Sweeter

Stepping Stone Cafe vs. Besaw's

There are two restaurants down in the Pearl that are local favorites for breakfast....Besaw's and Stepping Stone Cafe.  We recently tried both of them....here's the lowdown (from my point of view, that is).

Besaw's

George Besaw and Medric Liberty opened Besaw's in 1903 as a saloon and gamblin' hall, and during prohibition converted it to a restaurant.  It's small, but popular, and on this particular Saturday morning, it was sunny and they had a table with free coffee out on the sidewalk for the eclectic group of hungry patrons standing around outside waiting for a seat.  The wait wasn't long as we agreed to sit at the counter, which is actually the original mahogany bar for the saloon.  As we waited for service, I imagined all the lumberjacks who must have rested their elbows on this bar, tipping back a whiskey or two after months in the woods felling the big trees.  I loved the history of this place.

The restaurant was packed and the staff was racing around at break-neck speed.  The staff was a cool "Portland type" group...you know, tatoos, piercings, laid back, friendly and a bit irrevant, but clean, well-groomed and with a great sense of humor  (I liked them).  Eric and I both ordered the two-egg breakfast with pork apple sausage, rosemary potatoes and toast for $9.50.  The portions weren't huge, but enough to satisfy, and every bite was a taste of breakfast heaven.  As I savored my breakfast I noticed on the chalkboard behind the bar, their "Recession Menu"...$6 breakfast served Mon-Thurs. 7 am to 3 pm.  Nice.  Doesn't that just give you a warm feeling?

Stepping Stone Cafe: 

Brianna had been telling me about Stepping Stone Cafe (she loves it) and talked Eric and I into trying it out when she and Ken were down in Portland a few weeks ago. 

Stepping Stone is just as popular as Besaw's.  When we arrived, there was a small crowd clustered around the door waiting for a table.  There was a clipboard propped on the windowsill for you to put your name on the list, which we did.  Waiting for our table, I looked at the young crowd around us, the hand-written sign on the door stating "No Tomatoes!", the dog poop on the parking strip.  The wait wasn't too long and soon we were seated at a cute little table by the window with an odd Christmas ornament with a superhero figure tied to it covered in dust hanging above our head.  A big sign stating "You eat here because we let you" (their tagline) was hanging over the counter and loud, almost-but-not-quite, heavy metal music played.

Brianna told us they were famous for their "Mancakes"...dinnerplate sized whole wheat pancakes. This thing is so big it could feed an entire family!  Eric ordered a mancake with blueberries for $6 and I ordered toast and an egg (I was still feeling not so good from a bad bout with bronchitis).  The wait staff was young, tattoed, pierced, a bit sloppy, and moderately friendly in a "I'm super busy so be patient" sort of way (I didn't care for them too much). 

 
The mancake.

My toast and egg were good.  The nutty, whole wheat, organic bread was to my liking.  Eric's pancake was as huge as Brianna promised.  Made with whole wheat flour, it was a bit too grainy for my taste, but on the good side it was overflowing with big, fat, blueberries inside.

So...who do I choose as the winner...Besaw's or Stepping Stone?  Drumroll, please.........I'm giving the best breakfast place in the Pearl award to Besaws!  Stepping Stone is certainly popular with the young college-age crowd.  I guess they like the music, cheap prices, huge portions, and the fact that they can roll in after a night of drinking and still be better groomed than the wait staff.  I'm glad I tried it, and it's not without it's quirky charms, but I think I'll leave Stepping Stone to the younger crowd. Next time, I'll be eating at Besaws.  Sorry, Brianna. 

Six monks walk into a mall....

I was shopping at Lloyd Center on Sunday.  As I was walking in from the parking garage, six monks and one man in western clothing got out of a mini-van and strolled into the mall behind me.  What on earth, I wondered, are monks doing at a mall.  Certainly they're not shopping for clothes (I'm pretty sure they don't sell orange robes at Macy's).  I don't think they were there to go ice skating.  Were they going to preach to shoppers?  Perhaps they were there to get a wheat grass juice at Jamba Juice.

I shopped around for about a half hour and then I ran into the monks.  I found out what they were there for.  This:

Yes, my friends, they were shopping for cologne.  They were swarmed around the men's cologne section trying out different types of cologne...they particularly seemed to like Hugo Boss (well, who doesn't).  So, just goes to show you, even men of religion, like to smell like a supermodel!

What happened in Vegas

Sara and I in front of our hotel, the Luxor..cool sky, huh?

