2019 Justin + Paige | Apple Store iPhone 11 Pro Selfie |Portland, Oregon
I’ve been working at a clip since launching full-time into teaching yoga back in May. So when Justin and I came across a couple of great flight deals, we took the chance to visit Portland, Oregon, a place we called home for nearly seven years before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area. Justin explicitly declared that neither of us could work this weekend (!). We managed to more or less sign off on all devices and completely disconnect from everything—until the writing of this blog, of course. ;)
What an incredible walk down memory lane spending the weekend in Portland! We brought our walking shoes (when we lived here we both sold our cars) and got ready to reacquaint ourselves with the Rose City. Every day we wandered what feels like all of Portland, checking out the new development and eating and drinking our way through each neighborhood. In summary, Portland is still as weird as ever—if not more than before. The food industry continues to thrive. We encountered twice as many beer bars as before which is hard to imagine, but true. I will also forever claim YogaPearl as my original yoga hOMe (hit up Dena Zimbel’s class, you won’t be disappointed).
It’s been fun reflecting on our growth in the six-plus years since we’ve left Portland, spending time reminiscing on who we were as individuals, how much more in sync we are as a couple, and celebrating how much we’ve overcome to be where we are, leading to genuine joy and contentment.
When we lived here before, it felt like such a turbulent time of figuring out how to adult, what kind of lives we wanted to create, and how to simply be. I remember feeling as if I lost my entire peer group and was thrust into this post-college, corporate life where everyone had a family and house, and so clearly knew their purpose—obvious gross generalizations. At the time, it was tough to find my place in the grand scheme of things.
2013 Justin + Paige | Henry’s, Portland, Oregon
Being back has offered a wonderful window of reflection into how much we’ve grown. Portland perfectly encapsulates everything we needed in our twenties; it was a time to figure out life, to try things on for size, a time to make those really bad choices, allowing us to settle into life a little more comfortably in our thirties. If you’re a twenty-something out there, have faith that you are exactly where you need to be. Ultimately, if you’re able to find happy moments—that’s all that matters and the rest will work itself out.
With deep love,
Paige