{April in Paris}

Well hello there blog land. Per usual I popped in quickly and then didn't make a return anytime soon. Oops! I always have the best of intentions to give this space attention, but somehow it always gets pushed to the bottom of the neverending to-do list. If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter you already know that we bought a house (more on that later)! And that's what's been taking up all of our time on evenings and weekends. We've also taken a few fun trips to Los Angeles (to meet my adorable new nephew) and to Vancouver, B.C. (you know, because we were really missing using our passports!). I have so many photos from the past months and even year to share and I fully plan on getting them up here!

I'll start by looking back on an amazing trip I took to Paris back in April. I got a call from one of my best friends at the beginning of the month telling me she will most likely be coming out to Amsterdam and Paris for work (we work at the same company, score!) and would I be interested in joining her in Paris? I mean, you just don't say no to that! So even though we had just gotten back from South Africa and had many more trips planned that spring, I booked a train ticket to Paris for a weekend away with one of my dearest friends. We had an absolutely incredible time touring the city, eating delicious food and catching up after being oceans apart for far too long. These are memories I will cherish forever and ever.

A few highlights from our trip:

-Hot chocolate at Angelina -- how did it take me four visits to Paris before I made it here? You can't miss it if you're planning a trip!

-Brunch at Cafe de Flore - a Parisian institution. Amazing people watching!

-Dinner at Le Coupe Chou (not pictured, but trust me it's incredible!)

-And of course, pink champage and sweet treats at Laduree - as girly as it gets!

{Photos © Liz Denfeld Photography}

{Checking In}

Well, after several comments from friends and family about my lack of blogging, I finally decided it might be time to check in! It’s hard to believe we’ve already been back home in Portland for a month (as of tomorrow!). I am happy to say that my reason for not blogging isn’t just because we’ve been busy catching up with people, but also just because we’ve spent a good portion of time just being lazy and getting settled into life in Portland! Corey are I have both been back at work for a while now (took a whopping 3 days off!) and have been living between my in-laws’ house and my mama’s house. We’re currently searching for a place of our own and hoping to be out of the parent’s house by the end of the summer. But I can’t complain about living rent-free and having dinner cooked for us when we get home each night. Yeah, we’re pretty spoiled at the moment!

A lot of people have been asking if we miss Amsterdam. Mostly, I must admit we’re just happy to be home. Everything feels so familiar and comfortable. But there are certainly times my heart aches for those canals or our perfect apartment where we made such amazing memories. There will always be a big, special place in my heart for Amsterdam.

So what have we been up to? Lounging by the pool, eating lots of home-cooked meals, venturing downtown for dinner + drinks with friends, welcoming our new nephew Ryder into the world, and working on checking things off our summer to-do list. Time is flying!

I have an overwhelming amount of travel posts to blog (some even going back as far as Switzerland in December!) and I can’t wait to get back to it. I keep telling myself this week is the week I’m going to get back to blogging. And somehow it just doesn’t happen. I know I just need to make it a priority! I’ve just been having too much fun being lazy :) So bear with me… I’ll be blogging regularly again soon…

Hope you’re all doing well out there! I’ve so appreciated the few emails and comments I’ve gotten from those saying they miss my posts. It makes me feel so good, you have no idea! And a little guilty, but mostly just really good. I miss you guys and can’t wait to be a regular blogger again soon! Thanks for hanging in there with me! Below you’ll find a bunch of iPhone photos from the last month at home!

{South Africa: Days Five & Six}

Hello, hello! It's been a while, hasn't it? Well, the good news is I wasn't eaten by a lion :)

We got back from our safari 8 days ago. I can't believe we've already been back so long.

I want to continue on with a couple short posts giving a general overview of each day of our stay in SA, then I'll do some more detailed posts on where we stayed, our itinerary, restaurant suggestions, the whole deal. I've already gotten several requests for a detailed itinerary to follow, so I will definitely be working on that!!

On our fifth day in Cape Town we finally got to take things a little slower. We slept in a bit and then made our way up to Table Mountain. We booked our tickets on the gondola ahead of time as we've heard the lines can get pretty long. Luckily there weren't any lines at all! Cape Town is just full of amazing views. We didn't think we'd be up at the top of the mountain long, but of course we ended up taking our time walking around and enjoying the scenery. It was a warm and beautiful day! 

Later that day we ventured over to Camp's Bay - the more "posh" beachside area in Cape Town. We strolled along the beach as we got lost trying to find our restaurant and wished we would have come down earlier and spent the day soaking up the sun (took note for next time!). We ended up getting appetizers and cocktails and watching the sunset at The Bungalow. I must admit, while it was a nice experience, it wasn't really our scene. One of our friends had told us it was very "South of France", but I would have gone further to say it was more Miami. I felt a little out of place, but it wasn't anything a couple drinks couldn't fix :) We ended up seeing a beautiful sunset and having tons of fun. 

On our sixth day in Cape Town we checked out of our amazing hotel (can't wait to tell you more about it!), and drove an hour outside of the city to wine country! We didn't even make time to drop our bags at our guest house as we had lunch reservations we could not be late for! Going into this trip we actually had a lot of recommendations. A meal at Maison was at the top of our friend's list, so we booked weeks in advance to make sure we wouldn't miss out. The second we stepped in we understood why they had said it was their favorite meal of their entire trip. Everything was flawless. The decor, the service, the food, the wine, the grounds. My my my. We ended up spending a good 3+ hours there just making ourselves at home and contemplating never leaving (maybe they wouldn't find us if we hid in their awesome bathrooms?). It was an afternoon to remember. There will definitely be more to come on this place! 

After checking into our cute little guest house in Franschhoek we made our way to Dieu Donne Vineyards to enjoy the view (and a glass of wine of course). I wish my camera could have captured the insane beauty of the landscape. It literally took my breath away. We were so excited to be in wine country and couldn't wait for a full day of tasting the following day! 

 {Photos © Liz Denfeld Photography}