winkingannie

Crafty days

2011-10-19T07:51:00.001-07:00

I recently dived into pinterest. I'm still not 100% sure how to work it (I only have three pins). However, my bff pinned this:

Source: flickr.com via Annie on Pinterest

I thought it was super cute and I had a t-shirt with an annoying stain that I couldn't remove. Perfect! Mine did not end up perfect. My strings never rolled up, no matter how thin I cut them. Mine is more of a necklace/scarf.

I do love the color. It was a fun project for a lazy Sunday.

Any thoughts on how to make the fabric roll? Note: most of my strips are wider, but even the uber thin ones didn't roll.

Attack of the Fire Alarms!

2011-10-13T13:10:00.000-07:00

Last night, when I got home from the gym, I set out to make Heather's Stuffed Acorn Squash. I'd even done some prep work before going. It turned out very tasty. However, this involved cooking bacon. No, I did not set the house on fire. However, bacon does get smoky. We turned on the vent and opened the window. Ten minutes later, I set the stuffed squashes into the oven. The smoke detector immediately went off.

Now, this is not just the normal smoke detector annoying beep. This was an incredibly loud alarm(s). We sighed and opened up a few more windows. I stood under the smoke detector and waved around a towel to get air circulating. Three minutes later, loud noise still going on. Jake and I looked at each other, and said "this isn't normal." Jake began investigating the alarm system (which came with the house and we've never used). I grabbed a stool and started disassembling the smoke detector. I managed to yank out batteries from both detectors in the hall. I also managed to ram my head into the doorsill. Ow... the blaring alarm was not helping matters.

We couldn't figure it out. There was NO smoke in the house anymore and the alarms kept going. I finally found the ATD help line and called. Ten minutes later, we'd detached every wire, pulled every plug, and still the blasting continued. The lady finally said there must be another system involved and suggested turning off the circuit breaker for the whole house. (At this point I remembered the squash in the oven and rushed to save them.)

We hung up and flung every breaker. Now the house was pitch black. And yet the alarms continued. Tears of frustration were forming in my eyes. We finally yanked out disassembled the remaining smoke detectors (there were two others hiding around the house) and yanked their batteries. Silence. Blessed silence.

Moral of the story: when you move into a new place, make sure you know where all the smoke detectors are, to what system they are hooked, and how to turn them off.

Silver lining: if there ever is a fire, those things will wake us (and our neighbors) up.

Domestic Before and Afters

2011-10-06T14:54:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was the Atlanta Reception. It was fantastic! I was so touched by who all came - old high school friends came from out of state! I almost cried seeing everyone.

One of Dad's friends is an amateur photographer and came about an hour early to take family photos. Once he sends his photos, I'll post. He already brought my parents a poster sized picture of Jake and me. My photographer is still MIA. My parents are sure she's absconded with the money. Dad wants me to sue - he said I could use the practice.

I got home a few days before the party and asked to be put to work. Mom had me polishing silver - a tiny fraction of the work my parents put into the event. Did I mention Dad was washing pebbles at one point? Mint julep glasses, pitcher, and tray - very tarnished and dusty.

About an hour and a half later - look how shiny they got?

I am super glad now that Jake and I did not register for any silver. We will have more than enough once my parents downsize (which they constantly talk about doing).

Also on the domestic side, today I tackled our pantry. There was way too much stuff in it and it was driving me crazy. It ended up taking over the entire kitchen. You can't see, but the rest of counter and floors are just as crowded.

I still need some gripper thing for the brooms, but I got rid of the giant pile of user's manuals, warranties and random papers in there. I got all the sodas off the ground. and reorganized the baking dishes so there is no longer a danger of them falling on me (that happened once, and hurt). There is even some open space!

Now I just have to reorganize the office...

Fun Fall Friday

2011-09-20T10:44:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay in posting wedding recap. My wedding photographer has decided to stop answering my email = lametown supreme.

Friday night Jake and I hosted a small dinner party. Two couples came over. All four of them have gotten new jobs in the past month so there was reason to celebrate. I made an Indian feast. First, Jenna's Channa Masala for the vegetarians. I also made Jenna's Chicken Tikka Masala. Both are amazing. If you are new to cooking Indian, I highly recommend both recipes. They are simple, though a bit of work, and garner rave reviews.

I also made this delicious creature.

Yellow cake mix frosted with a cream cheese frosting and decorated with strawberries. Mostly, I wanted to use my lover, the Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer, to make frosting. :) A successful and fun party menu. Much beer was enjoyed and we lit the chimenea for a perfect Fall Friday.

10 years ago

2011-09-11T08:57:00.000-07:00

Ten years ago, I was sitting in my early morning chemistry lab at Georgetown. It was my Freshmen year and I'd been in DC for about three weeks. Around 8:30, a TA ran into the room and said "we've been attacked." A bit of pandemonium ensued as the 15 or 20 of us tried to figure out what had happened. We turned on the radio, which first said Reagan National Airport had been hit. As I looked out the window, a huge plume of smoke rose into the air.

Our TA asked that we finish the lab as quickly as possible. When the news corrected itself and said that the actual target in DC had been the Pentagon, things got worse. Our TA's father and fiancee both worked in the Pentagon.

By 9:30, we'd all finished up the lab as best we could and went racing back to our dorms. Everyone was glued to TVs. About one out of 35 phone calls was going out. The RA was coming around making sure all of us could get hold of our family. I finally got a hold of my parents after an hour of trying.

My floor organized a prayer circle, where we prayed for the worst to be over, and for the families of all those lost. We had no idea how many had died at that point. We had just watched both towers fall.

Later, my roommate and I just sat and watched HBO - we couldn't watch the news anymore. We watched "Where the Heart Is." When it finished, the same movie began again and we just sat there.

Georgetown canceled class that Tuesday afternoon, but was adamant that school would resume the next day. Many students had loved ones working in the towers or the Pentagon. One boy on my floor had lots of family working in the twin towers. He spent most of the rest of September home in New York attending funerals.

I still do not understand how any person can hate that much or be that sure to use other humans as weapons to kill other humans.

