Ready for 30!

Tomorrow I will celebrate my 30th birthday and I'm super excited. Everyone's been asking me how I'm feeling, telling me that I'll be okay and not to freak out, and I'm thinkin, "why would I freak out?" I'm totally ready to leave my 20's behind!

I decided to have a low key birthday and celebrate with the hubby and our two closest friends in DC, Matt and Josh. We'll be trying out Vinoteca a wine bar off of U Street on Saturday night, and tonight Mike and I are crackin open one of our bottles of amazing wine left from our Napa honeymoon and making a thin crust pesto pizza and baby lamb chops...YUM! There may even be a Cake Love birthday cake in the mix!!

Anyway, I'll be sure to tell you all about how Vinoteca was and what kind of cake we had! I plan on eating, and drinking, and enjoying life ALL WEEKEND!!

Cheers.

How Annoying Are: Tupperware Containers

You know that commercial where the woman opens up her kitchen cabinet and thousands of piles of tupperware containers fly out and topple her over? Well, that's what I feel like EVERY time I open up one of our kitchen cabinets and have to go through our ever-growing collection of tupperware containers. Hell, are they even called tupperware anymore?!

Anyway, why is it that they never fit within each other, and they get all warped in the microwave oven? Aren't they supposed to be used in the microwave? And why is it that you inevitably lose the lid to one and NONE of the others fit it? It's so annoying!

The thing I hate the most is that I know we can't live without it. What would I bring my lunch to work in? What would we put our leftovers in every night? What would we use to hold Bella's foodies? Ugh.

Oh well, I guess I'm stuck with the dreaded tupperware in my cabinet.

Love or Hate: Rompers

They're everywhere these days. I see women all over rockin the rompers. I'm not completely sure, but I think I'm leaning toward hate on this one. Mike is most definitely in the hate camp. I can't decide if they're really cute or really ridiculous.

It's just that sometimes I see a romper on a girl that can pull it off and I think, hmm maybe they're not so bad. Then I'll see someone wearing one that is all wrong and I cringe.

What do you think? Trend to try, or not?

I Love Portland!

I was in Portland last week for work and I have to say that I really loved the city. I am super picky when it comes to cities as I am a New York City snob and sometimes feel like certain places in the United States that are deemed "cities" are actually not so metropolitan. Well, I certainly did not feel that way about the city of Portland. In fact, I felt quite the opposite.

The Pacific Northwest is lovely in and of itself, but for me, the city of Portland definitely adds to the allure of the surrounding greenery, rivers, and mountains. My colleague and I stayed at a lovely boutique hotel located in downtown Portland called Hotel Lucia. The rooms were a good size, the beds were to die for comfortable, and the bathrooms were modern and squeaky clean. What more can you ask for? There were also art installations in the lobby, which were super interesting as well.

What I liked most about Portland were the different neighborhoods. The office we were working out of was in the Irvington neighborhood which was so beautifully lush and filled with lovely homes each with its own character and amazing landscape. We also visited Northwest 23rd which is a fun trendy shopping district. The streets were lined with great boutiques, amazing looking pastry shops, and cool restuarants. The Pearl District, where the famous Powell's bookstore is located has a super cool feel to it as well and reminded me of parts of Brooklyn Heights. I also really liked the Hawthorne neighborhood, also lined with fun hip shops and restuarants galore.

Another great thing about Portland are the good eats! Here is a list of where we ate and why you should too!

Pok Pok: Awesome Thai food. Not your average boring pad thai resturant. Things on the menu include pork belly, wild boar, and amazing noodle soup. The place is quirky which adds to the fun, and my colleague and I both got t-shirts as souvenirs!

Whisky Soda Lounge: Located across the street from and opened by the same owners of Pok Pok. Go here for enticing appetizers and drinks while waiting for your table at Pok Pok. Order small nibblys like crispy pig's ear and pork meatballs spiced with turmeric...so delicious!

Bakery Bar: Awesome bakery/cafe with scones and buttermilk biscuits that will knock your socks off. Truely. Try the buttermilk biscuit with raspberry jam. Your life will never be the same. I also had the miel (honey) coffee, which was amazing.

Doug Fir Lounge: Fun hipster meets woodcutter vibe in this restaurant/lounge. Try the Knotty Lemonade and the Cheezy Fries. I hear their Blackberry Cosmo is also really tasty.

Pambiche: Amazing Cuban resturant where we had a ridicuously yummy breakfast. Start with the basket of Cuban sweet breads (they are soo delish) and then try the steak and eggs or Chayote Scramble...soo good!

I can't wait to head back to Portland and see all the things we missed this go round. Voodoo Doughnut, here I come!

The Golden Girls

While I was in Tucson last week I heard about Rue McClanahan's passing and I was so sad. As a child, I remember watching The Golden Girls religiously and laughing out loud at the hilarious scenarios of each episode and at the perfect comedic timing each character had. What a great show.

When you think about it, The Golden Girls was the first "Sex and the City" type show there was. Each woman had distinct characteristics that made her uniquely wonderful and essential to the show's success. Dorothy's dry humor, Blanche's promiscuous romps, Rose's innocence, and Sofia's quick wit, made for the perfect combination of four strong, intelligent, independant women, who also had a ton of life experience to boot!

My favorite episode was when they have a garage sale and Blanche accidentally sells Rose's favorite teddy bear to a girl scout who lives in the neighborhood. When Blanche tries to get the teddy bear back from the little girl, she holds it for ransome and sends Blanche its ear as proof that she means business. Rose eventually gets the bear back in an unforseen way. It's hysterical.

Although I am sad that Rue McClanahan is gone, Blanche Devereaux will continue to brighten my days whenever she and the other Golden Girls are broadcast into my home. Thanks for the memories Rue.

On the Road Again

Most of you know that Mike travels a lot for his job. What you may not know is that my job requires some travel as well. I am currently posting this entry while sitting in my room at The Lodge on the Desert in Tucson, Arizona. It was 100 degrees here today, but it felt great to be in the sun and not be suffering from the humidity.

Last week I was in Minneapolis, Minnesota and it was lovely there as well. Although I would rather be traveling with my friends or family, it can be nice to get away for a couple of days on my own even though it is work related. I was able to enjoy a great evening last week filled with a fulfilling workout, room service, and the first SATC movie while in Minneapolis and then had a really enjoyable lunch with colleagues at a quaint cafe on the Mississippi River before heading back to DC.

Today I had a yummy meal with colleagues here in Tucson, and then spent the later part of the afternoon laying in the sun by the pool at my spa hotel...it was fabulous! Yes, yes, tomorrow morning its back to work all day, but at least I've had a few priceless hours to myself, which we all need sometimes.

Make sure to take some time to yourself whenever you travel for work. It makes a huge difference, and in the end makes work feel more like fun.