Go by train

Hello, internets!!! We are back from our Weekend Trip of Delight and Wonders. I highly recommend such a trip if you're looking for a vacation. Of course, you'll have to find your very own sweet and awesome and funny and generous Cat to host you in order to have as great a getaway as we did, because I'm not sharing, but you know, good luck with that.

So we went by train, which was pretty nice. Not quite as roomy as I expected -- I was expecting something a little more like European trains -- but definitely WAY more comfortable and roomy than an airplane. Also, never underestimate the luxury of being able to use your cell phone whenever you'd like without the threat of somehow interfering with the vehicle's navigation and plummeting to Earth in a fiery crash. (I've always been pretty dubious about that claim anyway, but whatever.) I don't even use my phone all the time or anything, but even being able to just check my gmail account real quick was nice.

Plus, you don't have to get there nearly as early -- we arrived about 30 minutes before departure -- and the whole carry-on/baggage thing isn't at all the hassle it is with flying. It's all just very low-key and uncomplicated. (Also, I just really love the great old Union Station here in Portland, and I hope the King Street Station renovations can really return that building to its former glory. Never underestimte the romance of an old train station.) With an iPod and a book, the trip passes quite nicely.

We arrived on time in Seattle to the lovely Cat waiting for us right there -- ANOTHER lovely thing about going by train, having your loved ones able to greet you right as you get off. She whisked us off to her home so we could offload our stuff and relax for a bit before going to get lunch. Chatted, relaxed, then she took us to the Baguette Box* for delicious, delicious sandwiches. The overcast cleared a bit while we were there, so we decided to check out Discovery Park since we'd never been, which was very nice, and we stayed until it started to sprinkle again. A bit of a warm up seemed called for, and of course she had the perfect antidote, a place called Chocolati, which specializes in (you guessed it) hot chocolate and handmade chocolates. Oh lordy, am I ever spoiled for hot chocolate now. Mine had orange zest incorporated into the chocolate, and that combination is pretty much my favorite combination ever ever ever.

*(Albino: it was just down the street from that coffee shop called Bauhaus that you and I and your friend walked to from our hotel)

Then it was back to her place for the evening to relax. While Sal took a much-needed nap, we chatted while she prepared dinner -- roast chicken, spinach gratin, and pilaf. Freaking delicious, by the way, which is pretty redundant when you're talking about food Cat makes, but it bears repeating. (Oh, and dessert later on were these amazing chewy chocolate sandwich cookies with ganache in the middle for filling, the extras of which she sent home with us on the train and which I am eating at this very moment and crying a little bit from the perfection.) Anyway, we had a really great visit that was like our hours long phone conversations but better because it was in person.  We solve the problems of the world during these conversations, y'all, so be glad we have them.

Cat got a fire going in the fireplace and we watched Chocolat while we ate dinner, which Sal and I had never seen. We're both kind of appalled that it took us this long to see it, frankly, and I feel like we ought to relinquish some awesomeness points for being so lame. Holy CRAP what a great movie. (I know, welcome to the world, right?) Stayed up late visiting, then finally got our bed setup in the living room and went to bed to the flickering of the fire. That was a pretty fantastic day.

Yesterday, we took our time getting going and then made our way to the International District to this great Vietnamese deli for our first banh mi sandwiches, which I've been wanting to try for some time. Love them so much that we're going to have to find a good place for banh mi here in Portland. Headed over to Uwajimaya to buy a bunch of random fun stuff for no other reason that it's a fun thing to do with a bunch of foodies. We stopped at the Daiso across the street first to see what kind of bento selection they had. A nice selection, actually, though nothing I really wanted (other than some short picks that I wish I'd gotten now, but we were going to a bigger Daiso store later so I figured I'd find them there and then didn't). We came away with about five different Pocky flavors, shrimp-flavored chips (always wanted to try them and didn't think to get a bag when I was at the one in Beaverton; pretty tasty, it turns out), crazy gummi flavors, "chocolate finger-flavored orange" treat things ("I don't think I want to find out what finger-flavored tastes like" "maybe the orange flavor makes it better?"), kimchi noodles, nori-wrapped sesame sticks, black-colored cola carbonated gum, and some other stuff I don't remember.

From there, we made our way further into the heart of downtown to go to the Daiso at Westlake Center. Along the way, we stopped at L'Occitane, where Cat introduced us to sinfully wonderful French bath and body goodies, as well as to Lush, which we'd heard about but never been to. OMG LUSH WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE. I've never been to the one in Portland, but unfortunately for my checking account, I will be a frequent visitor now.

The Daiso had some good bento stuff, and I (finally!) picked up the specific assortment of silicone cups I'd been looking for, some mini spoons/forks I needed for future boxes that won't come with utensils, and! a small box for breakfasts that will fit the bill for what I'd been looking for.

This means I won't have to order nearly as much from J-Box when I order the three other boxes I want. So even though I didn't find any more regular-size bento boxes that I wanted, it was still a successful foray. From there, we made a stop at City Kitchens, because duh. Convinced Cat to buy the perfect all-clad saucier that was on sale and that she needed because I said so, Sal found the spaghetti attachment for his pasta maker he'd been looking for, and I got some bright, pretty colored napkins to use just for my bento (both as furoshiki and napkins) that were on sale, as well as a cute, smaller stainless steel water bottle to use with my Ms. Bento and other boxes that don't have a drink bottle -- see above. (We use cloth napkins at home, but I wanted to get some specifically for my lunches because just using one from our sets of two or four means that there's always one in the laundry so we can't use it for dinners or whatever. This way, I'll have some specifically meant for my lunches. Plus, pretty colors!

So it was a fun and productive day. And by productive, I of course mean consumer-iffic! Not our normal activity, but it's fun sometimes to be happy little capitalists and buy things that strike our fancy, non?

We spent the evening all cozied up at Cat's, she and Sal cooking up a storm in the kitchen -- marinated shrimp and flank steak, both done on the grill, and cheesy grits with jalapenos, and bread pudding for dessert -- and me handing them samples from our various Uwajimaya purchases earlier. We watched the pilot episodes of "Burn Notice" and "Friday Night Lights" -- two of her latest obsessions -- while we ate and enjoyed them immensely, then visited until the wee hours until the fire finally burned completely down and we couldn't keep our eyes open any longer. (FNL has been in our queue since forever so we'll have to bump the DVDs for all the seasons that are out up to the top, along with BN. As if we didn't already have enough shows to catch up, yeesh! :)

This morning was another late and lazy morning, with a simple, civilized breakfast of toast and jam and tea, packing things up (making room in our bags for all our newly-acquired Stuff), and a stop at the Vietnamese deli for a couple of banh mi sandwiches for lunch on the train, then all too soon, our lovely vacation was over and we were saying goodbye and giving squeezy hugs to Cat.

So I'm off to pack myself something for the office tomorrow. and not really ready to go back to work, but I suppose what goes up must come down, eh? Yay for new bento stuff, at least!