update!

Obviously many things have happened since I've been absent from my blogging...

Pippa has been growing like a weed. I attempted to introduce her to Justin's dog Buck....

Notttt too successful. She is quite the maniac lately until night time when she likes to lay across my neck like a scarf and suffocate me. Both mine and Shawn's hands are covered in scratches from her attacks. To the point where I've had multiple random people ask me if I have a cat. Luckily I can say yes, but I keep thinking about what an awkward question that would be if I didn't...

Thinking back over October and what we've been up to, I can pretty much only think of one thing: Halloween. I don't believe I've ever done so many Halloween-related activities in my life. To start, Shawn worked in a haunted house for the month of October, which involved a daily dousing of fake blood and wearing of white-out eye contacts which all began to not even strike me as unusual around Day 10. 

Then came Zombie Crawl. Thousands of people dressed as zombies rambling around the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver. There were definitely some sights to see. And some sticky blood to be had, considering the fake stuff we made was mainly corn syrup. Oh yeah, that felt good :(

Sometime in the Halloween blur of October, we managed to carve what seemed like a thousand pumpkins:

Can you guess who is who?

Shawn did this one for work.

All that pumpkin meant that of course we had 2 rounds of toasted pumpkin seeds, a loaf of pumpkin bread, and are now in the process of making pumpkin soup to freeze for Thanksgiving :)

Speaking of Fall recipes.. I finally managed to make a tart with my tart pan I bought months ago... a scrumptious caramelized apple and onion tart with homemade rosemary crust. Deeelicious. I must apologize to my dear mother for hating her rosemary potatoes so much growing up because I now think it's one of my favorite flavors. Who knew?

You'd think with all this Halloween-ing we would've planned our costumes ahead of time.. but no. So basically at the last minute before we headed out to our apartment community get-together, I had the grand idea to be Goldilocks and Shawn would be a bear. Pretty much based solely on the fact that he was wearing big bear feet slippers and I have a blonde wig that I need to lower my PPW on (Price Per Wear, that is). So I whipped up this little ensemble and then got to work making Shawn into a bear.

This may have involved a brown pillowcase over his head with a cutout for his face. The two corners tied at the top to make ears. Let's just say he did not love, and thus, no pictures :( But he was a good sport and I was freezing. Very jealous of his brown snow pants and brown hoodie. The party was actually thrown by our apartment management company who owns a ton of properties around Denver. Two of our neighbor friends won $250 off rent and $500 off rent. We walked away with a $100 gift certificate. Not too shabby! For the record, it was a random drawing, not a costume contest :)

Aside from all that nonsense, I've been staying quite busy at the j-o-b's. Things are going very well at the Holiday Inn. There's been talk of putting me strictly in charge of the wedding business. Which sounds like a fantastic idea to me! I've also been working with Pink Posey here and there, which got me a little gig making a sign for a bride's ring bearer to carry down the aisle:

Still waiting to see the professional photos from that one, but I can't imagine how it was not the cutest thing ever. It also allowed me to decorate my first ice cake. Shawn actually helped with this one. The bough of flowers across the bottom was his lovely idea :)

Unfortunately, with all this working there haven't been many estate sale visits. Or perhaps it's the fact that our tiny apartment has reached capacity. This hasn't stopped Shawn from Craigslisting, however, and I am "proud" to say that we are now the "happy" owners of:

60 bottles of hot sauce from around the globe...

A cat condo larger than my own body...

A PS3 that is the reason I am undistracted enough to be writing this at the moment...

More fish and aquatic beings than I can even count...

And an iguana who basically came and went (i.e. got the boot) in one weekend. Luckily while he was here, it was necessary for us to acquire another ginormous tank so we have a home for the next "surprise" !!!

Needless to say, things are never dull. But it finally feels like we're getting into the groove of normal life for the most part, which is a nice change from the semi-chaos of the past few months. And to top it all off, there's a Jacksonville trip on the horizon! December 1-6 we'll be home to visit for the holidays. Can't wait!

oh freelancing..

This past week has been an adventure in the world of barely employ-ment... Tuesday night I found myself at the Denver Merchandise Mart working for a company that puts on "Girls Night Out" events all over the country. I just had to check people in so it was not too interesting or challenging... But I did get two swag bags at the end full of girlie goodies which honestly was probably my favorite part :) They had a bottle of this crazy water called MetroMint which I keep struggling to decide if I like it or am repulsed by it. It's unsweetened, with just water, mint, and cocoa essence listed as the ingredients. The thought of drinking an Andes mint doesn't appeal to me, but when I take a sip it's so refreshing and then I think I like it. Hmm.

