We started Saturday morning with a delicious breakfast at Vivace Cafe on NW 23rd Street in Portland. Oh.My.Goodness. We knew the coffee was amazing because they serve Stumptown, which is our favorite. But their crepes are to-die-for delicious. We had some sweet ones (fresh strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and pears sprinkled with lemon juice and powdered sugar) and some savory ones (fresh mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach, and mozzerella cheese, sprinkled with a sour cream sauce). Absolutely fantastic! If you live near Portland, you have to try this place out.
After breakfast, we took a walk down 23rd Street to check out the shops. In the past, we have been down there on a Friday or Saturday evening and everything but the restaurants are closed. We still had a giftcard from our wedding to Pottery Barn, so we were able to find some delicious spring-scented candles for our home. We then hit up a few other spots downtown (The Rack Attack, Buffalo Exchange, etc.) since we are not down there too often.
Next on the list is one of my all-time favorite things to do in Portland. Honestly, I could go to the Farmer's Market at PSU every single Saturday. But since we don't do that, I thoroughly enjoy the mornings that we do stroll down that way. I just love to see the different options that the various vendors present. The spring time offers lots of flowers, plants, fruits, veggies, breads, pastries, gooey goodness, and so much more. It's a must to bring a few dollars and an appetite. We grabbed a fresh huckleberry scone and a few apples...to hold us over during our 4 1/2 mile run around the Waterfront. Whew....
I love cool photography, even though I am not an excellent photographer nor do I have a high-quality camera. But my husband lets me pretend and even agrees to be my "model" when I find a cool spot. Case in point. Thanks honey!
And what would a sunny day be without quirky shadow pictures? It just wouldn't be complete.
After our long run, we headed home for a restful afternoon and a home-cooked dinner. What a great first day of celebrating our first anniversary!
Sunday morning started as most do - a good morning kiss from my wonderful husband. And I then proceed to roll over for a few more minutes of sleep. This is where it takes a turn for the good. Breakfast in Bed! Dustin whipped up eggs, toast, and fresh fruit, served with some piping hot coffee. He is wonderful. The morning then went on as most Sundays do - with a fantastic bible teaching at our church. This week's teaching was on John 20...and why Jesus' resurrection is so meaningful to me and other Christians!
After church came an oh.so.tasty snack from Noah's Bagels. Bagels with cream cheese and a steaming cup of coffee. MMMMMM. Our day gets even better with another one of my favorite things to do! This one doesn't require you to be in downtown Portland though. Grab a book (or 5 magazines!), a cup of joe (still from Noahs), a couch and spend an hour vegging out at Barnes & Nobel. This visit's read: Martha Stewart Living. I picked up a few ideas for Easter decorations, herb gardening, and more great recipes. And my lovely husband has even acquired an appreciation for this wonderfully relaxing activity, too.
After a busy morning, we had one more stop to make - Costco. Dustin has been wanting another shelving unit for our garage, so we ran into get it. And of course a few yummy food samples, too. But my very thoughtful husband also bought me some lovely red and white roses. They are perfectly gorgeous and smell delicious, too!
We were very lucky (and very surprised too!) when we received a few gifts for our anniversary. Cards, hand-stitched pillow cases, and even a few checks! Wow. I guess neither of us expected to get something from anyone, but our families are very loving and generous! So, we decided to treat ourselves to a "fancy dinner" on Sunday evening. We headed to Kinkaid's Fish, Chop, and Steakhouse in downtown. It was very tasty....we were definitely able to enjoy food that we don't usually buy. Dustin had a nice juicy steak and I had some fantastic halibut.
*I am beginning to notice how much food we consumed in our weekend of celebration! Good thing we ran it off on Saturday afternoon!*
The last thing that we did was my surprise for Dustin. My dear friend, Kristen, was our videographer at our wedding. She is so busy being a mommy and doing other editing jobs that I wasn't sure how long it would take to get our finished product. But, when I was out in Colorado earlier this month, she and Kari surprised me with it. So I was able to keep it a secret from Dustin this whole time. When we got home from dinner, I asked him to wait in the car. I set up the DVD and then had our wedding cake and unity candle set up as well. When I had him come inside, he was so suprised. We then watched our wedding video start to finish (GREAT job, Kristen and Kari) and ate some wedding cake. It was still good, but definitely better a year ago. After all of the surprises Dustin did for me throughout the weekend, he got me with one more. He made me the coolest keepsake: it has Ecclesiastes 4 written on it with a cord of three strands, which is not quickly broken. Very cool and already up on display.
We had a blast celebrating our first year of marriage! To top it all off, we both took Monday off of work so we were able to make the weekend last just a little bit longer.
1 comment:
I love the part that talks about not having a high quality camera, does this camera zoom? I cracked up and then told the story to dan....he didn't think it was very funny.
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