Today, I pray that such acts of terrorism lessen and finally cease. I pray that humanity can grow closer together and learn to live with one another.

Wedding Recap: Rehearsal Dinner

2011-08-21T15:54:00.000-07:00

Hi y'all! This is the first of my wedding recaps. This one focuses on the rehearsal Friday night.

This is the Villa, where we held the ceremony, and where everyone stayed (all 48 of us!) for the weeekend. We started the rehearsal around 6, when we hoped to hold the ceremony the next day. Jake and I really wanted to be outdoors. In Colorado, gorgeous views abound and we wanted to celebrate where we currently live.

Dad, Karl and I waiting for our cues in our mafia sunglasses. Can you tell I got my mother's height?

Once we got the music figured out (played by my uncle), we started.

Karl and Mom

Jake and his mom

Dad and I and my high heels negotiating the tiny steps

This is when we worried none of the guests would be able to actually see the ceremony due to sunlight. But it's so pretty!

The rehearsal went well. We ironed out some kinks and got through the readings and blessings (more on those later).

After the rehearsal, it was time to eat! Jake's parents spent the afternoon prepping for it. Jake's dad is an avid fisherman and known for his fried fish. We asked Jake's parents if they would do a fish fry for us.

All hands in the kitchen! We had enough fried fish to feed three times as many people. Delicious!

I hope to post more wedding recaps this week. Be on the lookout for "The Cake(s)," "The Ceremony," "The Reception," and "Odds and Ends." You don't want to miss the cake!

Worst Blogger Ever

2011-07-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

Life has been extra crazy recently. We bought a house, moved in, painted, recarpeted, went to Vegas for my bachelorette party, and are getting married in 10 days!

I am surprisingly not losing my mind. People keep asking me how stressed out I am.

I am in love with this kitchen. I just got a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer as a wedding gift and I'm in love. I've made meringues and key lime pie.There is much more clutter happening right now. :) Turns out wedding gifts come with about a million boxes.

Two of my bridesmaids and I spent a weekend in Vegas. They planned entire incredible trip.

Let's just say these boys were involved.

Nice. I promise it won't be too long before I post again!

You want how big a check?

2011-05-05T15:31:00.000-07:00

I do have a good excuse for not posting recently, I swear.

Jake and I bought a house!!! Well, we're under contract for one, at least. We started house hunting about three weeks ago, with the idea we'd start slow and not rush into anything. After seeing about 20 houses, we found one we really like.

It's in a fun neighborhood right outside of downtown. The house was built in 1895 and was totally redone. One of our favorite things is the gorgeous open kitchen. We made the offer on Saturday, only to find out that there were two other competing bids. Wah wah. But, thanks to our having already lined up the loan application, we won with our second bid! :) We had to pull lots of paperwork and financial info. Now we're trying to get out of leases early, setting up inspections, and, oh, yeah, planning a wedding.

On that front, we got our officiant officially signed up. And, I figured out the wedding band conundrum. My engagement ring was designed by Jake and none of the ready made wedding bands I was looking at worked. After some googling, I found a jeweler in Denver with a strong background in custom design. As soon as I met the guy, I felt comfortable. He looked at my ring and immediately said, "there is one premade band to try, but I think you'll want custom." Much better than the other stores that kept showing me super shiny bands that clashed. The band is going to match the design of my engagement ring, which meant I had to leave my ring behind for the jeweler to sketch and make a wax mold. My left hand feels naked! Oh well, I'll have it back in a few weeks. :)

Arches!

2011-04-14T06:59:00.000-07:00

Jake started a new job this week and had a few days off after the old job ended. We decided to head out of town. We ended up at Arches National Park, near Moab, Utah.

Here's our campsite

Gorgeous sunset

The Double Arch

Day 2 = 10 miles of hiking in the desert. Hardcore for me and I got a bit dehydrated. Whoops.

Landscape Arch is over 60 feet wide and only 6 feet thick at its thinnest point. In 1991, a huge chunk fell off, narrowly missing tourists.

Partition Arch - can you spot me?

The rock just wears away, which creates a lot of honeycombing. Eventually, new arches or fins will form. That's one thing I really liked about the park - it's not like it will all be gone in 100 years. Even if the current famous arches fall (one of them, the Wall Arch, completely collapses overnight five years ago), new ones are forming all the time. Jake wished for his climbing gear.

What a ham.

The Delicate Arch - this is when the wind started to really pick up. I'm standing like that so I don't get blown off the side.

The Delicate Arch through another arch.

Second night had crazy winds (gusting over 30mph). This wouldn't normally be too big a deal, unless you are sleeping in a tent on very fine sand. We both ended up covered in a layer of sand as the night progressed. I maybe slept 4 hours in total. There was sand in my ears and embedded in my hair.

We decided not to try and cook over an open flame and headed into Moab for breakfast. We started discussing the possibility of cutting our trip short from 5 days to 2.5. We headed into Canyonlands National Park and cruised through there, but the wind didn't die down and the weather got colder and rainier. Around noon, we decided to head on back to Denver. Sad, but we still got in 2 great days of camping, hiking, and marveling at nature.

Here's a bonus shot from my cousins wedding the weekend before camping. :)

100!

2011-03-29T06:35:00.001-07:00

Silly life, getting in the way of blogging. :) Things have been busy over here. The past ten days have included: Jake's birthday, going to a musical, dinner at friends, celebrating Jake getting a new job, ski tailgating, caterer tasting, and poker night. So, while there is lots to talk about, I want to talk about something else - my 100th post!

That's right, I someone made it to 100 posts, even though I post so sporadically. My goal for April is to post ten times. :)

Oh,wedding update: the caterer tasting went really well. I like the company we are working with and feel excited about our food choices. Our plan is to do passed appetizers, then a buffet dinner. The buffet will include salad, bread, sides, and a fish dish. There will also be a carving station for the meat eaters. I need to pick linens now. There are so many small items to think about!

