Tea and Treasures

Saturday I lazed in bed for quite a long time. I just wasn’t feeling the whole “get out of bed and do stuff” thing. But my sense of responsibility and schedule finally made me get my butt out of bed and go to the gym. Elliptical time, followed by another attempt at running which was not quite as great as the last time. Isn’t it funny how running is so neurotic? One day you can have an awesome run, the next day it’s like your whole body is falling apart. Oh well, I knew that starting to run again would be a struggle. At least I’m trying. I finished up my workout with some light weight lifting and lots of stretching.

Gym Stats:
Time: 1:40
Calories Burned: 813

Lunch with Michael was homemade nachos. I was so famished by the time I got home from the gym I forgot to take photos. 🙂 Trust me when I say they were amazing. Topped with the usuals plus shredded leftover chicken and jalapenos. The nachos were really filling because of the chicken addition. It was a great way to use the leftovers up, too.

After lunch, Michael and I walked around Sellwood for awhile. It was something I’d never really done before, even though I’ve lived near Sellwood for years. It’s a cute area with lots of shops, bike stores, yoga studios, antique stores, restaurants and some galleries.

The only thing I really go to Sellwood for is restaurants and occasionally a trip to New Seasons (like Whole Foods). The antique shops had some cool things–an old slot machine fromt he 1930’s, a gorgeous grandfather clock for only $4800 and this groovy old phone:

There were several art galleries that we both really liked. I asked Michael if we could have a huge eagle head in our front yard and he didn’t like that idea. Boo. Spoil sport! How awesome is this thing?!?!

I loved the other quirky yard art sculptures at this place, but Michael wasn’t having any of it. He just doesn’t get art. (Hehehehe)

I really liked the gallery with the sculptures and ended up buying a pair of earrings I really liked. Honestly, there was a ton of art there I would have happily bought had I had an “extra” $300 lying around. Why is art so expensive? Dang.

We finished up the window shopping with a nice detour to my new favorite tea shop. It’s absolutely adorable! It’s deceptively large. It’s nestled in between some shops and a Great Harvest Bread shop. It’s the little old red Caboose.

You walk into the caboose and there are a bunch of chairs and comfy couches, or you can walk down the stairs to the rest of the cafe.

The selection of tea is nice and the atmosphere is relaxing. I discovered this place one rainy Sunday when I needed to finish up my book edits. I’d grabbed am intimate table near the water fountain and garden.

Word to the wise: Don’t order Matcha tea. I had no idea what it was. So not my cup of, er, tea…Apparently it’s a tradition in ancient Japanese Tea Ceremonies. But neither of us liked it one bit. They ground up the tea into a powder and mix it with water so it’s a frothy, foaming, gritty tea. It was kinda like drinking dirt. Michael called it “swamp water.” It was not good.

After our afternoon tea, we walked back through Sellwood to our car and ran across this little cutie:

He was a few months old according to his owner and full of energy. He wanted to eat everything in sight: grass, trash on the ground, a wooden picnic bench….yeah, puppies are adorable but apparently eating machines!

It was a nice day together. It was rather chilly out but at least it was dry and sunny. We headed home to make pizza for dinner and watch “Limitless.”

QUESTION: Have you ever tried Matcha tea? Are you into art galleries?