HELLO, 34 // MCMENIMANS EDGEFIELD & MOUNT HOOD, OR

 
351B824E-49D6-4503-ADA7-F95E6312051B.JPG

Hello, Thirty-Four! What an in-between number to turn. There isn’t much excitement around it, no turning points.. SO I made it my own this year and went kind of big and took advantage of the entire week.

MCMENAMINS EDGEFIELD

My friend, Nikole, and I started the week off with an evening at McMenamins Edgefield in Troutdale, OR. If you know McMenamins then you know it’s a portal back in time filled with many secret pockets and places to explore. This once “poor farm” is now transformed into a gorgeous and historical hotel. Each room is different and named after an individual who once stayed there. There are no TV’s, no radios.. just beautiful decor and amazing hand painted art throughout.

C9BDA11C-6F2D-42E0-A880-5A4702871BCF.JPG
CDB119FE-B16D-4F02-A45C-98F535749AB6.JPG
67F280C8-1DF4-4A68-BF9B-A146A0350637.JPG

Once checked in we had cocktails at the Little Red Red Shed, which used to be the farm’s incinerator, followed by wine tasting at their in-house winery, dinner at Power House (the original power station for the farm), and ended the evening by floating in their lovely salt-water soaking pools at Ruby’s Spa that sits at a constant and comfortable 102°.

FFF9BFFF-363A-4B7F-A61C-EBBCECC71180.JPG
7AA9E8A5-0185-4CB2-A698-7A1BF12C2512.JPG
1C7C9BAA-3EC6-4ACD-ABF0-5E97E6CEDD31.JPG
8045E06B-3918-41A1-8F9D-26EDF4AA9941.JPG

After an early night and a good rest, we continued on with “robe-life” and grabbed some breakfast cocktails from my favorite bar there, the Black Rabbit Bar, and headed back to the pools. It was a foggy, cool morning which made the pools even more enchanting. Going on a weekday is ideal since we were literally the only ones in there. I never wanted to leave.

2DF1391E-1092-4392-9734-93672D8CE5C2.JPG
99FB5758-BA81-42CC-A074-A0AF73C4A748.JPG
7C58F21B-3E2F-40F2-9C98-692698EE6790.JPG
806213C6-0961-44AD-8893-6315ECDE330C.JPG
004E4A47-8824-4746-AF42-F14D2F51C80B.JPG
ACE31070-36C6-45E5-9866-3DB0357C5610.JPG
C15A929D-874B-4654-B723-E3EE9EFC1B5E.JPG
1E04A89E-D988-4CC2-9D51-7D40821814E1.JPG

And lastly before we headed home, we had a lovely brunch at the Black Rabbit Restaurant which was so good! Beet hash? Yes, please. I can’t wait to go back

MOUNT HOOD, OR

image 3.JPG

It’s always been my dream is stay in an A-Frame in the woods in the PNW. And when I came across this gorgeous one some time ago I knew I had to stay here. It’s aesthetic is right up my alley AND it was only about an hour away from our home in Portland. So what better time to splurge than this week! It was EXACTLY like the description and photos plus more! And there was even a little snow!

9BB00478-9B69-4361-8F95-03F40BE21E13.JPG
B541830B-A53F-467C-B5B2-24E55B2F80CA.JPG

The designers of this home really did a fantastic job at optimizing the space and making it really unique. The first floor is a large space with the most comfortable sofa which is perfect to lounging back and enjoying the fire and the fun spiral staircase. It had a great kitchen and dining table that seats six. The additional floors are divided into split levels which house the two bedrooms and a reading nook. Though the entire space is an open floor plan but the division of levels provided enough privacy between the bedrooms and created sound barriers from the main floor.

313A2897-A615-41B5-9C6D-64CD88409B95.JPG
F741C6B9-77DB-4B70-ABA4-A247D2FB8D60.JPG
E7FCE29E-0E8F-42BB-8CAB-16956D53726D.JPG

On my actual birthday we drove up the mountain a bit to Trillium Lake. The road was closed due to snow so we found this to be the perfect hiking opportunity. The snow was pretty thick and icy in spots but thank to our yak-tracks it was relatively easy. Every now and then you would step in a spot that wasn’t as packed and would sink about a foot… always fun. Steve loves the snow so he was having a blast. We didn’t realize how far the lake was from the main highway and ended up hiking about five miles but since it was a Thursday there weren’t many people out so it was the perfect way to spend the afternoon.

D15D4179-F6B9-45FD-8C86-46975FD63DA0.JPG
1E7B2121-227B-4FF9-AAF6-48EDE731B677 2.JPG
9B469E20-1663-4EAB-BF8D-3FA7E8CAF8FC.JPG
20C296C9-E5D9-459C-B688-41D885061198.JPG
84A227F4-910D-46A6-8A36-4A997F4A8D6A.JPG
37D79581-F190-4763-A99A-E67BB2E155A2.JPG
668A111D-669C-4445-A87A-C7500664ECD3.jpg
image 4.JPG

Later that afternoon, Nikole and her lovely Mom, met us at the cabin for the evening. We grabbed a drink at the fun Skyway Bar & Grill before dinner. I highly recommend this place if you’re in the neighborhood. It’s funky, kitchy, and it’s been there forever. They have a ton of in-house infused vodka’s and can you sit by the fire and relax from the day.