 

Eric had his annual telephone broker conference in Vegas a couple of weeks ago.  This is always a very fun conference because the telephone companies host dinners at amazing restaurants and private parties at exclusive clubs.  It gives us the chance to live like jet-setting C-list stars for a few days.  This year, my daughter Sara flew in from LA to hang with us for a few days.

Our first night, we had tickets to Zumanity, Cirque du Soliel's "sexy" show.  We arrived about 30 minutes early in time to see the pre-show which was a riot!  The show was quite good, and Eric certainly liked it because all the women were topless, he must have seen 100 boobs that night.  The show's hostess, was the fabulous Miss Edna (drag queen extrodianare) who kept us all laughing with her erotic humor.  The show's not for everyone, but if you're not shy about a little nudity and sensual humor, then I'd recommend it.

In the Zumanity lounge.

 

Next stop was Coyote Ugly.  Sara had never been and wanted to go.  We paid $5 to get in to the crowded, noisy bar.  There were a sea of guys on the floor all looking up at the bar where women (just girls from the audience, not very cute ones either) were dancing - and not very well.  We ordered drinks and then I told Sara she should go up on the bar and show those girls how to dance.  Never one to back down from a dare, Sara made her way to the bar and hopped up.  She danced a couple dances, climbed down and then we left.  We all agreed, that was a huge waste of $5.

Sara shows the girls at Coyote Ugly how to dance!

 

So next we headed over to the Mandalay Bay, where a guy gave us free passes to go to Mix Lounge on the 64th floor.  We rode the glass elevator to Mix and stepped out into a seriously dark lounge with lots of couches and tables and floor to ceiling 3-story glass walls with amazing views of the strip.  We ordered some drinks (5 drinks cost us $73...ouch) and sat and enjoyed the view.  Eric used the restroom and then came back and told me I had to go and check it out.  The restrooms were again very dark with black marble walls and floors and black doors to the stalls.  I opened a door to a stall and there was a black toilet, facing away from the door toward floor to ceiling glass looking out over the strip.  There is no light in the little room, so when you sit on the toilet with all that black marble around you, it feels like your floating in the air.  Best view I've EVER had while peeing.

Next we all (Sara, Eric, a few of our friends and I) decided to get some food (breakfast at 2:00 am).  Our waiter told us they were having 2 for 1 drink specials, so Eric, Sara, and our two friends all ordered rum and cokes...cool, four drinks and we only had to pay for two.  Ummm, no, Juan our waiter brought each of them two rum and cokes!

After eating we started walking back to our hotel.  "You're not going to bed already, are you?  It's only 3:00 am", Sara says to me.  Yup, I'm going to bed!

Next night we had dinner with some telephone folks.  We'd been invited to a couple of private parties, and picked the one at the Foundation Room at the Mandaly Bay to go to.  We showed the elevator guards our invitations and then were escorted up to the 67th floor.  The place was very cool...sort of like an Asian bordello with velvet walls and couches, buddahs and incense burning.  We were shown back to the private party room (Madonna, Dan Akroyd, and Prince all have private wine lockers in this room) and enjoyed a hosted bar, dancing, and again, amazing strip views for the next few hours.  I tried setting Sara up with "Sergio" who was also at the party, but she wasn't too interested.   At about 2 am, too tired to stand anymore, with my throat feeling raspy from the 12 packs of second hand smoke I inhaled, Eric and I headed to our room.  Again, Sara was rolling her eyes at us being such party poopers and decided to stay in the casino to play roulette.  Unfortunately, Sergio followed her and ended up being totally obnoxious.  Sara tried to loose the guy, but he kept following her.  At 3:00 am she called me, "Mom.  I'm trying to loose Sergio, but he keeps finding me.  I'm hiding between the slots, what should I do?" "Just go back to your room, Sweetie." I said.  And then I hear Sergio calling Sara, he found her.  "Crap!" she said and hung up.  Luckily she finally lost the guy and went to bed...alone, thank you very much!

Sara and I at the Foundation Room.

