So, jwa and I did the Great Columbia Crossing 10k in Astoria on Sunday. He ran and I walked it. He did the 6.2 miles in 49 minutes and 49 seconds. So awesome! Meanwhile, I walked the 6.2 miles in 1 hour and 40 minutes. Not too bad. My goal was to come in at or under 2 hours. Woo! We figured out that he ran at about 7.7 miles per hour and I was doing about 3.8 miles per hour walking. Not too bad. Especially since this is the first time either of us has done anything like this before.

We drove up there Saturday, scanning the radio, while jwa sang along with a lot of the songs we recognized on the radio in the style of the Decemberists. And that is as fun as it sounds!

After getting out of Portland, I was slightly nervous at . . . → Read More: Astoria & the Great Columbia Crossing]]>

So, jwa and I did the Great Columbia Crossing 10k in Astoria on Sunday. He ran and I walked it. He did the 6.2 miles in 49 minutes and 49 seconds. So awesome! Meanwhile, I walked the 6.2 miles in 1 hour and 40 minutes. Not too bad. My goal was to come in at or under 2 hours. Woo! We figured out that he ran at about 7.7 miles per hour and I was doing about 3.8 miles per hour walking. Not too bad. Especially since this is the first time either of us has done anything like this before.

We drove up there Saturday, scanning the radio, while jwa sang along with a lot of the songs we recognized on the radio in the style of the Decemberists. And that is as fun as it sounds!

After getting out of Portland, I was slightly nervous at the number of McCain/Palin signs on the drive in, but was relieved to see a huge Obama/Biden sign about 20 miles outside of Astoria. Hooray! I try to keep my blog politics-free (hey, we all like to eat), but we cheered at the sight of that one.

Anyway, once in Astoria, we picked up our packets at Astoria High School (tons of Obama bumper stickers in the parking lot) and then continued on to the Hotel Elliott to check in. We had a tasty pasta dinner at Fulios. When you are running/walking six miles the next day, you need to bulk up with some pasta. Yeah!

Veggie antipasto platter — grilled eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes and capers.

Hotel Elliott at night

After this, we went back, got in bed, and watched Hud on TMC.

The view from our hotel window at 6am

jwa, #1, about an hour before the race, in Chinook (Dismal Nitch), Washington. “Hotel Citroen…A Magnificent New Hotel on Colorful Ping Island.”

Me, sleepy, #1003

A heron, riverfront, before the start

More heron

And it starts. So many people. Runners started first. I think there were at least 500+ people there There were actually 700 registered runners there. And there were at least 500-700 walkers. So damn! There were a lot of people doing it this year.

It was about a mile before we hit the bridge.

On the bridge. The runners are way ahead. I was about in the first 1/3 of the walkers.

More bridge.

Entering Oregon. The race starts in Washington and crosses into Oregon on the bridge. This is about 2.5 miles in…It’s a little past here that jwa calls me to tell me that he’s done.

More bridge. I think this is still before the incline.

Looking back. Glad I am up the incline at this point!

Scenic!

From the bridge still, but I’m in the home stretch!

Looking back. Glad I’m only about .75 miles form being done here.

James finished early enough to go back to the room and take a quick shower and then meet me at the finish line. We both had a great time! We’re already looking forward to doing it again next year. I’ll post bigger pictures at flickr…

Yep, the post we’ve all been fearing. No, not really! It’s just taken some time to get the photos and then I got distracted trying to get some MyPublisher books together and I forgot to post here. Oops.

First off, our awesome photographer was Christina Gilchrist and we loved her. Her prices were reasonable and in the range we wanted to pay, her travel fees for Astoria were also totally reasonable, she was super nice and fun and we really like our photos. So, there you go. All of the pictures here (unless otherwise noted) are the ones she took. Grade: A

The Hotel Elliott was a pleasant surprise. Not that I didn’t think it would work out well, but, man, they were so laid back and pretty much an all-around pleasure to work with throughout the . . . → Read More: Oh, Look, It’s the Wedding Recap]]>

Yep, the post we’ve all been fearing. No, not really! It’s just taken some time to get the photos and then I got distracted trying to get some MyPublisher books together and I forgot to post here. Oops.

First off, our awesome photographer was Christina Gilchrist and we loved her. Her prices were reasonable and in the range we wanted to pay, her travel fees for Astoria were also totally reasonable, she was super nice and fun and we really like our photos. So, there you go. All of the pictures here (unless otherwise noted) are the ones she took. Grade: A

The Hotel Elliott was a pleasant surprise. Not that I didn’t think it would work out well, but, man, they were so laid back and pretty much an all-around pleasure to work with throughout the last year. Plus, the rental fees for the rooftop and wine bar were really good ($150 each) and although we had to book the Presidential Suite to use the rooftop for the wedding, it worked out to still be much cheaper (and nicer) than a lot of places we looked at. And it included an awesome room. Grade: A