Did I mention the invitations arrived? My mom and aunt have beautiful calligraphy and offered to address the invitations. Mostly, I think they were afraid of my handwriting. Who knew addressing invitations was so detailed? Do I want formal or informal? Are friends Mr. and Mrs. John Smith or John and Sarah Smith? I decided friends our age should be John and Sarah Smith, while family adults are Mr. and Mrs. John Smith. Invites won't go out for a while, but it's so nice to have them done!!

Cake Balls Disaster

2011-03-17T17:18:00.000-07:00

Today I had an epic baking fail. I decided to make Jessica's Cake Truffles, also called Cake Balls. I've seen different versions all across the blog world and wanted to make them. I decided the combination of St. Patrick's Day and Jake's birthday would be a good time.

First up, bake a cake. I used a red velvet cake mix. No problems. I baked it last night to get a start on the whole process (and it is a long process). Then you mix in the frosting and put it in the fridge for at least two hours. No problem, except the kitchen looked like a murder scene with all the red smears. Then you have to roll the balls. TWSS.

Then came dipping in chocolate. This was the major fail. The recipe said it would make about 40 cake ball - I got over 60. It said I needed 6 oz of chocolate, I started with almost ten. Once it melts, you gently roll the balls in the chocolate and place them on a parchment. The chocolate seems really thick. I was using around .5 oz per ball. After struggling through 4 balls, I thought to myself, "why not make a ganache instead of just melted chocolate?" I have made ganaches before with no problem. Today, I got this.

That doesn't look delicious at all! Lame. I threw that out and grabbed the last bag of chocolate. I started again. An entire bag of chocolate covered 10 more balls. Obviously I need more practice with the chocolate enrobing.*

I have 45 balls of cake/frosting left. Any suggestions what I can do with them? I sure as hell am not enrobing any more. To make matters worse, they aren't even that good. Jake tried one and was like "eh. I'd rather have the real cake." I will not be making these labor-intensive balls again. Sad face.

*It's the actual technical term.

Ski challenge and results

2011-03-08T06:24:00.000-08:00

Skiing Sunday started off fun enough. I decided to challenge myself and do some harder blacks than I normally would (steep with bumps and trees). It was slow going and I accidentally went backwards for a bit, but I made it down in one piece.

That got me feeling pretty confident, so later in the day, I decided to go fast down Starfire (very steep bits). I made it down fine the first time, but had a bit of trouble the second time. By trouble, I mean I completely wiped out. My skis flew off and I tumbled head over heels. At one point, I remember thinking "grab the ski." This happened as the ski was flying towards me. I did catch it, with my face. Luckily, besides that bop, I was uninjured. Jake was right behind me and grabbed my other ski. My hero!

Last night though, most of me ached. My face feels twingey when I make a long face, yawn or smile too hard. (I took a picture, but you can't really see the mark.) My shins ached and the top of my back was very sore. I think the shin ache was from not stretching enough after skiing and then doing my long driving commute yesterday. I sat on the couch with a heating pad for an hour or so and that helped. This morning, I feel fine. :)

Moral of the the story: skiing fast is fine, as long as there is a heating pad waiting for you at home.

Biggest Loser Rant - possible spoilers

2011-03-02T07:36:00.000-08:00

I've been watching the Biggest Loser for three seasons now. When Mike ran a 5K at over 350 pounds, I decided then and there that I could run one, too. I've enjoyed watching the contestants lose weight and change lives. This season, Arthur has annoyed me to no end.

I get that he is the biggest contestant ever, and that everyone wants to help him. I was just so glad he got voted off. His crying and everybody fawning over him just grated me. Do I hope he loses a ton of weight and lives a happy and healthy life? Definitely. Do I want to watch him for several more weeks? No. Am I excited for next week's episode after watching the all-girl black team completely dominate? Heck yes.

And, rant over.

ABCs

2011-02-23T17:14:00.000-08:00

Because everybody's doing it.

A. Age: 28

B. Bed size: full. I am a small person and don't need much room.

C. Chore you hate: taking out the trash. I loathe it. Always.

D. Dogs: meh. They're cute, but I prefer cats. I like the way cats ignore you.

E. Essential start to your day: Put in my contacts. It's the first thing I do once I get out of bed. Sight is important!

F. Favorite color: Pink! All shades.

G. Gold or silver: Silver. I own one pair of gold earrings and hardly ever wear them.

H. Height: 5’1.

I. Instruments you play: currently none. I've played clarinet, piano and handbells.

J. Job title: Attorney

K. Kids: maybe later? I nannied for a year and feel no urgent desire to have babies right now.

L. Live: Currently in Denver

M. Mom’s name: LuAnne (we're Southern girls with our double names)

N. Nicknames: Annie (what everyone calls me), Ree-Ree (Grandmere calls me this), the winks, twinkle toes, stinkerbellsky (last 3 are courtesy of my dad).

O. Overnight hospital stays: a week when I was 13 at summer camp. Stupid spiders + yellow jackets = hospital for Annie

P. Pet peeve: people who are chronically late.

Q. Quote from a movie: "They're not the lost boys of Peter Pan - they're the bloodsucking Brady Bunch!" I'm not sure why I love this quote so, but I do. :)

R. Right or left handed: right

S. Siblings: Karl, my older brother

T. Time you wake up: between 5:45-6:45

U. Underwear: I wear it

V. Vegetables you dislike: um... I honestly can't think of one I dislike.

W. What makes you run late: very little. I'm the girl who is awkwardly early.

X. X-Rays you’ve had: one at 14 to check for a broken arm - it wasn't.

Y. Yummy food you make: I'm known for my brownies

Z. Zoo- favorite animal: Big cats and adorable otters (have you seen them hold hands? I die from cuteness).

There are my ABCs, what are yours?

Loot

2011-02-18T14:57:00.000-08:00

Whew. I managed to be quite productive this morning. I got my shot, called my landlord re: broken disposal, and got my oil changed! I had a coupon for an oil change, so I ended up driving to the suburbs instead of my normal garage.