Thursday I went to work with Buffy at Pink Posey Design. She had a couple weddings coming up this weekend to get ready for and needed some extra help. I think I made about 15 bouts and corsages. Whoa nelly my hands were killing me from those tedious little guys. But I always enjoy being back in the flower world. And I got to take home some extras which reminded me of my old Belle Fleur Fridays when I would bring home leftover flowers and then spend an hour or two arranging them, always making myself late for my Friday night plans :) But fresh flowers in the house are just so fun!

That night I was doing my usual CraigsList-ing and ended up with a gig for the next morning working with a photography company. So Friday I headed out to Red Rocks for the Chatfield High School graduation ceremony that they were shooting. It was actually pretty interesting, since I've worked in basically all the different areas of weddings/events but never photography. So I got to learn a few new things but it was also a lot of waiting around for the ceremony to start and then the speeches and yadda yadda yadda. It did make me think of those good ole high school days though and being involved with my own graduation. It's funny how everything seems SO important at that time :)

The weather was pretty nice to start with in spite of the unpleasant drizzle that had been around the previous few days. Then of course just as they're about to start handing out the diplomas, the clouds come along with the rain. And it was quiiiite chilly. We busted out our ponchos and the whole stands were filled with colorful umbrellas. I was helping a photographer at the spot where the students take a picture with the American flag background before they walk across the stage. So luckily I was semi-covered. But it was still pretty cold and definitely windy. We had to get a teacher to hold the background up for us since it kept blowing over. I felt so bad for those people in the stands and all the grads looked freezing in the pictures with their shoulders up and teeth-chattering smiles. It was pretty crazy too, two lines for 500 graduates, so 250 times I had to tell them how to hold the diploma and where to stand on the mark. "Hold it in your left hand, across your body, stand right on the feet." And it moves REALLY fast. Also, believe it or not, high schoolers are not the most attentive so rather than any single one of them paying attention and listening to what I said to the one before them... I got to say it to each of them individually. And then watch them try to figure out which was the left hand. Oh, the youth of today... ;)

It was cool to be down on the stage at Red Rocks though and I got a mini tour of the underground while we were waiting. There's a little tunnel system underneath the stage where all the dressing rooms are. Some of the rooms have part of the rock formations protruding into them. Basically every major band has played there, hanging out in those very rooms.

Then today I was back at the florist but this time to do some organizing and cleaning at the shop while waiting on people to come by and pick up their wedding flowers. Buffy is out of town for the weekend working on this insanely huge Alice in Wonderland themed wedding with a big event production company. She was telling me something about a hedge maze into a rabbit hole, an 80 foot long dining table, giant mushrooms, a floating Cheshire cat... pretty wild.

So I've been keeping pretty busy and Shawn is enjoying being at Bistro Vendome. Always finding ways to entertain himself, he got off work one day this week and was waiting for me to be done working so he decided to stick around downtown and make some new friends. When I finally was off, I discover that he has spent the evening hawking the wares of the local hippie population. They were apparently impressed by his success (I would imagine their usual sales pitch is much less exuberant) and so he received this picture as commission for a job well done:

It's a paper collage with a bit of marker drawing on some sort of building material scrap. Kinda cool. I think I'll hang it in the bathroom.

also starring...

Lord Tennyson

The newest addition to our household :)

While Shawn was working the other day I took a stroll over to the enormous public library downtown (free entertainment, anyone?). After his shift he scooped me up and informed me that he wanted to "go get this CraigsList thing" he had just lined up. Of course I was curious but he insisted that it was a "surprise". Well, Shawn is not exactly the best person at surprises and so within 5 minutes he told me that we were going to get a 30 gallon aquarium.Which led to a discussion on the difference between a "surprise" and a "secret". Obviously my home decorating scheme had no room in our < 500 square foot apartment for an aquarium suitable for Shamu. He had clearly planned to pick it up and bring it home before I could resist. But he made a valid point that I've pretty much made every decision about what will be purchased and placed where soooo.. off we went.

Soon we were the proud owners of a gigantic aquarium with its very own faux wood stand. Hooray! Luckily it fit easily behind the couch with its base perfectly concealed. Of course an empty tank will just not do.. "CraigsList powers activate!" Next mission: African Clawed Frog. Which I was informed was actually the whole reason the aquarium was purchased in the first place. Shawn had his eyes on these frogs for a while and heaven forbid Lord Tennyson be confined to 15 or even 20 gallons.

We met the frog seller in the parking lot of a convenience store, giving the whole exchange somewhat of a drug deal ambiance. Shawn gave him the cash and he handed us a plastic bag containing a frog that was WAY larger than I had imagined he would be. We promptly placed him in a Big Gulp cup to keep him and his water from tipping over.

A second quick stop was made to pick up some free cat food and kitty litter (also a CL find.. just looking towards the future, ya know?) followed by a stop at the pet store (a real brick and mortar one this time, not another strange CraigsList animal dealer) and we were back home to set up LT's new habitat.

