busy busy busy

Who knew that working like a normal person would make me feel like a haggard middle aged woman... So to counteract that, I've been trying to make sure I actually still do things during the week (whether going out or staying in and crafting). Doesn't exactly help that I'm still working some with the catering place and these two months are Buffy's busiest with weddings. So when I am at home, I basically want to be a lump. Shawn will not have this.

Last weekend we were both off on Sunday so we decided to see what all the fuss was about and go tubing in Boulder Creek. We borrowed Robyn and Justin's tubes to minimize expenditures and headed north. Luckily, we had been warned that this was not the type of tubing we were used to in Florida.. You know, the Lazy River kind of floating in freezing water where you have a tube designated to hold the cooler. Yeah, the only thing similar was the freezing water. And I don't know why I would expect anything different from extreme-sports-central-Colorado. So after a quick stop at Wal-Mart for some $7 Aqua Socks..don't worry, I got the gray and purple Mary Jane style so mine are totally cool... we parked somewhere along the creek and started walking upstream. Along the way I was beginning to see what types of rocks and rapids we would soon be dealing with. Yikes.

I'm not gonna lie, there were some serious wipeouts. And the fact that there are people sitting along the banks all the way down just waiting for you to dump out of your tube is a bit intimidating. I definitely got stuck in an eddy at one point and was continuously going in a circle until I could finally pull myself out into the main flow. Luckily towards the beginning of our journey down, we encountered some tubes that had been abandoned by their previous owners. Shawn risked life and limb rescuing one from the base of a small waterfall and then swam across the raging rapids for the other one. My hero <3 These tubes were larger and thus much better at keeping your rump from bashing against the numerous rocks poised treacherously just below the surface. This may all sound rather dramatic, but I'm telling you, when we got out at the end, we were both just like "Whoa." It was quite fun but also pretty exhausting getting bumped and thrown around. We were tubed out.

So the next spot we hit, it being another glorious Colorado day and all, was the Boulder Reservoir. Apparently, no one in Colorado has ever been to the beach, because if they had, they would never accept this bo-bo imitation as a sufficient substitute. Very weird. A man made lake that seems to be somewhat in a desert-like area of the mountains with roped off swimming areas and floating plastic docks. Very commercialized. $6.25 a person to get in? Wack. Of course we had to do it, just because we drove all the way there and we'd never gone before. But never again. I did get sufficiently burnt and we did meet some weird people which is always entertaining, but for the most part, I feel we were jipped.

On another note, with not a whole lot of spare time, I have for some reason decided to take on one of the biggest projects ever. Pattern-painted curtains. I've been dreaming of the perfect curtains, yet knowing full well I will never want to spend the money I'll need to spend for the fabric or even find them at a reasonable price in the store. So after a bit of Googling and a trip to the thrift store, I ended up with two panels of sheer ivory curtains for $6 and a pattern of "Imperial Trellis" the size of three sheets of paper.

Needless to say, it is an extremely tedious process of tracing. Completed only due to the fact that Shawn was working all night so I had no distractions and mayyybe a bottle of wine. And I only managed to completely trace one panel.

But out of curiosity, I tested a small bit of paint on one of the bottom corners. I've decided on a slightly metallic gold, which was of course purchased with my Joann 50% off coupon. Unfortunately I am encountering some bleeding over my beautiful crisply traced lines that does not please me...

I'm off to do a bit of experimenting to hopefully get these things done before our next out-of-town visitor arrives. Sign up below if you'd like that lucky person to be you!

oh happy day!

The most amazing and best news as of late is that I FINALLY got a job! And a real full-time, punch in, punch out, request sick days, and direct all calls to my extension job at that! To be honest, that whole last sentence kinda freaks me out, having been out of the normal working person loop for quite some time. But I am very excited to finally have a steady source of income and get back on my feet after all these moving shenanigans.

