dumpster shelf

There's a space at the end of the kitchen counter that has just been begging for a shelf. And I've been begging for a place to put all my miscellaneous vases and candlesticks. As luck would have it, a quick peek by Shawn into the dumpster the other day offered the perfect solution. Well, almost perfect.

It was kind of a strange orange color but I'm thinking someone built it just for the exact spot I wanted it to go. So of course I decided to work with it. I busted out the black glossy paint and after a quick trip to Joann (not sure Shawn would call it quick, but...) we have a new (to us) and much improved shelf!

The fabric on the back is kind of a cobalt/royal purple with white flowers. Which I'm liking with my neutral-with-pops-of-color living room. This was also my first adventure with spray adhesive which worked well (not like the backs of the shelves are going to see much action) but sprayed a bit more unpredictably than I would have liked. A bit of black touch up was in order but now it's all set and stocked up with my little goodies :)

my apologies..

I guess the only way to describe my posting lately would be... nonexistent :( oops! But I've been busy working and crafting so now there's much to discuss!

Catering has been keeping me pretty busy since it's wedding season and all. The great thing about offsite catering (especially in a new city) is that you get to see all different venues and places you wouldn't normally see. I just did a wedding at Boettcher Mansion this past weekend, which is an old-house-turned-event-space up in the mountains. The weekend before that was a whirlwind with a memorial service for a woman who seemed like the coolest old lady ever (they handed out recipes for "Flossie's Carrot Soup, which I fully intend to make a batch of in the coming weeks), a dinner hosted by a group called PHAMALY that helps physically handicapped people find work, the Debutante Ball at Denver University (complete with giant white poofy dresses and waltzing), and rounded out with bartending in the VIP section at PrideFest. So definitely diverse! The PHAMALY dinner was quite entertaining, with a Broadway-like show about the workplace and headlined by Josh Blue, the comedian with cerebral palsy who won Last Comic Standing. I think we know by now that I am a sucker for a good stand-up act. I also worked a huge tent wedding the weekend before that, where unfortunately I was hired only for my serving skills and not my writing skills..

The best part was on the back where you could see they had started writing it and messed up then flipped it over to try again. It was a sweet backyard with a pool and tons of space for a wedding, but they had the strangest of decorations going on. Lots of miscellaneous tulle bows tied on things. Ew.

Other than catering, there's always the few odd jobs.. did I mention I did promo for Cacique at the Mexican National Soccer Team game...?

Which basically just meant dancing around to everyone's favorite fiesta tunes for four hours and handing out thundersticks. We were also supposed to pull people in from the audience to participate, but I kind of avoided that part, thinking how much I would hate to be pulled in if I was just an innocent bystander. Hopefully this did not ruin my Mexican promo dancing future. It was pretty fun though, just messing around with little kids. Hilariously, Shawn came home the other day and played his "new favorite song" for me, which just happened to be a techno version of one of the fiesta songs. Nooooo that beat will haunt me forever!!

I've also been doing some work with Pink Posey. We did a bridal show a couple weeks ago and definitely had the cutest booth by far. Buffy had a bunch of vintage tablecloths and did the arrangements in white milk glass. So we made sort of a shabby chic display. The pictures didn't turn out very well though, especially since the woman hosting the Passion Party booth behind us kept getting in the way in her crazy tight white jeans. So you'll have to just use your imagination. For both parts :)

I also helped Buffy with a photoshoot at Villa Parker she was doing as a collaboration with a local photographer. I'd post pictures of that, but... it's going to be on Style Me Pretty! And they strictly forbid anyone posting before they feature it. So I don't want to chance it. The crazy thing is that Buffy was wanting me to be the bridesmaid for the shoot when something fell through with the girl they had lined up. I was a little nervous about that so I decided to stay on the other side of the camera. But if I had done it, I would have been on Style Me Pretty too and that just seems crazy to me. Maybe not to you guys, since you may not be such avid followers.. but to me, crazy. Anyway, I'm super happy for Pink Posey to get some good exposure. Which will hopefully lead to more work for me!

I just realized I don't have nearly enough quarters to do all the necessary laundry today so I'm gonna have to make a run to the bank :( Are we seriously still using this old-as-the-hills method of laundry payment? Something really must be done about this.

pure deliciousness part II

Our second evening out was veeerrry different from the first. We decided to class it up big time and Shawn treated me to a 5-star meal at the Brown Palace Hotel. We weren't eating until pretty late so when Justin called wondering what we were up to, Shawn told him to come on by. He brought with him the ingredients to make Tominis which are a cocktail he used to drink with an old salty dog he knew in Maryland who lived on his boat for a while. So obviously they were the perfect refreshing summer time drink. Gin and coconut water with a squeeze of lemon. Cocktail hour delivery service? Yes, please!

