cuban heaven

last weekend i randomly picked this cuban restaurant out on yelp for lee and i to go to.

best.  pick.  ever.

it's called pambiche and you should run, not walk, there.

we were starving before we got there and happened to sit next to some nice people.

only in portland would the people at the next table insist that you try their food.

where else does that happen?!

my sister took this photo of me drinking my cuban bev.  hate the photo of myself but it's the only pic with the restaurant in the background.

and we were so hungry by the time the food arrived so this is all i got....  empty plates.

and then we had to take it over the top and get gelato.

own it: eames rocker

i just received my eames molded plastic rocker and i couldn't be more excited.  i've been in love with this chair for a long, long time.

of course my sister just said "it's just some white plastic on 2 bananas".  i'm not sure we're related...

deliciousness

first, let me start out by saying that i've been a slackie mcslackerton as far as blogging has gone.  sorry!  i'll try to do better.

second, i don't recommend trying a restaurant the same week that they are featured in portland monthly magazine.

lee wanted to venture out for pizza last night after reading the pizza article yesterday.  as we are heading out, she reads that our top 2 choices recommend lining up by 4:30pm if you want to get in.

um, it was already 4:45pm at this point.  shitballs.

so we decided on ken's artisan pizza and knew we'd have to wait.

as we drove down the block, we realized it was the place with the enormous line of people wrapped around the building.

patience.......................  i have none.

i dropped lee off to go wait in line and i searched for parking.

i think i forgot to mention it was below freezing last night....and we had to wait in line...outside.

we finally made it inside the door just in time for the entire restaurant to be sat which meant we had to wait for second seating.

dammit!

we were ushered to the back to wait.  they had stools (yay!) and a server to bring us drinks and bread (double yay!).

it was torture waiting 1.5 hours for a table and having to see the delicious food pass us by.  but somehow we made it.

the pizza was incredible with the wood-fired charred edges that i love.

i skipped taking photos of the food as we were too hungry to wait.

it was great and definitely comparable to my other fave place, lovely's fifty fifty.

next time, we'll be there at 4:25pm.

****************

if that deliciousness wasn't enough, we ended up at voodoo doughnuts in the NE section of town.

i think that sent us over the edge.

lee's choice with oreo's and peanut butter on top.

my new favorite place

uwajimaya.

it's my new fave store.

it's all things japanese and it makes me happy.  i can't believe i haven't been in there before.  i could spend HOURS in there and probably will next time i go.  it totally felt like i was back in japan and i wanted to stay.

but...the place wasn't perfect.

my worst nightmare as i think mayonnaise is the spawn of the devil.

they also had grapefruits the size of my head.

they were seriously enormous.

i would totally work there if it didn't smell like fish.

saturday

last saturday lee and i ventured out to try a new restaurant called isabel pearl for brunch.

one word:  yum.

we then attempted to walk around.  and by attempted i mean, lee hobbled with her leg cast on...

but we were more obsessed with the dog tied up outside than the neighborhood.

because let's be honest, i probably like dogs more than people a lot of the time.

it was a nice day though so we walked a few blocks.

then we went on an excursion to the beave to get froyo (lee's fave).

nothing like seeing this sign flipper.

once again, the sky was beautiful...

here comes the sun

the sun came out this morning.

and luckily stayed out the entire day!

insert happy face here.

lee (sister) and i went to get lunch after she was on call at the hospital all night.

i took her to the people's sandwich of portland.

she's a people's sandwich virgin and luckily she loved it.

ps.  people's sandwich is now offering:

lee insisted on her usual post call froyo but this time we decided to keep it in the downtown area.

she wasn't loving it so we ended up at pudding on the rice where, you guessed it, they serve rice pudding.

lee loved it and sampled everything.  every single one of them.

i had tart froyo which was equally yum.

now back to the sunshine...

we walked around a little bit.  i mean, when the weather is nice you have to grab it by the balls.

and random dude sleeping on the bench.  his tag said "security".  hmmm...

after getting home later, there was the hottest hot pink sunset ever.   i couldn't get my camera till it was almost gone...

i think i must be dreaming...

sun, is that you?

it's been so long since i've seen you that i think i must be dreaming.

whatever the case, i was glad to see you.  too bad you didn't stick around through today.

nope, you just couldn't do it, could you?  nothing but clouds today.  but i'm so not complaining because it did not rain today!

the clouds did not stop us today.  lee and i ventured up to the farmer's market in the neighborhood.

lee enjoyed a bagel with pumpkin, pesto and cream cheese.

and because of this, i couldn't stop staring at the booth that was selling local meat.

it was enormous and it kept looking at me.

01.11.11

it's 01.11.11.

yeah, i'm not that excited about it.  maybe when it's 11.11.11 i'll have more enthusiasm.

*********

finally settling back into portland and damn it's cold.

it's been raining ice shards all evening.  and i do mean shards.  it feels like glass on the skin.

i guess it's better than rain?

after returning to portland, lee, will and i went to get our mexican on.

we decided to try the crazy place in our neighborhood.

everywhere you look there are neon colors and they call everyone amigo.

upon entry and exit you are offered toothpicks, mints and hand sanitizer.

and then there is the big animal outside just asking to be violated.

no comment....

holiday-ed out.

it's been great catching up with people all week - jennifer, matt, kristin, etc....and of course seeing people at the get togethers.

on sunday my sister "hosted" some of her chapel hill/durham friends in what's become an annual "invite yourself over to my parent's house" thing.

oh and when i say "hosted" i mean, it was my sister's idea but i did a ton of the work.

it was fine though because i love all the people and it was FUN.  and i love having a party.

we made a ton of food.  and when i say "made" i mean we cooked some and bought the rest.  let's be real.

i did make 10 dozen veggie sausage cheese balls and red velvet cupcakes.

10 f*$king dozen.

ridiculous.  but they were GOOD and so worth it.

i wish i'd taken more photos but i was working on food and drinks all night.  oh well, fun times were had.

here's lee and deb serving the cupcakes:

anyway,  the party was:  my fam, deb, kat, john, revy, berkley, aninda, dino, rocco, rich, jessica, franklin and last but not least, frances.

lee, deb and jessica:

aninda and dino:

lee and rich:

deb, revy, berkley and rocco:

deb in her awesome yellow coat:

too bad deb had to leave early...she missed out on the slumber party with lee, kat, aninda and myself.

i don't think i've laughed that hard in a long time.....

happy birthday to the wilson sisters (kat and aninda)!