The food was provided by Bridgewater Bistro in Astoria. They were also great to work with over the last year. I would definitely recommend them to anyone looking for wedding catering in Astoria. The rooftop appetizers were just amazing (I loved-loved-loved the tuna and the walnut crackers with pepper jelly and rogue blue). The crab salad, soup and cake were also great. There were a couple of small things — a missing salad course, no asparagus with the chicken and the broken cake topper (although, I did predict this might happen) but in the big scheme of things, we’re good with it all. They were down one person (Ann, whose non-presence perhaps made a difference) but hey, I’m still pretty pleased with it all. Grade: B

My favorite part of the ceremony? When we started to walk down the aisle, I thought I was going to start crying. Then, jwa stepped on my dress and I burst out laughing. I was able to smile and laugh my way through the rest of the ceremony from that point on.

Barbara Beach performed the ceremony and to be honest we first picked her because she was in Seaside and we wouldn’t have to pay travel costs. (Hello? Some of the Portland people we talked to wanted hundreds of dollars to travel and a hotel room for the night. For a 6PM ceremony. WTF? It’s a 2 hour drive between Astoria and Portland, even if you left by 7pm, you’d be home by 9pm.) Anyway, as it turns out, Barbara was great! We met with her when we first started working with her and she was always super responsive to emails and questions. She even gave us a keepsake folder of our ceremony afterwards and stayed to have a glass of champagne and a snack or two. Grade: A

Effesenden Music played a bit before the ceremony and for the rooftop cocktail hour. They were awesome and Wendy is really nice and great to work with. They played all of our requests and nicely filled in the playlist with songs that went with the mood we were going for (fun and relaxed?) I think we accidentally got the proper Pachelbel Canon in D instead of the fiddley, bluegrass sounding one, but not a huge deal. I also could have been too nervous to hear it correctly (probably the case). They played Beestung (Kristin Hersh) and Amen (Jolie Holland) and how cool is it to look across the rooftop, meet your husband’s eyes, and smile at each other in recognition to the Firefly theme song being played at your wedding? Grade: A

Let’s see, what else? Oh! My bouquet! I loved my bouquet! Lavish Flora in Portland made it for me. At one time I was thinking of doing it myself but I changed my mind about that. I really wanted those swirly little monkey tail/fiddlehead fern things and had no idea where to get any. No problem, Adria is a professional. She has, like, connections and stuff. I got my monkey tail! Plus, she has such an awesome house. And she even gave us some free, bonus flowers (orchids) for the table and made a great looking boutonniere for jwa. Grade: A

I’ve already spoken about my dress. But, yes, I got it at Tres Fabu. I ordered it about a year before the wedding and thankfully I had no problems. I also picked it up when it came in and stored it at home. I got it altered elsewhere. Yes, the owner of TF is pretty offensive. She basically accused me of not trusting them to store my dress for 9 months when I came in to pick it up (well, duh. Plus, you know, it is my dress and I’ve paid for it, why wouldn’t I want to take it home?) If I could do it all over again, I would have gone to other places and looked more but it worked out fine for me. Whew.

I bought a birdcage veil form a very nice woman in Texas but I ended up just not wearing it. I didn’t wear anything in my hair/on my head. If I could do that part over again as well, I might have tried to make an appointment somewhere to have someone try to fashion a non-crazy, simple bridal hair look for my head but, in the big scheme of things, not a big deal to me.

Little things I was very pleased with: my shoes (Amazon, $30), the tulips from Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm, the finger puppet place cards we made from Unemployed Philosopher’s Guild puppets (and wooden wheels and dowel rods from Michaels), my friend Vanessa reading an excerpt from I Like You, my purse from zappos and the table runner my mom made for the table.

We used jwa’s laptop and an itunes mix for dinner. Featuring all kinds of stuff including: When I Held Your Brains in my Arms – MST3k, I’ll Never Tell (too bad they pulled the video, but the audio is still there) – Once More with Feeling Buffy Soundtrack, Goodbye California – Jolie Holland, some Ida, Mark Lanegan, Unbunny, Throwing Muses and Polyester Bride – Liz Phair.

Another thing I loved about the Elliott was the second bedroom in the Presidential Suite that led out to the rooftop.

Oh and the last thing — the weather! It was sunny! In Astoria! In early May! All day! Hooray! Grade: A++

Images of our most recent trip to Astoria, with captions and everything!

Latte at the Astoria Coffeehouse.

Breakfast sandwich at the Astoria Coffeehouse.

jwa makes a bagel sandwich…guess where?

More bagel sandwich!

Hey! The Hotel Elliott has Stash Tea…neat.

Me by the bridge.

The dock and a big ship. There were a bunch of them (about 5) lined up. We thought maybe it was to be lead out across the bar? Or maybe they were all just sleepy?

jwa and I on the Elliott roof…

Seals….could they be . . . → Read More: Astoria Pictures (and Some Breakfast Food Items…and Some Seals!)]]>

Images of our most recent trip to Astoria, with captions and everything!