Afterward, I spied with my little eye something ULTA! I needed new eyeliner. Seriously, mine is over 2 years old and making my eyes itch. I was greeted by giant signs of "FREE GIFT!" Sweet. If you spend $17.50 on Ulta brand makeup, you get to pick one of three free gifts.

So, this is what I bought: black eyeline, brown eyeliner with smudger, and black mascara. Total cost $26.

And here is what I got as my FREE GIFT: makeup bag, four brushes, travel mirror, two eyeshadow quads, two double-sided eyeliners, mascara, lipstick, double-sided lip gloss, blush AND a nail polish.

Not too shabby, especially since I bought makeup I 'needed' anyway.

After Ulta, I ran into a Ross. Y'all, I need it to be spring so I can wear these treasures. Wedge sandals and a pair of colorful gladiators. Best part - each pair was $16.99. Reason #18 I love Ross, great prices on shoes.

So that's my loot for the day. Now I need to crank out some quick work.

Have an incredible weekend, my lovelies!

New friends

2011-02-16T17:54:00.000-08:00

Meet Gatsby the Great.

Sadly, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew II passed on. Jake and I decided we wanted another Beta fish. We settled on this blue beauty.

Yes, he lives in a gin bottle. No, there is not gin in it. Yes, there is enough room for him. Most beta bowls are 1/3 the size of this bottle.

When we went to get him at Petco, they had two cats up for adoption. :( Neither of us has room for a cat in our current apartments. Maybe once we get married and move in together, we can get a kitty. I am allergic, but I really want one!

Valentine's Day

2011-02-15T06:21:00.000-08:00

Hello lovelies! I hope y'all had a wonderful Valentine's Day. I got home from work to find these on the table. Jake is not normally a flowers guy, so I was pleasantly surprised to see these beauties.

We were wavering back and forth on whether to go out or just stay in and cook together. We finally decided on Ototo's Wine Bar.

First we posed for a few pictures. :)

We decided on Ototo's because we'd walked by it several times and it never seemed full. We thought we had a shot at getting a table without a reservation. I am so glad we went! The food was amazing. Ototo does a variety of small plates, so we shared and got several things.

We started with two stone crab claws. My family is from Florida and stone crabs are an integral part of my memories of childhood Christmases. These were delicious. We also enjoyed a crispy tuna roll. Ototo is the third restaurant by the same two brothers. All three of the restaurants serve the crispy tuna roll - because it is amazing. The rice itself is fried, then covered with tuna, avocado, jalapeno and roe. So good. Our third starter was a selection of one meat and one cheese. We chose a smoked prosciutto and a tangy sheep's cheese. The plate came with pickles, olives, a few slices of apple, a crispy flatbread, some jam and the best honey I've ever tasted in my life. Jake and I truly enjoyed the dish. We were seated at the bar in front of the open kitchen and the chefs made sure we were enjoying everything.

Next up were scallops. Perfectly cooked, but they didn't make me as happy as the first three dishes.

Last, we tried Ototo's Egg in a Jar. The description sounded interesting, so we went for it. When it came, it looked so interesting I took a picture.

On top, there is an egg, with fish roe. Underneath is a layer of serrano ham and truffle whipped potatoes. You add some of the diced red onion and stir everything together. Then you serve it on the grilled bread. Amazing. This dish was so fun to eat and incredibly good.

Jake and I walked in to Ototo's with sort of low expectations. I was blown out of the water by how good everything was. It was a delicious and fun meal.

After dinner, I made Jake watch The Proposal. Excellent way to end the evening.

Super Bowl and a Night Out

2011-02-08T19:45:00.001-08:00

So Saturday night, Jake and I actually went out! Like, out for drinks with friends. It has been awhile since we went out on a Saturday night. I decided to get fancy. I finally got to wear my new sweater and belt.

True story: we were meeting a couple we'd only met once before, at a mutual friend's party. It's very awkward to try and spot people you've met once, two months ago. There were several, "is that them?" looks before we finally spotted them. We went to El Diablo, a Mexican place on Broadway with phenomenal margaritas. I had two to celebrate that I wasn't driving. :) I told Jake if he drove Saturday night, I'd drive for Superbowl fun.

Speaking of the Superbowl, I made several treats to take to a party.

I made Averie's Special K Bars, because they looked and sounded delicious and I wanted to try something new. First, I made a gooey mixture. Then I poured it over Special K.

Easy peasy and totally yummy.

Jessica's Better than Crack Brownies were requested by the hosts. Once again, they were a huge success.

I managed to save a few to send to my folks for Valentine's Day. Now I just have to make it to the post office before I eat them all.

The Calm Before the Storm

2011-02-01T17:28:00.000-08:00

This Saturday was gorgeous. Sunny and mid-60s. Jake and I took advantage of the weather and headed to the Botanical Gardens to catch the end of the Henry Moore exhibit. Mom got us memberships to the Garden as part of our Christmas gift. Typically, when an exhibit is at a garden, the pieces are woven so they co-exist with the plants. As it's winter, there aren't a ton of plants in bloom right now, so the sculptures really stood out.

Rolling hilltops

After the gorgeous Saturday, the weather took a down-turn. It kept getting colder and colder. My drive to work on Monday took 2 hours (instead of 1 hour 15 minutes). I actually had to pull off the interstate to de-ice my windshield wipers. Freezing rain turned to snow throughout the day. My boss sent me home early. I spent 5 hours at work and 3.3 getting there and back. Not the best time usage ever.

This morning I awoke to -7 degree weather. I rebelled by putting on my fleece leggings and staying inside ALL day. It's supposed to be colder tonight. :(

I do what I want!

2011-01-28T16:42:00.000-08:00

Today was one of those days when I was glad I don't work full-time. Sometimes I moan over the small paycheck, but today I got to do what I wanted.

I attended my first ever Body Pump class at 7am. I was very nervous going in - I have never done a group class before besides yoga. The class was small, only three of us all told. The instructor made a point to find out what kind of weightlifting experience I had and watched my form throughout the program. I really enjoyed the class. I thought my legs were going to collapse at one point, but I made it! I bought a Groupon for ten classes and I will definitely be going back.

