Two Girls and a Pizza Pie

Saturday morning I headed to the gym, despite the gorgeous (but cold) weather outside. With the sun out and no rain, I had the urge to go for a run outside. But since I’m just now trying to get back into running and only do 1 mile at a time, it didn’t really make sense. So off to the gym I went! Breakfast was some jarred pears, plain Greek yogurt, a splash of Agave syrup and some raisins. It was actually really good and very filling.

I had a decent gym session–nothing to write home about. I did my elliptical workout and then spent some quality time doing free weights and full body exercises. I did a bunch of triceps dips, squats, pushups, Russian Twists, among other things. I was sweaty and happy by the time I was done.

Gym Stats:
Time: 1:32
Calories Burned: 730

It was such a good day and beautiful out, so I headed outside with my camera. The first stop was to the Lone Fir Pioneer Cemetery. I’ve always loved the quietness of cemeteries and Oregon is packed with really, really old cemeteries from the pioneer days. I spent about an hour walking around and practicing with my camera.

It was cool to see some local names–things around Portland were named after founders. I recognized names like Kerr, Sellwood, Banfield and a bunch of others. It was really interesting (but I’ve always loved history).

I know that the Pioneer days were rough, but it was still sad to see the graves of kids. I had such a good time practicing with my camera, perspective and focus. I am so looking forward to nicer days coming so that I can practice more!

After the frigid cemetery adventures, I stopped by the Bread and Ink Cafe near the restaurant I was meeting my friend at. I had an hour to kill before our date. I plopped down at the bar and ordered a small pot of peppermint tea and a bowl of fresh fruit to keep me company while I did some editing of my book.

Later that night I met up with my friend Sam for dinner. I recently bought a Living Social deal for Bridgeport Alehouse. It was a great deal too! It included 8 samples of beers and a cheese pizza for two! Perfect.

I’ve never been wildly impressed with the Bridgeport food over in the Pearl District but I figured the one on Hawthorne might be better and really, who screws up a cheese pizza, right? It turned out great. I really enjoyed the Alehouse. The service was great and friendly. The food was exceptional and the beer samples were tasty. I’d definitely go back to the Bridgeport on Hawthorne (but I’ll still skip the Pearl District one).

I was excited to hang out with my friend Sam because it had been ages since we got together! We’re both uber-planners so our schedules are pretty tight. Sam arrived and we had a great night catching up! We shared the beer samples (skipping the two Porters) and each ordered a half-pint of our favorites (hers was the Old Knucklehead Barleywine and my beer was the Bridgeport IPA).

The pizza was AMAZING. We were able to upgrade to another pizza other than the cheese for just a few dollars on top of the Living Social deal. We got the artichoke, sun dried tomatoes, red onion, roasted garlic and feta cheese pizza. It was absolutely to-die-for. I loved the pizza and so did Sam. We just couldn’t stop eating it!

After hours of chatting, drinking beer and eating delectable artichoke pizza, we walked down the street to get some dessert at Ben & Jerry’s. The line snaked through the restaurant and it smelled like delicious waffle cones! I got a small cup of the Stephen Colbert Americone Dream (vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce with chunks of waffle cone covered in chocolate) and Sam got the Schweddy Balls ice cream. 🙂

My ice cream was so creamy, the caramel sauce was almost chewy and I loved the chocolate! It was a great dessert and such a nice night with my friend. It’s really good to hang out with friends once in awhile!