Portland to Jersey
This past week was pretty much divided between Portland, Oregon and South Jersey. The bus is still parked in the Portland area, as it has been for the past several weeks now. I spent the first part of the week working a lot and exploring a bit downtown. I’m looking into changing the general style of my wardrobe and wanted to check out some specific clothing stores. Portland is great for that. There are so many unique stores for every kind of style you can imagine. I didn’t buy anything though. I’m just starting to form ideas of what I like.
On Tuesday night, I surprised Karen by taking her out at midnight. At first, she was confused as to why we would go out so late on a Tuesday night, but eventually realized that midnight marked the start of our third anniversary! We went out to a fun little bar called Bye & Bye. Karen was especially thrilled because it was vegan (she’s vegetarian). Instead of your normal bar food, we got a bowl of brown rice, collard greens and black-eyed peas. We will most likely be making a return visit to this place!
The above photo was taken at the bar “Bye & Bye,” in Portland. The following is the caption I posted on Facebook: Today is Karen and my third anniversary. At 11:55pm the day before, I asked Karen if she was “ready to go in 15 minutes”. She said “yes”, but was confused about going out at midnight on a Tuesday. It was only after we got in the car that she realized that our anniversary started seconds earlier. Karen my dear, you are the best thing to have ever happened in my lifetime. Thank you for putting up with me and being so easy to get along with. I can’t wait for you to officially be my wife on January 4th. Life without you would be like life without air to breathe.
Mid week, we flew to New Jersey, where Karen’s parents live. The trip was planned around both Thanksgiving and Karen’s bridal shower. It’s been nice spending time with the family and catching up with friends. We payed a visit to the Heritage Vineyards tasting room to see our friend Carl, aka the wine wizard, and he was pouring some very tasty wines (as he usually does). It seems like just recently that we attended his amazing “cellar wine dinner,” which is an event to remember for wine lovers.
An iPhone shot of me and the fam out to dinner. Karen’s parents are at left and on the right is me, Karen and her sister, Laura.
Me and Karen with our friend Carl at the Heritage tasting room.
This weekend, Karen’s sister, Laura, and her friend Amanda threw her a bridal shower at a local restaurant. It was all ladies (as most bridal showers are) but me and the guys were invited to show up later. There was actually a lot of Karen’s family I hadn’t met yet, and they wanted to make introductions. I was just glad there was no name quiz at the end! The party was done so nicely, with a travel theme that matches our lifestyle. Each table had a different theme, which was based on a place that Karen and I have been together.
I’ll be spending most of the rest of the week in Jersey and will be celebrating Thanksgiving with Karen’s family for the first time. I hope you all have a great Turkey Day! More to come…
Be and Karen at her bridal shower (How many guys get to go to a bridal shower? 😉 )
Laura and Amanda set gave the party a complete travel theme to match our lifestyle.