I did do some work today, but didn't have to go into the office. This enabled me to make what I really wanted for dinner - pulled pork. There is a 7 lb pork shoulder in the oven right now and I can't wait to eat!

In celebration of my afternoon off, I decided to watch a movie. I wanted a throwback, so I picked Jaws! I always forget how scary it is. I managed not to shriek, but I did jump a time or two.

I hope you get to do what you want this weekend!

Back on track

2011-01-27T06:35:00.000-08:00

This week I feel like I'm getting back on track. Last week I was sick, so I didn't really work out besides skiing once. I'm getting back into my workout schedule and even signed up for a Body Pump class on Friday. Yay for Groupon!

I also got back into my cooking groove this week. I made Angharad's Whole Wheat Molasses Bread.

I followed her recipe, but had to add another 1/2 cup of yogurt and about 2 Tbs of milk. My dough was too dry to start. I baked my for 1 hour and 20 minutes to get this deliciousness.

For dinner, I made Moroccan Lamb Stew from Everyday with Rachael Ray. Super simple dinner. Brown ground lamb. Remove, brown an onion, add cumin and cinnamon. Add a can of tomatoes, a can of chickpeas, and some water, bring to a boil. Add lamb back in and stir in some fresh parsley. Served over couscous.

Sorry the pictures are so yellow. They were taken on my iPhone with poor lighting.

Ending the post with what I wore yesterday. My boss brought this scarf back from India for me. I felt quite sassy. :)

Have a wonderful day, my lovelies!

Meet Big Blue

2011-01-25T08:00:00.000-08:00

The laptop drought is finally over! On 1/13, I ordered a Lenovo from Office Depot. Delivery scheduled for 1/20. Still no laptop by 1/22 (Saturday). I call to check the status and am told "Oh, it's showing it shipped. We'll call Monday with further news." Monday comes and I get this call "Yeah, that Lenovo is back-ordered indefinitely."

Moral of the story, customer service will lie to you. I canceled my order and was determined to walk out of a store with a new computer that night.

I walked into Best Buy and pointed at this computer (previous second choice) and said "I want this one." Agent explains there are no more in stock in the state. "Fine, I'll take the floor model." Strange man tells me he admires my decisiveness. Agent tells me I get $55 off. I get distracted by the giant Bernese Mountain Dog wandering the store but make the purchase.

Meet Big Blue!

I am so excited to have a working laptop! It even has Word on it and a working version of iTunes! Yes, my last laptop had been on its last legs for awhile.

Hopefully, this will lead to better updating and better blogging. ;)

Back in the swing

2011-01-19T05:59:00.000-08:00

Turns out it is not easy to keep up a blog when you are without a computer. My new lappy should arrive today or tomorrow.

Quick recap: Last week was good. Jake took Friday off for my birthday and we headed out to Breck to ski. I had a great day on the mountain and felt very confident. Then we grabbed Thai for dinner and saw the Green Hornet. I'd definitely recommend the Green Hornet. It's a comic-book type movie without all the angst those movies have deemed fit to add in. Stuff gets blown up, judo chops are thrown, and laughs are had. Two thumbs up!

Saturday, my hormones were completely out of whack. I burst into tears in the car because I didn't get any birthday cake - crazy!girl! right? Luckily, that didn't last for long.

I didn't cook much last week because we had lots of plans and gatherings to attend. This week, I've gotten back on track. First, I made Jenna's Chicken Parm With a Twist. Make this soon. Very good, but it does create a bit of a mess in the kitchen.

Last night, I made beef stroganoff. Recipe from Cook This, Not That.

1/2T canola oil
12 oz mushrooms, stems removed and caps halved (I used a package of 16 oz)
1 lb sirloin, cut into thin strips (next time I would trim a bit more of the fat off of the steak)
Salt and pepper
1 yellow onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T flour
3/4 cup red wine
1/2 cup beef stock (I used 3/4 c)
1 T tomato paste
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt

Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes or until softened and caramelized. Remove to a plate.

Season the beef with salt and pepper. Add the beef to the same pan and cook for 5 minutes or until well-browned. Add to the mushroom plate.

Add the onion and garlic to the pan, cook until translucent (8ish minutes). Stir in the flour until it evenly coats the vegetables. Cook for one minute. Stir in the wine, stock and tomato paste. Scrape the pan to get all the good brown bits up. Turn the heat to low and simmer for 12 minutes until the liquid thickens and reduces by half (I kept it at medium high and it reduced in about 6 minutes).

Return the mushrooms and beef to the pan and heat through, then remove the pan from heat. Allow it to cool slightly (30 seconds) and stir in the yogurt.

I served it over butter noodles. This was such a comforting dish. The boy and I are both fighting off colds, so this hit the spot.

Enjoy!

Fingers crossed my computer gets here soon!

Wolf Creek

2011-01-12T12:15:00.000-08:00

Incredible sun on day one. Then 10 inches of powder on day 3.

Critical Error

2011-01-06T16:16:00.000-08:00

Wah Wah. Lappy had a major breakdown last night. I keep getting an error message that says "Critical Error: no hard disk space available." Then this "fixer" started up and told me there were six problems to fix, only I had to upgrade to its paid service to do so. Pretty sure that's a scam, as it isn't connected to my anti-virus...

I can't be too mad. Lappy is 4.5 years old. I got her summer before law school. She's served me well. She broke around this time last year, but I was able to reboot/reinstall/redo everything and get her back. Still, she hasn't worked 100% since then. I blame the Korean websites where I would watch tv.

Thankfully, between Christmas and birthday money, I should have enough to cover another major purchase. (First one was a new timing belt for my car. Being an adult is awesome!

Anybody have suggestions for computers?

Happy 2011!

2011-01-02T17:21:00.000-08:00

Happy 2011, my lovelies!

I hope you all had a fun and safe New Year.

I'm jumping on the resolution bandwagon a little late, but I think they still count.

In no particular order:

1) Get married in August without turning into a bridezilla. I'm pretty laid back about the whole thing, but others in the family are not. I need to work on my patience with the endless planning questions.

