Places to Eat in Portland: LARDO and RubyJewel Scoops

 

This weekend we had family in town for Jared's white coat ceremony.  My baby brother is a voracious reader who insisted that his visit include a trip to Powell's City of Books. 

 

(Of the five people who visited us this week, every single one brought at least one book with them.  And almost all of them spent time reading during their visit.)

 

We spent a good while toodling around Powell's.  I hung out with my mom in the travel section, and then she followed me to the mystery shelves.  We found Max near the Civil War section, while Jared was busy giving himself the creeps with Jack the Ripper.  My dad was upstairs in the Pearl Room looking at art books.

 

Buying books makes me hungry, so instead of driving home to make dinner, we decided to look for food en route to the car.  We walked past LARDO, which Jared yelped for us.  It had good reviews, so we decided to check it out.

 

 

For you Paleo types, they will make any sandwich into a salad for you.  The bread's awesome here, but it's always nice to have options.

 

Jared ordered the Double Burger, and I got the PBLT (Pork Belly Lettuce and heirloom Tomato). 

 

 

We also got an order of Dirty Fries to share with my family:

 

 

The fries were perfectly done, with pepperoncini slices and bits of pork.

 

Max got the Sausage, Egg, and Cheese...messy, but good.

 

 

The service and atmosphere were both great, and the food was delicious! 

 

 

While eating outside, we looked across the street and saw ice cream...which of course we needed after a serious lunch like that.

 

 

 

RubyJewel Scoops has several delicious flavors available: some traditional, like Double Chocolate, and some a little different, like Roasted Beet with Mascarpone.  We tried the beet and it was surprisingly good.

 

 

I ended up with Blueberry Marzipan, which was sweet without being overpowering.  The blueberry flavor really came through and the texture was creamy.

 

 

My favorite flavor was probably Jared's Brown Butter Bourbon Pecan, but all of us were really impressed with our scoops.  They offered kids' sizes, which I liked (mine above is a kid's scoop).  Their "single scoop" is actually two kid-sized scoops!

 

If you are in Portland near Burnside and Powell's, be sure you check out LARDO and RubyJewel!

Portland Rock 'n' Roll/Upcoming Races

Let's take a little trip down memory lane.

This spring, Jared and I ran the inaugural Portland Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon.  (If you are not interested in a 5-month late post, scroll to the bottom to see what's on the horizon.)

I trained by loosely following the CrossFit Endurance blog.  (I say loosely because I did WODs at my box instead of their prescribed WODs.  And because I was busy and missed some of their outlined training.) 

It was spring in the Northwest when we started training.  At the time I was also volunteering with my musical theatre class, going to hot yoga several times a week, and CrossFitting regularly.  (Oh, and that full time job thing.)  But we had signed up for the run a year in advance because we love Portland, and the entrance fees were on sale!

Needless to say it may not have been the best time to train for a half, which is why the CrossFit Endurance approach seemed fitting.  Most of the runs are short but brutal, and the idea (in my perception) is that you are packing the intensity of "normal" training into less time.  This meant my longest runs were on the weekend and fairly comparable to other long runs, but my mid-week runs were usually some sort of programmed speedwork (example:
"Run (TUE): 4-8 x 400m, rest 1:30, hold within 3-5 seconds" - so in this case you're only covering 1-2 miles total).  This saved me planning long routes and allowed me to get a lot of running done on the treadmill at my office...which was great since doing track work at that time of year reminded me of the story of Noah's Ark...ya know, where God floods the earth:

The water came up to my ankles at parts of the track



I felt pretty good going into the race.  My previous times for a half were 2:04 and change for the Kirkland Half and 2:05:48 for the Bend Half.  I was reasonably optimistic about breaking 2 hours since I felt like I was in better shape all around than my previous races.

However, it was not to be...we started out too fast for me to maintain, and one thing I had not expected was that my lungs had benefitted from the condensed intensity, but my FEET had not built up their usual toughness.  Partway through the race I had enormous blisters and each step became excruciating.  I told Jared to finish without me when we were about halfway.  Highlights included onlookers with boomboxes playing "Thiller" and "Footloose" (one of my all time faves).  The bands themselves I found disappointing...perhaps because much of the time I seemed to arrive just after a song or set.

