Errands, Dinner Party, & Fall Vibes 🍂

Hello and happy Monday!

I am currently writing you all with a warm pumpkin latte in hand and it is wonderful! This past week has been kind of crazy, so I thought I would not only do a weekend recap but an entire week recap. Last week was our first week back from Costa Rica, so getting into the hang of things has definitely been a little tricky.

Before I jump into my recap, check out my latest Costa Rica Recap post if you have not already! I think Day 3 of our trip may have been the most fun, so I highly recommend giving it a read 🙂

Getting back into the swing of things

I am not going to lie, last week was tough. I had a lot of catching up to do at work and was honestly just exhausted all week. I don’t quite know why I was so tired when I had a 3 day weekend to recover from our trip.. but I was. Every night I passed out around 9 pm and felt drained all day. I am not sure if it had to do with being so go-go-go on our trip to then me sitting on the couch and taking it easy, or what the deal was but it sucked. I felt so guilty for being tired.

I did, however, find the energy to make a few tasty & nutritious meals during the week – so I would consider that a win! A few of the meals I made were:

• A chimichurri steak bowl with wild rice, avocado, tomato, onion, cilantro, pineapple, & poblano pepper
• A green smoothie w/ spinach, banana, almond butter, cinnamon, collagen powder, and chia seeds.
• A spicy peanut noodle bowl with buckwheat soba noodles, shaved carrots, peanut sauce (peanut butter, soy sauce, ginger, light coconut milk), peas, sriracha, and peanuts
• A pita pizza made with whole wheat pita bread, pickled onions (I made myself 😉 ), olives, reduced-fat feta cheese, cucumbers, red bell pepper, and homemade hummus.
• A sweet potato torta with multi-grain bread (from Dave’s Killer Bread – I have raved about this before, but it is my favorite bread to eat), baked sweet potato slices, pickled onions, avocado, spinach, chipotle mayo (I just used an olive oil mayo & adobo sauce and mixed them together), and a habanero pepper
• (Not pictured) Pear & Brie Grilled Cheese

Not bad for being tired all week!

Working out on the other hand was a struggle. I was too tired to wake up early to workout before work, but too tired after work to workout. It was quite the situation. Knowing that I was not going to be able to get in an actual workout, I opted for going on walks with Winston.

I am working on building up Winston’s endurance so that he can go for longer walks (more than 10 minutes long). Winston enjoys sleeping most of the day, which is very cute, but I want to make sure that I am keeping his heart healthy and strong. As of right now, he enjoys going for walks.. for about 10 minutes.. but then wants to return home.

Speaking of Winston, I mentioned in an earlier post that we had to bring him to the vet right after arriving from Costa Rica because he had a horrible allergic reaction to… fleas! I previously thought he was developing a hotspot after seeing redness on his legs and seeing that he had been biting and licking himself there (hence causing moisture), but I was wrong.

We had discovered the redness right before heading to Costa Rica but did not think too much of his slight redness due to his skin sensitivities. Unfortunately, the fleas had a week to hangout with him and irritate him, so his legs are arms were raw and scabby by the time we returned home 😦

I knew very little about fleas before Winston caught them, so I may write a post on preventing and treating fleas as a way to spread knowledge on these pests. As it turns out, I learned while shopping at Mudbay (a local dog-supply store here in Portland) that quite a few dogs in our area were experiencing flea infestations. Awesome, right?!

Anywho, fleas are not only annoying to your dog.. but to you as well. To ensure that fleas were eliminated from Winston and our apartment we needed to not only treat Winston for fleas (goodbye $280), but also detox our apartment. Meaning, we needed to clean EVERYTHING. Maybe that is why I was so tired last week? Hmm..

Fortunately, Ian and I seem to be doing a good job because Winston is doing a lot better. He has not been biting himself and his redness has practically disappeared.

Staying Busy

Besides trying to get back into the swing of things, deep cleaning our apartment, and cooking, we did manage to do a few interesting things! Wednesday was a great day at work for Ian so we wanted to treat ourselves to a dinner out.

We hadn’t been to Papa Hayden in a while so we thought we would eat there. I ordered their Croque Monsieur with a cucumber salad on the side. I absolutely adore their Croque Monsieur but always struggle to finish it. I ate about half of my sandwich and saved the second half for lunch. I love leftovers for lunch. It’s the best!

After work on Thursday we headed over to the Nike Employee Store. Ian had a pass from work that was expiring this past weekend, so we opted to go on Thursday. For those of you who do not know what the Nike Employee Store is, it is a beautiful place. A place where all of the newest Nike items are released and sold for 40% off if you are a guest and 50% off if you are an employee. It is amazing and I love going. Unfortunately, not everyone can shop in the employee store as to make this experience more exclusive. If you do not work at Nike, you can only enter the store with a pass or invitation. In other words, you need to know someone who works at Nike and is willing to give you one of their passes. Since this is such a beautiful place, it is best to go during the week. On the weekend, there are often times lines that form outside and it can be a little chaotic. People love Nike in Portland.

Ian and I made full use of our pass 😬My wallet is not happy, but I am!

The Nike Employee Store is in Beaverton, which is where Ian and I first moved to when we moved to Oregon together, but now it is quite far from our apartment. Well, I mean.. maybe it’s not that far.. but we rarely venture out there these days.

Since we were already out in Beaverton, we decided to head over to our favorite McMenamins called the Rock Creek Tavern. While I do not miss out commute from Beaverton to Portland everyday, I do miss having the Rock Creek Tavern nearby. This place is awesome.