2) Lose weight/tone up! I want to look and feel my best for my wedding (and life in general). In order to accomplish this goal, I have several mini-goals.
2a) Get back to running at least 3 times a week. I got a little sloppy and lazy with working out over the past month and need to get back into it.
2b) Run some more races! The Komen 5k really motivated me in my running. I'd like to do another 5k (hopefully in less than 32 minutes) and maybe even a 10k.
2c) Return to my weights. I want to weight train three days a week.
2d) Go deeper into yoga. I do yoga occasionally and always enjoy it. I will try to do it at least 2x a week. I'd also like to try taking a class at a studio - it's been years since I've do that.

3) Make flossing a habit. Right now, I floss sporadically. I want it to become part of my nighttime routine.

4) Take another skiing lesson. Last season, we skied almost every weekend. I would like to take another lesson to work on moguls and trees. I've been very wussy about that since this season started. Time to man up!

5) Blog more frequently. I enjoyed the November challenge and want to get back into my blogging groove. Two posts in one day is a good start!

6) Continue growing my relationship with Jake. Every relationship takes care and work. I am so delighted and thrilled to be marrying my best friend in August. :)

2010 Christmas Recap

2011-01-02T17:01:00.000-08:00

Hello lovelies!

I was a bad blogger and didn't post for too long. I had a wonderful vacation with Jake's family in Minnesota and my family in Atlanta.

We arrived in Minnesota after the state had just received a crazy amount of snow. Can you tell the snow drift is above my knees?

We got to spend lots of time with Jake's extended family, but also saved some time to play.

This little two-seat is Jake's dad's plane.

I went for a ride as co-pilot. I was given strict instructions not to touch anything!

That great stretch of white is the lake.

On Sunday, I left Minnesota for home. I somehow misplaced a lot of those photos.

Mom, Grandmere, Tia, and I saw Mannheim Steamroller perform at the Fox. They were incredible. You could tell the musicians were having a blast and the music was incredible! Great gift from Mom.

For the Notre Dame Bowl, Dad and I watched with his good friend, a double Domer. For the three of us, this is the amount of snacks Dad thought was necessary. :)

Cheese platter, trio of hummus, carrots, celery, pita chips, spinach dip, ranch dip, veggie fries and a cookie platter. :)

Notre Dame played really well and beat Miami! Go team!

As my early birthday gift, my parents got me an iPhone! I've been wanting one for awhile. My old Razr was starting to drop calls.

I feel so fancy now.

Billy Bob obviously did not want to be a model while I played with the camera feature.

He's still adorable.

Christmas Party

2010-12-19T16:14:00.000-08:00

The bake-a-thon was a success.

I made peppermint bark:

Mama Peas Vegan Balls

These turned out very well. I need to take them out about a minute earlier. They taste like a molten Reese's in cookie form!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip with Coconut

Molasses-ginger cookies I'd made before.

I also made baba ghanoush and buffalo chicken dip. The chicken dip is super easy and everyone raved about it.
8oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup blue cheese dressing
4 oz monterey jack cheese, shredded
4 T hot sauce
1 can diced chicken
Serve with tortilla chips, celery and carrot sticks.

Here's our little tree. I made gift bags for everyone to take home. Lots of cookies needed to be given away!

And the table.

Minus the dips.

Sweets all lined up

People came with homemade cookies and morning glory muffins. A good time was had by all.

Jake and I gave each other Rock Band 3 and upgrades for Christmas, so we spent the evening with friends trying out the new keyboard and characters.

We leave for Minnesota tomorrow. MSP is expecting a snow storm with 6-9 inches, so here's hoping we actually make it!

Overzealous with the cleaning

2010-12-17T09:45:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas party is tonight! Yesterday was the big bake-a-thon. I made three types of cookies and baba ganoush. Pictures and recipes will be up tomorrow. Hopefully.

I just got an email from my boss telling me there's a meeting tomorrow morning - in Nederland. Nederland is about 80 minutes from my place. Ick. I can't complain too much, though. The boss postponed his flight by three days to have the meeting.

The place needed a big clean. I even washed the marble fireplace! I ran out of 409 a few weeks ago and just grabbed the Target equivalent. I noticed it "contains bleach" but did not think much of it. There has definitely been a slightly bleach-y smell on previous cleans, but nothing crazy. Today, however, I have already managed to bleach my pants and my face. Ow. Luckily, the pants are some old sweats and the face got washed immediately. Still, I did not spray the stuff directly onto me - it bounced off the sink and floor. That's a bit too much bleach for me. I might hold off on the kitchen for a bit - that's the place most in need of cleaning.

Cookie break!

Sushi Party

2010-12-13T20:36:00.000-08:00

Last week, Jake and I headed over to C&P's for dinner. They planned a sushi making party for us! I'd never made sushi before and was surprised at how easy it was. C is an expert and explained the process.

We had some beautiful tuna, celery, jalapeno, green onion, cabbage, sugar snap peas, daikon radish, carrots, and various spices and sauces. We each made at least one roll. Mine was very tight for a first-timer. TWSS.

We ended up with enough sushi for an army.

So delicious!

I'm not sure why I look like I am trying to suck out P's soul with my eyes. I blame the eyeliner.

Plan for tomorrow: bake-a-thon!

Molasses Cookies

2010-12-08T12:36:00.000-08:00

I made molasses cookies from the 12 Days of Cookies. I'd been eying several versions of molasses cookies and finally settled on these. The decision was mostly based on the fact that the butter is melted, not creamed. This helps those who are sans mixer.

I was a little worried at first.

But I kept on stirring.

And ended up with these.

Verdict: Delicious!
I may skip the rolling in sugar step next time - most of the sugar ended up on my floor and counter.

I now have to go clean, because the kitchen looks like this.

At least I'll have cookies and Christmas music to power me through!

The Dress!

2010-12-07T16:47:00.000-08:00

Jake - avert your eyes and skip this post!

*****

Seriously! Go away.

***********

Is he gone yet?

****

Ok, on to business.