Then, a few miles from the end, my knee problem from the previous December kicked in with a vengence (likely because the blisters were throwing off my gait).  I was actually crying at mile 11 because my knee hurt to run, but then if I walked my blisters would hurt for that much longer.  Luckily at that point one of my favorite coworkers caught me.  Her plan was to go slow and walk through all the remaining water breaks. 

I finished with her in one ugly piece at 2:17:29, over 10 minutes slower than my previous times. 

Jared was able to break 2 hours, clocking in at 1:56:17 - so glad I encouraged him to push on alone!

I could barely walk around in the pouring rain to get my awesome swag.  I was impressed that they had "rain ponchos" ready for all of us and great goodies in addition to our medals.

The rest of our trip to Portland was amazing:

Delicious!

Nike store - duh

We hit up lululemon as well as Nike, and in addition to great gear, I got a free headband since lulu was giving them out if you'd run the race!

We read about the Sunshine Tavern in a magazine of Jared's and it was absolutely incredible. 

Fresh air seating

Ginger ale shanty

Dessert as an appetizer

I beat Jared at one of the arcade games!

The enormous burger we split

We spent the first night (before the race) at the Hotel Fifty, since it was affordable and right between the start and finish lines.  The second night, we splurged on a Starlight Guestroom at the Hotel Vintage Plaza.

It was too rainy and cloudy to see the stars, but I was so sore and blistered from the race, that we pretty much spent a day reading and eating snacks in the hotel room.  It was awesome to have so many comfy places to sit and all the gorgous natural light! 

We went out for Stumptown, and I even got coffee!  I'm usually a tea drinker, but this stuff was just delightful.

We woke up early on the final morning to beat the line for Voodoo Doughnut - we planned to go on our first day, but the line looked like Disneyland! 

SO worth it.

Our swag from Nike, lululemon,
Voodoo Doughnut, and Powell's Books!

While the trip as a whole was absolutely amazing, the race for me was horrible.  Nothing like crying on the course and then limping to lunch afterwards with some friends who also ran the race.  I was miserable and felt like CrossFit Endurance had kinda let me down.  I was sure that I would not be running. Ever. Again.

Well, after about 5 months of focusing on other things like paring down my schedule to something reasonable, I have not one, but THREE races on the horizon.

October: Pumpkin Push

 I ran this with friends in 2010 and volunteered with a friend in 2011.  This year, I'm doing both!  (Seriously, they let you run for free and give you a tee shirt!  All you have to do is be there at 5am...oh wait.)  Here's the inspiration for my costume:

I'm stoked! 

November: Winter Pinapple Classic

I ran this with Jared in 2008, 2009, and then missed running it in 2011 because I got the days wrong.

Still dating in 2008...with our pineapple baby!

This time, we will be running as part of a big team with our Mercer Island CrossFit family!  This Hawaiian-themed event is all for a good cause as 100% of the proceeds benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). Please support us by going to www.winterpineappleclassic.org and clicking donate. Type in my name or Mercer Island CrossFit and then donate to the cause. Thanks for your support in the fight against blood cancers!

December: 12ks of Christmas

This has been a holiday tradition for Team Matson ever since we got married. Jared is not huge on Christmas, but he loves running with me and so this was a great thing to start doing in 2009.  2010 we ran again just the two of us, and in 2011, we roped our family in as well!

I'm hoping to have one of my best friends join us this year - this is the only race of the three that I'll really have to train for - eek!


You tell me: Any races coming up for you?  Have you ever cried during a race?  Do you have a favorite VoodDoo Doughnut?

Goal Post

Lest you think it's all workouts and veggies over here, I would like to wish you a happy Friday with a very happy photo:

I split this heavenly maple bar with Jared earlier this week.  Being fit is important...and so is enjoying life.  And what is life without a maple bar now and then?  Basically not worth living.

As you likely know, my husband Jared also CrossFits.  He's the one who got me to try it in the first place, and in June he got his L1 certificate and now coaches at our box. 

