Mom Visits!

My mom has been visiting the past two days. I took her to Golden, and some of the other places I've learned to love here. Last night we went up to Boulder and met up with Zane for a while. He took us to the Pearl Street Mall, which is very much like the 16th street mall in that it is a series of outdoor shops and eateries on a pedestrian street. There are many great street performers and the atmosphere was definitely buzzing on a Saturday night.

Today my mom and I did some shopping for things around the house - we picked up some great outdoor furniture so now Lauren and I can fully enjoy our outdoor patio for the last few weeks of summer. We definitely want to break in our new grill, soon!

Tonight I dragged mom along to the D-Note for some salsa. Though she was reluctant to dance, I think she enjoyed watching. Or at least, she took enough pictures that I'm sure she can watch it flip-book style again later.





Lauren has been hard at work educating the youth of America. Or at least the youth of Denver. Though it feels like she is teaching this whole country's ninth graders with her crazy class sizes. Even though she's coping really well and doing an amazing job, she's usually too exhausted to go out dancing after work and so the dance crowd is missing her a ton!


Tomorrow's mom-agenda includes a trip out to Littleton, initiation into the ever exclusive Costco card holders club, and possibly cell phone investigation. I need a texting plan almost as much as that texting plan needs me. And mom has been vulture-hovering over my current phone for about a year now. Might be time to fork over the damaged goods and invest in a new toy :)

Superduper Cuts

Namaste hair salon.
It's affordable.
It's air conditioned.
They give you a hand, neck and head massage while you wait.

Oh and hersheys kisses at the front desk.



Today the owners came in while I was getting my hair dyed and it was one of the owners' birthday. So naturally, the manager pulls out a cake bought at the local dirty cakes shop, and the entire salon was treated to birthday yumliciousness.

Need I say more?
http://www.namastehair.com/

Ask for Maggie from MN. She's the adorable girl with the pixie cut who massaged me into a coma from which I awoke with amazing hair.

Colorado Girl

Went to the DMV today to get my Colorado drivers license! 2 hours and 21 dollars later, I now have a hole punched in my Cali license and a paper temp license until they mail me my shiny new Colorado license. I guess this means I'm no longer entitled to proudly sing along to Katy Perry's "California Girls"...

Book Worm

On my wish list:

Le Parfum (French, translated from German), by Patrick Süskind
Du reve pour les oufs by Faïza Guène
Salt by Mark Kurlansky

Wedding Photography

I need to update my old flickr account and start doing some portfolio building. I'm thinking of donating time as wedding photographer and maybe doing some side work with that once I get a few weddings under my belt.



In other news, I bought a bird cage...

As I bought it.

With my stuff in it.

Employed!

Quick update: I just got a really exciting job offer and hope to be working shortly!

Love Birds

I trailed some birds on the lake yesterday morning.

Antiques, Flea Markets, and Treasure Hunts

Ever since I got here, I've been collecting various items with which to build up a fairly coordinated room. With help from my Aunt Vickie and the book she gave me, I've learned about the art of Shabby Chic - a very affordable decorating style that incorporates antiques and used items. Here's an example of a Shabby Chic-ed room, decorated by Rachel Ashwell (the reining goddess of the style):


I am not a designer and my room is no where near that level yet, but I have been frequenting some local antiques shops, thrift stores, flea markets, and garage sales in hopes of eventually coming up with something along these lines.

If you're in the market for some great antiques in Denver, I'd recommend the Lafayette Flea Market, located just northwest of the city. I don't know how many of the pieces are antiques and how much is just second hand, but there are some great finds among the endless maze of stalls. In some stalls, there is a definite theme and you can tell someone put a great deal of work into fitting their pieces into a style. Other stalls are sort of a treasure hunt, and you have to dig deeper. If you can't find something here, though, you're not looking hard enough. My first addition to my room was a white-painted wood bench I picked up on sale for 10 dollars.

If you're willing to put in the work, I'd say head to the Goodwill on South Broadway. Its two stories and had a huge collection of furniture. It's a bit more pricey than your normal goodwill, but the items are clean, organized, and they even help you load items into your car. I picked up my desk and chair there for a little over 100 dollars total, and I've been really pleased.

On Monday, I went to Downtown Littleton for an art show and was surprised to find that the place is crawling in antique stores and little boutiques. I would suggest picking up a cupcake at Lola's Sugar Rush while you parouse the antique stores. Tres Jolie boutique also boasts a confectioner's counter, so you can satisfy your sweet tooth while looking at their Rachel Ashwell and Ashwell-inspired designs. Next door to Tres Jolie, is Details, a girly paradise with a huge pink sign on the storefront.

