Among my highlights last week:

Taking Jane to Thai food for the first time — just the two of us. We had fresh rolls with peanut sauce and pad thai with chicken. All eaten with gusto.

Eating: Telfer and I went to Portland sans children for a long weekend as an early anniversary getaway (13 years!). A friend that Telfer works with kindly gave us a stay at their apartment near Portland State University and we had the best time. Telfer has been a little run down after the last few weeks of work so he slept a ton and got all caught up. We did our favorite things: eat, walk, talk and read. The farmer’s market at Portland State on Saturdays is the most magnificent thing. I walked around with my mouth open at the abundance and beauty of the mid-May produce but managed to eat a very large biscuit at Pine State Biscuits. We also had lunch at Pok Pok (amazing! as good as everyone says!) and an early dinner at Tasty n Alder (bar snacks!) and brunch at Olympic Provisions (eggs benedict!)

Reading: I finished All Our Names by Dinaw Mengertu (solid if slightly forgettable novel) on the first day we were in Portland. On Saturday, I read The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery. I absolutely loved this romantic, perfect for a vacation novel. It’s warm and comforting and Valancy Stirling is a memorable heroine. It’s kind of hard to find so let me know if you want to borrow.

I think I may have had the best mother’s day on record. The weather was beautiful, I took a long walk (by myself), we had pastries from the Bread Peddler for brunch and my honey made me steak frites for dinner. My girls made me homemade cards and I felt loved. What could be better, really? My own sweet mother was in Las Vegas for the first time (!). I love late Spring. We have been going to the farmer’s market most weekends, last weekend  with Michael Scofield, eating apples and noodles and gingerbread girl cookies. Telfer, inspired by The New York Times, made pizza last week and I tell you, it was nothing short of a revelation. Lately I have been making my own ricotta and ricotta spread on homemade pizza with caramelized onions and arugula on top? Amazing.
Grammy & Papa’s hot pool is working well and getting a lot of use by my girls. Nana even bought them new goggles. Cate has always wanted goggles apparently. Molly recommended Under the Egg (she knows the author? or the author’s cousin?), a middle reader art mystery set in New York. I picked up one copy for me, and one copy for Cora. We both absolutely loved. I pretty much devoured Molly Wizenberg’s Delancey and have already made a vinaigrette from her book and Telfer is literally in the kitchen making me the Poppy Whiskey Sour. Not a bad way to spend an evening outside.

I have been thinking about both these quotes this week. 1. Because I am always trying to figure out why reading is such a solace to me and I think it has everything to do with the quote. 2. I am still learning this exact thing (in a very good way) and I admire HRC’s resiliency.

“By allowing us to filter out distractions, to quiet the problem-solving functions of the frontal lobes, deep reading becomes a form of deep thinking. The mind of the experienced book reader is a calm mind, not a buzzing one.”

The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr

and

“Too many young women I think are harder on themselves than circumstances warrant. They are too often selling themselves short. They too often take criticism personally instead of seriously. You should take criticism seriously because you might learn something, but you can’t let it crush you. You have to be resilient enough to keep moving forward, whatever the personal setbacks and even insults that come your way might be. That takes a sense of humor about yourself and others. Believe me, this is hard-won advice I’m putting forth. It’s not like you wake up and understand this. It’s a process.”

Hillary Clinton quoted by this blog.

Also! My very short book reviews page is finally updated.