Latte at the Astoria Coffeehouse.

Breakfast sandwich at the Astoria Coffeehouse.

jwa makes a bagel sandwich…guess where?

More bagel sandwich!

Hey! The Hotel Elliott has Stash Tea…neat.

Me by the bridge.

The dock and a big ship. There were a bunch of them (about 5) lined up. We thought maybe it was to be lead out across the bar? Or maybe they were all just sleepy?

jwa and I on the Elliott roof…

Seals….could they be loose seals?

Bridgewater Bistro 20 Basin Street Astoria, Oregon 503-325-6777

So, jwa and I headed out to Astoria this weekend (such a pretty drive along highway 30 with the leaves and the sun and all) to have dinner at Bridgewater Bistro. It’s the new restaurant by Ann and Tony Kischner of the Shoalwater Restaurant in Seaview, WA. Not to put any pressure on the meal or anything, but they are catering our wedding at the Hotel Elliott in May and we wanted to go there and eat as many things on our menu as we could. Oh and we did.

First off, the space at Bridgewater is Beautiful. It’s a big, red barn-like building right on the waterfront. There’s a downstairs seating room, an upstairs mezzanine, tons of windows and multiple fireplaces. So warm and inviting. And one thing that I really like is that the space is not over-crowded with too . . . → Read More: This Makes Me So Happy: Bridgewater Bistro]]>

Bridgewater Bistro
20 Basin Street
Astoria, Oregon
503-325-6777

So, jwa and I headed out to Astoria this weekend (such a pretty drive along highway 30 with the leaves and the sun and all) to have dinner at Bridgewater Bistro. It’s the new restaurant by Ann and Tony Kischner of the Shoalwater Restaurant in Seaview, WA. Not to put any pressure on the meal or anything, but they are catering our wedding at the Hotel Elliott in May and we wanted to go there and eat as many things on our menu as we could. Oh and we did.

First off, the space at Bridgewater is Beautiful. It’s a big, red barn-like building right on the waterfront. There’s a downstairs seating room, an upstairs mezzanine, tons of windows and multiple fireplaces. So warm and inviting. And one thing that I really like is that the space is not over-crowded with too many tables crammed into the space. There’s a nice amount of space between each table.

To start the meal we had a little complimentary glass of crisp fries and ketchup. I would have taken a pictures of these but we ate them too quickly.

One of the appetizers on our menu is halibut cakes with green apple and avocado salsa. While this was not on the current bridgewater menu, they did have fish cakes (halibut, salmon & cod) with a mango-ginger sauce. We tried the two-cake version of this as an appetizer to our meal. Really good — lots of fish. As the bride, I will be demanding extra halibut cakes and green salsa at the wedding. So you know, you’ve been warned. I can come by and steal your halibut cake. Back off — I’m the bride.

Next, jwa did the salad with salalberry vinaigrette and I did the French mushroom soup. Excellent all around. I loved the salad and the soup was really mushroom-y and good. We were trying to decide between a tomato soup and a mushroom soup as the second course and I think we’ll be going with the mushroom. And the salad (the fourth course) will be a great transition between the entree and the wedding cake.

Now, for our main meals — jwa had the salmon (served here with a cranberry-mustard sauce, a side of rice pilaf and sautéed swiss chard) and I had the Moroccan chicken. The salmon on our menu will be grilled (we love grill marks) and finished in the oven with a dill sauce and a side asparagus. That said, the salmon at this meal was very good. And jwa especially loved the rice.

My Moroccan chicken was the surprise hit of the meal. Not that I didn’t think it wouldn’t be good, just that I had already decided that I would get the salmon at the wedding. And we were kind of going back and forth between the Moroccan chicken and coq au vin. Not anymore. Moroccan chicken all the way, baby. So tasty. If I get this at the wedding, I will have to fashion some sort of bridal bib as the sauce is very red and my dress is very ivory and that sort of set up pretty much has disaster written all over it.

Desserts were a pear-fig-honey cobbler with vanilla ice cream and a bourbon-chocolate-pecan tart with vanilla ice cream. They were both delicious.

Price-wise jwa and I were trying to guess (before the check came) if this meal would be over or under what we just spent at Iorio for the Harvest Dinner we attended. And…Bridgewater was about $20 cheaper. We were both kind of surprised as we got a soup, a salad, three entrees (the fish cakes were an entree, not an appetizer) a bottle of wine and two desserts at Bridgewater.

Also, while we were at the restaurant, they were having a wedding reception in the upstairs private dining room! That makes me super happy too — that they can handle a full house of regular diners and also be catering a wedding at the same time. Awesome.

I’m just so happy we chose to go with them for our wedding catering. On top of the food, they’re just so nice to work with while planning a reception meal culinary extranvganza — friendly, calm, knowledgeable and skilled with northwest ingredients. The whole wedding planning can all be so stressful it’s a huge relief to have faith that the meal will be delicious and go smoothly. Hooray for Bridgewater Bistro!