For those of you who do not already know, Ian and I loooove McMenamins. We actually stayed at a McMenamins hotel a few weeks ago and it was an absolute blast! If you haven’t already, check out the post I wrote on our McMenamins stay here.

The Rock Creek Tavern is nestled in the middle of the countryside and is a bit out of the way from anything/everything, which is actually what I love about it. It is a nice break from the bustling pace of living in the city.

Not only is it charming from the outside, but inside it is has a cozy and warm feel to it. During the winter, they light the fireplace, and year round they have nightly performances. Most performances are of the folk/bluegrass variety. You can check out their calendar here 🙂

If you are ever in the Beaverton area, I highly recommend stopping for a bite at the Rock Creek Tavern.

Weekend Recap & Fall Vibes

This weekend was both relaxing a busy, which is just the way I like it!

After sleeping in a bit Saturday morning, Ian and I headed out the door to run a few quick errands before his parents were to come over for dinner. Shortly after hopping in the car and driving 25 minutes to the nearest shopping center (that includes stores like Target & Home Depot), we realized that skipping breakfast was not our best idea. In all honesty, I am not the most patient or pleasant to be around when I am hungry, so we thought it would be best to grab a bite before running errands. Wanting something light and healthy, we opted for Panera! I was secretly hoping that their autumn squash soup was back.. but it sadly was not 😦 It will return to Panera this Thursday. Trying to hold onto some semblance of summer, I opted for their seasonal strawberry poppyseed salad.

Ian and I did not order dessert while there.. but I noticed that these pastries had my name on them.. literally! I thought it was funny so I took a photo and thought I would share that with you all. Not sure if they taste good or not, but they do look good!

After lunch, we headed to Home Depot for some good ol’ wall patching materials. Winston loves us sooooooo much that he went through a phrase were he chewed the walls a bit whenever we were at work 🙂 It was great. His separation anxiety seems to have gotten better.. but I have also been working more from home these days.. so who knows!

Regardless, we decided that it was time to start patching up our walls. I have absolutely no idea how to patch drywall, so this will definitely be a learning experience for me!

After Home Depot, we headed to Michaels for a poster frame. We purchased a poster from the Kamasi Washington & Herbie Hancock concert we went to a few weekends ago (post on that here) and wanted to make sure that we framed it to avoid denting/ruining it. While at Michaels, I could not help but notice all of the fall & Halloween decorations all over the store. The decorations along with the gloomy weather here made me like it is already fall.

Once we had our poster frame, we headed to Target to return something I had purchased prior to the trip and strongly disliked. We ended up leaving with a few things as well.. but that seems to be how Target is. You walk in looking for one thing and leave with 3 4 5 things. It’s great.

We then headed home, quickly tidied up our apartment, and I ran to the grocery store while Ian began cooking. Since we were excited about our recent trip to Costa Rica, we wanted to bring a taste of Costa Rica to our dinner by preparing gallo pinto, slow-cooker shredded chicken, guacamole, pico de gallo, and tortillas. We also made guaro sours for his parents to try. You can find out how to make them in my Day 1 Costa Rica recap post!

We were so busy prepping and eating that I did not take any photos of the food we prepared, so you can just imagine what it looked like. We did, however, take this photo!

Sugarpine Drive-In 🌲🍦

Sunday morning Ian and I headed out of our apartment to look for a gift to bring to my great aunt & uncle’s 50th wedding anniversary lunch this upcoming Saturday. After finding part of their gift and walking around a bit, we had a bit of a sweet tooth.. so we drove out to Sugarpine Drive-In to try their famous soft-serve ice cream.

It was cold and rainy when we headed out to Sugarpine Drive-In, so we figured that we would be the only people there wanting ice cream. We were so wrong!

Sugarpine Drive-in, once a gas station, is now a restaurant and drive in offering some of the best icecream cones and food in the area! Ian and I wanted to just go through their drive-thru and order a cone BUT I have seen photos of their food and everything looks amazing. The owners of Sugarpine Drive-In, Emily Cafazzo and Ryan Domingo, were previously chefs at a few very well regarded restaurants and opened this drive-in together after launching their catering company called Larch Provisions. All of their food is fresh and seasonal, which makes me so happy 🙂

Since I had never been to Sugarpine Drive-In, I asked the friendly guy taking our order which ice cream cone topping he recommended for me. After telling me about their brickle topping (hazelnut-toffee-chocolate crunch) and how it was a family recipe, I was sold. I was also so impressed with the friendly service and how much their employees care about the Sugarpine Drive-In. Everyone working there looked so happy!

At the Sugarpine Drive-In, you have the option between getting vanilla, swirl, or chocolate soft-serve.. so Ian and I opted for swirl 🙂 Ian had his topped with their animal crackers and wow were they good! I may or may not have stolen a bite of his 😉

Wanting to enjoy our ice cream cones together while listening to the rain, we chose to eat in the car instead of on Sugarpine’s covered patio. I could not get over how good my cone was.

Now, would I recommend that you eat like I did this past week? Absolutely not! However, this past week was definitely one that deserved a little bit of a “treat yo self” mentality. Now that it is a new week, it is time for me to start new and maybe not treat myself as much 😉

A few questions for you!

~ What did you do this past weekend?

~ Does it feel like fall near you?

~ Favorite ice cream flavor?