On Black Friday morning, Mom and I got up at 6 and braved the crowds. We scored some good deals. :) We shopped for a few hours, then went home for brunch. After brunch, we picked up Grandmere and headed to the bridal salon.

I tried the dress on again and still loved it.

It's light and airy without too much frou frou. Plus, it makes my waist look tiny!

Here's the back:

Can you see the slight lace detail on the bottom?

Because I am a shrimp, I had to get the gown with a custom length. I was also stubborn. My measurements are between two sizes. Despite suggestions I go with the higher size, I decided to go with the smaller. I need some incentive to stay on track with my workouts. Fear of not fitting into my dress should do the trick. ;)

Boarding Buds

2010-12-06T09:28:00.000-08:00

Wow. Total fail on the last part of NaBloMo (or whatever the correct word is). Once I got home I lost a bit (all) motivation to blog. Oh well, moving on.

Yesterday several friends and I headed out to Keystone. Jake snowboards, as do the two other friends with whom we went. I ski. We did the lifts together, but then typically we went on separate trails. I am much more comfortable on blues than blacks. I did a black run yesterday without trouble, but they stress me out sometimes. Instead of the blacks with the boarders, I did moguls, lots of moguls, hours of moguls. By the end of the day, I definitely felt I had a rythm going. :)

Somehow, on one of the lift rides, my brake and R's binding got entangled. We realized this about five seconds before getting off. This made getting off the lift super-interesting. I still have no idea how we managed it without falling, but we did. Go team, go!

Upcoming posts: sushi making party and the DRESS!

Bessie's Back!

2010-11-22T12:06:00.000-08:00

Whew. What a packed weekend!

Friday afternoon I picked up Bessie. After 4 weeks of repairs, my car is finally all fixed up! I'm thankful to have my AWD back in time for snow. I also baked some more oatmeal chocolate chip and coconut cookies to take over to a friend's housewarming party. Their new house is super cute. Jake and I chatted with new friends for a few hours, then headed home.

Saturday was an epic date! We caught the afternoon showing of Harry Potter. I decided to go all out and got us popcorn, candy and a soda to share from the concession stand. When did a medium soda go up to $5? Holy hellfires, that's expensive. Now I remember why I sneak drinks and snacks in usually. ;) The movie was spectacular! I just reread HP7 about a week ago, so the book was fresh in mind. The movie stayed pretty true to the book, even if they have to gloss over certain parts (Kreacher's redemption! I was sad we didn't get to see that evolution.)

After that amazingness, we headed to Pearl Street Pub for an appetizer and some drinks. Our reservations weren't until 8:30. We enjoyed an antipasto platter that was delicious while watching the Irish beat Army! We then moseyed over to the Black Pearl for dinner. Even with our reservation, we had to wait about 20 minutes. Totally worth it. The meal was very good. I had hangar steak while Jake enjoyed some lamb. We both really enjoyed eavesdropping on the couple eating next to us - middle age, first date, met online, she wouldn't stop talking about how music fills her soul in the church of nature. Oh right, the couple on our other side didn't use all of their giftcard, so they gave it to us. SCORE! $7.50 we didn't have to pay for.

Sunday dawned bright and early for a ski day! We drove up to Breck. Traffic was painless, but the lift lines were killer. Breck only had a few lifts open, so those were packed. We started off on a run that I thought was blue, but was actually black. I managed to wipe out twice (lost my ski once and bruised my knee on the second fall). Not feeling particularly graceful, I decided I needed a bit more of a warm up, so Jake headed off to some blacks while I cruised some easier blues. We met up for lunch and then got lost and headed down a black run full of moguls. I made it all the way down without falling!

Great weekend! I go home tomorrow to celebrate with the family. So excited!!

one week til turkey!

2010-11-18T16:50:00.001-08:00

I'm so excited for Thanksgiving! I go home Tuesday night. I'm so thankful for my family. I can't wait to see them all.

We're going over to the cousins for actual Thanksgiving dinner, but then my immediate family will make our own on Friday. Thanksgiving is my dad's favorite and he loves leftover turkey. So, my brother is brining and roasting a turkey a la Alton Brown and we're whipping up a few sides for our own feast. :)

Of course, before feasting on Friday, there is Black Friday Shopping! Mom and I always get up early and go out. We never go to crazy places and wait in line, though. More like Kohls, Old Navy and Target. Mostly we outfit her Christmas kid. This Friday is going to be packed; I'm also buying my wedding dress (hopefully!).

Oh! News that makes me happy! I was going through my closet for items to donate and pulled several pairs of jeans, including one pair that has always been too tight. Like, I can wear them for an hour and then have to take them off. I thought to myself, might as well try them on and see if all the running has slimmed me down. YES! They fit! AND are comfortable. Hurray for running! We'll see if they still are comfortable after Thanksgiving. ;)

How excited are you for the Holidays?

in a fight

2010-11-16T15:25:00.000-08:00

I am in a fight with weather.com.

Yesterday morning, they said 0% chance of precipitation. I decided to brave the cold and wear cute ballet flats instead of boots. As soon as I get in the car, it starts snowing. Boo.

Today, again very small chance of precipitation, 10%. I head out for my run and see VERY dark skies to the north. I decide to cut the run short and go home to do weights. 5 minutes into weights, the wind picks up and sleet starts. Boo.

Expect a letter if this happens again, weather.com. My wrath is great and terrible.

Sunday cookies

2010-11-15T19:23:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, I got bored.

Jake was busy making things explode online.

I wanted cookies.

So I baked.

Without a mixer.

I own neither a Kitchen-Aid Stand Mixer (my dream lover) nor a hand mixer. Both are on the registry!

Creaming butter and sugar was a bit rough, but I managed.

Visions of warm cookies kept me going.

Lots of stirring.

Oatmeal chocolate chip .

Not the prettiest cookies, but so tasty.

I won't tell you how many I've eaten, but the answer is more than a few.

Good run and great job Irish!

2010-11-14T14:52:00.000-08:00

Saturday was lovely. I went for a long run in the morning and actually felt very confident throughout the whole thing. I discovered I need to bring more kleenex with me on cold runs; my noise got very runny!