 

The next day Eric treated Sara and I to the spa to recover from the partying the night before.  Sara then got on a plane to go home about 6:00 pm while Eric and I headed to a few private parties.  The big party this night was at Drais.  The vendor had bought the club out for the party.  Again, it was a hosted bar...anything, and I mean anything.  By this point, I was about "Vegased" out and was drinking only ginger ale, but people kept bringing us over champagne or shots of tequila.  Drais was pretty cool, again with a bordello feel.  What was funny about this place, was the wait staff was obsessed with making sure you had a napkin under your drink at all times.  Within seconds of putting your drink down without a napkin, some guy swooped down, picked up your drink and put a fresh napkin under it!  The room we were in was lined with leopard print velvet banquettes.  Two guys sitting next to us had picked up some, ahem, "ladies in the business" and were practically giving an X-rated show right on the couch next to me.  Yuck!  I asked Eric to take me out for some fresh air, and I admitted, "I think I'm too old to party like a rock-star anymore".  Eric was sweet.  He took me back to Drais to get my purse and jacket and then we walked back to our hotel enjoying the fresh air, and pretty lights.

Eric and I at Drais.  Notice how I match the couch, and how I look like I've had a bit too much Vegas at this point.

 

All in all...a fun trip.  I got to see some very cool clubs I never would have seen otherwise, had a lot of fun with Sara, got a nice massage, had a few good meals.....but, as much as I hate to admit it, I think I'm kind of "over" Vegas.  It's loud, it's smoky, it seems to bring out the worst in some people.  Not sure if we'll go again next year, but if we do, I think I'll plan on spending my days in the spa, limiting myself to 2 drinks a night, and be in bed by midnight.  Yup, it's official...I'm old.

A week of yuck and love

This past week was pretty cruddy....tons of yucky stuff. But through it all...what stood out was how blessed I am to have some pretty amazing people in my life (including some strangers).  Here's the recap.

Monday:  

Woke up with horrible back pain that radiated into my chest.  I called Eric at work and asked him to come home and help me because I was having a hard time moving.  Kaiser, being, well, Kaiser, wouldn't see me...they just said, "go to the emergency room".  So we went to SW Washington Medical center.  The tests came back "mildly-positive" for a blood clot...so from that point on it was a full day of morphine, nitro, tests, and "wait and see".  I have to say every experience I've had with the ER staff at SWWMC has been amazing. They are compassionate and caring and they take your health very seriously...they're the stuff they make TV medical dramas out of (I'm serious...these guys rock!).  Anyways, after a full day in the cardiac unit, my second set of tests came back negative..they couldn't find a clot. The cardiac doc gave me a pretty strong warning to get more exercise, and insist that my regular doc put me on cholesterol medication.  They gave me some muscle relaxers for my back pain, told me to take daily aspirin to thin my blood and sent me on my way to rest at home for the next few days.

All through this very, very, long and sometimes a little scary day....Eric was by my side.  I'm sure bored to tears while we waited but he never complained once.  He held my hand.  Talked to me, made me laugh, made phone calls for me.  Nothing, but nothing, calms me or comforts me more, than having my husband stroke my hand or hair and smile down at me.  He had called all my girls to let them know what was going on (even though I didn't really want him to).  The girls checked on me throughout the day...so sweet and caring.

Tuesday:  

Woke up still with back pain, but a bit better, but now I had a cold. But somehow, this cold just felt more intense.  Spent the day in bed, with my sweet dog Liberty by my side....sleeping, sleeping, sleeping.

Wednesday: 

Cold worse, back still hurt, tired of sleeping, feeling disconnected from the world, I sat on the couch coughing, blowing my nose, thinking I missed being at work (weird, huh?).  I am a creature of habit and routine and I actually like my job and the people I work with and I felt bad being a home when I knew there was so much to be done at work.  By this point, I had lost my voice completely and my head was pounding non-stop.  The pain medication I got at the hospital wasn't seeming to do much. I emailed my boss to let her know I wouldn't be in again.  She told me not to worry...just get better and she'd see me at the end of the week.  

I wasn't feeling well enough to tackle the dishes or the piles of dirty laundry staring me in the face.  Being sick...sucks...I'm just too impatient for it.  Poor Eric had been taking care of me for three days now, so I was also feeling like a bad wife.  I tried to rally enough to actually cook a dinner for him....I managed some boxed pasta, frozen meatballs and bagged salad.  Sweet guy that he is, he said it was great (I know it can't have been all that good).  Sitting at the dinner table, I said, "I'm going to work tomorrow."  "Ok, dear", he replied.

Thursday: 

I woke up and dragged myself into the shower, got dressed and headed to work.  Still no voice, and feeling really tired, but I felt like I had been home long enough.  Within an hour of being there, I realized I still was just not well enough to work. What a big whimp I am!  I chastised myself for being such a big baby all the way home.  I called Kaiser to see if I could see a doctor...I needed to get better! They said they'd have someone call me back (which by the way they never did).  I crawled into bed and fell asleep.