971E0446-4A68-46CB-AD88-7BDC6965EC0D.jpg
2425DED6-96CC-45C7-8854-EF9AF1C1D5B9.JPG
A78599F7-397C-4486-9B44-7E3007024F9D.JPG

We wrapped up the day by sipping champagne, cooking dinner, playing cards, and Nikole even brought a home made cake which was the cutest. But all good things had to come to end and we had to head home. We had an awesome stay and would definitely come back.

5D1E0F45-641C-4DEA-BCE3-8963F26E6BEF.JPG
0839E77C-B181-41DC-AC0B-AED74C8619BA.JPG

Thank you to everyone who joined me during my birthday week! I love you all and couldn’t imagine going into another year without you! Xo.

 

Follow

UTAH

23F4F7DC-34D8-4609-997F-E7D269AE9597.JPG

My parents moved to the Salt Lake City area in 2006 and over the years I’ve been lucky enough to explore different areas of it’s vast natural beauty. Since I was just there for a quick visit a few weekends ago (which was mostly spent catching up on sleep) I thought it would be fun to compile a photo journal of some of my Utah highlights from present to past (see gradual use of heavy IG filters and borders).
And oh yeah, my husband and I got engaged there!


SALT LAKE CITY

Believe it or not, I don’t have a ton of photos of actual Salt Lake. Need to work on that. But my parents do live in beautiful area right outside of the city.

48AF7EA1-EDDE-45B9-9B90-2FD82B24F5AC.JPG
A2A199A6-3ADC-4380-AC5A-4FFCB04AE39C.JPG
0BB615A5-FFF7-4E4A-9592-7441E35BCF0E.JPG
31C715D7-A796-4CDF-836F-2CDD32D4B694.JPG
F4C187B3-9690-4B2C-BDA2-F7A5B4B88F28.JPG
13247949_10100228339034356_854938484919044268_o.jpg
13064530_10100228379947366_3876865213885688482_o.jpg
11178343_10100100046738146_7288063614783534863_n.jpg
Screen Shot 2019-11-04 at 8.59.14 PM.png
Screen Shot 2019-11-04 at 8.59.26 PM.png
11164673_10100099451136736_6214041711628297131_n.jpg
Screen Shot 2019-11-04 at 9.09.10 PM.png

SALT FLATS

2019 - The Salt Flats were on my bucket list. Though they were flooded when we went. It was still like being on a different planet.

C93C3203-D7FD-489E-BF49-83DA758E1B17.JPG
0E009983-9DC4-43F2-AAA9-E3981A00BE78.JPG
50C3F7DF-D902-4AEB-8E4F-F3B29BF90DFD.JPG
3861AE4C-5238-4A5D-8829-A9F32AF7404D.JPG
77FE67DD-54C2-4C4E-AC89-19A666ED6CCA.JPG
B9F1BD64-794F-4AC9-9C78-D7490F45FC57.JPG

BRYCE CANYON

In 2016, Danny and I drove to Bryce. Another out of planet experience - the hoodoo’s were nothing like I have ever seen before. We took a horseback ride deep into the canyon (first and last time on a horse) and then after we picnic’d, Danny proposed, and then we hiked the nearby Slot Canyons. Truly a beautiful place.

13247804_10100229796453676_6787329625778202875_o.jpg
13243743_10100228961846236_973157115324168961_o.jpg
13064664_10100229082464516_8154988409590872101_o.jpg
13267842_10100229378052156_8222167043011112402_n.jpg
13244006_10100229807915706_4570642669204807602_o.jpg

ZION

2015 we visited Zion. Tower red faces looking down into the canyons. We woke up early and hiked Angel’s Landing. The entire hike took about 6 hours. If you’re scared of heights, steep drops, or just crowds - this is not the hike for you.

Screen Shot 2019-11-05 at 5.15.04 AM.png
Screen Shot 2019-11-04 at 9.00.12 PM.png
Screen Shot 2019-11-04 at 8.59.55 PM.png
Screen Shot 2019-11-05 at 5.13.45 AM.png
11174878_1001046992456_4120733759115672958_n.jpg

And..
Here is Danny and I at Sundance in Park City in 2011.

189874_732058881786_383639407_n.jpg

Okay - that is all for now. Thank you!



Follow

LAKE TAHOE, NEVADA

 

Went to Lake Tahoe for a few days for work and sometimes there are no words so this is the first post to the photo journal category. Enjoy!

F000F2BD-DCA1-4092-AEF7-81F720166B44.jpg
7CA1A930-88A5-4E6C-A9C9-15BA64816E24.jpg
3C5ECEC1-1A28-4B83-9ED5-BF9A41D34A95.jpg
202C140E-79DD-4DFF-A2B6-A76399F90BFF.jpg
EA9BF540-3647-4442-A52C-5CE00B5ABF4E.jpg
FA359A67-1195-45DB-8555-4A6269396E82.jpg
7C88C90F-110F-4509-8978-69E206B979F6.jpg
DFFF0A51-F514-456B-BFB6-07DC0E620BE6.jpg
F7AE6D0D-5EBC-4975-9771-F047E9AC96FE.jpg
EAD2A29F-A817-4E4A-953F-A03E57D0EF1F.jpg
E5E2AEC7-CB5B-4037-8D69-D3D9BA2DAE53.jpg
5014E77F-9B92-4CAD-8D93-877CC02AEE31.jpg
 

Follow