Weekend fun

After spending many weekends with little down time, we took two weekends "off" and didn't schedule any time with friends or family. It was nice to have more free/lazy time, and it made us excited to go out with friends this past weekend. Bryan has friends that are a husband/wife couple that we always like spending time with. Due to our various schedules, it's hard to get together, and it never happens often enough. We went out with them on Saturday and had a blast.

First we started at their house for some beers and chatting. We then headed to Ethiopian food for dinner. It's unique because they don't give you plates or silverware. Everything is eaten with this spongey crepe-like bread (I should know the name of it, but I don't). Luckily our friends were in the know, so they just ordered this for the table. I don't know the Ethiopian terms, but starting form the yellow stuff near the top it is something yellow (I don't remember what that was!), green beans, lentils, cabbage, kale, and minced beef with cheese. Overall it was very good, although B and I agreed we had expected a bit more spice.

After dinner we headed to Whiskey Soda Lounge for drinks. This is the bar/waiting area for the famous Pok Pok, although we were just stopping by to try out the drink menu. They had some very unique options. Mine is the silver martini glass, which was "Hunny": fresh squeezed grapefruit juice with lime, honey drinking vinegar, and tequila. After the initial sour jolt, it was very good. At $9 a pop I wasn't having more than one though!
Portland is known for its food carts. As if we weren't full enough from dinner and drinks, we decided to add some dessert to to already awesomely gluttonous day. We walked from Whiskey Soda Lounge to the nearby cart pod. On a recommendation from our friends, we tried The Pie Spot.
Apple pie, marionberry pie, and chocolate hazelnut pie. They were clearly made in a muffin tin, so it was the perfect size. Mine was the marionberry one, and it was fantastic! I would definitely go back again.

We then headed back to our friend's house, chatted for a couple more hours and played some cards. We got home and went to bed just before 1:30am, which is crazy late for us. We had such a good time. It's always nice to have couple friends that you click with.

Smartphones

I do not own a smartphone. Admittedly, it's mostly because I'm cheap and don't want to pay $30 per month (plus taxes) on the data plan. However, in recent months I've really started to hate smartphones. The average smartphone user within 10 years of my age seems to care WAY more about what OTHERS are doing (Facebook, game scores, chatting, etc) than what they are currently doing.

Just a few days ago we went to a Portland Trailblazers game. The entire row in front of us was some former frat brothers. At some point during the game, every.single.one of them took out their phone and was browsing Facebook. I'm not talking about during halftime. I mean during the middle of the most intense parts of the game. They spent more time wondering what others were doing rather than enjoying the game and their time with friends.

I've been at concerts where people were watching sports events on their smartphones rather than paying attention to the band. I've been out to eat and seen couples on a date where one (or both) of them texts during the entire meal. I've been on cruises where people use their smartphones until the exact last second that they can. I've seen more people than I can count surfing the web while driving. Twitter is the dumbest invention of late, and I'm astounded to hear how many people are addicted to it. I see Facebook status updates literally every day where someone was supposedly "spending time" with their family. My favorite one lately was the hour by hour update of "Sue Smith is at XYZ restaurant" while on a romantic vacation with her husband. PUT AWAY THE DAMN PHONE AND PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR HUSBAND.

Why can't people untether themselves and enjoy the moment? Is life that awful that you constantly have to be seeing what other people are doing via your smartphone? God forbid you wait for a table at a restaurant and don't check your email while you're waiting!

I feel grateful that I married a man that barely even checks his phone if you call him. He goes days without remembering to take it to work, and it is often left behind when we go out to eat, to the movies, or just for a walk together. Why? Because we go out to BE TOGETHER. We don't go out to then see what others are doing. I feel sad that people are unable to enjoy being present at what they are doing.

So to all of the addicts out there, try giving up the smartphone whenever you are with other people. You might find you actually have a good time not being reachable (i.e. interrupted) every 5 minutes. Trust me...the world will be a better place if you keep your 140 characters to yourself. Better yet, use those characters to tell your friends and family how much you like spending uninterrupted time with them. Then follow through and leave your smartphone at home. They will thank you for it.