MY Birthday!

Whew! We've made it. Saturday was my birthday and to say I was spoiled is a complete down play. I am so grateful for all that contributed to my wonderful day/week/month. I feel the love and am so appreciative of having such wonderful people in my life.

I woke up to my happy children and a son ready for his soccer game! Tina and Enrique came by early for Dev's big day (he's been SO excited for his 1st game of spring season). 9am soccer game, picked up the girls, dropped Nana off at another party and dashed to Grandma Kim and Grandpa Wade's so we could head on a road trip.

I wanted a low key birthday. HA! Okay, maybe not low key but I wanted to celebrate in Portland. Eating my way through Portland really. I wanted to eat at some well reviewed restaurants.

Originally, we were going for the day with Tina, her boyfriend - Enrique and Denise + Dao from the C6 but then, things came up - Pay wasn't feeling well the night before and Tina was slammed with nursing school HW. So...that left Daddy and I on our adventure.

Grandpa Eddie gave the nicest present...an evening in Portland. He gave us the present of a hotel stay at where we wanted or where we could get in at such late notice. At that very moment, Denise texted saying they could go after all. That Pay felt a bit better. Double YAY! After, I jumped up and down like a kid we packed our stuff and headed on our way...

Hello, 3 hour drive to our eating haven! Daddy and I got some nice talking in. I don't think we've talked that long without interruptions in awhile. I laughed so hard at times that I wish I hadn't drank that liter of water! HA!

You can only guess what we talked about...our kids.

First stop...Farmer's Market. I am a fan of Farmer's Markets. They have the best eats. This particular market only let's in vendors who bake/cook their items from scratch no store bought ingredients. Awesome. My kind of eating. Fresh. Natural. Delicious.

We got to the market (or rather Portland) at 3:30-4pm so we had about an hour to enjoy the market. Well...first things first - ELEPHANT EARS. A must have.

They were the sweetest people to chat with about their business. You can pile on your toppings and smell the baking yummies all through the market. We couldn't decided between an elephant ear or funnel cake. Sooo...




We had both. Um, check out the maple glaze. Hello!?! I could've eaten that in nano seconds. Oh wait, I did!




Yeah...this is our friend, funnel cake.





We were just getting started. We walked it off and headed towards Broadway to enjoy a little Happy Hour.


Saucebox.





I never drink. Even when I go out, I don't drink. I don't think I had a margarita since my last birthday when Dao made me one (or two...). The boys had manly beers.





Taro chips to start off.

The girls enjoyed Margaritas of the strawberry orient.

Us. Me in my muscle tee...hey, we did a lot of walking. Don't judge. I get to be as comfy as I want, it's my birthday.

We all ordered something then split it 4 ways to maximize our tasting menu. Oh man, everything was so good. This place's reviews weren't kidding. It was great asian inspired food. I had the smoky burger (their Saucebox Burger).

Denise had a Miyako Burger.

Dao ordered a Banh Mi with "chicken ham" (as Denise and Dao called it, I'll let her explain that story) or chicken liver pate.

Daddy ordered Pork Sarong. Pork meatballs with fried noodles - something I don't think I would have ordered but glad I got to try.

Fries.

Andina.

We walked around more and split up because time was limited. Everything was closing. I had a mission to go to Lululemon. It was in the Pearl District coincidentally near the dinner place. We rush to Lululemon...get there about 7:20pm and they close at 7pm. Awesome. We wandered around and then, Denise and Dao called - they need to head home they had 2 out of 4 kids not feeling 100% + Dao was super tired from his late night soccer game on Friday night.

We understood so we had an hour left before our dinner reservation so we decided to check in. We walked back to the hotel. By that time, I was starting to get tired. I was going back and forth about eating closer to our hotel. But, after walking by a few places I was convinced I would regret not eating at Andina. It was the place I was most looking forward to eating at so I'm glad Daddy convinced me. We checked in and then hoofed it back to the Pearl District for some good eating...

The restaurant was huge. It was packed full at 9:30pm at night.

Live Peruvian music totally added to the atmosphere.

It was very casual and simple settings. The menu on the other hand was not. It was simple ingredients but complex pairings. I was blown away and very impressed. And, a bit intimidated. I gravitated towards the safe menu items. Then, we both decided we'd share.

They started us off with 3 purees - mild, medium and hot. The green was jalapenos and other peppers and the medium (our favorite) had peppers and passionfruit. Holy cow, we both couldn't stop dipping our bread. Even knowing we ordered a huge dinner on it's way.

Oh, my friend - Pinapple Mojito. Daddy and I were loved this drink. Basil and Pinapple were a great combo.

Daddy's duck. Well, we shared it. Sorry, vegan/vegetarian friends! I can't believe how tender, juicy and flavorful this dish was.

ARROZ CON PATO
a gourmet version of an iconic Peruvian dish; pan-seared duck breast and crispy duck confit served over cilantro-infused rice with red bell peppers, peas and carrots.

Mine.

LOMO SALTADO
Cascade Natural Beef tenders wok-fried with onions, tomatoes, oyster sauce, garlic and ají, served with Yukon Gold "papas fritas" and garlic rice.

My complementary dessert. See? It pays to tell everyone who will listen it's your birthday! HA! I was oober excited to get this for free.

CANUTOS DE QUINOA Y MARACUYA
crisp quinoa studded cannolis stuffed with passionfruit mousse, served with mango-lemongrass sorbet and caramel.

Our hotel.

Mmm, so comfy. I hit the pillow and was out. What a fun yet exhausting day! We lived it up and it was so relaxing. We splurged and took a taxi back. That $5.50 was worth at 11:30pm at night. We were wiped. We had an amazing time together. Eating, laughing and...walking! Gotta walk off those calories, ya know!?

We sat in lobby for awhile trying to absorb the peacefulness of the hotel and how beautiful the structure was. Until, the prom kids walked in and we had nightmares of our kids heading to prom. I'm so enjoying where they are now I don't think that I'm any where near ready to think about prom.

What a treat and experience we had. Again, so grateful to everyone who celebrated with me! I love you, all!