last, but not least

ah, fun trip to portland.

had to end sometime, after all.

besides- 

the entire reason we were going to portland was to celebrate our friends 

brad and taylor's wedding!

(i went to grad school with taylor; she's an amazing artist & 

her now husband brad is an incredible photographer)

last days of our journey...

more delicious coffee

 amongst other stops?

a trip to the crazy good salt & straw ice cream shop

 matt got a flight

 and i got a massive waffle cone with two flavors

 brad & taylor were hosting a day before the wedding pig roast

so we met up with our friends...

ate, drank, and made merry!

 the cool kids, part one

 making eyes at my boy

 cool kids, part two

 the about-to-be-wed cuties

 the view from taylor's growing-up-house backyard

no big deal.

 sweet moment in teh midst of the wedding bustle

 we stayed for a long time just laughing and hanging out

and then headed home to crash

at our hipster hotel for one last night

the morning brought coffee once again

(are you surprised?)

 and a long walk along the river

(i loved that at this view i could see three bridges criss-crossing the water in one glance)

 for brunch?

a meal at pine state biscuits.

yes, it was as big as it looks, and as good as it looks.

i couldn't bring myself to eat the whole thing,

but dang- it was yummy.

 a little more coffee for good measure

 before getting dolled up for the wedding!

we were all staying close enough to walk,

so we all walked together to the portland art museum for the festivities.

 matt & steve looking handsome

 our little clan

 my dear jana

 matt & josh, who is a real photographer, unlike me, since i am a faker

 the bride walking down the aisle...

they picked beautiful music for all of the processions, some of my favorite songs from my favorite bands. loved it.

 vows and such

(i have a longer post for this at some point, but for now, suffice it to say it was a powerful moment)

they read this poem during the ceremony; pretty incredible.

 matt conspiring to get as much crab as possible during the cocktail hour

 first dance action

 hey- we did that ten years ago!

 they transformed an already beautiful space with lanterns and lights

 cake topper created by taylor herself!

 if this centerpiece hadn't weighed 167 pounds i would have taken it home with me

 eat, dance, talk and repeat

 it was a crazy awesome dance party, and i love dance parties.

we danced all night.

i couldn't resist this action shot of jana getting her groove on

posed pic in the midst of dancing

 (i love when my husband winks at me)

 good thing i brought flip flops to throw on and not just my super tall heels. 

after a few hours of dancing i had to give up and swap them out.

 and the walk home, post-festivities!

 the next morning came early; we got back to the hotel at 1 am, 

and then had to leave at 5 am to drive back to oakland. 

i felt like a zombie at 5, so we slept another half hour, and felt slightly less zombie-like.

the drive was beautiful at that early hour, though, so we began our goodbye to oregon...

 so sleepy

my husband's hair is 12 feet tall here

 back in california!

 and back to our little monkeys! we swooped them right up into our arms.

love these girls, but also loved our week apart just being us, 

going on adventures, talking, laughing, spending time without constant interruptions and little people.

in so many ways it is pretty profound to share someone's wedding day with them.

to watch them exchange vows with the intention that this is their person 

who they will spend forever with? 

that's big. 

an honor to be a witness of that day,

and such an adventure to share this week away with my person.