Why just go to the movies or hang out at a bar when you can go the Mango Hometown Tour Taste-off?

That’s what I’m saying!

On Friday, I enjoyed a fabulous hot and sunny day in Portland. I had just gotten the news that there was no need to come in on Monday to meet the founders of the company I’d had two interviews with – they had decided to go with a internal candidate. Ugh.

As disappointed as I was, I knew the best pick-me-up was a quick visit with the two cutest Peas I’ve ever seen and their ever-stylish and fantastic Mama. Sometimes life just helps to put life in perspective like that.

For dinner, Chris and I walked over to the D-Street Noshery – the site of the afore-mentioned Mango Tour. We were a little late, but we had a brief chat with the mango reps (now that sounds like an awesome job!) who were lovely as they offered me their very last mango.

We’d never been to this Cart Pod before and deciding what to have for dinner was tough, but we finally went with Herb’s Mac and Cheeses where we ordered the special of the day: Mac ‘n Cheese with Mango, Bacon, and Blue Cheese.

Yes, it was as AMAZING as it sounds.

We also got a Bacon, Spinach, and Pepper Jack Mac ‘n Cheese which was very good, just not as good.

Not all Cart Pods serve alcohol but we were blessed by the presence of the Captured by Porches tour bus. We tried the Invasive Species IPA (a little too hoppy for me) and a Blonde Ale. The Blonde Ale hit the spot as we chatted with an amusing little tyke who wanted to show us all the tricks his stuffed dog could do. He was too cute, and we had a nice time chatting with his parents and trading Food Cart recommendations. This is the kind of thing that makes us love Portland so much.

And the bacon doesn’t hurt.

You guys know me well enough to know that this post is NOT about recovering from a half-marathon or even a 10k.

This is about recovering from Friday night:That’s a Bacardi Scorched Cherry rum and Diet Coke, my friends. This is how Chris’ birthday cocktails started, and it ended with me singing karaoke, not once but three times, ending with “I Had The Time of My Life” with a girlfriend.

Yeah.

Yesterday was brutal, but I’m good today. More to report when I’m back to being totally human.

If this is how we celebrate the possibility of getting new jobs, I’m scared to see what happens when I get a job.

Didja do anything fun this weekend?

I have intentions to write a long, meaningful post but things keep popping up. Specifically, I have a job interview tomorrow to prepare for. I feel good about this one. We’ll see.

Here’s some blah blah to tide you over until I can really get to it:One of these bags contains homemade tortilla chips and one contains organic dog treats. Guess which one I reached into without looking and almost ate from?Tuesday night I had a dinner date. Fortunately, she didn’t want any of my Lobster Mac ‘n Cheese. (She’s so smart already!)Oh. My. God. This gave Praline Bacon a run for its money in the My Favorite Food category.

Hop on over to EastBurn to get it and order whatever’s on Nitro – I had a Clem’s Cream Ale. Nitro’s awesome!

After dinner, I walked home by way of a little dessert place. Super cute! I bought a carrot cake square, but was too full to eat it until morning. It made excellent fuel for painting.

The Hubster’s birthday is this weekend so I’ll try to take lots of pics and get something of substance up soon. In the meantime, I need to start conjuring up past workplace accomplishments for my interview tomorrow. Tell us about a time when you … Ugh, I hate those questions. I’m an office manager. My job didn’t have that many memorable moments.

There was the day that an employee told the managers to go to Hell as she stormed out the door. That was pretty memorable.

Marriage is hard. Anyone who tells you different is lying.

Mine works for a variety of reasons. The first of which is that we’re both the same kind of crazy. When the forecast says it’s going to be the first decent weekend of the summer, what do we decide to do? Drive three hours to paint the Love Pad.

No, wait, we threw the dog in the car, drove three hours and painted the Love Pad while it was 85 degrees outside.

Reason #2 our marriage works so well: we both love this stupid dog so much.

After we prepped and primed the living room, we walked 20 blocks to the river, and, though I totally hadn’t packed the right shoes, it was so worth it:

I’m not sure I can even express how much I love this guy or how big his heart is.

Not the guy on the bike. I don't know him. Nice enough guy, I bet.

On the way home, we picked up Mexican food at La Palapa and a six-pack of Bridgeport Kingpin Red Ale. Source

Some days just scream to be beer days, and this was one of them. We sat on the floor of the Love Pad, surrounded by paint fumes, ate Rockfish Tacos (mine) and a Carne Asada burrito (his), and drank beer. Life was good.

And we’d worn out the dog, which is not that easy.The next day I had two things on my mind: bagels and chalkboards.

We woke up early (after not sleeping so well – our neighborhood is funky awesome but LOUD) and hoofed it about ten blocks to Kettleman Bagel Company for bagels and coffee. (Yeah, that’s us at 7:30 am with empty travel mugs and barely brushed hair traipsing through the hood. Hi! Nice to meetcha!) I’d read in my Food Lover’s Guide To Portland that Kettleman had the best bagels in Portland, and, being a New Yorker, Chris does love a good bagel.

No pics (mental bagel, NOW), but I will tell you they do make great bagels with excellent texture – not too chewy. PS. Their Cinnamon Raisin bagel has 8 Points, as opposed to the standard 6 Points for store-bought. Oh well, I ate it at 8:15 am and counted the Points almost 12 hours later. *Shrug*

This is key: A marriage is held together by long walks and breakfasts together…sometimes a high-calorie starch.

(and by keeping hilarious but embarrassing and humiliating stories private. That’s the hardest, believe me!)

And, finally, my marriage works because of compromise. Last week, Chris didn’t think we needed the huge vintage schoolroom chalkboard that I’d seen in a nearby shop. Once he saw how bright the dining area looked with the new paint, he changed his mind. I was soooo afraid it would be gone since chalkboards are SO hot right now (as seen here and here), and it was really cheap ($65). But I called the shop right when it opened, and they said it was still there! (Ok, technically I called back after leaving a message 15 minutes before they opened because I’m impatient like that.)Now that’s love: Chris cleaning the chalkboard he hadn’t even wanted but knew I desired. Not to mention the fact he rode back from the shop with 75 lbs of Cady on his lap so the chalkboard would fit in the back of the car.

Sigh.

That’s simply how it works.