A few hours later I was awakened by the phone.  My niece was calling to tell me my sister, Karen, had a stroke that morning.  She was alive, but it looked pretty serious and she was paralyzed on her left side.  I hung up the phone, fell to my knees and just sobbed, and sobbed.  My cries made my throat burn, and as my shoulders shook, my back pain returned.  How could this happen to her at only 52 years old?  Memories of my Mom's stroke that took her life a little over a year ago flooded me...and I sobbed some more.  I finally got myself together and called Eric, my brother Chad, my girls and squeaked out the news to them on the phone.

Chad, an RN, double-PhD, university professor, and a neurological specialist, told me the first few days would be the worst for Karen because of brain swelling.  My sister's family had requested no visitors yet, but Chad and I were going to go the hospital the next day to meet with the family and her doctors to see what her prognosis was looking like.

I emailed my boss again to let her know what had happened.  Again, she told me not to worry.  To take care of my family and she'd see me next week (she's pretty great that way).

Friday: 

I woke up and called my brother while I was still in bed to arrange a time to meet him to go to the hospital.  I got up and turned on the shower.  I realized I was feeling "not right" so decided to lay back down for a few minutes.  I prayed for God to make this dang illness I'd had subside, at least for the morning so I could go and visit my sister.  I slept for about an hour more and then got up again.  Again, I turned on the shower, but was feeling a bit shaky.  I stepped into the shower, reached down to get the soap and the next thing I knew I was laying crumpled in the bathtub, staring up at the shower.  I was confused for a minute wondering why I was taking a bath with the shower on, when I realized I must have fainted.  I lay for a few more minutes feeling too weak to move.  I reached up and turned off the shower and tried to get up, but my feet wouldn't hold me.  I managed to crawl out of the tub and grab my cell phone off the bathroom counter to call Eric to come and rescue me (again!).  I was feeling nauseous and limp.  Eric rushed home, helped me put on some clothes (that must have been a funny sight to see) and took me back to SWMC. I wanted to just go to Kaiser...but they have no urgent care, and since they never called me back from my appointment request from yesterday, to the hospital we went.

So again, Eric sat by my side in ER, holding my hand, stroking my hair, telling me I wasn't being a big drama queen.  More tests, more waiting, two IVs full of fluids.  After all that, the doctor's assessment...I had bronchitis and was dehydrated.  My thyroid showed it was off and that might have also contributed to it all.  So, they sent me home with more medications and instructions to rest, drink lots of fluid and follow-up with my regular doctor.  On the way home, I told Eric I was NOT going back to the hospital anymore!

Saturday:  

Still feeling nauseous (good news is I lost 5 lbs. this week) with a lingering cough, I felt better enough to go to visit my sister (if she was up for visitors).  We arrived at the hospital and found her room in ICU.  I could see my brother-in-law and my niece standing by Karen's bed...they were smiling and talking to Karen.  

I entered the large room.  Karen's bed was in the full sitting up position.  I held back tears as I approached her.  I leaned over to kiss her cheek, and she said, "Don't be scared.  I look bad, but I'm fine."  So like Karen to want to put others at ease.  She was speaking surprisingly well, her color was good, her eyes clear, though sleepy.  My niece told me the good news that she had moved her left arm a little and that she was able to swallow on her own now...both really, really good signs.  Although Karen's speech was slurred, she was still the Karen we all know and love...sassy, loving, funny.  She talked with me, in and out of her morphine haze.  Although at times she looked like she was sleeping, even snoring a little, she'd chime in with a comment, surprising me that she'd heard what was being said around her.  

Things were looking much better for her.  She'd move to a rehab center on Monday, and there was hope she'd be able to have some mobility back.  It will no doubt be a long and frustrating road for her, but recovery looks possible.  I silently thanked God for giving our family this blessing.

My brother-in-law was happy, almost elated.  When she first arrived at the hospital he didn't know if she'd die, or if she lived if she'd be able to talk, be herself, or move...and today, he had his wife back, and he was joyful and full of hope for her recovery that had already begun. 

So, ugh....what a week.  But one that has touched my heart with what love and kindness can do.  My family, my sister's family, my co-workers, my friends, the doctors and nurses at the hospital, the paramedics........well, it just makes you feel good about the human race.  I am..... thankful.