We went up on the roof and ended up meeting some neighbors. Pretty soon a game of Texas Hold 'Em was underway followed by a little Black Jack. Also, after some chatting, we found out that Rose (new neighbor friend) was moving out and temporarily moving into a place with some friends who have a German Shepherd. So she was not going to be able to bring her cat, Sam, with her for that month. Obviously we offered to cat sit since I've been dying for a cat anyway. So now we have a little furry friend who seems quite happy here with plenty of fish to watch for entertainment. He does have a habit for crying rather loudly in the morning but we're working on that.

Sam, Samuel, Samtastic, Sam Adams, Samson, Samsonite, Sammi-Sam, Samilicious

Anyway... on to the good stuff. So after a mad dash to get ready after cocktail hour ran a bit over time.. we arrived at the Brown Palace and decided to go for the tasting menu since that's what we like to do. We ordered a bottle of wine and awaited the goodies to come. After an antipasto skewer for an amuse bouche, our appetizers arrived. The sommelier came by and poured us a bit of wine that he had paired with our respective dishes. Of course his trick worked and we went ahead and asked for the wine pairings with each course.

Boy am I glad we did though. (Aside from the fact that we already had a bottle of wine on the table and a martini under our belt and had more wine coming than is even slightly normal...) But the pairing really was the best part of the meal. I mean, obviously the food was nothing to turn up your nose at, but I've eaten an awful lot of good food in my life. The way the wine went with it was amazing. My soup course was an artichoke soup with a small grilled ham and cheese in the center of the bowl. As the sommelier poured the wine, he said, "It's hard to tell where the soup ends and the wine begins.." with an air of mystery. He was right! It seriously blew my mind how good some of the pairings were. The wine with Shawn's salad tasted like someone had practically made it from the salad ingredients. And the tasting menu wasn't fixed as some of them are, so we had options for each course. Obviously we ordered all different things so we ended up getting to taste ten different dishes with wine for each. Well, okay it was only nine. I opted out of my dessert course and got coffee instead. I was seriously full. But Shawn had ordered Bananas Foster which we could both barely eat a bite of.

"You guys got a wheelbarrow back there? Somebody's gonna have to roll me outta here!"

Haha don't worry, neither of us actually said that. But I understand where those people are coming from :) All in all, a deliciously fantastic meal that was a real treat. Taking pictures didn't seem quite appropriate so you'll just have to use your imagination...

pure deliciousness part I

We actually went out to eat two different nights last week (which is rare for us with Shawn usually working at night). I must say they were two VERY diffferent experiences and yet both quite fantastic.

It was sort of last minute when we decided to eat out and so were in a rush Urban Spoonin' where we should go. There's tons of restaurants that I've been wanting to try but it was a weekday and almost 9. Not wanting to be "those people" who show up at closing time was limiting our options. Plus we weren't really sure what we were feeling like. Then we remembered seeing all these Ethiopian restaurants on East Colfax one day and wondering what the deal was. I've never seen one Ethiopian restaurant, much less six in a ten block stretch. So we decided to broaden our culinary horizons and go for it.

We ended up at Queen of Sheba a little past nine. The owner was walking some other guests out the door as we walked up and My Polite One was reassured that she was more than happy to have us and we were certainly not too late. So with that stress behind us--and when I say us, I mean mostly Shawn :) we were able to enjoy our feast. 

Looking at the menu, the obvious choice seemed to be Queen of Sheba's Dinner for Two which would give us a good sampling of this mystery cuisine. And also included two glasses of Ethiopian honey wine. The owner informed us that she makes the wine right there at the restaurant but was worried we'd think it was too sweet. So she went through the trouble of bringing us a small taste test, even though we insisted it was unnecessary. She was honestly the nicest woman and I would go back there just for her, even if the food hadn't been so fantastic. She took the time to explain everything to us about her menu and I think she was genuinely excited to be serving us our first Ethiopian meal.

We started with an appetizer that could best be described as hummus made from lentils. There are no utensils used in Ethiopian cuisine, instead everything is served with enjera, which is a type of sourdough flatbread. You rip off pieces and use that to grab the deliciously spiced and stewed meats and vegetables. Also, it's called a goorsha when you you feed the bread rolled with meat to your friend. Obviously we had to do that as well.

The food has similar flavors to Indian or Moroccan dishes I've had. A subtle spiciness and super tender meats. We had chicken, lamb, red lentils, stewed beef, cabbage and potatoes, and a hardboiled egg thrown in for good measure. The spongy bread is so perfect with the heavy flavors since it has that sort of vinegar fermented taste. Yum! We left there so full and when she brought us a little box to pack up the rest of our dish, she had already put some extra lentils and cabbage in there to enjoy with our meat. So lovely :)

a birthday tribute

Today marks the 26th birthday of my dearest best friend Jess. Obviously it's a bittersweet day since it's the first birthday in four years that I haven't been there to celebrate with her. So instead I will just have to send my wishes for happiness and a fantastic year to come across the miles, knowing that her fabulous boyfriend gifted her a coupon good for one flight to Denver, and we will probably be seeing them within the next month or so!

