MLS All-Star Updates

Today is my last day getting to be a very important person in the world of Major League Soccer. The actual All-Star game is this evening and the weather is supposed to be perfect for it.  So far, Brad and I have gotten to hit up two parties and attend a taping of the Men In Blazers podcast. Not to mention stay in a pretttttty nice hotel in downtown Portland which makes getting to and from very important people places quite convenient. I wanted to share a few things I have learned so far in the world of All-Star.

//I am taller than a lot of male soccer players.

//They will still flirt with you even if you are taller than them.

//My feet are not conditioned to wear tall wedges two nights in a row.

//I am also taller than Brad when I wear wedges. Then again he too was a soccer player...

//That was a lot of talls just used. 

//Pro Athletes are much better at staying up late than I am.

//2 am is a horrible time to fall asleep on a week night when you have to be up at 5:30 the next morning.

//Staying up late 3 nights in a row might be the most horrible thing I could do to my body, but here goes nothing! 

//The world of pro soccer in the US is quite small. Everyone knows everyone, including Brad since he used to work for DC United.

//Hotel robes will forever be a favorite.


//The Men In Blazers are super entertaining and funny, even if I don't know the majority of soccer players they are talking about.

//If you make nice with the chef at Grassa that is rolling out the fresh pasta he will give you pasta dough to nibble on just because.

 Definitely took a creeper pic of him when he wasn't looking!

//Cold War Kids put on a better read: less weird free concert than The Flaming Lips.

//I really like this photo below even though it's grainy as furk. 

//If you yell from your car to the nice construction worker at 6 am to grab the coffee you left on the smart park pay station, he will be confused but will bring you your almost 5 dollar coffee you just purchased and  left sitting there after you paid for your parking. 

//Portland will always be my happy place. 

//I will be ready to go to bed at 5pm on Thursday night.

Cheers to soccer! 

<3 BB 

Oh Lordy

You know when you pack so much good stuff into one weekend that you feel like you need a weekend from your weekend to get caught up.... Well that was this weekend. Ps how many times can I say weekend in one opening paragraph!?? Answer: After seeing this paragraph about this weekend, a lot of times. 

Melissa came all the way from Winnipeg to visit Jessi and I and we tried our best to give her a good Portland weekend filled with sunshine, thunder storms, food, hiking, wine tasting... more wine, food, more food. And did I mention food? 

Thanks for visiting, my favorite Canuck! Come back soon.  Ps. Anyway one who wants to visit Portland..Jessi and I will be sure to show you a good time wink, wink. 

Cheers!

<3 BB

27//365

Not a shabby sunrise, Portland.

-b&b

blogger date

So does it make me a real blogger if I not only met up with a fellow blogger, but she came to visit from a different state? Does this mean we are going steady now? Kailyn came to visit on Friday and Portland was extra nice and didn't even rain for her. Although, I think she was secretly a little bummed she couldn't wear her new Hunter Boots. I don't blame her.

Anyway, we did typical touristy things, including nom on some Voodoo Doughnuts and Lardo.  Hit up Pittock Mansion which had fabulous views of Mount Hood and Mount St. Helens. Saturday we trekked up to Hood River. The Gorge was beautiful as usual, as was Multnomah Falls, and  we even played in over 100 mile per hour winds at Vista House. That wind was no joke. You should have seen Bradley chasing down my sun glasses and Kailyn's beanie in the parking lot. 

Moral of the story, I am a great host, so you should probably book your ticket to visit me.

Cheers! 

<3 BB 

Where Did My Weekend Go?!

But no really, now that track is in full swing, my free time will be quite limited on the weekends.  Pretty much every Saturday until May is full of track - good news is being out on the track is still one of my favorite places, even if it does make me miss competing! (I will just have to live vicariously through the athletes now).  Add in a high school State Playoff game and a Sunday full of Timber's Soccer and my weekend was gone.  Fun, but gone.

On Saturday Bradley was a trooper and found out how much work it takes for a Willamette Track meet to be successful. I might have signed him up to help out at the meet. He even got to catch chase down javelins.  I am slowly teaching Brad all there is to know when it comes to track and field, which is a nice trade off, since I have the pleasure of learning all there is to know about soccer from him. After we were done in Salem we rushed back to Beaverton to watch my sister's team is their second State Playoff game.  They ended up losing to Westview, but overall had a good season. I know this year has been hard for my sister who tore her ACL right before the start of the season, but I am super proud of her for still being so involved.  Now Brad and I get to be her trainers during the off season and will have her in great shape for her senior year.

