Hola!

Sorry for the blog silence everyone. We had quite a rough start to our trip. Don't want to bore you with the details but here's a quick recap: flu on 26 hour travel day = h-e- double hockey sticks. Rain, a lot of it. Mac computer crashed, very upset that I might have lost my hard drive and all my pictures. And no phone to call home.

Things are quite a bit better now. The sun is finally shining and today we walked Calle Florida and Avenido de Mayo and saw Plaza de Mayo and the Congreso building which is beyond words stunning. Spent some time on the rooftop deck soaking up the sun and now we're getting ready for a night on the town!

Hope you all had an absolutely amazing Thanksgiving holiday! We definitely missed our families and all the yummy food.

Adios for now!

32 Hours...

{via weheartit}

In 32 hours we'll be getting on a plane headed for another continent and another season. Can't wait for summer sun and a real vacation... Until then, I'm doing laundry, working overtime and fighting off sickness. Hope you all are enjoying the short holiday week! I'm hoping to post pictures from Amsterdam and our engagement party before I leave, so stay tuned!

Have a Fantastic Weekend!

{me & my sister at her wedding 3 years ago}

What are you up to this weekend? Tomorrow my big sister, Cristina, and my brother-in-law, Josh, get into town from L.A. Cristina is actually responsible for setting Corey and I up, so we are both super excited to see each other and celebrate the engagement!! I seriously can't wait to see her. I hate that she lives so far away-- and now that I'm planning my wedding I hate it even more!

Sunday we are having our engagement party up at Corey's parent's house. We are having "bubbles and brunch" and will be celebrating with a casual party filled with mimosas, homemade biscotti and scones, and tons of other delicious food. I am so excited to have everyone in one place to celebrate! It's going to be a great weekend. Hope you have an amazing couple of days! Talk Monday :)

Cheese Plate

{image courtesy of Sunset}

My friends and family know I have a severe weakness for cheese. If I could, I would eat it for every meal. Seriously...While I was in Amsterdam, I ate a lot of cheese. Shhhh don't tell my doctor. I have high cholesterol (it's hereditary). Anyways. I'm getting off topic (it's Friday and I have the attention span of a 3 years old). 

Someday, I want to throw a wine and cheese party. And when I do I think I'm going to steal this idea from Sunset Magazine and set the cheese up on a piece of slate and label the different kinds of cheese. And perhaps which wines they pair well with... Now if only I could find the time to throw this party... 

Red Hot

Um, could her hair be anymore beautiful? Wow.

{via Apartment #34, via Dress Design Decor}

Nadinoo Handmade

{Via A Cup of Jo, Via Greedy Girl}

Oh my goodness, if I lived in England I would run to Nadinoo Handmade and buy this outfit for our engagement party this Sunday. It's a brunch and I have been looking for just the right thing and haven't found it yet. This blouse and skirt look classy, fun and casual enough for an afternoon brunch party. Too bad I'm in Oregon.

Adventures in Antwerp, Belgium

While in Antwerp, we did like the Belgians do and drank delicious Belgian beer and ate frites out of a paper cone with all sorts of crazy dipping sauces. We also did like tourists do and walked around the narrow cobble stone streets with our heads pointed toward the sky admiring the awe-inspiring old architecture and all-around quaint and romantic European town that Antwerp is. Honestly, Antwerp wasn't number one on my list of places to see in Europe, but it blew me away. So charming. So beautiful. Hope you enjoy the photos!

{In our hotel room}

{looking down at the cobblestone street & horse-drawn carriage from our hotel window}

{The square where the famous Brabo statue stands as well as the City Hall}

{Cathedral of Our Lady. Absolutely stunning}

{Drinking Kwak, a Belgian beer that you drink with this cool wooden contraption}

{cutest little old man playing this organ thingy. Look at his clogs!!}

{City Hall}

{Pasta Hippo, where we had dinner}

{After our delicious Italian meal. We ate a lot of Italian on our trip!}

{This is the view from the window we sat in front of at dinner. We had a great view of the cathedral.}

{Belgian Chocolates, YUM!}

{We listened to live music in this tiny little bar. The band members were all pretty wasty and were singing all american songs. It was awesome!}

{Straight. Out. Of. The. 70s!!!}

{An outdoor flea market!}

Love-Simple & Complex

{via Le Love, via tumblr}

We got a special card in the mail to wish us congratulations on our engagement and I loved the words so much I had to share them with you.