It should be noted that Shawn had interpreted "bottom feeder" to mean algae eater. A quick glance in the tank the next morning however confirmed that Lord Tennyson is in fact a minnow eater and he has continued to consume one at least every other day since he came to live with us. At least they are only 15 cents. But somewhat troublesome considering they're some of my favorite little guys to watch dart back and forth. Meanwhile the algae has started to grow and we are now in the position of having to buy a rather large algae eater lest LT consume him as well.

On a similar note, during a trip to the reptile store a couple weeks ago I witnessed a boa slowly consume a rat for the first time in my life. Supremely disturbing.

Anyway, LT has been providing hours of enjoyment and I must say that I am now happy he has come here to live. Since I realize not everyone is into amphibians and reptiles and such, I'll leave you with this pretty bouquet that was from an event I worked this week with Pink Posey Design to bring us back to Martha Land.

Ah, that's better.

makin' dad proud

The next morning we found ourselves in what could only be described as a Dumpster Dive Standoff. Due to the lovely construction that is going on next door.. And by next door I mean both next door to our building, which means right outside our window, and next door as in the next apartment over.. we have the advantage of waking up verrry early to get the best Craigslist deals. 

This particular morning a generous person had posted that his neighbor had thrown out what appeared to be a nice modern brown couch, some chairs, and other miscellaneous items. Posted only 15 minutes ago! Let’s move! Let’s move! We located the address and ironically on the way I mentioned “Wouldn’t it be awkward if we get there and someone else is there too?” And so of course we roll up to find a truck of people scoping out the pile—the type who apparently drive up and down the alleys looking for goods. I believe they resell them but I cannot confirm this. 

Anyway, they finally pulled away, leaving the couch and one lone bum who was rifling through the huge pile of books. He did not exactly look approachable so we decided to stake out down the block and wait for him to find the right selections for his library. After a good 10 minutes he made his way across an abandoned lot and we made our move. 

Alas, a driveby revealed a bit of something (mildew perhaps?) and a tear on the arm and so we remain couchless. The free section did provide us with a trunk full of firewood however, which we have already enjoyed on two separate occasions in our new fireplace.

dmv joy

Monday started off with the delivery of the dresser I had checked out the day before, this funny thing that I find myself walking into the room and just smiling at :)

After a trip to the locksmith to ask about parts for a super cute glass doorknob Shawn got me months ago which has now become the Bane of Our Existence (more on that later), we rounded out the productive day with a lovely visit to the DMV for our Colorado licenses. Little did we know it was the last day of Spring Break and apparently the entire city of Denver had turned 15 over the weekend.. So after three hours, two cheesy smiles, and one failed vision test (luckily my 9^th grade glasses are still going strong!) we were outta there and on to our next mission. 

During the wait, Shawn had managed to line up a free table from our favorite Craigslist that happened to be in the neighborhood. So after enjoying our second back to back Jack in the Box meal of the day (the only food anywhere near the DMV.. the horror!), we pulled up to what turned out to be a serious jackpot of second hand goods :) 

Once again, Civ blew us away with her capabilities and we managed to strap on a table and coat rack to the roof. 

Inside, I enjoyed sharing my backseat and passenger space with both a dining chair and an upholstered armchair. What comfort!

This picture does not tell the whole story since my phone has no panoramic feature, but ahead of Russian Immigrant Shawn is the Denver skyline, which prompted me to proclaim in my best Middleburg accent, “We’re headin’ to the big city, baby!”

dresser sneak

Sunday was a dreary day and Shawn was working a double so I decided to take the car and surprise him with a dresser I had seen on the List. Taking the car = removing it from where Shawn had parked it outside of work. Note to self, send a text. I thought surely I’d be back in time and return it without him being the wiser, but construction on my way back plus the freezing rain coming down had held me up a bit. Needless to say, he walked out of work to where the car used to be and promptly walked right back in to ask his co-workers about the towing situation in the area. To which they responded that cars were never towed from there, but since it’s on the edge of the seedy area, theft was not entirely out of the question. So I put him through a bit of stress as he tried to figure out what he would say when he called me. Which is how it always seems to go with surprises. 

Anyway, the point is that I did get the dresser and managed to maneuver it actually inside the car with me (you’d be surprised how much room is in there when you lay down the passenger seat) and get it home and upstairs without spilling the beans. That is until the first thing Shawn does is start Craigslisting as soon as he’s in the car (as is our habit with any free moments) and calling people about dressers. So at that point I had to just come out with it. One surprise that fell flat on its face.  However in that short amount of time, he did find one very cute dresser that I made an appointment to see later in the day. There’s no way all of our clothes were going in one anyway so I guess it all works out in the end.