Skyespace

Workin’ for the Weekend

Am I the only one who felt like last winter was about three months too long? And while summer is not officially upon us yet, this run of warm cloudless weather is close enough for me to kick off the celebration of the season. Despite a somewhat restless night last night (the AC unit crapped out) I just had about the most gorgeous weekend; I must recap:

We started Saturday morning with our monthly breakfast with the Healys. This month was our choice and we picked the Arleta Library Bakery Café after seeing a spot on The Food Network. It was a cute place with great ambiance; book shelves stored their selection of baked goods. For me, the highlight was the bottomless French pressed Stumptown coffee. I was buzzing after my second cup! Although my hash was a bit bland, Matt’s sweet potato biscuits and gravy will have me going back in the very near future. They were *so* freakin’ good!

After that, a bit of shopping was in order to prepare for our Saturday afternoon pool party. A friend had highly recommended the new brew from Widmer so Matt made a trip to the Gasthaus to obtain a pony keg of Drifter Pale Ale. It gets two enthusiastic thumbs up for drinkability and citrusy goodness - quite the thirst quencher on a hot sunny day.

I meanwhile hit the grocery store to gather necessities before heading back to prepare these orange slice Jell-O shots. They didn’t quite set up as nicely as I wanted but they were super delicious and fun to eat. I did feel a little bad for not making a non-alcoholic version for the kids. Maybe next time.

But I mentioned a pool party, didn’t I? Despite strong opposition from the hubby, I bought one of those 15’ blow up pools and we had the gang over for drinks, sammiches and swimming. I was super pleased that Matt overcame his objections and loss of yard and played along in the water. In fact, after a few of those beers and O.J. Jell-O shooters, I couldn’t get him out of the pool!

Sunday we had no plans so we took an impromptu trip to Spirit Mountain, stopping at the Evergreen Aviation Museum on the way. Yes, we saw the Spruce Goose. Yes, we took every opportunity to interject quotes like, “It’s the way of the future!” and “Show me the blueprints!” No, it didn’t get old.

After that we hit the casino and after about an hour of moderate wins and losses we decided over lunch to call it a day once our last two tickets were spent. This would have left us some change in our pockets but not any winnings to speak of. I had considered making the $15 on my ticket last and headed for the nickel machines but Matt seemed determined to get on the road and put his remaining ticket in a dollar machine. I figured what the hell and stood next to him, assuming we’d be on our way out the door and therefore need not sit. I was right, only instead of losing swiftly, I hit triple sevens and cashed out at $200 bucks! Matt also hit a minor jackpot winning $80 and we hit the road, three times richer than when we walked in.

All in all, a pretty damn good weekend.