Out and about it PDX

We met in The Pearl District in Portland for lunch today.  I love the Pearl.  It is very artsy and has great places to eat, shop and walk around.

The fam

We ate at this great place, called 50 plates.  They feature 50 entrees from all 50 states.  I had southern food ~ the best mac n cheese!

Impossible to get a pic of Andrew.  But I'll take a side profile.

Classic Mark face

Dana LOOOOOVES frozen yogurt.  We went for an after lunch treat.

Dana said I'm not allowed to just pass Elle around.  But I had to see Andrew with Elle.

Kisses from Papa Oregon

Lovey.

Shop, shop, shop and fish and chips

Tonight we hit The Block Of Orange Outlets for some more shopping followed by some dinner.

With Michael. Brittnee came up with some pretty interesting nicknames for him. The girl's got some good intuition!

Happy girl!

Superbowl ~ GEAUX SAINTS!

All hail the queen! Queen Latifah kicks off Superbowl XLIV. It was great to see all of the celebrity supporters of St. Jude involved in this year's game.

My sister and brother-in-law hosted their annual Superbowl party. In lieu of birthday bashes and/or Christmas parties, they pull out all of the stops to party on Superbowl Sunday.

My sister was rooting for the Colts and I was for the New Orleans Saints. Mainly, because of my support of Reggie Bush, who is a huge supporter of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Carrie Underwood loves St. Jude too! I loved her version of The Star Spangled Banner almost as much as I loved Jennifer Hudson's! Last year my sister and brother-in-law won tickets to The Superbowl! Pre-party, awesome seats at the game and post parties too. LUCKY!

Appetizers and desserts were a-plenty. As were football pools. My dad won a round! Doesn't Eric make a nice food model?

Lulu and Dane

My dad and (other) brother-in-law, Nick. Nick was in town this weekend so got to partake in the festivities. (Dana is at home, nesting... doing "Baby Elle" projects).

Authentic Mexican food in the backyard!

Some of the desserts. the brownies closest to us, Pam brownies, are the best I have ever tasted (er, devoured?) They have as much frosting as brownie, and that's all good in my book.

Classic. Skinny, size double zero South Orange County gal scarfing down Pam Brownies. And this is why I loathe going to the gym. No matter how many miles I jog, classes I sweat through, or crunches I complete, I will NEVER be able to scarf desserts and be skinny. Ever. Thank you very much, metabolism.

And ending with the amazing Bartender, Chris.

Cheers to the only day a year where I actually watch football. And congratulations to The New Orleans Saints!

Dia SIETE ~ Cabo San Lucas, BCS Mexico The yocal locals...

The sun is back and the Kathi / Cathi's and I are headed to downtown for an encore of Senor Sweets!

Esperanza Court overlooking the marina in downtown Cabo

I'm loving the sun kissed bronze... not loving the shiny shine glow. Evidence of the heat.

Gelato and fruit for our breakfast appetizer...

...followed by the prized Mexican french toast!

We had to try the eggs and pancakes.

and we are saving room for dessert for tonight. :O) I love vacation diets! LOL

Kathi and I convinced Cathy that we needed to do a little shopping. She only did a few (not so subtle) deep sighs to let us know that we needed to wrap things up and head back to Sunset beach!

All of that work warranted a little poolside nap. How cute are the love birds?

On the bus. Typical of Bob and MMH. I'm in the back making bff's with strangers and Bob is sitting silently pretending he's not with me.

We headed back to the hotel in search of some real Mexican food. As in non-resort, what the local yocals eat. Along the way, we passed the Cabo fire station. You don' think I would just pass by, did you? I may have a "thing" for firefighters (bomberos).

Kathi and the fire station dog.

I showed some restraint and did not ask to take a slide down the pole.

...nor did I ask to try on the turnout gear. (I did in Japan! :O) And have the photos to prove it!)

The night shift yelled out to Kathi and I and asked us to come back tomorrow to bailar (dance!) But tomorrow we are Los Angeles bound. Que lastima!

After walking for awhile off the beaten path (and Bob and Cathy questioning our judgment for going just a little further) we arrived at the local joint that Kathi recommended.

Kathi is all smiles to have found PAPAS MIXTAS!

Papas mixtas are large baked potatoes with Chihuahua cheese, butter, chunks of carne asada and corn. Delicioso!

We knew that we were in the right spot when we were the only gringos in the restaurant. These cutie patooties came over to chat at our table.

Kath and I couldn't resist checking out the homemade tortillas and posing for a photo.

Tomorrow we fly back to Los Angeles. Hopefully we can cram in one more Mexican meal on the road. I'm not ready to return to schedules, electronics, lean cuisines and real work. Time to plan my next getaway!!!! :O)