Wednesday, June 5, 2013

{We're Moving! + A Portland Summer List}

If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, this is old news... But, we're moving home to Portland! We always knew we wanted to live in Amsterdam 2-3 years and somewhere along the way it just became clear that two years would be best for us for a mutltitude of reasons. I can't say enough about the experience of living abroad, especially as a carefree newlywed. We really lived it up and traveled our hearts out, and now it's time to go home. 

This is a little earlier than we were anticipating to move, but Corey got an amazing job offer back home that he would've been crazy to pass up. Luckily I was also able to land a job back home, so things have already started to fall into place. We have plenty to sort out with our move coming up in less than a month... Corey's finishing grad school this week, my in-laws arrive in Amsterdam tomorrow and I'm off to Italy next week. It's going to be a crazy few weeks, but I'm excited to soak up every last second here.

As we deal with our mixed emotions of leaving Amsterdam, we are also getting really excited to return to Portland. To get us a bit more excited, we put together a quick sumer bucket list. It's a work in progress, but so far it's looking like it's going to be one super fun summer in the Pacific Northwest! If you're familiar with the area, I'd love to know... What would you add to the list?


{1} We're planning a weekend at the Allison Inn & Spa to celebrate our 3-year wedding anniversary in August! It looks incredible and I'm so excited for a weekend of pampering in Oregon wine country!

{2} A trip to the Oregon Coast - always a summer must!


{3} A trip to the Portland Art Museum. We haven't been in ages and all our museum trips in Europe inspired us to plan a trip to our local art museum.


{4} Go to a Portland Timbers game (our local soccer team) - there's that European influence again!

{5} Go to the Organic Brewers Fest. We went a couple years ago and had so much fun, we're looking forward to going again!

{6} Visit Smith Rock State Park. We want to expand our horizons and see new places in Oregon - we're both natives and have never been to this beautiful state park. 

{7} A vist to David Hill Winery - the place we said "I do"

{8} Go to the Portland State University Farmers Market. A favorite summer weekend activity!

{9} We want to try at least 5 new restaurants in Portland. A lot of great new places have opened in the last two years and we're excited to give them a try!

{10} Attend an Oregon Zoo Summer Concert. The perfect way to enjoy a beautiful summer night.

{11} Go to Hood River - maybe go for a hike, definitely visit Double Mountain Brewery - who happen to make one of our favorite IPAs :)

{12} Participate in the Color Run on September 7th in Portland. I've heard so many fun stories about these runs around the U.S. and can't wait to finally participate in one!

Do you have a summer bucket list? I'd love to see it! Maybe I'd get some good ideas from it :)

{image credit: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 {me}, 6, 7 {me}, 8 {me}, 9, 10, 11, 12}