I'm the new Catering Coordinator at the Holiday Inn Select at Cherry Creek. Basically, the sales team sells events and meetings and then turns them over to me. Then I fill in every last detail from menus to room setup and timelines. So it's right up my alley. I was explaining the process to Shawn today and he said "Oh geez, you're gonna be crazy," after I told him all about the lists and calendars and agendas. Just the thing for my little OCD self :)

p.s. After I got home today, we went to Washington Park to enjoy the lovely weather and I was actually chilly on this July evening! I miss my Florida folks, but humidity, I am delighted to be so far far away from you..

blue skies

I must say, the weather here is practically perfect. (Remind me of that when January comes..) Gorgeous blue skies as far as you can see. Which means we've been taking advantage of the roof deck and the many parks Denver has to offer. After a stunning rooftop victory by Shawn in Gin Rummy, we whipped up some mango jicama salsa and fajitas. So delish. And the salsa got even better the next day. Yum.

Unfortunately we didn't get this little guy until an estate sale a couple days later, but next time we're chopping up some salsa, things should move a bit more quickly.

The other day we paid a visit to the Skate Park and spectated for a couple hours. It's actually a pretty huge place. And there were definitely people of all ages. One dad was there skating with his two little boys on their razor scooters. Couple of daredevils, those two. 

After that, we met up with one of Shawn's friends and went with him to a potluck on the roof of his mom's building. It's one of those 55 and up places so we sort of stuck out like sore thumbs but it was a fun change of pace and I always love a good potluck. So many different things to sample :) Plus I got to beat Shawn again in cornhole. Heh heh.

Yesterday morning I went for a run and had to stop to take a picture of this lady's front yard. Well, to be honest, I had already stopped anyway to catch my breath for the millionth time...

The pictures don't capture it so well, but her front yard is entirely covered in rose bushes. In fact, there are tons of roses in bloom all over the city. I think it's so fun to see so many different types of plants growing than the ones I'm used to in Florida.

To top off the weekend, Shawn and I went to Jazz in the Park, which is a weekly event at City Park. Having worked a wedding the night before, I managed to score two boxed lunches that were unused vendor meals, and we had a bottle of champagne in the fridge that Shawn was given one day at Bistro. So we brought our free little picnic and stretched out under a huge shade tree in the park. Doesn't get much better than that :)

wow

Since I have quite a bit of free time on my hands, I decided to make Shawn a good ole fashioned Happy Birthday banner. He's holding up his membership card for the Denver Parks and Recreation Center I got him so he can get back into boxing. He has to go get his picture taken for it but for now I drew him a fantastic likeness.

Shawn's new job was kind enough to let him off Saturday for his birthday so we took advantage of the absolutely perfect weather and went up to the mountains. A nice 80 degree cloudless day for a hike. We packed some sandwiches and a bit of trail mix and set off for Rocky Mountain National Park. We were headed for the Emerald Lake trail which was pretty far in to the park. On the way up the slow winding roads we spotted some wildlife. Actually not sure what these are... elk?

We also spotted some patches of snow along the road and I secretly plotted a snowball ambush once we got out of the car. Oh how naive the little Floridians are. Upon reaching the trailhead, we realized we were the only ones in shorts and tank tops. Everyone else was wearing boots, pants, jackets, etc. But there were no clouds in the sky! The sun was warm! We put on some long sleeves that were hanging around in the car and decided to go for it.

As we cautiously walked to the beginning of the trail, trying to avoid the massive slush puddle that had formed there, we noticed some other wary hikers talking to the ranger. He was assuring them that they should still be able to hike, but to be careful because some spots would be slippery. At that moment a couple emerged from the trail wearing snow shoes and carrying ski poles. Ruh roh.

During the first attempt at taking that picture, Shawn yelled for me to watch out and I had to dodge out of the way of some downhill skiers who were swooping through. That's normal. Notice how deep into the snow the sign is buried..

It was only 1.8 miles to the lake and by about mile .2 I was DYING. Trudging through the snow was like running on the beach, only worse since you're using every muscle in your legs to stabilize you and keep from slipping. Then we'll just throw in the part where we're almost 10,000 ft about sea level. Wow. The snow is so deep in some spots that you sink up to your knee. I was having flashbacks to all those episodes of "I Shouldn't Be Alive" that I recently watched with my dad.

Meanwhile up ahead, Sherpa Shawn was bounding along, popping up to lookouts to get some amazing views.

