Portland {Part 2}

Following our Thanksgiving day shenanigans in Portland (catch yourself up here in case you missed it), we headed east to get in some quality mountain time.

We are both huge skiers and I was so thrilled to find out that we would be able to ski while in Oregon.

Who could resist that cute little Mt. Hood?

From downtown Portland, it just stares at you in the distance begging you to come play.

It was quite a sunny, rather warm day at Mt. Hood Meadows.

. . . not to mention freaking cheap too.

We both skied (rentals and all) for around $120 total.

Granted, the mountain didn't have any new snow, we still made do with the pretend stuff.

There were only four lifts open, but plenty of blue and black runs to enjoy for a full day on the mountain.

We finished up the afternoon with sliders and local beer at the base.

On our way back to the city, we stopped by Hood River to check out Double Mountain Brewery.

While there, we met Bob (also known as future Josh in 20 years)

Josh joked that he fed out travel bug steroids and deer antler spray.

He was basically the coolest guy in the world or he was just an angel.

We also swapped hats and took selfies.

We recuperated at the hotel, then headed to see one of our new favorite bands of all time, Typhoon.
Josh gave me the choice of seeing Typoon or Pearl Jam that night, and after much deliberation (it really was stressful) we chose Typhoon.
I'm SO thankful we did (besides, we pulled up the Pearl Jam setlist the next day, and I didn't love it. Thank goodness, no setlist remorse)

The show was at The Crystal Ballroom and it definitely makes the list for one of my favorite venues.

The band was absolutely incredible live.

There was so much passion and talent among all the members.

I think we'll have to return for ummmmm every other show. 

Ever.

Part three coming soon :)

. . . IF I can pull myself together from the massive Portland withdrawals I'm experiencing.

Ice-pocaplypse 2013

Unfortunately the great ice storm of 2013 kept us from being able to go to Josh's work Christmas party this weekend. 

Instead, it kept us cooped up allllllllllllllllllllllll weekend.

We probably would have starved had we not been able to walk to nearby restaurants and bars.

That was a tad dramatic, but slightly true.

Driving to work Friday morning was terrifying, but thankfully after we got home we didn't have to leave again until Monday morning. 

We skated to lunch on Saturday, and then again on Sunday. 

 I am so appreciative of the fact that we never lost power.

Had we lost power, we really wouldn't have known what to do with all our spare time. 

We would have had to like talk to each other or something, gross.

We didn't dare try to venture out (even when we ran out of cereal we walked to a nearby market get more)

I'm pretty sure the roads were covered with at least two inches of ice. 

We saw plenty of cars colliding, not to mention the huge sheets of ice sliding off the rooftops of our apartment complex Sunday afternoon which totaled some cars (and made the news! It was even on Good Morning America)

Charlie loved the ice though, and we loved watching him awkwardly slip and slide like bambi.

Side note: 

This restaurant was where we had a patio dinner Thursday night (way back when it was 75 degrees).

We aren't usually the type to dress our dog in sweaters, but who am I kidding?

Josh's gator from Iceland worked quite well.

My poor totaled Jag ;)

. . . being forced to "survive" off of pizza and beer for a weekend was rough.

I hated it, so so so so not much at all. 

Friday's Letters

Dear favorite couple of all time/greatest engagement photo of all time:

Even though it has been two weeks, I still have no words to adequately describe my joy for you two.

This pictures says it all.

Dear Texas weather (because I have absolutely nothing else interesting to write letters to besides the stupid weather),

Make up your mind.

75 degrees one day, snowing the next.

I'm not complaining though, I approve of patio weather in December (surround by lit trees and garland).

Dear Dad,

You informing me that Jim Cantore was heading to town spiked my icy road driving anxiety through the roof.

Dear Josh's work Christmas party,

Tonight.

On a rooftop downtown Dallas.

25 degrees with ice/snow.

Wahoo.

Dear whoever decided to try to sneakily eat the bundt cake with a fork,

I was raised better than that, so I'm automatically eliminated from the police lineup.

Dear previously mentioned culprit,

You give really sweet and thoughtful cards.

Dear Walking Dead,

Quit it.

I'm running out of fingernails to chew.

Portland {Part 1}

For about the one millionth time . . .  

Josh surprised me last weekend with a trip to Portland for our first anniversary.

I was pumped to say the least. 

I'm still pumped.

Nevertheless, it's over.

We've been day dreaming about Portland's hipsterness and it's food and it's beers for a few years.

We were only there four days but we tried our hardest to take in everything Portland had to offer.

We went to the mountains, went to the coast, and stuffed our faces all along the way.

We spent our Thanksgiving hiking alongside a gorgeous waterfall then having a Thanksgiving dinner picnic (of bread of cheese).

. . . slightly different from the Icelandic puffin Thanksgiving dinner last year, right?

I'll try to keep my recaps of the trip brief, but I'm not making any promises.

Also, I apologize in advance for the grainy selfies, I'm not the biggest fans of asking unqualified strangers to take pictures of us using my DSLR.

An entire row to ourselves on the plane was icing on the already magnificent cake.

Fun fact:

Josh booked our hotel at The Heathman.

He had no idea that it was the hotel from 50 Shades of Grey (I'm also ashamed that I know that).

When I informed him, he was furious and threatened to change to a new hotel.

He quit complaining when we got to the room to find all these sweet treats! 

How awesome are the folks at The Heathman?

We had to start the trip off right, with a local Portland beer sampler at Henry's.

The view from our hotel window was quite lovely.

The leaves of the tree seen below actually turned completely bright yellow by the end of the trip.

The yellow trees and leaves strewn about were probably the highlight of the city for me.

Our first morning started off with Stumptown coffee.

So darn good.

It was connected to the Ace Hotel, which was THE cutest.

Who am I kidding?

Everything about Portland was THE cutest.

We grabbed some snacks at Whole Foods then headed east.

I literally stopped breathing then yelped the first time I caught Mt. Hood in the distance.

Gorgeous, right?

The ride along the Columbia River was a cute one as well.

Stopping by Multnomah Falls was a must.

Thankfully I scoped our a trustworthy stranger who looked like she knew how to work a camera.

We hiked that.

All eleven darn switchbacks of those miles.

It was hard to pay attention to how out of breath we were when there were views like this.

. . . and this

I'm quite the sucker for moss and old wooden fences.

We found a park on the Columbia River to stuff our faces with cheese and bread

. . . which are truly my only Thanksgiving staples anyways, I'm not a turkey and dressing kinda gal.

Then I made Josh take me to the top of the hill outside of Portland so I can see the city and Mt Hood.

This may or may not have involved me climbing on a strangers pile of firewood in their yard.

We had a fancy Thanksgiving dinner at Jake's Seafood (and I went an entire meal without taking pictures of my food)

Actually, that's a lie.

I sent a picture of my green beans to my family with the caption "It wouldn't be a Thanksgiving without a plate full of uneaten green beans."

 Then we found a cute little underground bar and drank the night away. 

Parts 2 and 3 coming soon.

Don't wait up.