holidays | Our Oregon Trail

A Doggie Decade

April 10, 2014 by kristikrass

Happy 10th birthday, Cooper! Double-digits. He made it. One year ago I thought he’d never see this day. He’s rockin’ it, still cheerful, still chomping down on lots of meds and expensive grain-free grub every day, but overall he’s pretty darn healthy. He’s also a happy camper since he got two walks today and a surprise birthday package from his human and kitty buddies across the hall. I must say, he looks especially fluffy (euphemism for “getting a little chubby”) in these pics because […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: Cooper, holidays

A Christmas Scrapbook

January 3, 2014 by kristikrass

Ah, Christmas. My favorite time of year. It darts by far too quickly. We welcomed the season with some festive times in Portland, before heading back to Michigan to split a healthy chunk of time between Jeff’s Brighton-based Krass family and my Linwood-based Redick family. I sure love these people.

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: holidays, Krasses, michigan, Redicks

Turkey Time with Tillmans

December 3, 2013 by kristikrass

Jeff and I have strung together an interesting run of Thanksgivings since we’ve lived on the West Coast. 2011: Cabo San Lucas. 2012: Fountain Hills, Ariz. This year, we headed south again, this time for Auburn, Calif., to visit our friends, the Tillmans. Surprisingly, the nine-hour drive down I-5 flew by. Jeff, Cooper and I left Portland at sunrise last Wednesday, and watched as the terrain morphed from woodsy to mountainous to farmland to high desert. We paid a quick (and […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: california, Cooper, holidays, mountains, vacation

Get Hopping on Holiday Shopping

November 24, 2013 by kristikrass

With Christmas and other holidays right around the corner, gift shopping is high on my to-do list. For me, the more I can accomplish online – and the more I can avoid crazed crowds at shopping centers – the better. If you’re in the same boat, I might have an idea or two for you. I consider myself a bit of a online shopping connoisseur. (Jeff does not appreciate my talent so much.) For instance, when I need cleaning supplies, makeup, […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: holidays, shopping

Northrup’s Got Spirit

November 4, 2013 by kristikrass

When it comes to Halloween, the folks in our Northrup apartment building commit. It’s serious stuff. With the recent addition of Andy and Catherine, who seem equally if not more into Halloween than the rest of us, we’re a little four-plex of hot bubblin’ love for the holiday. First step: pumpkin carving. We and the other building residents gathered last Monday evening – despite the fact Jeff and I just got back from Indiana at midnight that morning – for a […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: holidays

Me in my festive dress (and shorts underneath) getting ready for our bike ride

Red, White and Move

July 5, 2013 by kristikrass

Happy 5th of July! Yesterday I notched probably my most active Independence Day ever, as evidenced by the impressive 6,847 NikeFuel I earned on my Nike+ FuelBand. Jeff and I kicked off the 75-degree day with a walk with Lindsay, Daniel and Cooper to the always-bustling Lovejoy Bakers in the Pearl District. True, we ate more calories than we burned with our Lovejoy Deluxe breakfast sandwiches, oozing with fried egg, blue cheese, bacon, tarragon and frisee on ciabatta, and our cream-cheesy, […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: biking, holidays

Hello, 2013!

January 1, 2013 by kristikrass

Happy 2013! Jeff and I welcomed the new year with one of the most relaxing, enjoyable NYE nights in recent history. As much as I love celebrating in Chicago and sporting glitzy dresses, it felt so appropriate to stick around Portland, grab whiskey-glazed boneless BBQ wings at Kells Irish Restaurant and Pub with Lindsay and Daniel, catch “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” movie (which was good!) at McMenamins’ Mission Theater, and huddle around our apartment building’s back patio fire pit with […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: hikes, holidays

Ho-ho-home

December 31, 2012 by kristikrass

It’s amazing how quickly Christmas comes and goes as the years go on. Maybe it feels even faster since our holiday centers on a speedy-yet-satisfying trip back home – the norm for my last seven Christmases (and more for Jeff). Whatever the case, I’m always super giddy to board the late-December flight east to Detroit to celebrate with the families and friends we’ve known and loved our whole lives. Disclaimer: My camera didn’t make as many appearances as it should […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: holidays, Krasses, market, michigan, Redicks, restaurants

Drinking cocktails at the Tanzy Restaurant connected to iPic movie theater

Thankful

December 2, 2012 by kristikrass

Two years running, Jeff and I have escaped the cold and rain to spend Thanksgiving in a hot locale with his family. This year, it was at Jeff’s parents’ snowbird home Fountain Hills, Arizona, and last year was Cabo, which is near impossible to top. Somehow I didn’t end up taking a bunch of pictures of our activities – I was too busy soaking in the relaxing, fun times with the Krasses in the 80-degree heat. Thanksgiving offers a great opportunity to […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: arizona, holidays, Krasses, restaurants, vacation

Our Oregon Trail

Portland through the eyes of a festival-loving, dessert-feasting, travel-addicted Midwesterner.

Tag: holidays