She even got to go through warm-ups with them this game. #Progress! 

Sunday started out kind of early. It's almost comical what a person will do for a good seat at the Timbers games when your season tickets are in the Timbers Army - General Admission section.  We knew it would be a packed stadium with it being the season opener, so we wandered down to the stadium around 10:45 and waited in line for a bit to get early entry wristbands.  Wristbands are given out to the first 1,200 people that show up game day morning and gives you a set number in line to get into the stadium later in the day. Plus, they open a gate for people with a wristband a half an hour earlier than the rest of the crowd, so you get first choice in seating. Overall, it was definitely worth showing up early for this game since it was packed, but I am not sure we will be getting wristbands for every game.  

We did get a quick workout in between wristband pickup and the start of the game, which I needed.  Plus, we tried out the downtown LA Fitness which was nice to have a change of scenery for our workout.

{15 rounds}
::5 pull-ups
::10 push-ups
::15 leg exercise (I split mine up between: squats, lunges, box jumps, and spit jumps)

Took me just under 30 mins to finish the 15 rounds and then cooled down with a little cardio after. Quick shower and we were back to the stadium.


Here is the MLS recap of the game last night.  It was goals on goals on goals. The Timbers struggled a bit in the first half, but then came back to end the game in a 3-3 tie.  I am still learning a lot when it comes to soccer since it was never a sport I played - but from what I have taken away from the Timbers in the two games I have watched so far this season is, they are going to score a lot of fun, exciting goals.  We just need to play better defense.  Shoot.. I could even coach soccer at this rate. 

Team Selfie why we wait?! obvi

The sun wanted to be out! 

I want to look bad ass with an axe. 

We also got to sit right behind Alexi Lalas, who used to play professional soccer and now is a ginger broadcaster for ESPN and ABC Sports. 

I stole these last three pictures from the Timbers Facebook page, but they were too awesome not to include. 

This tifo was pretty legit and interactive!  It played off of rainy Portland.  There was a sign that said 'Rain or Shine since 1975' and then there were umbrellas in the first section and our section played the vital role of the rain and we got to throw blue streamers.

Timber Joey is such a boss.  I also think he has lost a little weight since last year. Have you been working out, Joey?! 

Bird's eye view of the crowd that was rocking until long after the match was over.

So yeah, now it's Monday and I am trying to figure out where my weekend went, but won't really have time to find it since this week and weekend are just as busy...


Cheers!

<3 BB

Restaurant Review :: Yama Sushi

For New Year's Eve Bradley and I got together with a small group of friends for dinner in downtown Portland and then game night back our Casa de Smith (+ Snook).  It was the perfect amount of celebration for ringing in the New Year.  We had dinner early enough that we missed the crazy night life that is NYE and celebrated in our own fashion back at the apartment.

Our first stop of the evening was Mellow Mushroom, which I have blogged about before.  Big, BIG fan.  Their pretzels are to die for and double the fun Mondays offer 2 dollar beers!  And good beers too, not just that PBR ish all those Portland Hipsters drink.

After Mellow we briskly walked so cold to Yama Sushi.  Luckily, I was super smart and awesome prepared and made a reservation a week or two before, because Yama is not a large space.  It did however make for a great evening for the 8 of us and had plenty of yummy (definitely a legit food blogger term) options.

  source

Plus, Yama is a great option if you have a few people in your group that aren't huge sushi fans (cough, cough Tyler).  They had great noodle and rice bowls, as well as bento boxes and other options outside of rolls.

Brad and I split 4 different rolls which included a Crunchy Spicy Tuna, Dragon Roll, Rainbow Roll, and one of their specialty rolls called Crazy Monkey (highly recommend).  Everything was reasonably priced for the size of the rolls and quality they offered.

source 

I love sushi maybe even more than fro-yo and was a big fan of this place.  Bradley better plan on taking me here for another date night sooner rather than later :)  Rumor has it they have a good happy hour too! 

Cheers to Sushi! 

<3 BB