He was of course also offering words of encouragement, "We're almost there!" "It's just around this turn!" Blah blah blah. All of a sudden, I shriek as my foot sinks in and literally my entire right leg is buried in the snow. I am doing a vertical split into the mountain. Not comfortable. After doing some very graceful writhing around I finally manage to twist myself up and out. By then, Shawn is by my side and looks down into the hole my body has formed in the snow. "Um, I think you actually fell into a tree." Yes, ladies and gentlemen, there is so much snow that I managed to walk myself right into a tree top.

After a brief rest and a good laugh about the absurdity of this whole situation, we continue on to the Emerald City Lake. We eventually reach a huge clearing that seems to in fact be a frozen lake (the lake?) but some passing hikers (outfitted in snowshoes) inform us that Emerald Lake is just a bit farther along. Trudging trudging trudging through the snow and slush. Our feet were soaked through. There miiiight have been a few episodes of me falling over into the snow and stating/whining/potentially crying that I simply could not go on. Slightly dramatic I'll admit.

I wish I could say that we finally made it to the lake and it was so glorious and beautiful that is was totally worth trudging through the frozen tundra. However we reached a point at the bottom of a basin which seemed to be a dead end. There didn't appear to be any other path from the basin except straight up where some guys had just snowboarded down. Needless to say, that wasn't happening. There were some giant boulders around that were not covered in snow and thus a perfect place to finally rest. So after some bananas and Clif bars we called it a day and trudged back. (Did I mention we got a box of Clif bars for 50 cents at an estate sale a few weeks back? Along with a can of soup and a box of cereal?) I will say the return trip was much more enjoyable since it was mostly downhill. This allowed us to practice our foot skiing which eventually turned into sledding downhill on our freezing bums. Quite fun if not a bit uncomfortable on the way home.

On the way out of the park we stopped to enjoy a little mountain stream and then headed for a pint and a snack.

All in all, a successful day. Shawn did point out that his birthdays with me so far have gotten us into some pretty interesting situations. Last year we went camping at a spring in central Florida and ended up on a day long canoe trip with about 300 of our closest spider friends. Wonder what I can cook up for next year..

We survived!

dinner guests

With Robyn’s mum in town we had our first opportunity for entertaining. Exciting! We decided to take advantage of the nice weather and the gas grill that our building provides and barbecue some chicken. 

I spent the morning preparing a scrumptious Bourbon Whiskey BBQ Sauce (if I do say so myself). Starting it early in the day meant that the flavors had time to meld in my $4 garage sale crockpot for several hours. Alongside it we served asparagus and baked macaroni made with cauliflower and Annie’s White Cheddar Shells, one of Shawn’s childhood obsessions. The top was a crunchy Cheez-it crust :) Shawn also whipped up some homemade guacamole to snack on while the chicken was on the grill. Yum! 

After we chatted around the table (that had been pulled up to the couch for additional seating.. we only have 2 chairs..) it was time for dessert. I put my Silver Slipper skills to work and made bananas foster to top caramel turtle brownies with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Luckily they were small servings. So rich but oh so good. I meant to take pictures, especially since dessert was so cute in my little white Fire King dishes, but alas, I forgot. I must say I was quite pleased that there were some leftovers. Definitely excited to eat that meal again :)

Earlier in the day, while I was getting the house together and stashing miscellaneous unpacked boxes and such into any and all closets, I decided that our poor plain table definitely needed a centerpiece. Making a little trio of vases, I took Shawn with me for some greenery clipping around the neighborhood. Perhaps I should have done this a little sooner than 5:00 when everyone was arriving home from work.. not the best planning. But with Shawn as my distractor I was able to get enough pieces to fill my vases.

Don’t worry, they were only clipped from large trees and shrubs. I would never steal someone’s flowers from their bed but I was amazed at how many people were growing muscari and tulips. All kinds of flowers that you certainly don’t see much of in Florida. I took a few pics during our stroll.

hellebores!

Not sure what these gorgeous pink flowering branches are but I definitely want them

And these little guys were randomly growing in a sidewalk crack. So cute!