emily's house for some bar-b-que and to hang out again with Matt and Karen. Let's not forget the 2 little ones too!

Saturday had us even busier with an early start. We took the MAX to the Esplanade and walked from the Broadway Bridge to the Hawthorne Bridge and then up to the Farmer's Market again for some breakfast. We walked from there to Bike Gallery and then to the Multnomah County Library, which I'd never gone in before. From there we went to lunch at Karam and enjoyed an awesome Lebanese meal. And, since it's Saturday during football season, we went to The City to watch the Purdue game and meet up with some more people. After a quick stop at the office we took the Streetcar up to REI for some shopping and met up with Dave and Teresa again at Rouge for some beer. We had wanted to stop by Rogue to buy some of their spirits since we can't buy them in Baltimore. We got a bottle of the Spruce Gin and the Dark Rum and they managed to not get broken in our checked luggage. From Rogue we walked over to the NW 21st/NW 23rd area to meet up with Jacinta and Eric at Mio Sushi. We had the most delicious sushi I've had in a while. Check out the photo! It was so good to see Eric and Jacinta again, people I consider "my" friends as opposed to "our" friends. That's one thing I'm still lacking here in Baltimore. After than we got some coffee and tea at Moonstruck on 23rd and people watched for a while and to catch up. We departed around 9:00 just to meet up again with Dave and Diego to have drinks at Thatch, a tiki bar. Man, this was turning out to be a ridiculously long day. I was wiped so after the tiki bar I went home but Kevin managed to continue on. Not sure how he managed that! I was well asleep by the time he got home.

Sunday was a pretty leisurely day compared to Saturday. We did some more shopping at REI, grabbed a quick lunch at Whole Foods. From there we dropped off the shopping at the apartment and went up to Council Crest for some views of the city. From there it was dinner time so we went to eat at a brew pub we always meant to go to but never had a chance, The 5th Quadrant, run by the New Old Lompoc Brewery. I had the meatloaf, for some reason I was craving some comfort food. Maybe it's because it was our last night in Portland. Who knows. We enjoyed some more beers and a decent dinner. Of course, we needed desert so we had to go to VooDoo Donut! Kevin had the bacon maple bar and I had my favorite Portland creme. This was our last stop before going to the airport for the long flight back to Baltimore. We need to go back more often! I'd like to make this at this a yearly trip. Next time we should get bikes!

Portland, Part 1

Mr_BTM and I are in Portland for 10 days to work and visit old friends. We are staying at the company apartment in Lloyd Center. Thursday night we met up with Jamie and Annie before they left on vacation. We had dinner at Ken's Artisan Pizza and enjoyed a delicious mushroom pizza (Chenterelle mushrooms) and an italian sausage and onion pizza. It was great to hear that Jamie & Annie are moving to Baltimore next year! Friday had us working during the day but enjoying some fine brews at Kelly's Olympian with some of Mr_BTM's work friends. We didn't stay long at Kelly's since we wanted to do some grocery shopping for the week. After shopping we decided to stop by Dave & Theresa's since they were having a small get together. We called it an early night since we had a long travel day the day before.

Saturday morning we got up early to go to the farmer's market. The amount and variety just blows me away every time we go there. We got a lot of fresh veggies and fruit for the week. We just had to dodge all the urban hipsters with kids! After the market with met up with Anthony and the Verheyens at Hae Rim in Beaverton. Their son Tyler has gotten so big! After lunch we headed to the Columbia Outlet Store and then to the Koonce's for a quick visit. Then it was off to REI, although we didn't get anything there...so sad :( Our evening then took us to Powell's for some book shopping and then dinner at the new Deschutes Brewery in the Pearl with Conner and his girlfriend. The beer was amazing but the food wasn't all that great so that was kind of a let down.

Sunday morning had us up early again and meeting the breakfast club at Jam on Hawthorne. We're now the only couple that doesn't have kids! Our group now consists of 4 couples and 4 kids, all girls! It was so great to see them all again and to have breakfast with them. I miss having our group for breakfast..we don't have that living in Baltimore. Sunday afternoon was a lazy day of relaxing. Mr_BTM went off to work on Sunday night and I went out for Thai food with Theresa and Kirsten and a friend of hers. So far, this trip has been pretty fun and we've gotten a chance to visit a lot of our friends. Now next week we just have to work!

From the Rose City to Charm City

It's official! We've made the move from Portland to Baltimore! This is quite the move, from one coast to the other, and somehow both of us kept our jobs. Our stuff is still in transit and should arrive sometime this week. For now, we're putting everything in storage until we buy a place to live. Went to two open houses yesterday and previewed a few homes out of our price range. Probably not the best way to start off a home search.

I guess I have to update my location! I'm not sure how I feel about the move and leaving Portland, since I did love that place. Baltimore better prove itself worthy!

Beer is good...

This past weekend Kevin and I went with Alec and Erin to the Hood River Hops Fest in Hood River, Oregon. Weather was good, no rain, and the beer was cheap and tasty! Naturally, we overserved ourselves and went in search of a local sports bar to watch the Purdue football game before driving back to Portland. No luck on the game but did get some yummy sweet potato fries at a local pub.

Wednesday and Thursday Biking workout

The Portland Century

On Sunday Kevin and I, along with Susan and Peter, participated in the Portland Century. Kevin, Peter and Susan opted for the 50 mile ride (Half Century) while I tried out the 25 mile route (Quarter Century). I had a wonderful ride and was happy I chose the 25 as opposed to the 50, which Kevin was trying to get me to do. The Quarter Century started out at PSU and headed east over the Hawthorne Bridge to the Springwater Corridor. From the Springwater, we were diverted through SE Portland due to some construction on I-205 and met up with the I-205 bike path. Our one and only rest stop was in Maywood Park at the 17.5 mile mark. From there we headed back West through NE Portland, over the Broadway Bridge and back to PSU. We rode through a lot of PDX neighborhoods, some of which I've never been to, which was great! I always enjoy the opportunity to explore more of Portland, even though I could have taken this same route on my own. The finish line offered massages (which I got), free Widmer beer (which I drank) and a lovely salmon dinner (which I ate, yum!). Of course, after the ride, we had to bike back home!

Great ride on a great day. I hope Baltimore has some planned rides like this!

Portland Timbers

Last night K and I rode our bikes to PGE Park for the last home game of the Portland Timbers, the minor league soccer team here in town. The first half was pretty boring but the second half was much more exciting with the only goal being scored at the 79th minute. Timbers won 1-0 over the Charleston Battery.

This weekend we've got the Portland Century on Sunday. K has the 50 mile ride and me the 25. Looking forward to a nice ride around Portland!