Woke up the next day and rolled out of bed with a wee champagne hang-over. Or was it a period hangover?? Probably both.
We drove to a local diner where my friends ate greasy diner food and I filled up my tummy with oatmeal, toast and peanut-butter. Whoops. I guess I forgot I wasn’t eating gluten anymore. I also saw Rob Corddry in the diner … wanted to say hi but he was eating so I left him alone. How Canadian of me. 🙂
At brunch one of Jane’s friends talked about how he was going to visit Mike at his beach house after brunch … I was kind of not listening until I heard him say Mike-D. My stomach dropped “um. Do you mean Mike-D from the Beastie Boys?” Damn. I couldn’t go with them … I had to catch a flight to Portland. DAMN IT!!!
It’s ok. If I had met Mike-D I would probably have geeked out even worse then when I geeked out over Samm Levine.
After breakfast – I said my good-byes and headed to the airport to fly to Portland. I tried to nap on the plane but it had free wi-fi so I got sucked into a facebook black-hole. I also got an e-mail from twitter letting me know that Phil Lamarr had started following me on twitter. Yippee!
The Go-Go’s were playing a show the next day and I wanted to get in a good visit with my good friend Michelle (from Herbivore Clothing). Michelle and her daughter Ruby picked me up at the airport and we were going to go out for dinner but I was SO exhausted from the night before that we went to the local grocery store and grabbed a giant salad from their salad bar.
Wow. I needed some fresh veggies … the veggies immediately revived me and I felt 100% better.
We went back to Michelle’s house and Ruby introduced me to Sassy the Basset Hound. Sassy is notoriously shy … but I had her eating out of the palm of my hand by the next morning. Just call me The Basset Whisperer. 🙂
The next day we all got up early and started cleaning the house. Michelle’s parents were coming to visit and I told her there was NOTHING I would rather do then help her clean her house.
I wasn’t joking either. If you know me at all … you know I love to clean and organize!! So while Ruby had a playdate with a friend – Michelle and I spent the day cleaning and gabbing.
It was probably one of my favourite visits I’ve ever had with Michelle. Usually her husband Josh or other friends/family are around. I don’t think I’ve ever spent one-on-one time with Michelle before and it was so fantastic to get to know her a little better. We had the best day. 🙂
That night we went to Portobello for dinner. I have been hearing glowing raves and reviews about Portobello for a while so I was very excited to try it out.
Michelle, Ruby and I walked into the restaurant and asked for a table and the girl at the front looked at us like we were crazy. “Do you have a reservation…?” We didn’t. We never thought about making a reservation and the restaurant was booked SOLID. Oh no! 🙁
Michelle ran to the back to talk to the owner of the restaurant and the next thing I knew we were ushered into the kitchen to have dinner at the Chefs table. WHAT? How cool!!
Ruby was particularly chuffed that we got to eat in the kitchen. Truth be told … so was I. 🙂
The food was sublime. The whole time I was gorging myself I kept wishing my family could eat here so they could see how creative and delicious vegan food can be.
I can’t wait to get back to Portland and try my meal in the front of house. 😉
We bellies bursting with amazing vegan food we said our thank-yous to the chef and staff for accommodating us and hopped into the mini-van to get to the Go-Go’s concert.
We met up with my friend Brian (who had saved us a seat on the lawn) but as the band started to play Ruby started to get really upset. “They can’t see me Mum. Jane can’t see me!!”
We walked a little closer down towards the stage but it was dance mayhem and no matter how high we lifted Ruby she was still very upset that Jane couldn’t see her. Michelle tried to explain that Jane was playing a show and was busy playing but Ruby wasn’t satisfied.
So I pulled out my “all access” laminate and snuck Ruby into the VIP area. Is that an abusive of power?? I think making a little girl smile trumps all the rules. Once we established our spot in the VIP area I asked Ruby if she was happy with the spot. She was. My work was done. 🙂
I asked her what she thought of the band and she smiled and said “They are VERY good at their job!” *laugh* Out of the mouth of babes … The concert was fantastic. A perfect Pacific NW summer evening under the stars.
The crowd was nuts … 🙂
The next morning Ruby and Michelle gave me a ride to the GG’s hotel. Jane had offered to give me a ride up to Seattle for the show so I didn’t have to take the train. What a sweetie-pie.
I hopped on the tour bus and waited for everyone to arrive … um … is this a dream??
Best. Bus ride. Ever.