Yeah, he can do muscle-ups

For his own workouts, about four months ago he started following the CrossFit Invictus Competition Programming.

I like to refer to it this way: "CrossFit Invictus - When Regular CrossFit Just Isn't Hard Enough."

Basically, his WODs could eat my WODs for lunch.

I never thought I'd be joining Jared for ANY of his Invictus programming, but Wednesday surprised me.  Part of his RX included writing out goals for the remainder of 2012!

We sat down after dinner (Jared with a beer and me with wine and dark chocolate) and discussed our goals for the next three months.  Jared already had his pretty much set, but I needed some help with mine.  Because Jared's a personal trainer and CrossFit coach, he had really good input on what were some good priorities to set and how I could keep my expectations reasonable.

He ended up with 10 goals and I (the one who gets overwhelmed, like, daily) stuck with 5.

Meghan's Goals for the End of 2012 (besides saving the world):

• Sub-10 Minute "Annie" (RX) - I've currently got a sub-15 minute RX time, so this will mean practically devoting more time to my double-unders.
• Sub-10 Minute "Diane" (RX deadlifts, handstand pushups to a #15 plate) - My deadlift is great, but I can't currently do one full range of motion handstand pushup, so 35 to a plate is enough of a goal right now.
• 1 Full Range of Motion Handstand Pushup - Anytime these are in a warmup, I'll do at least some to a plate, and then a few deficit box pushups (this allows me to get full range of motion without having to use as much body weight).
• Link Strict Chest to Bar Pullups - My kipping pullups are getting a lot better, but I always need a band for chest to bar pullups.  I'll be doing more dead-hang pullups with no band mixed with trying to kip chest to bar.
• Full Squat Snatch at #75 - This will require work on my technique, strength, and also a lot of focus on mobility.  I have tight hip flexors, IT bands, and lats, so I need to devote more time to post-WOD and recovery day mobility work and yoga.

It's really nice to have some concrete, specific goals that I think I can actually achieve!  I will keep you posted on my progress...and would love any tips on the movements, WODs, or just plain motivation! 

I'm hitting the box tonight for class with my mom (Jackie is on the schedule - woot!) and then tomorrow morning for the Olympic lifting class and another Girl WOD.  Have a great weekend!!!


You tell me: Do you have any goals set for the rest of the year?  How do you find a balance between pushing yourself and keeping things achievable?  What's your favorite kind of doughnut???

Fall 2012 Sweataway: Day 1

Happy Fall Equinox, Jewish New Year, etc.  Whatever you call this lovely season where the days are still warm and the leaves get pretty...we have plenty to celebrate here at Team Matson:

• This Sunday, we sent off the last of Jared's med school secondary applications!  We've only been prepping for this round of applications for, like, 10 months.  We started the secondary applications in June and have been able to submit one each for the thirteen schools to which Jared applied.  Now we're just waiting for a final letter of recommendation to be submitted, and then it's on to interview season! 
• We both PR'ed on our Paleo Baseline WOD retests! (I beat my previous time by almost a minute.)

• After much suffering (not sure whose was worse...ours or the suffering of those who had to put up with us), we won our box's Paleo challenge!  Team Matson tied for first and split the prize money.  (lululemon, here I come.)  I intend to write a post soon recapping our caveperson experience and results, but for now, here's the money shot:

• God has been exceedingly gracious to us, and we've found that through His mercy and guidance, we actually like each other more now than we did when we were dating.  Crazy!

Once a quarter, we like to take a few days for a mini vacation.  Sometimes, depending on work schedules, holidays, and budgets, we don't actually go away.  We stay home, unplug from the world, and enjoy our local scenery.  The main point is that we are focused on enjoying each other's company.

In May, we went to Portland for the Rock 'n' Roll half marathon, so we were about due for the next little excursion.  We coordinated our work schedules to see what days we could both take off, and then we pulled out our "Best Places to Kiss in the Northwest" guidebook to figure out where we wanted to go.

We came up with a few options and finally settled on a trip to Mount Rainier and booked the Sunrise Guest House at Almost Paradise Lodging.

