Swimsuit shopping made easy

If you're in the market for a swimsuit and you're a woman, I'm very sorry. It's such a painful and traumatic thing to do isn't it? That's why I hadn't bought a new swimsuit in over six years (with the exception of my triathlon swimsuit, which is really neat but looks kinda dorky on the beach). But next week we are off to vacation in the midwest at a lakeside reunion, where I will most likely need a swimsuit. Plus, some friends here in Seattle just bought a house with a pool and having a pool in Seattle is such an anomaly that I will probably find myself in it at some point just to say it happened. 

So I grit my teeth and set out on a swimsuit expedition. The catalogs are no help at all. You can't tell anything from a catalog especially when it's so totally important as a swimsuit. So we ventured out to The Mall and hit every store that might have a swimsuit and you know where I hit jackpot?

Old Navy.

Not coincidentally this is where I bought my last two swimsuits six years ago (and they are still intact although I can't say I've worn them a whole lot). 

Old Navy is so great. They find a good generic cut that looks good on everyone and then they mass produce it in a zillion different interesting modern patterns and sell it at a price that doesn't make you freak out since you know you're only going to wear it about 5 times. Plus they don't seem to run out all of a sudden after spring break like everyone else does (who can even think about buying a swimsuit in March? Obviously everyone).

Old Navy, you are my hero.

The Viewpoint Inn

Over Memorial Day Weekend the Studly Hubby took it upon himself to arrange for us to go on a weekend getaway-vacation to Oregon.

We stayed at the Viewpoint Inn, a very old beautiful building that has been turned into a restaurant and bed and breakfast.

This is the back of the Viewpoint Inn which faces towards the Columbia River Valley gorge. The first floor is the restaurant and the second floor are the rooms for overnight guests. Our room was the one on the far left.

The Viewpoint Inn also happens to be where the ending of the movie Twilight was filmed.

A snapshot taken between scenes of the two stars of Twilight at the Viewpoint Inn. In the background you can see glimpses of the fabulous view, which is also seen in the movie.

The lawn of the Viewpoint Inn is the kind of place you could hang out all day. They serve drinks and limited appetizers to people on the lawn and leave it open for anyone to stop by and enjoy (while we were there many people did this, but it is a big lawn and generally not crowded)

Some of the original props from the movie like the Monte Cristo arch were kept as a souvenir but instead of leaving it in the center of the lawn as it was in the movie (as shown below) they tactfully put it on the side of the lawn nearest the road so tourists can go shriek and jump around it without interfering with the tranquility that the rest of the guests enjoyed.

Although it was a fantastic coincidence that this was the site where they filmed part of Twilight (and the wait staff told us some great stories when they weren't busy), the Studly Hubby picked this spot because of its great location (near Portland, the waterfalls, and Mount Hood) and also because of its beautiful view, which we thoroughly enjoyed. The rooms were very classy and made us feel spoiled, but were not very private - we shared bathrooms with the other overnight guests AND the restaurant guests, they were constantly giving tours through the entire place, and there was actually a shared door between our room and the room next to us (with a 2-inch crack under it). But they served amazing food, we met some memorable people, and we had a fantastic time. We enjoyed nature (we drove around and up Mount Hood, hiked to a lookout over the Columbia River Valley gorge, and sprawled on the lawn every chance we could), we ate their amazing food and saw the gleaming kitchen of a four-star restaurant during the off hours (overnight guests have the run of the place when everyone else has left). At night we went into Portland and drank local beer and got caught up on movies we haven't seen at a great dollar theater (that serves... local beer!). 

When we got back we watched Twilight again. It was even worse the second time, and the scene filmed at the Viewpoint was rather short (although very beautiful). However the Studly Hubby watched it all the way through with me and didn't even complain, which is really something.

This is NOT an abandoned blog

My goal is to keep posting even if the blog posts become fewer and fewer. This time I can't even blame Facebook - my status was left unchanged for so long that it finally defaulted to nothing, and I have 66 requests stacked up that I haven't dealt with. I've just plain been busy. What have I been doing?

I'm not sure.

Let's see.... (figures tapping on forehead, memories being recalled, chocolate cake being eaten for an energy source, aha! I remember now)

Working, socializing, vacationing, socializing, and working. Last weekend we hung out on a friend's sailboat all afternoon Saturday, then went to a movie Saturday night and the Studly Hubby was so excited he forgot to eat dinner then felt sick at the movie theater. The weekend before Memorial Day weekend we went to a Whiskey party that was actually quite a well attended event (which meant LOTS of whiskey to try... and I found one that I like, which happens to be $200 a bottle, the Johnny Walker Blue). This weekend we went to a BBQ at a friend's house on Saturday afternoon. In between all that we've listened to some live music (Builders and the Butchers, our favorite West Coast band, and the Mates of State, another great band from the West Coast), I joined a Saturday morning yoga class, we helped a friend move waaaaay out to Mountlake Terrace, and we visited with several good midwest friends, one was in town for a conference (yay Katy, we missed you and were so happy to see you!) and the others live in town but we somehow only rarely hook up.

So it's been a very busy spring. But I am happy to report that it's been a really fun spring. Next week the Studly Hubby and I are taking off for a week-long trip to the midwest which includes a weekend at the Lake of the Ozarks - I was so excited I bought TWO swimsuits (see above post).

