I headed out to Eugene to hang with my girl for a few days. Arrived Thursday night with plans to cook and just be mellow – you know, take in the college scene. Tay is renting the cutest little house:
number 938 1/2 Almaden Street! She picked me up from the airport, we grabbed a bit to eat at Health ToGo (last visit, I had to chat with the owner to see about franchising for Boulder/Denver) and headed to our 4 pm class. Me, of course, with strict instructions to not say a word under any circumstances! Class was Philosophy of the Environment, or Environmental philosophy. Back in the (smallish) auditorium, I listened to the professor and student exchange while I did some drawing (did you know I recently took a night “Intro to Drawing” class?).
Class over, we headed home to unpack my stuff, then out again to the grocery store (is there anyone reading this who is surprised by that?). Tay’s refrigerator had a mostly-empty jar of pickles and one container of yogurt – just like out of a comedy. We loaded up at Kiva, then headed to an italian restaurant she wanted to eat in. We were lucky enough to hop up at a bar table, and enjoyed our dinner and conversation there. Headed home to unload groceries, yak, and hit the hay.
Friday I was up early, and slipped out while my girl slept. To where, you might ask? Why, the grocery store, of course. Had to finish what I started, and by the time she woke up, we were set to enjoy bacon and eggs. Oh, and not just any bacon; made within 10 miles of Eugene, and it tasted yummy. Headed out to a doctor’s appointment and then by campus to check out the little street fair and hear one of Tay’s friend’s playing guitar in the outdoor amphitheater at the EMU. It was fun to sit and listen and see everyone go by. Elise, another friend of Tay’s, stopped by to listen with us:
We headed home and I set to making asian pork ball soup. We bellied up to the bar and enjoyed our dinner:
Next morning we slept in a bit, and then headed off to run errands, starting with an eye-opening (for me) trip to St. Vinnies, a thrift store akin to Goodwill. We picked up a mini-food processor for her for $5.99, along with an assortment of kitchen cutting knives for $0.50 each, a large pot and a cute little sunflower spoon rest. Next, on to Fred Meyer (kind of like a mini-Walmart) to pick up a few items to finish the house decor and some other essentials. By the time we finished, we were both pretty tired, but loved walking back into the house to smell the beef barley soup cooking away in her crock pot. Just like home!
Hustled that girl out and we headed out for Sushi at Domo, which is always awesome. Such unusual combinations that I wish some of our local joints would aspire to. Besides the sashimi and incredible combo salad, we order (the #1 most popular roll) the tsunami. And you just have to check this bad boy out:
It was a really fun chore taking care of this epic roll, and we were up to the task:
Laughing and groaning, we headed out to the mall to see The Avengers. So much fun whispering and providing commentary to each other on the movie. When we walked out, we looked up and there was the awesome moon! I immediately howled a few times and we starting discussing all the possible side effects of this uber-close celestial body. We headed over to campus because Mayer Hawthorne was playing, but he was well-done by the time we arrived. Boo-hoo, but okay doky. We commented that the moon was definitely impacting the party aspect of Cinco de Mayo.
Home again, home again, jiggity jig!