Matt’s mother offered to take us out for dinner on his birthday, and Matt picked Janken, a recommendation from one of his friends at the gym. The Japanese-Korean fusion tapas was delicious and service was great. I had edamame, crispy brussels sprouts (fabulous!) and miso soup. Matt ordered the Bignsu dessert which was big enough to share.
He also got cream puffs with a candle for his birthday celebration.
Look at that Bingsu! So good looking.
It was a big day at the Orange Door. We said goodbye to two long-lived items: the square coffee table and the refrigerator.
Here’s the coffee table. We’ve had it since we moved in together. Matt got it from his roommate Julia. I’ve really loved it. It’s sturdy and yet it’s very easy to pick up and place in other places if need be.
It’s strong enough to serve as a weight bench if that is what’s needed. But it’s also square, and I want a rectangle, and it has been rode hard and put away wet, as you can see from the above view.
Our new coffee table came from Dania and I like its fun lines. It’s also the tiniest bit lower, which is good when propping up my feet. And now we have a dedicated spot for the remotes: in the overhang section!
You will note, however the square coffee table is still in the living room in this picture. From the future, I can say that I haven’t yet gathered the courage to set it out on a new adventure.
We also said goodbye to our refrigerator, which has served us ably since 2007.
Due to the shelving I built, only a certain size refrigerator can fit in the space. And due to my dislike of chrome appliances, it’s mostly exactly the same refrigerator, but now without a handle to get all grimy.
We do need to figure out a method to hang that dishtowel. The grimy handles came in handy for that task.
I’ve gathered a large variety of paint chips to help me decide what the new color might be for my bedroom. What’s your favorite?
I’m leaning toward the sage green colors. But we shall see what time brings.
As you might remember, Battleship Cinematic Universe won a prize at the Movie Quiz in March.
Nearly two months later, we have now played our new game!
I can say that I’ve now played this game and it was just as (or perhaps more?) entrenched in toxic gender tropes than I thought.
Having the advantage of being socialized to absorb “male” culture things meant that I won this game all three times we played it. But did I make the tired/disappointed noise with every interstitial? I did. That lady grabbing the wrench to do something with potting soil? Annoying. The guy riding the motorcycle that jumps into the lady’s champagne glass? Dumb. The way the female/male partners were painted as adversaries rather than companions? Gross.
Matt was similarly annoyed, though layered with a slight whiff of double annoyance for not winning.
We will be moving this game right out of the house, but it was still a fun to win it. Yay us!
It was a good night for Battleship Cinematic Universe. We had all four members and we were familiar with more movies than we normally are.
Our high score was a whopping 136, which got us ranked 15th overall (though there were many ties, so we are on the downslide of the pack).
Winners Reese Withoutherspoon was my favorite name of the night. But I also liked The Michael Bay Hive and Face Off 2: Butt Swap
Slasher Sluts were sitting in front of us.
We’ve had this orange pillow and orange striped pillow for many years. How many? I just found a post from December 2008 (Sentinel’s welcome post) with the striped one. So at least 17 years old. I’ve been meaning to get (or make) new pillows for the last several (maybe 5? maybe 10?) years.
It’s entirely possible that my mother gave me those pillows. I’m not so good at prioritizing buying things like that. As evidenced by my meaning to replace them for a period longer than some presidential administrations.
But! Today, while shopping for a new coffee table (another task that has been put off for about a decade) Julie and I came across these fun pillows at ReRun, and I snapped them up.
The pillows are down pillows (an upgrade) and were made at J&J Herb Farm in Eagle Creek, Oregon.
No picture yet of the coffee table. It will arrive in June.
Matt has now been recognized for completing 600 classes from a random point in time!
Well done, Matt!
The bonus of him hitting this new milestone is that apparently they replaced the star on the wall with his name misspelled with a star on the will with his name spelled correctly.
As we have before, we celebrated our May anniversary at República, home of the incredible tasting menu. Here are a few of our courses.
Albacore, sugar snap peas, and nasturtiums.
This was also amazing! And I have no idea what it was, even reading the menu. (A reason one should take pictures of all the courses.)
Here was our thank you note and take-home item. Granola!
And here is our menu. Notice that they have wished us a happy anniversary.
Kelly, Rick, Burt, Laurie, and Matt had a sign-making gathering before today’s protest.
Here, they show off one side of their signs.
And here, those who can show off the other side of their signs, or their other sign.
I hosted Easter this year, and the only picture I have is this one that shows off a new method I tried for dying eggs: eggs rolled in salt that has food coloring in it.
I won’t use that method again. The color didn’t stick very well, and I had to have Matt wrap all the eggs in paper towels so we could properly play the egg game without getting red dye on our hands.
The meal included: ham steaks with madeira sauce, roasted radishes and radish greens, asparagus and mushrooms, funeral potatoes (my first time eating and making), and cheddar kale roles where the dough was rolled in a butter/kale/mustard concoction before being baked in a cast iron skill it.
Linda brought pie for dessert (cherry, quince, and apple) and Rick brought homemade ice cream. Present but not pictured: me, Linda, Rick, Matt, Kelly, my mom, and Aunt Pat.
