Saul and Chelsia: Over the Moon and Back: Onward and Upward

Valentine's Day is in two days and we still haven't posted about Christmas//New Years//My Birthday.

I'm not going to bore our loyal readers with every detail of Christmas 2016. I say loyal because we're horrible at posting on this (I'm talking to you Saul) and if you still come back and check our blog sporadically, thanks! :) Anyways, Christmas 2016 was sort of a big deal because it was Ms. Teagan's very first. I just wrote about two paragraphs about it and proceeded to proof read it but then thought to myself "this is so lame." So bullets shall suffice:

We alternate which family we spend Thanksgiving//Christmas with each year. This year was Saul's so we went to his Aunt's.
Teagan got so many presents that our living room pretty closely resembles a daycare center. Thanks fam! :)
She loved playing with wrapping paper more than her gifts... intitally.
Saul and I got our very first live Christmas tree and it was gorgeous...until we had to get it out of our house and the needles went EVERYWHERE!! Teagan loved the Christmas tree.
We read Christmas in a Manger to Teagy before bed on Christmas Eve. It's important to us that she's aware of the reason we celebrate Christmas.

Our first annual family Christmas card :)

One day old.

Teagan's hospital hat and bracelet.

Christmas Eve dinner: Filet Mignon chili and from scratch corn bread.

The PBK unicorn rocker that Santa brought Teagan.

Saul has many years ahead of him putting together Christmas presents.

She knows she's swaggy :-P

New Years Eve was just about as low key as they come. We wore our favorite Samoa t-shirts, drank champagne after Teagan went to sleep at 7:00pm, watched New Years specials and made dubsmashes. So cool of us. Teagan just so happened to wake up around 11:15pm so we let her stay up with us until midnight which was probably the only time I'd say Teagan waking up was a good thing. I brought the New Year in with my two favorite people in the entire world and couldn't have been happier! :) It was kind of sad to say goodbye to 2015 though which was a really, really amazing year. Hopefully 2016 can top it.

Last event to play catch up on is my 27th birthday. You read that right ladies and gents. I'm 27 years old!!!! Yikes. It was one of the most amazing birthdays I've ever had. Saul, Teagan and I packed our bags and hopped on a JetBlue flight from LBC to Rip City to visit my seeeeesster. Portland is amazing although I shouldn't be surprised. I was born in Oregon and it's just about the best state with the most amazing people. You see what I did there? haha. We got a great deal on a rental car through Costco -- $35 including taxes and fees for three days. We got in on Friday which was my actual birthday and picked up Addy. We immediately headed to Multnomah Falls which are right outside of Portland on the Columbia River Gorge. They were so ridiculously beautiful. Addy and Saul tried to kill me by making me hike half way up the falls. I was happy to enjoy them from the bottom. A lot of Portlanders are turned off by the falls not because they aren't breathtaking but because the hordes of tourists that visit them. The cold weather scared the tourists off and we were left with the natural wonder without all the people. Perfect! Afterwards we were able to get a table at Screen Door in about 15 minutes (it's notorious for its waits). Apparently the weather was cold even by late January Portland standards which actually played to our favor numerous times. Screen Door was fabulous Creole food. Nom worthy for sure.

I call this one: Hipster Hobbit :-P

My shrimp and grits.

Addy's pulled pork sandwich....

...and gumbo.

Saul's fried chicken and greens. Needless to say the food at Screen Door was so bomb.

On Saturday we checked out Downtown Portland (Powell's, Stumptown coffee, food trucks and such). Downtown Portland is exquisite. I love Los Angeles but our downtown is seriously lacking. We picked Addy up from work and she gave us a tour of Reed. It's a beautiful campus but really all of Portland is plagued with natural beauty. Afterwards we visited a cute little neighborhood of Portland called Hawthorne and got some more food truck grub. We all ordered unicorn burgers (donuts for buns, bacon and cheese) and beers. Yes. I'm sure if you've even half followed our blog you know the highlight of our travels is the food. Portland did not disappoint!

So in love with this little one.

Waffle window was so delicious!!

The famous Powell's

Addy gave us a tour of Reed.

Graffiti basement?

On a bridge that crosses Reed Lake.

Unicorn Burger! (so yum worthy)

Sunday we headed out of Portland and to the Oregon Coast more specifically Cannon Beach, Manzanita and Tillamook. The Oregon Coast was freezing but SO beautiful. The Tillamook Cheese Factory was a once in a lifetime kind of attraction. I'm glad I went because I LOVE cheese (it's one of my favorite things) but I don't think I'll ever have the desire to go back. Of course we rounded out our trip by playing Catan which the husband won. Boo. I thought it was my birthday weekend?

Voodoo Donuts (Buckeye in Columbus is so much better)

So cheesy! Get it? ;)

cuuutte.

Monday came entirely too fast but we did get to do some fun last minute Addy-guided sight seeing in the AM. It was a wonderful start to being 27 and made the blow of almost being 30 a bit easier.