Happy Hour

Our family enjoys eating out quite a bit, but with very little in our budget to spend out, we usually end up at happy hours.  It's our way of getting into a swanky place without spending much money.  Our favorite in LA was Ciudad and Cafe Santorini in Pasadena.  Thus far, our favorite in Portland has been clarklewis.  It's one of those places that makes you feel great, just by eating there.  You walk in and the warmth and smell of the wood-fired oven are immediately apparent.  The first thing you see is this huge open kitchen full of good-looking people cooking on huge butcher block tables.  The back windows look across the Willamette River to the lights of downtown.  It's all so aesthetic and pleasing.  The happy hour menu is a series of plates from $1 to $6 and the drinks are $3.50 for beer and $4 for house wine.  The plates range from olives and honeyed almonds with fleur de sel to more substantial items.  It's really great food, especially for the price.  Mmm.

Blasted Economy!

Oh man!  A and I just got back from our consultation for our taxes this year and boy are we bummed.  In years past, we raked it in when it came time for taxes, but this year we're getting considerably less when we thought we'd be getting quite a bit more than we did.  We had lofty plans of paying off our credit cards that we use to supplement my income to pay our bills every month.  We thought we would even have enough to have a mini vacation.  Man were we naive.  All this when I got the e-mail about overdraft protection on my bank account and A's massage studio has been shut down since before Christmas due to flooding, so no income there.  It took us a long time to just get off the couch and get going after that.  

But, what we realized is that this week we need to really focus on our blessings.  One of my students just lost his home and his family of 6 ended up crammed into a trailer.  I have friends that are still paying off consumer debt after doing so for years.  I know people that have lived on credit cards for almost everything.  We really don't have much to complain about.  I mean, look at the lilies of the field, right?  It's just been hard when there's no real end in sight.  Although, I think that God is just calling us to really not fret and worry, but to trust.  He has always provided for me when it comes to finances and I do believe he will continue to do so.  I just feel blessed that we've got food, water, a roof, and clothes.  That is exceedingly more than so many people in the world even have.  

New Digs

Hey All.  Wordpress didn't work out so I switched to Blogger.  I'm up late sick with time to kill.  Just checked out some new music upon the recommendation of this guy.  Great stuff in the electro-pop department like Hot Chip and Whitest Boy Alive plus some more ambient stuff by  Victor Bermon and Junior Boys.  More sonic sustenance.  Tasty.  And I just recently discovered Raphael Saadiq.  Hoo!  I cannot stop playing this one.  Soul/R & B with an old school sound.  Infectious!