Hope you are all having a good spring too, and you haven't given up on me! I will try to post again before too long.

The Washington wine tasting

Washington State has a lot of great wineries. The grapes are grown out in Yakama and the Columbia River Valley - 3-4 hrs away, but lots of wineries have places you can go for tastings in Woodinville, about 30 minutes from Seattle. Some (like Chateau Ste Michelle) are super fancy and quite large. At the Chateau, they actually make all their white wines and have tours, tastings, a B&B, and even several large event venues. But if you aren't too drunk to drive after Chateau Ste Michelle, you will find about a dozen more smaller wineries that are even better.

Two weekends ago, some friends took us on a wine tasting in Woodinville. We went to Chateau, then to Brian Carter winery, Efeste and Di Stefano. By Di Stefano, some of us (ahem) were quite tipsy from an afternoon of drinking. Di Stefano was having a big to-do for a spring wine release, with free tastings and snacks and even fancy chocolate. We loved their wine and bought three bottles, but later I wondered if maybe it wouldn't be as good as I remembered.  

Last night, we broke open one of the bottles and it WAS as good as I remembered! It was divine!!

Tomorrow, I will be BIKING out to the Chateau Ste Michelle for a bike ride sponsored by the Red Hook Brewery right across the street (the Haut Ash bike ride). It will be ~40 miles round trip, with a big party in the middle. Fortunately if I can't make it back I have a back-up plan - call the Studly Hubby to come pick me up, and wait for him at one of the wineries nearby.

Travel by portkey

When Harry Potter travels by portkey, the feeling is described as having a hook somewhere behind the navel and being pulled to the destination, and that's exactly what happened to me last weekend, except I was pulled through time, from Friday to Monday. 

Friday night we went to see the new Star Trek movie, which was AWESOME (see post, below). Saturday morning I went to yoga, then to work, then to help some friends move who own about three houses worth of stuff (I'm not kidding, we filled up a 26 foot truck twice). Afterwards we stayed at their new house and had a nice twilight dinner on their back porch. The next day I got up early to go for a long bike ride in the gorgeous weather we've been having (which turned to muck during the week and has resumed again this weekend). After that I came home, ate some food, went back to work, then picked up a friend that's in town for a conference and caught up with her all evening. Fortunately she wasn't demanding and we had a really nice dinner and relaxing cup of tea back at our house before we dropped her off again late Sunday night. 

Monday, I woke up and resumed my wheat-free diet after a week off that included lots and lots of donuts. This time around I am clamping down and getting serious, and it's been very painful (for the 5 days I've been on it). It will be a miracle if I can last 2 weeks. It's the donuts I really miss, and cake. Maybe I can figure out a way to have wheat-free donuts and cake, and make my life a lot easier.

Young Spock is HOT

Have you seen the new Star Trek movie yet?

If you haven't, you should. It's very good. And Young Spock is super-delicious.

The crazy diet

The Studly Hubby and I embarked on a crazy diet (not to lose weight, just to change what we eat) over the last few weeks that has actually been a lot of fun. The goals were to 

1) force ourselves to try out some new recipes that dramatically differ from our normal routine (new ingredients, different balance of foods, etc)

2) try to incorporate more vegetables and less meat and dairy into our regular diet

3) do a 'pseudo' fast to give our digestive system a break (cut out foods that are hard to digest, like wheat and dairy)

4) Check if I have any wheat or dairy allergies, something I have always wondered since I have allergies to a lot of other things

This means: no wheat, no dairy, almost all new recipes, and lots of veggies. We decided at the front that we would continue to eat eggs and fish, thank goodness.

Unfortunately, I cheated a bit - especially with the wheat. Wheat is INCREDIBLY hard to take out of your diet. I realized that I am terrible at actually thinking about what I'm eating before I've eaten it. For example, we had chocolate cake at work to celebrate someone's success and I had hoarked down half a piece before I even paused to think that it probably had dairy AND wheat in it. My vegan co-worker/friend who is clearly a more conscious eater than I am was laughing at me the whole rest of the day. 

What's really bad is, I had another piece the next day (when it wasn't even fresh anymore). 

But in general, over two weeks I did quite well... the only things I cheated with were the two pieces of cake and a butter-soaked hunk of corn-on-the-cob from my favorite restaurant (Paseo), which I couldn't turn down under any circumstances. In both cases I cheated with food that was given to me, so my co-workers were teasing me that I was on a strict eat-what-you-can-find diet.

Strangely, my physical therapist suggested today that I should really think about going off of wheat for a month to see if the persistent inflammation in my back eases up (mild wheat allergies can cause this). I told her I had been off wheat for the past two weeks, and she was really impressed. But then she figured out that I cheated, with the cake, and other foods (did you know that soy sauce and soup can have wheat?). I figured out that I had probably eaten some wheat at least every other day of my 'diet'. She encouraged me to try again, and try harder, and go for longer. So tonight I'm having some donuts to prepare, and tomorrow I will start again. 

In terms of our other goals, the diet was a real success. If you're looking for an eating challenge that is good for both you and the environment, I recommend becoming a vegan or a wheat-free vegan for as long as you can take it. While you're at it, you may lose some weight and feel a little better, who knows?