Little Man's First Halloween

here are a few photos from our little man's first halloween!

little man started out as a turtle

and then we put him in his chicken costume! clearly he loved it ;0p 

a chicken and a ghost!

all the little munchkins on halloween night! 

Weekend Reading

i'm not sure if anybody remembers, but way back here....i said i was going to read at least one book a month and report back. well i was really good about it here, here, here and here.

and then, well, i don't know what happened. i kept reading. i promise i did. i just wasn't so great on the "here's what i'm reading now" posts.

but i made a little trip to powell's recently to make up for it. (side note: if you live in portland, have been to portland or have even heard of our little city portland, and you're a book lover, you know exactly what powell's is and you love it).

i picked up six books in a single trip for a whopping $19 (winning!) and because i purchased more than five books, they threw in a cute little bag for free (double win!).

so, needless to say, in between running errands, drinks with the husband, and a friend's bbq (yes we PNWers bbq in November and no we're not crazy) i did a lot of this, this weekend.

hope everyone's weekend was as fun and relaxing as mine!

One

happy first anniversary to my best friend, partner in crime and love of my life! i can't believe one year has gone by so fast, and i can't wait to celebrate infinity more with you!

all photos taken by the very talented ifong chen

Life Lately...

according to my iPhone photos:

oregon brewfest. handsome husband and me. beer samplers. a good friend turns 30. lake coeur d' alene. moose! morgan's getting married. sunflowers on a cloudy morning. work outing at edgefield.

30 Days of...

i'm approaching 30. woah. how did that happen? i swear yesterday was my 21st birthday and i was flying off to nyc to ring it in "party style" with my girlfriends.

but in actuality, it's been almost 10 years. i'm approaching the big 3-0. i was a little scared of this at first. i mean, i haven't accomplished nearly enough "things" yet. have you?

but then i celebrated one of my dear girlfriends turning 30. there wasn't a huge party, or a fancy trip. although there was some bridge jumping (i mean that's what 30 year olds do....defy gravity, jump of high bridges, live on the edge). it was good friends, some old some new, gathered together at the lake, enjoying each other's company, talking, laughing, drinking, eating...(lots and lots of eating), and a delicious meal, illuminated by sparkling lights, and it was...well, perfect. it made me happy. i'm pretty sure it made her happy too.

so instead of being "scared" of turning 30. i'm going to embrace it. how? well starting now (there are exactly 67 days until i turn 30), and through out the 365 days of being 30, i'm going to do choose to do "30" days of something. something that will make me happier. something that will make healthier.

i'm choosing to embrace 30 to it's fullest, and well, to be frank, while i may not be able to commit myself to 365 days of one thing, i can probably regularly commit to 30 days of something. 30 days of yoga. 30 days of replacing coffee with tea, 30 days of photos, 30 days of not eating out. you get the idea.

(when your 30 you need two desserts to hold all the candles...genius!)

and instead of being scare of 30, i'm actually excited for it. bring it on. your 30s are so much cooler than your 20s.

50 things i love...

sometimes, i get caught up in the negative. 

everyone has frustrations and nobody's life is perfect.

but i think it's important to focus on some of the good and all things we love, big and small.

so in honor of that...here are 50 things i love:

1. the sun. shining in portland. (thank god for vitamin d!)

2. red wine

3. weekend trips to the beach (we're going this weekend!)

4. flip flops

5. pedicures

6. cheese (everything is always better with cheese)

7. same thing goes with chocolate...everything is better with chocolate

8. morning grapefruit mimosas at work (yes my job is cooler than yours) (and if you haven't tried grapefruit mimosas. please do...they are amazing

9. old movies

10. fires in the fireplace (indoor/outdoor or anywhere)

11. photography (does someone want to buy me a new camera lense??)

12. wanderlust (take me anywhere)

13. roadtrips

14. outdoor concerts

15. new york city (i miss you everyday)

16. good friends ( i find myself missing my friends back home in Spokane (and elsewhere) more and more these days

17. Edie Sedgwick

18. my slippers

19. kiehl's lip balm

20. lovetaza.com

21. instagram

22. our weekly csa basket

23. my kitchenaid

24. cupcakes

25. the pdx

26. red lipstick

27. aviators

28. willamette valley wine country

29. date nights

30. technology free saturdays (we just started this!)

31. being organized

32. babies (seems like all my girlfriends are having kiddos these days and they're just so darn cute!)

33. experimenting with recipes

34. summertime cocktails

35. woody allen movies

36. vanity fair

37. dancing

38. thunderstorms

39. mississippi ave

40. breakfast

41. hiking

42. continuing to explore this new city i love

43. large coffee mugs filled to the brim with foamy lattes

44. the smell of coffee beans

45. bacon

46. wine fridays

47. sunsets

48. star gazer lilies

49. paris

50. husband :)

iFoodography

Time for my favorite post of the month! 

Lately, I've decided that my iFoodography posts are more about life in general than food, but I'm ok with that. 

Hopefully you are too. 

There will always still be food photos. 

But maybe not as much. 

That being said...here's this month's iFoodography photos!

After work...we had a little rooftop Happy Hour Party with some co-workers

Then, I wrote about my wine tasting weekend here... 

I took an early morning walk along the Portland Waterfront.

Then I got super excited about all the Spring produce out right now.

And I discovered how absolutely beautiful Spring in Portland is...

Then husband and I made some Citrus Martini's...

And we had an AMAZING dinner in Arizona...

And my little sister came to town! So of course there were Voodoo Donuts involved...

And more Happy Hour cocktails at Departure! (Check out the view!)

Check out more iFoodography posts here, here, here and here!

Praying for Boston

What happened yesterday is, well, unthinkable. 

It hurts my heart to think of all the people who were injured or killed and their families who are dealing with the aftermath of that. 

But...

It warms my heart to see all the stories from all around of people giving back and helping out in any way they can. 

Boston has a special place in my heart. I lived there for 8 months after graduating from college and know the city fairly well. I have friends who still live there.

I cannot believe what happened yesterday. I know, none of us can. 

So today and this week, like so many others out there, I am praying for all those in Boston affected both directly and indirectly by the two bombs that went off yesterday. 

I saw this image on Instagram and re-posted it. I do not know where the original image came from, but if someone does, please let me know so I can give credit where credit is due.

Weekend Wine Tasting

Monday's always come way too fast!

That being said...I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend and a very Happy Easter! 

You guys...

It was 75 degrees this weekend. In March. In Portland, Or.

Say what???

So of course, I took full advantage of the weather and went wine tasting with a friend this weekend (ok, the wine tasting was already planned, the weather was just an added perk). 

We went to three wineries: Bergstrom, Colene Clemons and Trisaetum...all of them were amazing, and combined with the weather....I felt like we were in Napa, not Portland.

It. Was. Awesome.

It was so beautiful outside I had to share some photos. 

So here they are!

Enjoy :) 

This adorable guy greeted us at Colene Clemons!

 (which also happened to be my favorite winery that day)

Wine tasting with a pro = amazing snacks mid-tasting (Thanks Shannon!!)

I hope everyone had a beautiful weekend! Mine sure was :)