Today was by far the best day I’ve had in a very long time.

Now that I’m not working (separate post coming soon about that), the day started slowly.  Mr. Won’t Run slept later than normal and we weren’t up until about 7:20.  I thought about hopping back into the cozy, warm bed after he left but decided to put my contacts in, brush my teeth, and take Koko for a short walk.  I’m glad I did because we were greeted with this beautiful sunrise.

I figured I would head to the grocery store to get that errand out of the way early, but when I was walking Koko it appeared that the roads were still a bit icy so I decided to put it off until the afternoon.  In the meantime, I grabbed a cup of coffee and settled on the couch with the laptop, played a few episodes of Fixer Upper (#shiplap), and Koko snuggled up beside me.

I finally decided to hit the shower and when I got out Mr. Won’t Run texted saying he was taking a half day and asked if I had eaten lunch yet.  I hadn’t, so he came home and we ventured back out together.  We’ve been watching The Fung Bros so my Korean husband had a craving for some real Asian food.  We drove by Boke Bowl but there was no available parking close by so we decided to keep going and hit Double Dragon, but I missed the turn so we decided to keep going into Sellwood and try Jade Bistro & Patisserie.  FYI, Siri pronounces patisserie like “potty spree”, ha!

We started with Steamed Hum Bao with barbecue pork, and please note the red stamp.  On our way to lunch Mr. Won’t Run was asking me where we had the good hum bao and I told him I had no recollection of ever eating hum bao in Portland.  He was like “no, remember, they put the red stamp on it, you know, the red stamp” but that did nothing to jog my memory.  He mentioned it was in Southeast and the only Asian place I could think of over there was Jade Bistro but he wasn’t sure that was the place.  But, it is.  Now it’s kind of a joke… “you know, the red stamp!!”  It’s also a running joke that my memory sucks.

He got the Beef Noodle Soup (pho), we shared the Fried Coconut Shrimp Skewers, and I had the Beef Salad.

You guys, this beef salad is everything!  I could eat it every day and be so happy.  The meat was perfectly cooked and the “spicy lemongrass roasted rice dressing” was my favorite sweet + spicy combo.  The fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, peppers, and lettuce made it taste so fresh.  Oh, and it’s gluten-free, so if I ever have to give up gluten I can take comfort in knowing I can still eat this salad!

After lunch we walked around the neighborhood checking out the shops.  We went into Columbia Sportswear and they’re having a great winter sale at the moment – you’re welcome.  Then we hit the antique shops.   First up was Sellwood Collective, and then Raven Antiques & Military where I really wanted this gem for our wall, it’s perfect, right?

I do love that old cash register from 1900 though, if only I had a place for it.  And an extra $650.

We also checked out Rusted Rooster Antiques, and if you’re looking for dishes/china this is the place to be!

We also stopped at Savory Spice Shop but I didn’t snap any pictures.  Basically any spice you can imagine is there and you can buy bulk so however much or little as you want, and the gals working were extremely nice and helpful.

The next obvious stop was the Hurry Back Ice Cream food cart!  They make their Philadelphia style (no eggs) ice cream in that tiny little cart and you can get it in a cone or on top of brownies or pie!!  We went with the pie.  Mr. Won’t Run had the apple pie with a scoop of Madagascar Vanilla and a scoop of Cinnamon, and I had the cherry pie with a scoop of Cardamom Chocolate Chip.  So delicious, and the owner was so helpful and fun to chat with!

And then… WE WENT BOWLING!!!  I don’t even remember the last time I went bowling, I’m pretty sure it was when Mr. Won’t Run and I were dating, so 10+ years ago.  I was on track to win the first game but we messed up and he rolled the very last frame of my turn and he got a strike, so we called that whole game the practice round.  He won the next two and I’m attributing it to my lack of arm strength, I’m only good for one game apparently.  Oh yeah, and I totally B I T . I T .  Not sure how it happened, but I lost my footing on the last step so I instinctively took a step forward but that was over the line and those lanes are SLICK!  I went down hard onto both knees and almost bashed my teeth in on the edge of the gutter but thankfully my hands got there before my face.  It was hilarious!  Mr. Won’t Run was really sweet and came over to help me up, I’m really not sure how he wasn’t doubled over in laughter.

Today… it was spontaneous and unplanned and spent with my favorite guy.  It was perfect and felt like the good old days of dating.

Mr. Won’t Run’s job keeps him pretty busy and he works weird schedules so sometimes there are days our schedules just don’t match up and we don’t get much quality time together.  On the occasional day where he’s able to take the afternoon off I could never join him because of the day job, so now that I’m not working for a while I’m hoping days like this will make up for the evenings and weekends that we don’t get to see each other.

I’m looking forward to more days like this.