Some Kind of Weekend

I had quite a lovely weekend here in Portlandia.
Saturday was Beth's birthday, and we had a full day of activity. We started out a little late (because of a Friday night party), but eventually we did go out to breakfast. Despite the fact that our waitress didn't think that I knew what I wanted to order and tried to convince me that an Arnold Palmer would be a disgusting drink because they only have strawberry lemonade and finding a hair in my food (and sending it back), I had a lovely time. And, I do recommend strawberry lemonade Arnold Palmers to the AP drinkers out there. The Cricket Cafe knows how to make hashbrowns and scrambled tofu, to be sure.
Next, we prepared for our weekly trip to the big downtown farmers' market. We wanted to take the cats with us, so after a little scheming...

Unfortunately, they were a little too excited once we got outside and actually bringing them along to the market is going to take some more training.
As you can see from the pictures, it was a simply stunning day, and we went to the park after returning from the market. We played doctor doctor, frisbee, basketball and sat in the grass until we realized that it was time for dinner (which was easy to realize because Beth has a mini-meltdown when hunger strikes).
We had dinner with some friends after seeking the best outdoor seating within a reasonable distance. Our meal ended with a grand finale when a lightning storm struck! It's the first one we've had since I moved here, and we (Beth and I) were squealing with excitement and feelings of home with almost every flash and rumble. While we were out, Slav came back to Portland, which is so crazy, I don't even have any commentary.
On Sunday, I helped Slav move for a little while, but spent most of the day preparing for a dinner party! I used the new cookbook (Veganomicon) that Caita got me for my birthday (thanks again!!) to prepare spinach asparagus dip for an appetizer, latke, sautéed rainbow chard and marinated portabello mushrooms for dinner and chocolate flaked ice "cream" for dessert. It was super fun! I meant to take pictures of the food, but we were hungry and I forgot.
Overall, it was a delightful couple of days!

Beth lounging in some newly laid hazelnut hull mulch we found on our way back home from the farmers' market on Saturday