LOVE /’luv/

(noun, verb, and everything in between)

1: holding hands, walking in the rain, and not even knowing it’s raining 2: being there for each other (no matter what) 3: that certain look 4: trust 5: passion 6: the best kind of friendship 7: gets better with time 8: a fairy tale that does come true

I’ve never felt so connected to the words and message on a card. They’re so simple, but Corey and I relate to every single one of these. My heart filled with emotion when I read it, and it made me think about how happy I am to have found the person I am going to spend the rest of my life with. Honestly, for a time in my life I really wasn’t sure if I’d be lucky enough to experience this kind of true, amazing love. To sit back and think about how I’m experiencing it every day and will get to every day for the rest of my life, for better or worse, makes me happier than I could every explain in words (and I’m a writer, so that’s saying a lot!).

Alright, enough of the sappy stuff! Hopefully that didn’t bore you. Up next, photos from our weekend in Antwerp—finally!

We're Back!

{via weheartit}

We got back from Amsterdam Saturday night and I can't tell you how amazing it feels to be home! It felt so good to hug our families and spend time with friends. But I must admit, I'm feeling quite tired today. Woke up at 4:30 a.m. and couldn't fall back asleep... Darn jet lag! Hopefully I'll be fully on Portland time by tomorrow. Have a great Monday everyone!

Priceless

Another reason I love Skype: You can capture your best friend's reaction to the news that you just got engaged!! Simply priceless.

A Photo

This is a photo from the night we got engaged. After being on the phone for hours calling family and friends (thank goodness for Skype!!) we had dinner at a cozy little Italian restuarant called Ristorante Savini where we shared a bottle of red wine, ate yummy pasta and stared at my ring (still in complete shock). More to come on this exciting night & our adventures around Amsterdam the last week!

Hugh Kretschmer Photography

My coworker sent this to me and told me that it reminded her of me and Corey. The guy and girl kinda do resemble us in a weird way! I thought it was cute, different and fun so I thought I'd share it with you. By Hugh Kretschmer

A Taste of Antwerp

One of these nights I'll download my good pictures from my great camera. For now, here's a collage of iPhone pics from our weekend in Antwerp. More details and photos coming soon... I swear...

Clockwise from top left: Enjoying some Kwak (authentic Belgian beer), the view from our hotel room, me & my fiance (weird!), about to enjoy some famous Belgian frites...yumm..

We're Engaged!!!

Friday, Corey surprised me and showed up in Amsterdam and proposed! We are so incredibly happy and excited and spent the weekend strolling along the canals and romantic streets in Amsterdam. Promise to share more pictures and stories very soon, but for now we are just soaking it all in!

(snapped on my iphone shortly after the proposal!!)

Warming Up

The other night, after working late and taking the train back to Amsterdam and walking in the dark, cold, rainy night, I decided I needed a little pick me up. I arrived at my coworker Kara's hotel and thought I should start dinner with some hot chocolate. And this is what I got:

{I turned into that tourist who takes pictures of their food... hehe}

My giant cup of cocoa came on a shiny silver tray with a bowl full of freshly made whipped cream (so rich. so delicious!), pure sugar crystals and two of the most buttery homemade shortbreak cookies I'll probably ever eat. If this is how all hot chocolate in Amsterdam comes, I'm pretty sure I've died and gone to heaven.

Two Years. Love.

Two years ago today I went on a first date with a very special guy. He was charming. Funny. And had the cutest smile I'd ever seen. In fact, every time I thought about that smile each day thereafter, I got major butterflies... and squealed to myself. How could I be so lucky? I'll never understand. But all I know is I couldn't have asked for a more perfect person to share my life with.

I hate that I am thousands and thousands of miles away from you today, but I have no doubt that we will have many, many more anniversaries together. I love you more than I ever knew possible. Thank you for being you!

I'm Here!

{on the way to the train station, thanks iphone!}

Greetings from Amsterdam! I finally arrived after a pretty crazy series of events. I won't bore you with the details but basically there was a problem with my flight so I ended up leaving Sunday (not Saturday). Instead of flying all day Saturday, Corey and I met up with friends in Eugene to watch the Ducks kill the Trojans (sorry, honey.). It was a super fun day and I was so glad I got extra time with my sweets!

Amsterdam is such a beautiful city. It's so exciting to be in Europe. I almost forgot how quaint and historic everything feels. I have been taking the train into the office, which is located in a suberb of Amsterdam called Hilversum. I feel like such a big city girl taking the train. Centraal Station is bustling with people in the morning. The energy is amazing and everyone looks so chic. I am feeling so inspired by all the gorgeous coats and boots all these girls wear! I can't wait to go shopping :)

I'll share more later, but for now I just wanted to say I'm here!