whirlwind

It’s been a whirlwind of a weekend, but it was lots of fun and fairly productive.  Yes, I could have accomplished a lot more to be honest, but there were fun things going on that I couldn’t pass up! 

Friday night was spent studying and trying to get something done without getting distracted by the fact that it was Friday night.  This usually signals my brain to think that it is the weekend (freedom!) and I have ample amounts of time (ha!)  funny funny.  This is not the case. 

Saturday I also tried to get more studying accomplished, made a trip to the library and also met with my advisor to discuss my next steps in the thesis process.  He’s actually very approachable and believes that I should just go for it.  I’m getting caught up in small research methods that I’m not sure if I can do.  There is my planning oriented mind getting the best of me again!  He wants me to just come up with a simple outline of the study for now, even if I don’t know how to do something or what to measure, because this will be discussed during the pre-prospectus meeting.  He even told me not to spend too much time on it before the meeting because it will get hashed anyways.  I like things to be definite and known, so this is hard for me, but I actually left the meeting feeling very excited and empowered!  New Motto:  Just go for it!

Saturday night we went to the Greek Food Festival!!!  We look forward to this every year and really enjoy the festivities and most importantly, the FOOD!  Oh how I love all Greek food!  My friend, Chris and I got there a little early to get a seat and munched on things through the evening.  It’s good to come with a couple people so you can get different foods to try without having to eat the entire thing by yourself.  I love sharing food :)

There was live entertainment too.

First we started with a greek salad.  It was really good and fresh, but a little heavy on the dressing.

Next we decided on a gyro and greek fries with lemon and spices.  I think gyros are my favorite, well one of them anyway.  I love lamb and all the spices that they put in the slow-roasted goodness. 

oooh!  and I can’t forget the tzatziki sauce.  This is my condiment of choice for pretty much anything.

 

Moving on I decided to get some Loukoumades to share.  It is pretty much fried dough, drizzled with honey and cinnamon.  Now who doesn’t like that?!  This isn’t something I really eat, but it is sure fun every once in awhile.  I had 2 of the chewy, doughy, heavenly goodness.  Don’t they look like they are glowing?

Another group of friends came to the table and they got a bottle of wine to share.  Yay, more sharing!!  This wine had some rich, deep back notes to it and a good finish.  I had a small glass and also a sip of this really good greek beer.  Not too much of a beer fan when there is wine to be had, but it was good!

 We sat and chatted for quite awhile.  Poor Chris, he was so tired from biking 65 miles earlier that he went home and slept (he didn’t share any food and ate a lot!).  I promised I would get him some baklava for later and came out with these beauties.  The honey cake was delicious.  Again, can’t be trusted in any fun food purchasing situation!

 

This festival was really fun and we all had a great time, I can’t wait for next year!!

I spent a good part of Sunday catching up on cleaning, wash and errands.  I also got a little studying done.  The highlight of my day was the Pink Martini Concert!!!!  Chris and I decided to go out to dinner beforehand since this is kind of our anniversary gift (can’t believe we’ll have been together 3 years on Saturday).  Boy was it a great night, although I wish it wasn’t on a Sunday.  I’m pretty tired today, but it was really worth it.  I haven’t been to many concerts in my life (maybe 2), but there’s just nothing like hearing a great group that you love right there in person.  What’s your favorite concert?

We went to a restaurant nearby so that we could just walk to the concert in case we had some drinks.  It was a little place called Settebello, and I’m so glad we tried it out!  The food was right up my alley.  Mostly pizzas and antipasti, but very delicious and simple.  The food was actually quite reasonable, but we got a little crazy with the drinks.  That’s where they get cha!  Another great thing about this place?  . . . the lighting was PERFECT for pictures, yay!  Most restaurants are like a dark dungeon, so this was a nice and pleasant change.

We started with a salad of various greens and herbs, roasted mushrooms, pine nuts, tomatoes, artichokes, parmesan and a vinaigrette, along with a glass of Ruffino Chianti.  This is always a great pick on most restaurant menus and isn’t too expensive if you buy it at a store either.

Dinner was the Pizza Lasagna with tomatoes, ricotta, cheese, sausage, roasted mushrooms.  We always order a side of basil because everything is better with basil :)  Their dough is really delicious and chewy, not too thin or crispy.  The menu claims they cook their pizzas traditionally, and they have a great pizza oven.  Boy I wish I could have one of these in my kitchen or backyard some day.  That would be awesome!

 

Instead of ordering dessert (they had some yummy looking gelato), we had some time to kill so we decided to go hang out at the bar.  I ordered a lemon drop with grappa, limoncello, lemon juice and basil, and Chris ordered this drink with tuaca, amaretto and frangelico. 

These were so good!  I would go back just for the drinks, even though they are pricey.  It was kind of fun just to hang out at the bar after dinner because we don’t usually do this :)

 

Chris and I really enjoyed the concert.  We were in row B, so we were right there!  It brought us back to Portland when we saw them the first time.  After the show they signed our t-shirts and a CD and also took a few pictures.  How cool!  This is a great group if you like instrumental music, yet it’s a little different (she also sings in different languages like Spanish, Italian and Turkish) and fun to listen and relax to.  I really want to wear my shirt, but they all signed it so now I can’t wash it! 

Whew, I was so pooped when we finally got home.  I didn’t get to bed till after midnight and then had to get up early today for work and had an exam today . .  eek!  I think I did pretty well on the exam.  Most of the stuff I had learned before, so I hope I didn’t make some stupid mistakes.  I hate when that happens.   

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!!! 

I am catching up on all your blogs, slowly but surely, thanks for reading!  I really appreciate all your encouraging comments on my thesis topic :)