The Return of Fall

Darling 'Butters,

I've decided that's what I'll call anyone who reads the 'Butt. Appropriately endearing, no?

It's been way too long since I last blogged, but without ever really making a conscious decision, I took the summer off. Before this summer, I didn't know it was possible to be busier than I was in college or grad school, but I definitely learned how wrong I was over the past 3 months. That being said, even though September looks like it will be just as crazy, I felt a shift when I woke up this morning. My body could feel the first changes of autumn...the cold air (50 degrees!) outside, the darkness out the window even at 6:15, and the return of Pumpkin Spice Lattes at Starbucks. That last one is a particular favorite of mine! :)

As many of you know, in Oregon we have to make the absolute most of the few precious weeks of sunshine we are gifted. And let me tell you, we did. I don't think I could possibly recap all of the adventures I've experienced since the start of June, but I will do my best to fill you in.

June

June was still filled with plenty of rain and gray days, but it was also filled with excitement. One of my best friends, Dani, married our other good friend Jared. What an exciting month! Beginning with a bridal shower in Seaside, then a bachelorette party in Catalina, and finally a beautiful wedding in Portland...June was filled with celebrating.

I also had the chance to see my parents a couple of times, celebrate my mom's birthday with a Randy Travis concert, and play lots of softball. Playing is not to be confused with winning, unfortunately.

July

July kicked off with my darling Vassar friend Maya coming out for a visit. Read all about it here. We had an amazing time and I can't tell you how hard it is to believe we've been friends now for 6 years!

In July I also discovered the beauty of Forest Park, a Portland gem filled with miles and miles of trails. Buoy and I spent many hours exploring the trails. Dani and I also shared an adventure when we went to the Highland Games, find out all about that trip here. The adventuring continued with a trip to Bellingham, a weekend in Kennewick, Washington for the Columbia Cup Races, and the discovery of a new favorite blog cupcakesandcashmere.com.

August

Here's where things got crazy. The first weekend of August was spent at Salishan for my work's summer convention. Jeremy and Buoy joined me, and as a thank you/birthday present for Jeremy I put together a little surprise on the way home. We drove up to Netarts Bay, OR where I had reserved a boat so Jeremy and I could go crabbing. It was one of the most fun things we've ever done together.

As you can see Jeremy and I did fairly well for beginners! We came home with 20 Dungeness crabs...

...which we shared immediately with our friends Matt and Carrie. (P.S. They got engaged the day before so it was a great occasion for celebrating!)

The following week we celebrated Jeremy's birthday at the new Trader Vic's restaurant in town. I recommend going there for drinks, the cocktail menu is insane!

August continued with the highly anticipated arrival of my college roommate Katie. Darling Katie lives all the way in Buffalo, NY, the Northwest was a new experience for her and I couldn't wait to share with her all that the NW has to offer.

In true Allison/Katie style we jam-packed every second of her visit. From the minute she landed, when we headed to Secret Society Lounge for drinks, to the second she left when we had Podnah's Pit for dinner, we had a blast. There was a hike at Multnomah Falls, a brewery tour, a 3 day camping trip on the Olympic Peninsula, a visit to Seattle, and dinner high atop a skyscraper downtown at Portland City Grill.

Here are a few highlights:

We successful pitched our tent two nights in a row. This is Katie showing us who's boss at a campground in Lake Quinault, WA.

We hiked to beaches along the Washington coast.

Visited the Hoh Rainforest.

Stopped at Lake Crescent and hiked to Marymere Falls.

And climbed high above the Strait of Juan de Fuca at Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park.

What a trip right? I think Katie definitely experienced so much of the Pacific Northwest.

August was an incredible month. It ended with a trip up to Bellingham last weekend. Bellingham is always a lot of fun, but this time Dani and Jared decided to join us. We had the best time.

We hiked, we swam, we kayaked.

We also drank a few too many margaritas! But hey, that's what life is all about.

The best part...our new family nickname...

meet the Schaabinots.

That is all. I hope you enjoyed the summer recap. Now that it's wrapping up I promise to be back in full blogging fashion. And you better be excited, because something tells me September will be just as adventurous!

Apparently I make good bait...

One of the things I always loved about going to college in the Hudson Valley was autumn. The colors of the trees all over campus and along the Hudson River were breathtaking, and I've dearly missed Vassar this time of year ever since. Southern California has her fair share of positive attributes, but fall in Los Angeles just can't compete with the rest of the country. Which brings me to Portland! Who knew this city has such a beautiful autumn?! The trees outside my office building are as vibrant as the ones outside Rockefeller Hall! So in celebration of my favorite season I've been on a hunt to discover the best of Portland's autumnal offerings. I'll share with you what I've found so far:

Fall Must-Do #1: The Haunted Corn Maize on Sauvie Island

Friday night Jeremy and I went with our friends Dani and Jared out to Sauvie Island for a little Halloween fun. Every year they put on a Haunted Corn Maze throughout the month of October. Tickets to enter cost $10/person and plan to wait in quite a long line to buy your ticket and then enter into the maze. BUT it is totally worth the wait. The maze takes about 20 minutes to walk through and it lives up to the hype. There are dozens of haunts waiting from behind the wall of corn and the maze is elaborately decked out to be incredibly spooky and thoroughly terrifying. Jeremy may try to tell you he wasn't scared, but the truth is...after about the third zombie jumped out from the corn...he was yelling, "Take her, take her!" Yup...my boyfriend used me as bait. Perfect.

This is a great activity to do near Portland in the fall. To get directions or find out more information just click here.

And here we are at the Maize:

Fall Must-Do #2: The Hood River Fruit Loop

A co-worker of mine came into work last week and told me all about the great time she had apple picking out in Hood River the weekend before. Being a total sucker for this type of thing, I thought it would be the perfect outing for me to do with my parents the following weekend! So that's what we did. A couple weekends back my parents and I spent a beautiful day driving out to Hood River and exploring the "Fruit Loop". The Fruit Loop is a 35-mile drive through the valley near Mt. Hood. Full of orchards, fruit stands, lavender fields, and wineries...it doesn't get much better than this. The best part about this outing is it's versatility. If you have kids there are adorable farms with pumpkin patches, but if it's just you and your friends or a date there are great barbecue joints, country stores, and roadside stands selling the best produce the valley has to offer. My personal favorite was a stop along the loop called Cody's. They had the most delicious apple cider and a wide selection of produce.

I highly recommend this drive, the views of Mt. Hood all along the way are spectacular. Although keep in mind, most of the farms start to close up shop around the end of October. The next time I head out there will hopefully be for a train ride on the Mt. Hood Railroad. They have a Christmas Tree Train!

For a map of the Fruit Loop and additional information click here.