A Full Weekend

This weekend has been full and fabulous. :)

Saturday I met my friend Eileen for a pedicure at the southeast Dosha location on Hawthorne Boulevard. We got to catch up as our feet were soaked, then massaged, our callouses were scrubbed at least a little smoother, and nail polish was applied to our newly trimmed toenails (coincidentally, we chose the same color, a shimmery shade of apricot--oh la la).

Then it was off to find a place for lunch. Luckily we didn't have far to go to find a great little place. Eileen's sister lives in the area and had recommended a French creperie called "Chez Machin." I was pleased to see that they use fresh, local ingredients, cage-free eggs and also that they offer a gluten-free version of their crepes. It reminded me why I love the east side of Portland so much!

I chose their special savory crepe of the day: chevre (goat cheese), spinach, kalamata olives, and garlic with creme fraiche drizzled over the top and a fried egg on top of that. It was oh-so-good. Vraiment tres bon!

They also offer crepes "sucres" for dessert and while Eileen and I decided to pass, I took a menu home with visions of future lazy Sunday trips to the southeast side dancing in my head. I must take Michael there to help prepare him for our someday trip to France. :)

When I got home, our friend John was there, working with Michael in the garage. John and his wife, Amy, invited us over for dinner and we had a good time catching up with them and enjoying the very tasty lentil soup and garlic bread that Amy had made.

I started out this morning thinking I would spend the day cleaning and would make tacos for dinner. Then I thought of inviting my parents over to have dinner with us, since it had been far too long since we'd seen them. I really wasn't expecting them to say yes, since my mom works on Sundays and she always goes to bed fairly early in the evenings when she has to work the next day. But no, she said they would love to come and what could they bring?

We ended up as 4 cooks in the kitchen with my dad cooking the ground turkey, my mom chopping lettuce, avocado and olives, Michael pouring us wine and me running around finding dishes to put things in, the oil for Dad, spices for the turkey, etc. It was a little hectic but also kind of cozy and nice.

Finally we all sat down and stuffed ourselves full of tacos with black beans, salsa, cilantro, onion, pickle (yes, pickle), olives, lettuce, avocado and cheese. There was more wine for all and beer too for Mom and Dad.

Afterward, we had dessert of a lemon pudding cake which Michael selected from Fred Meyer, topped with a scoop of coconut milk ice cream (my choice). It was all really, really good.

All too soon it was time for them to go, but before they left for home, my mom and I modeled the new scarf (her) and new hat (me) that my sister, Christi, made for us. She is quite the talented knitter, that one. :)

Even though it wasn't long enough together, it was fun to see my mom and dad and fill them in on the details of our lives since we'd last seen them. I'm looking forward to doing it again soon!