If it wasn't for Jess...

I would have never moved to New York.

I would have never survived in New York.

I would have never known the joys of the gym.

I would have never fallen in love with tapas.

I would have never realized that I really don't like sitting through football games in the stadium :)

I would have never known someone who fell asleep while eating ice cream.

I would have never scuffed up all my dancin' shoes.

I would have never sampled all the desserts on the Vegas buffet.

I would have never had half of my Facebook photos.

I would have never learned to carry a Tide pen with me at all times.

I would have never had the peanut butter to my jelly. Literally.

I would have never known how important girl friends can be.

We have had some super fun, super stressful, super exciting times together, and it has been awesome knowing that I have a great friend by my side through the good and the bad. Love you Lil Jessie!

relaxing

After a drizzly week last week, I'm happy to say that the weather has cleared up and today is turning into an absolutely GORGEOUS day. Unfortunately I have to work a wedding tonight so I won't get to enjoy it as much as I'd like. By some weird twist of scheduling, Shawn's been off the past three days so we took advantage Thursday night and had a cookout.

Strangely enough, on Tuesday night Shawn stopped into Mellow Mushroom after work (that's definitely not the strange part..) and happened to run into a guy that he worked with on the cruise ship! Cliff was here on a short break so Shawn invited him to come over on Thursday night when we were having Robyn and Justin (and their dog Buck) over.

We had pork ribs with Shawn's Secret Recipe barbecue sauce and steak. I made veggie kabobs with onions mushrooms and brussels sprouts and Shawn made what is becoming a cookout tradition--baked macaroni made with Annie's white cheddar shells and a toasted Cheez-it topping. Only this time he added a bit of crumbled bacon and some cream cheese so it was of course even more delicious. A side note about brussels sprouts: if you've never tried them before because you once saw on a cartoon when you were a child that they were gross and have just been believing it for the past 20 years, please try them! If you cook them right and don't overcook them into slimy little balls, they can be so delicious and a good way to mix it up if you're sick of broccoli and green beans. -end brussels sprout soapbox-

Anyway, the weather was nice so we sat up on the roof deck to eat. Enjoying one of those fabulous evenings talking with friends, drinking beer and eating good food. Basically, what life was made for in my book :) I meant to take pictures but well, we were lucky to remember to even turn off the grill, so blogging was not exactly on my mind at the time..

Never one to be idle, Shawn stayed busy during his days off, surprising me by taking Civ to get detailed (she was looking a little rough since the move) and bringing home a completely scrumptious Nutella crepe that I thoroughly enjoyed. A shiny car and a delicious pastry? *swoon*

He was also able to finally get the doorknob installed on the bedroom door which has been a sore subject for quite some time now. This glass knob was another gift he had surprised me with way back in Jacksonville way back before he went to Hawaii. So it's been around a while. At the time, he had tried to install it on my bedroom door but it didn't fit with the existing hardware. Then when we got here, we discovered basically the same thing. So after two trips to the locksmith, two episodes of the knobs breaking off their base due to Shawn trying to hammer a square peg into a round hole, a failed attempt at epoxying the knobs back together, and some filing out of the doorknob hole in the door, we have a working knob! And it sure is purty :)

Our aquarium of wonders has also gained a few more residents:

Sue the bichir fish.. She has an eel-like body and just two little side fins right behind her head so her movements are usually pretty odd. But she gets along with Lord Tennyson, which is apparently a difficult thing to do. It seems like every fish we want will either eat or be eaten by him. But I caught them both together in the hiding spot in our tank, so I'd say they became fast friends. Or luvaaaas.

When we went to the fish store the other day, we saw this really cool black knife fish that we were gonna get. Then as the girl is about to scoop him out, she casually asks us if we have frozen brine shrimp, since that's all he eats. We have frozen krill, is that okay? Since that's what Sue and LT eat.. No, he really needs brine shrimp, she says, since they're much smaller. And then she says, "What I usually do is get a little of the shrimp in a dish with some water in it so that they thaw out and then I use an eyedropper and suck some of them up and reach my hand down in and just squeeze out a couple at a time right in front of him..." Me and Shawn look at each other. "Uh, can we just get a snail?"

So now we have Gary:

I was not too excited to be getting a snail since I prefer my pets to entertain me, but Gary has proven himself to be a rather adventurous snail (climbing to the tops of the trees, above) and so he's won me over.

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.