a largely indulgent weekend

the boy is out of town this weekend, so i had the opportunity to explore some places on my own.

breakfast saturday was at marsee, where i had a nice bagel sandwich and some killer mocha java. i sat at a window seat, worked a crossword puzzle and watched people walk by.

then i got my hair done for the first time since i arrived in portland. based on a recommendation from two of my co-workers i went to tease, and am glad i did. i liked my stylist, and though the cut & color were far more pricey than what i'd been paying in NC i still think i'll go back.

for dinner i took myself out for thai food at a restaurant a couple blocks from my house and sat on the patio and enjoyed the curry and an oregon pinot gris.

after a leisurely walk around the neighborhood, i went to fred meyer, a local chain related to kroger in some way. it's like a down-scale super-target. i've been about a half-dozen times in the last 4 weeks. you can get everything there. including flowers and gardening supplies:


i decided to beautify the little strip of dirt outside my living room window. i realize now why i used to think i hated gardening: it was impossible to do it and survive heat stroke in north carolina. here, the temperature always seems to be 70 degrees in the summer. consequently i had a great time playing in the dirt.

today i took myself to the museum of contemporary crafts. oh. my. god. this is an amazing place. i think i spent two hours in there, ogling blown glass, carved wood furniture and hammered steel jewelry. there's an associated shop, too, where you can actually buy crafts as well. if only i were independently wealthy.

a quick walk through the north park blocks is sweet masterpiece, where i plunked my butt down with a cup of coffee and had a big slice of flourless chocolate espresso cake. good lord. talk about indulgent. i also bought a number of their fancy truffles (jamaican spice dark chocolate; violet chocolate; red chili chocolate; etc.) to bring home.

two blocks away is powell's, so i popped in there and immersed myself in bookstore goodness for another hour or so. i pawed through a lot of stuff, but emerged with only a couple of sicilian travel guides. (a november vacation destination!)

ooh, speaking of travel, there's a chance i'll be back in NC in october! my old radio station has expressed some interest in bringing me back for a few days of their pledge drive. my current employer is fine with this, though i'd have to take the time off without pay. (not a big deal, since the NC station has said they'd pay to fly me out, AND pay for my time while i'm there.) anyway, we're still working out the details, but i'll let you know if/when i'm heading back that way.

for dinner tonight i'm thinking about roasting up a head of garlic that i bought at the farmer's market yesterday (one vendor had about a dozen different varieties of garlic for sale; she said this purple one was a particularly great roasting variety) and spreading it on a farmer's market baguette. or maybe i'll go try the brewery a few blocks down on broadway. dunno.

what i really should be doing is preparing for my interview tomorrow with joshua bell. if i think about it too much, though, i'll get nervous. so best to go distract myself with some sort of activity.