Charlotte's Rustic Rose is an antique shop on Prince St., situtated conveniently amoung a few others. What I enjoyed about their selection was the variety - they definitely were big on the western pieces but had a quite a few Shabby Chic and Shabby Chic-able treasures as well. I would also recommend checking out the Colorado Frame Company, which looks nothing as drab as their website. The place is a craft heaven - a place I know I could leave my mother and not hear back from her for hours. They also have great furniture pieces and accessories and are definitely worth a peak inside.

Soccer in Arvada

On Sunday, I went to Arvada to watch Brian and Kalli's final indoor soccer game of the season. The team played a fierce game against some really tough opponents, scoring an amazing goal via header in the 2nd half. Their team ended up placing 3rd in the league.






After the game, everyone gathered at the park outside for a nice picnic. After a few quick bites, the dancers took to the DNote for a night of salsa and mayhem.

Freckled Skies

Last night I saw a meteor shower because you can actually see more than 3 stars in Colorado. It's kind of amazing.

"This particular meteor shower is called the Perseids because they appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus, and these are typically one of the fastest moving showers, with meteors ripping into the atmosphere at 60 kilometers per second." (the examiner)

(Cool Fact: This is my 13th post on the 13th of August, which is unfortunately not the 13th month of the year. OCD much?)

Fajitas and Frames

Tonight Lauren and I made fajitas for ourselves and our friend, Krystal, who Lauren met through Teach for America. They turned out pretty yummy and Krystal is always amazing company!


I also hung up some photos above my bed. Originally I was planning to do them above my desk, but I thought the space would be too cluttered. Basically I arranged and rearranged some frames that I painted white until I found a good set up. Then I filled the frames with some B&W photos I got printed for free at Wallgreens as part of a promotion. Finally, with some quick measuring and some nice nails and hooks, I have a photo cluster. The frames are hung a bit high right now since I anticipated that my bed would rise if I got a frame for it.




Pictures in the frames include: B&W prints from Paris, London, and Venice, old photos of my grandma doing awesome things like scaling clifs, some 1950s style parisian adverts. I'm still trying to figure out what will go in that big frame off to the side, though.

Chili Rellenos in Littleton

Last night I went over to Kalli's place in Littleton, where she made us some delicious chili rellenos. She just got back from a month long nutritional post grad program in Mexico where she learned many delicious traditional mexican recipes.


Along with the Rellenos were some awesome bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers and grilled veggies and pinneapple. Everyone helped make the food and definitely helped eat the food while sharing in the good company of friends.

In the Kitchen

On Sunday, In n Out burger came to Denver...


Sort of.

Zane found a double double recipe that seemed pretty credible and so we decided to try it out. The results were... legendary. The sauce: divine. The mustard cooked onto the burger: mouthwatering. The grilled onions: drool worthy. After two burgers each, we couldn't manage to even sit up, but our tummys were happy campers.


They said Denver lacked In n Out, and maybe they were right. But when you can make an In n Out burger yourself and eat it under the rocky mountains at sunset, it doesn't feel like you're missing out at all.

Golden Farmers' Market

This Saturday, I headed down to the Golden Farmers' Market with some friends. We started the day with a little tennis and walked around the market stands. There are lots of produce stands, but also some great local vendors. A favorite is White Girl Salsa who makes a mean Cranberry Mango Salsa. You can also grab some artisan cheeses, a delicious crêpe, mexican fare and some smoothies at some of the many other booths.


There is live music and the place is covered in cute little rainbow umbrellas to keep you from baking in the heat. Dogs walk around on their tip toes to avoid the burning concrete and kids run in and out of the local library.






After grabbing a lemonade, crêpe, and some peaches, we headed down to the river to soak in the cool mountain runoff.

Golden

On Sunday I went up to Golden, CO, which is just west of Denver. There are billboards all over Denver claiming that Golden is a "two hour vacation," but of course you'd want to spend more than 2 hours there.

The river, or creek, or rapids that run through the town were bustling with people trying to stay afloat on whatever they could find; inflatable tubes were popular, there were a few kayaks and even a guy on an inflatable mattress.

After a quick hike around the river, you'll notice many people parasailing from the nearby mountains and a giant 'M' on one mountainside, which stands for the Colorado School of Mines.

You can also stop by the side of the river to watch people get eaten by the rapids on their way down.

Golden also boasts an amazing farmers' market on Saturdays, so we're looking to go back for that, soon!