Easter Adventures: Portland Edition

Every year, the lovely Lizzy and I go on an Easter vacation together. It's a tradition that started in Berlin, and was carried on in New Orleans, Mexico, and now Portland. Every year we choose a new place, meet up there or travel there together, and spend the weekend adventuring around. 

My trip started with a very early morning and a small series of plane rides. I have little to no memory of the flight to San Francisco as I was asleep before we even took off. I suppose that's what waking up at 4:30 in the morning will do to you. On the second flight, I sat next to a woman who owns a bookstore in San Francisco, The Booksmith. I haven't been there yet, but it's definitely on the list of things to do when I finally make it to San Francisco! She was a lovely woman and we chatted pretty much the entire flight.

Upon arrival in Portland, Lizzy, my aunt, uncle, and I all headed straight for VooDoo Doughnuts! It was among the most overwhelmingly sugary experiences of my life. A fluffy, sugary doughnut topped with heaps of frosting, accented with a heavy smattering of oreo pieces. As a lover of sickeningly sweet things, I was in absolute heaven.

Our next stop was Powell's Bookstore, the number one item on my list and one of the main reasons I wanted to go to Portland in the first place. It did not disappoint. Aisle after aisle of books, new books juxtaposed with old. I managed to walk away with only two books: a copy of Shades of Gray by Jasper Fforde and an old bread-making cookbook that I intend to start practicing with tomorrow!

The next day, we visited the Japanese gardens. I also got the chance to experience my very first Pacific Northwest rain! You might think rain is rain, but this was so different from any rainy day I've experienced anywhere else that I've lived. It was a soft rain, and cold but not miserable. I actually quite enjoyed it. Despite the rain, or perhaps because of it in some cases, the gardens were wonderful. Everything glistened and colors were made even more vibrant.

On our final day, we all took a trip out to Silver Falls State Park to go see one of the waterfalls out there. The weather was much warmer this day, with no rain in sight. We hiked down a path to one of the falls, and stood in a small cavern underneath the water, which was an incredibly experience. For as much as I love living in or near cities, I have to admit that one of the things you really miss out on much of the time is just how incredible nature is. 

It was a wonderful trip. Thank you so much Aunt Mary and Uncle Lew for letting us stay with you! We had an absolute blast. I have to go back again at some point. But for now, I'll be looking forward to where next year's Easter adventure will take us.

Brain Breaks

For those who don't know, my current day job involves teaching first and second graders to read (I'm a private, in-home tutor primarily for early elementary school). I absolutely love what I do! The kids are hilarious and wonderful, and it's so much fun to get to spend time with them every week.

Part of the deal that comes with working with students that young, though, is that their attention spans aren't always the longest. And so, brain breaks become extremely important! Because my time is so limited with them, I try to keep the brain breaks as productive as possible, without them feeling like actual "work". What we do during those times depends on the kid. I have one student who loves to play hangman more than anything, so I'll usually set a restriction on the word related to what we're doing (syllables, certain vowel sounds, etc...) and let him loose.

For some of my kids who are more into drawing, I've started doing a drawing/writing exercise. You know the old game where you hold a notebook on top of your head and try to draw? Well, it turns out that first grader arms are too short for them to reach all the way to the top of their head! So, instead, we hold the boards out in front of us, try to draw, and write a sentence about the results. It can end up being pretty hilarious sometimes!

A few photos require some explanation. The top right is supposed to be a horse. I had to cut off the text, but she wrote "My horse is not good. I mean, look at it". I started cracking up at that! It was so hard to keep myself composed. In other news, never underestimate a first grader's ability to make a deep philosophical statement, even if they don't really understand what they're saying. "This is a fish and it is not a fish". It is intended to be a fish, but it certainly doesn't look like one. So which matters more, what we intend or what happens? Which one is real? Anyway, not what she meant, but she wrote the sentence entirely on her own, and I thought it was worth some more thought.

And, of course, one of my drawings to end on!

Her fish may not know what it is, but my fish is very happy to be a somewhat misshapen fish.

Have a great Easter weekend everyone!

A Tale of Food

There once was a fair, yet stubborn and impatient, lady who enjoyed the occasional weekend of reverie and escape from the toils of everyday life (in case you haven't guessed, that lady is me). At times, those weekends would take the lady into a world of Medieval and Renaissance fantasy, sometimes erring far more on the side of fantasy than historical accuracy. But that's a monologue for another day.

It was the night of the premiere for season 4 of Game of Thrones. The previous day had been spent at the Medieval Fair, where both the lady and her handsome knight earned themselves awful sunburns and learned a valuable lesson about the importance of sunscreen. This present day had been spent in preparation of an absurd amount of food for only two people, although every bit of it was delicious.

There were lemon cakes...

Roasted pepper and goat cheese dip...

And foreign coca cola; aka, the ones that use real sugar!

And of course, the crown jewel of all, the beautiful and horrendously time-consuming Daenerys TART-garyen. It was delicious, but oh so labor intensive. At least the fair lady had her charming knight to help her arrange the berries into the lovely picture that you see before you. Three-headed dragons made of fruit don't build themselves, after all.

And so the two revelers feasted (not pictured were the Parmesan-crusted zucchini and pulled pork). While they ate, they delved into episode one of the new season of Game of Thrones. If any show is going to toy with a viewer's heart and nerves, this one is it. The episode didn't disappoint, throwing in a copious number of deaths, an unexpected friendship, a series of misunderstandings, and a solid amount of flirtation.

It was a long day of preparation, but a lot of times, that only makes the end result more satisfying. It was a beautiful feeling to sit down and devour food that had taken me hours to produce while watching a show that I have been waiting months to see again. Anyone who knows me can tell you that I am an incredibly impatient person, but every once in awhile, I manage to see the benefit of slowing down, and taking time to get things right.

And, of course, tarts, lemons, and Game of Thrones are pretty much always awesome. This will happen again. I owe myself some nights of relaxation, and I always pay my debts ;)