Back to Reality

Well hey there! Did you think I wasn't coming back? It's been quite the summer already. Went back to VA, got hitched, honeymooned in Maui, came home, celebrated our birthdays, went to the Oregon coast, and started work this Monday! I've barely had time to catch my breath. But here I am, vowing to keep the blog going, if for no other reason than to amuse myself. And appease my mom ; )

Anywho, things are all good in the hood back in PDX, settling into our second summer here, which means open windows, evening bike rides, Farmer's Markets, and outdoor adventures. We started off our return to Portland with a birthday! Yep, the new hubs turned 26 one week ago today and we kept it mellow and went out for pizza at Dove Vivi which has that craveable cornmeal crust that we discovered at the market last year and have been dying to try in a different setting.

Birthday boy waiting patiently for pie

Married and a year older!

Ohhh man, give me some of that

Place was crowded, and the pizza delivered-- we opted for a half and half pie. One half house-made sausage with caramelized onions and peppers, one half smoked mozzarella with balsamic onions, fresh sweet corn and chives. I know, corn on a pizza? This is kind of their claim to fame, so we had to give it a try. Wowzers, it was delicious!

Crust was full of texture with the coarse ground cornmeal, held up to the flavor-packed toppings loaded on top. This pizza is filling too! We both took some for lunch the next day : )

Back home, Davis enjoyed his birthday dessert-- a vanilla toffee cupcake with toasted coconut cream cheese frosting! Topped with a ball of fire, apparently. I stole a bite. It was hella good. The cupcake, not the fire ; )

Yay! Happy Birthday, Davis! We kept the day-of easy since the weekend's plans were to head to the beach and celebrate our combined birthdays with a bunch of friends, college-style. Let's go!

Now, the Oregon Coast is an interesting place. It is rugged and dramatic. It is wet and lush. It is cold and cloudy even in the depths of summer. You cannot get in the ocean without a wetsuit. But, you can have a bonfire on the beach. It was a nice change of pace to sloooow it down a bit for the weekend.

Let's start out with a hike down to the beach. First, you should be informed about what to do if/when you find tsunami debris. Eerie to think about...

Find it. Bag it. Leave it.

Through the woods to the beach!

Old, mossy log friend

Layers of green

River runs to the sea

Tree growing out of an old stump

Plenty of washed-up logs to lead the way

The lovely treed coastline

Our party's 3 sweet, black dogs racing on the sand

Fell in love with so many trees

Moss on rings

Hey there, slugger

 We made our way back from the beach to our adopted home for the weekend. The 9 of us threw some dinner together on the grill and enjoyed a misty grubfest out on the back deck. Mmm.

Birthday dinner: ginger-infused mojito, big ole' burger, and barley salad

Vanessa got us a ball of fire birthday cake!

Perfect ending to a quintessential summer meal

After dinner, we headed down to the beach and got our fire started. It was chilly and spitting rain, but we didn't care- we had a blast hanging out, toasting marshmallows, and polishing off most of the alcohol allotted for the trip ; )

The scene to our right, D tossing the football with Haystack Rock in the distance

Go long!

Another birthday girl! Carlie celebrated hers Monday. Birthday week extravaganza!

Paul and Andy. Half of the dudes.

Fire it up!

Campfire cuddlin'

Vanessa and Carlie, BFFs since middle school : )

Erin keeping the tequila toasts goin' around (Mom, you should have been there)

Perfectly roasted marshmallow ready for its graham and chocolate blankets

The scene to our left, bonfires all down the beach. Love it.

Fire's roarin! Vanessa's getting sleepy

It was a super fun night on the beach and a memorable way to ring in my 26th birthday. Headed back inland the next day and picked up some insanely delicious sandwiches from a little place we happened into in NE Portland. Brass Tacks-- my new favorite sandwich place in PDX.

Sign says Vegan and Meat-- best of both worlds!

I, though, opted for meat-- roast beef, to be exact

Take a gander at that beauty- smothered in tomato jam, house pickles, peppers and some sort of spicy mayo. Goodness me.

Davis' other half (of the sandwich variety) flew off the tray before I could snap a picture-- his was some sort of turkey/avocado concoction

Definitely going back there. But HEY! Before that, we are exploring a new town this weekend. Bend, Oregon! We are stoked, Davis has a 3 day bike race and we are headed up and over Mt. Hood to central Oregon's high desert to make it happen. He'll be headed there Thursday night to start racing his pants off on Friday and I'll roll down after work that evening. I'm excited to cheer on my hubs in this crazy race in a new, beautiful place! You can be sure I'll be a'bloggin about it when we return.

Thanks for all the support and love during this exciting time in our lives. We are so happy to be married : )

Love y'all!