Not too long into our first year in Portland, we decided to find a new place that was a little more “us.”  We wanted an open space more conducive to entertaining friends.  In New York, the city is your living room.  In Portland, your living room is actually your living room.  The first four days of our search were a bit of a disaster.  I liked some of the vintage feel of older apartments, and Bryan wanted something a little more modern.

Just before heading off to Thanksgiving with Bryan’s parents, we found the perfect place.  The exposed brick and columns in the Crane lofts gave us just enough old world feel while the open layout, high ceiling, and interior details felt clean and modern.  For the past week, we’ve been shuttling belongings from the old apartment to the new apartment.  The move has been agonizingly slow, but it’s given us a chance to sort through things and simplify (which we didn’t have a chance to do before moving to Portland).

The Christmas tree was the first finished piece in the new apartment.  Living in transit is unnerving for me, and the Christmas tree is somehow making it more bearable.  Last Saturday we spread a picnic blanket on the living room floor and had a few friends over for wine and fondue.  The apartment is already serving its purpose of entertaining and we are already feeling a lot more at home here.