As usual, when making our plans of how to spend time, we wanted to factor in great food and great workouts.  Jared took the helm on the food and dug out about 20 cookbooks and offered me some options for meals and desserts. 

I scoped out a few CrossFit gyms in the surrounding areas so we could be sure to get our WOD on!  Jared also wanted to go for a trail run at Mount Rainier - I love hiking but it's not quite hard core enough for him, so slow trail "running" has been a great compromise for us.

Sunday ended up a little stressful.  We had intended to finish the final secondary application on Saturday...but we both kinda forgot about it.  Between church and the application and a classic Meghan 3 hour packing fiasco that involved a load of laundry and several loads of drama, we got started much later than we'd hoped to leave home.  We even had to stop on the way to fill up our cooler with groceries (thank God Trader Joe's is a chain)!!!

Getting closer...

Eventually, after Lucy (our adorable but inconsistent GPS) tried to lead us down an old gated dirt road, we made it to Almost Paradise around 6 in the evening.  I can't tell you what time it was exactly, because I had left my phone at home.  Nope, not a packing mistake.  We decided we would take zero calls over the weekend...and that meant no texting, either.  I figured it would be more freeing and less tempting if I just left the hell-beast behind.  (It seems no one broke a limb or caught rabies while we was gone...apparently the world can go on without us.  Who knew?)

You'll see this main house/lodge when you pull in.

We were greeted upon arrival by Dugan, the owners' sweet dog.  I am not a dog person (probably from years of people saying, "Oh, he's very sweet" before their pet jumps on you, slobbers on your face, or actually bites you), but this guy was really a sweetie.  No barking, jumping, or anything.  Just friendly and cute.  He was followed by Carol, who runs the place.  She greeted us kindly before inviting us in to do a little paperwork.  Afterwards, she led us around to our guest house, the Sunrise Guesthouse.

I have to admit, I was a little disappointed at first.  From reading the BPTK guidebook, I had pictured us being in a little cabin off in the woods all by ourselves.  I believe this is the case for one of the cabins, but some of the guesthouses are actually like condos within the main lodge. The view above of the main lodge is from our parking space:

You can see the back of "our" sauna on the right

So I realized almost at once that, even though our area was enclosed with its own fences and such, as far as total privacy, it wasn't what I was expecting since if we were talking loudly in the outdoor area, anyone in the driveway could probably hear us and vice versa.

Walking up the little trail...hot tub on the left, sauna on the right

However, once I got over my initial surpise, I started to feel excited to be there.  Carol assured us that our guesthouse did not share walls with the other guesthouse...all the spaces between were storage space, and all guests were asked not to venture around to other areas, so that you could be sure of having your own space all to yourselves.

Plus, did I mention we had our own hot tub and sauna?

There was a burn ban on, so no campfire this time.
Note the grill in the back if you want to barbeque!

Our own sauna (post WOD heaven)

Hot tub complete with Ernie's best friend!!!

The inside of the guesthouse was perfect!  Rustic cabin flair...without being outdated or losing any comforts.

Fireplace in the kitchen

Full fridge/freezer stocked with condiments;
popcorn near the microwave

Sitting room with television (no reception for TV)
and DVD player, along with CD player and the option of
turning on outdoor speakers if you want to sing the
Rubber Ducky song in the hot tub with full soundtrack

Slippers and extra towels in the bathroom

Robes!!!

Jared made us an amazing frittata for dinner.  As usual, he built on the original recipe, adding extra spices and cheese. 

It was killer - but so much food we decided to save some for breakfast the next day!
We generally don't play board games or card games, but Jared did bring along our knock-off Jenga game.  We took turns in the midst of cooking and unpacking.

Yes, I am usually the one who makes it fall.  Oops.

After dinner, Jared decided to go ahead and bake the pumpkin whoopie pies so we could enjoy them during the trip.  Holy yum, to quote Tina from CNC.

We finished off the evening with a soak in the hot tub.  Boy, what a treat to be away from everything and just relax!


Up next...goin' WODding at Graham CrossFit.