Wow, how is it the last day of 2013 already? I know I sound like an old lady when I say things like that, but really this year has flown by.
And what an amazing year it was.
It’s hard to narrow down my highlights of 2013, but I’ve tried for you (these are in no particular order):
1) Learning a TON about food photography from Andrew Scrivani at IFBC and getting my first “big girl” camera, a beautiful cherry red Nikon D3100, both of which have dramatically improved dramatically my picture taking.
2) Brunches at Sweedeedee. I just love this place. I love everything on their menu, especially their fresh baked bread, corn cakes and of course that salted honey pie. Plus they have probably the best chocolate chip cookie in the city.
3) Blind Bingo dinners with Nostrana and The Bake Shop. These dinners put on by Edible Portland were a ton of fun. Put on a blindfold, take a bite of food and try to figure out what it is without your sight.
4) Having a blast at Counter Culture. My friend Lauren and I have made this our annual event together and it probably is my favorite food event of the year. Amazing views, delicious wines and all-you-can-get food from the best places in Portland. If that wasn’t enough, there’s even a photo booth.
5) Hosting Thanksgiving. I’ve always wanted to host Thanksgiving. It’s my favorite day of the year – cooking, eating and spending time with family and friends, what’s not to love? It was super fun hosting, creating our own traditions and of course making a lot of pies.
6) Mezcal tasting and salsa making at Xico. Such a great time joining Little Green Pickle to learn about the smokey Mexican liquor and unique Sikil P’ak, pumpkin seed salsa.
7) Dinners at Ava Gene’s. Once you have a meal here, you’ll know why it is ranked as one of the best restaurants in Portland but numerous sites. I can’t even narrow down my favorite thing there because every time I go, I try something new and my favorite dish changes. Between the various Pane appetizers and their housemade pastas, I could probably eat there every day and be a happy camper.
8) Enjoying the Sandwich Invitational at Feast Portland. With 15 top chefs from Portland and throughout the nation, Feast put on a great event celebrating the sandwich. My favorites were the Clyde Common Dungeness crab slider with scallion and pickled fennel and the Roman Candle Peanut Butter gelato on a Chocolate Chip brioche.
9) Traveling to the Galapagos. Brice and I had an amazing vacation to these wacky Ecuadorian islands complete with snorkeling, sunshine, hiking, and tons of strange animals.
10) Moving into our new condo! While not food related, I felt like this deserved a spot on my 2013 list. I fully admit, our condo in the Pearl is awesome. With a beautiful kitchen and an awesome patio, I’m digging this whole home ownership thing.
Celebrating our new place with magnum bottle of champagne!
With such a great year in the record books, it’s hard to imagine that 2014 can top this year.
But I’m thinking it has a shot. We’ve got big travel news for this upcoming year!
WE’RE GOING ON SABBATICAL!
Wahoo! One of the best things about working for Intel is their amazing sabbatical program, where you get 8 weeks of vacation every 7 years. While I haven’t been there that long (only about 2 years), Brice has been there for just over 7 and I couldn’t bear to have him travel the world while I sat at home working away. So I am taking off time to tag along!
Next October, we’ll be venturing off to Asia for a big adventure for 2 months. On the agenda is Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore and India!
First Christmas in our new place so we decked it out…with one whole wreath.
More details on our trip to come as we get the plans figured out. And if you happen to have any travel advice for us, we’re all ears!
Hope you had a wonderful 2013 and Happy New Year!
Lots of love to all my readers out there,
Erin
[…] Somehow, I’m not really sure how, but it has been three years since I started this little blog of mine. THREE YEARS! Holy cow. Seriously, a lot of really wonderful, big things have happened since then: I’ve changed jobs, Brice and I bought a condo, I traveled to Europe, Australia and Ecuador. […]