Worldy Fare: Try the World Portugal

My third Try the World box arrived! After thoroughly enjoying my Holiday box and Thailand box, I was thrilled to open the latest and discover Portugal! Despite having been to Europe numerous times, I didn't make it to Portugal until 2014 as part of my birthday trip and goal to visit 30 countries by the time I turned …

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Volunteering at the Seattle International Film Festival

In 2010, my friend gave me some of her extra tickets to the Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF). I had never heard of it, despite the fact that it had run for 30+ years, and I was hooked. The next year I wrote some reviews for a local online news outlet in exchange for tickets, and the following …

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Redhead World Record Attempt in Portland

Portland is only a stone's throw from Seattle but I haven't visited since we moved here. Brian has been to Oregon numerous times for work, but my last visit was in 2010 when we drove the coastline from San Francisco to Seattle. I had it on our list of things to do this spring but …

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State Parks on Whidbey Island

We had beautiful weather during my parents' visit and spent most of our time outdoors. On Saturday we got an early start and enjoyed what was left of the Skagit Valley tulip festival before exploring some of the other towns throughout Skagit County. There were lots of people with similar plans and we had had enough …

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An Afternoon in Skagit County

Although we live nearby, we haven't done much in Skagit County. Last year we drove up for the Highland Games, but it was only for the festival and we didn't take a lot of time to explore or enjoy the nearby towns. After our morning at the Tulip Festival and our salmon barbecue lunch in Mount Vernon, …

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Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

My parents visited us in the fall and bought their tickets well in advance to come back in the spring so they could experience the Skagit Tulip Festival. We just missed it when we moved out here last year so I was excited to experience it too. Unfortunately our plans were somewhat thwarted by Mother Nature. …

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Coffee Roastery and Museum in Hamburg

One of my favorite finds in Hamburg, Germany was the Kaffee Museum in the Warehouse District, known as Speicherstadt. Brian and I discovered it one of our first days while wandering around but it was after hours and already closed for the day. I decided to check it out after returning from a day trip one …

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