— छह हज़ार सोलह —
Shobhit has been talking about going out for breakfast for a little while; we almost never go out to eat anywhere anymore, unless it's something that gets planned with another friend. We've done Mirabelle by Orphée, a new favorite in Pioneer Square, a few times over the last several months, but when it comes to going out for breakfast in particular, I can't even remember the last time Shobhit and I went out for breakfast when we weren't traveling. I just consulted my Social Review records (another in the endless array of reasons the Social Reviews ultimately prove useful!), and it would appear that, outside of travel outside of Seattle, the last time he and I went out for breakfast
in Seattle was in May 2024. Two years ago! And we went out for breakfast
twice that very month: once at The French Guys and once at Volunteer Park Cafe. I can't believe that was two years ago already.
Anyway, Shobhit asked me Saturday evening if I wanted to go out for breakfast Sunday morning. Now that I budget for so many planned vacations and travels, my budget almost never allows for this, although I suppose it theoretically would a little more often now that Laney and I aren't going out as often. But, we did recently go to the Tulip Festival and that basically wiped out any discretionary spending for this pay period. So, my response was: "If you want to pay for it." And ultimately he decided he would.
We spent a somewhat inordinate amount of time looking up places to go for breakfast, first focusing on Capitol Hill and then branching out. And then it was he who asked about Portage Bay Cafe, which I was all about: the one on Roosevelt Way in the U District is across the street from the Roosevelt location of the PCC Central Office, which means that until we moved away from there in 2016, I used to eat over there pretty regularly. I consulted my records again, and as far as I can tell I hadn't eaten at that Portage Bay location since then, roughly ten years ago. (Gabby and Amy and I did once at at a Portage Bay, but for that one we drove to the South Lake Union location, which is closer to what was then the Belltown office location on the waterfront.)
Portage Bay was always a bit pricy, and of course their prices are even higher now. We both ordered dishes and they were both around $20. I also ordered a $5 London Fog, and he ordered a coffee. With tax and tip you can imagine how spendy that was. I'm glad Shobhit paid for it. The food was delicious, though, and I was delighted to be able to order the egg-and-torilla dish called the "Migas," which was always my favorite and I hadn't had in ages.
It had been so long since I ate there that I nearly forgot that we would have no need to drive up there, and we could easily get there by Light Rail—thanks to the Northgate Extension that opened in 2021. This included U District Station, which is all of four and a half blocks from Portage Bay Cafe. (Capitol Hill Station is half a mile, or about seven and a half blocks, from home.)
After breakfast, we walked up to the U District Trader Joe's to get cocoa powder for the red velvet cake Shobhit wants to make for my birthday party. Then we went back to U District Station and took the train back to Capitol Hill, where we walked over to QFC for him to check his lottery tickets (he didn't win), and when we got over to Capitol Hill Farmers Market it still wasn't even open. I was so concerned about a long wait at Portage Bay Cafe that I got out of bed at around 6:30 and set to getting ready right away; by the time we got to Portage Bay Cafe it was around 9 a.m. and they had been open only an hour, and there were plenty of open tables. We were seated immediately.
— छह हज़ार सोलह —
— छह हज़ार सोलह —
As for the rest of the day, in the afternoon yesterday I took myself to see
Normal at the AMC Pacific Place, which I had a rather good time at—a bit better than I hoped, even. That was at 1:30, so it let out at 3:30, and I walked home, and spent the better part of the next hour writing the review.
The rest of the evening was just eating and watching TV:
Euphoria,
Rooster,
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver—all HBO Max, the channel of choice on Sunday evenings. Otherwise Shobhit has been binging the reboot of
Malcom in the Middle on Hulu, which I'm finding surprisingly entertaining even though I never watched the original show. I certainly didn't realize it first aired over two decades ago. Damn, I feel old. Oh and by the way I turn 50 in ten days.
I really hope I can come to terms of being in my fifties soon. Because I am definitely not there yet. I have no choice in the matter, though. The only way I could stop aging is if I died, and I have no plan to do that. I mean, obviously I'll have to eventually, and every day bringing me closer to it is part of the problem. But it's still not in my plans!
What
is in my plans is all the fun stuff in store for me this year: Birth Week next week; weekend trip with Gabriel to Lummi Island in late May; weekend anniversary trip to Whistler with Shobhit in June; Amsterdam in late July and in August; the Fourth Biannual Family Vacation in Tokeland, Washington in August; the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta with Shobhit, Jennifer and Matthew in October. The four-month lull since the last holiday season is over! And I'm thrilled. I've got all that to get through and then it'll be another holiday season.
I spent a good amount of time this morning combing through the World Pride Amsterdam website events pages and putting specific World Pride events on my calendar. Between that and all the other shit I want to do, those couple of weeks are pretty packed with plans already. Just like next week is. I'm ready! But I suppose I have to get through this work week first.
Oh, I guess I can also mention that after work on Friday I took myself to see
The Christophers, which was very good. As for Saturday, that was when Shobhit and I did our own joyride on the Link Line 2 light rail route, and I
already posted about that separately.
— छह हज़ार सोलह —
[posted 12:32pm]