After the run, I quickly showered and headed out to the ND game watch. Jake joined me after finishing up a few errands. Y'all, the Irish played better than they have in years. Special teams was on the ball and defense only allowed a field goal. ND had not won against a ranked team since 2006! Way to go, boys and keep it up!

Go, Fight, Win!

2010-11-13T08:43:00.000-08:00

Let's Go Irish!

Hopefully, there will be cause for push ups! That's me, several years ago, after a touchdown. I think it was 35 push ups. One of the perks of being small, you get chosen to go up.

Even though our QB and main running back are injured, hopefully we'll play well.

not yet

2010-11-12T14:44:00.000-08:00

Skiing yesterday was a blast. We only went for about 5 hours. You have to ease yourself back into the all-day sessions. I'm still a bit sore though. I did some yoga last night to loosen up and I think it helped.

The plan was to go for a run today, but it hasn't happened yet. Jake's furnace broke this morning (29* outside), so I've been waiting around all day for calls from the landlord and the repair man. Repair guy finally called around noon to tell me he'd be here at 1:30. At 3, he called to tell me he was running late (no duh) and that he'd be here by 4. Hopefully, he actually will be here at 4, and I can sneak in a run!

Anybody have anything fun planned for the weekend?

SKI DAY!

2010-11-11T06:39:00.000-08:00

Hurray for Veterans Day! Not only do we celebrate those who've fought for our country, but its a federal holiday. Jake and our friend M have the day off, so the three of us are hitting the slopes. This is really cool, because M took us out for our first time ever in Colorado, exactly a year ago.

Here's hoping I don't bust my butt!

Sexuality and the Church

2010-11-10T14:34:00.000-08:00

Hello my dears!

Emily has been posting a great series on female sexuality and the Church. As a female who was brought up in a church and attended youth groups, this has particular interest to me. My youth group focused on abstinence as the best way (but not the only possible way). Still, it makes me wonder if any of my hangups are due to these teachings? I'll admit, I was one of those 13 year olds yelling "Sex is great, in the bonds of holy matrimony!" while at youth conferences.

The whole concept of determining the 'correct' sexual attitudes based on the Bible is fascinating to me. Many of the dos and don'ts regarding sex are found in Leviticus (old Testament book full of rules, written after the exodus from Egypt). This time frame focused on growing God's people into a nation that outnumbered the stars. Many of the rules focus on the way to procreate and spread man's seed. Not fun reading.

Then there is Song of Songs. It's a love poem. More traditional scholars argue that it is a love poem between God (the man) and the Church (the lady). I believe it is simply a love poem about lovers. It's beautiful (and hot!). I do believe sex between two lovers can be holy.

I don't have time to get into a full treatise right now. If you're looking for detail, check out Emily's posts!

Vegan Chocolate Pudding

2010-11-08T18:24:00.000-08:00

And here it is! Jenna's Vegan Chocolate Pudding

What you'll need:

I had to use a double boiler. It was my first time and though I was scared of it, I managed to use it fine. A bit scary still...

The end result - rave reviews from everyone who tried it. Again, no final picture, because that's how I roll. :)

Sunny November in the Park

2010-11-07T06:48:00.000-08:00

Totally missed posting yesterday. Whoops. I have a good excuse though. We met some friends in the park around 11am. It was incredibly sunny and 78* - in November in Denver. Weird.

We all brought some snacks and games and spent the day hanging out. Around 5, everybody got hungry. We trekked over to Jake's place and ordered Kaos pizza. We then spent about 5 hours playing cards. My team did not play very well, but fun was still had by all. By the time everyone left, it was late and time for this girl to go to bed.

Engagement photos at 2 in the same park. I'm still deciding what to wear. When I scheduled the photo shoot, I assumed it would be cold. Now that it is going to be 70 +, I have to reevaluate my outfit.

I'll post the vegan chocolate pudding later!

Vegan Feast Recipes, Part 1

2010-11-05T14:44:00.000-07:00

For the Vegan Feast Wednesday night, I made The Pioneer Woman's Baba Ghanoush, and Jenna's Channa Masala. I'll save the amazing dessert for another post!

I put my faith in the Pioneer Woman and broiled the eggplants until they were shriveled . This took about an hour in my oven. And constant checking to make sure the kitchen was not on fire.

I think the broiling made a HUGE difference. I could taste a hint of char in the Baba Ghanoush. Guests said it was the creamiest they'd ever tasted! Two thumbs up!

Mise en place for channa masala. It was easy to do. I followed Jenna's recipe, but substituted olive oil for the butter for the onions (which she explicitly said NOT to do) and left out a jalapeno. It was plenty hot. :)

I prepped as much as I could before company arrived. It really helped me be able to be part of the fun chatting before dinner, instead of stuck in the kitchen the entire time. I served it with brown rice and plenty of cilantro. I had to add a dollop of Greek yogurt to mine to cut the spiciness (I'm a wimp).

Um... apparently I need to work on my food blogging skills. I failed at getting any finished shots. Wah Wah. To make it up to you, here is some shoe porn.

I was on a mission for gray boots. I finally found this fun pair at DSW.

Sorry for the glare! I obviously need to work on my camera skills. The bow is my favorite part.

I went back today to try and find a pair of black boots to wear with my winter skirts, and some new winter boots. Fail. My old black boots literally fell apart on me last year. The search will continue!

Success!

2010-11-04T15:02:00.000-07:00

Last night's dinner party was officially a success. I'll share recipes throughout the week.

Here are some pictures from our weekend in the mountains. We hiked around Lake Dillon. Great view was enhanced by the recent snowfall.

Cuteness. :)

I'm waiting for my boss to get back to me so I can get some paperwork filed tonight. I hate waiting! Gh.

Before and after

2010-11-03T15:15:00.000-07:00

I decided my hair needed some shaping. I'm trying to grow it out a bit before the wedding, so I didn't want anything drastic.

Here's before: (just out of bed - no product)

Here's after with three different products in it: (what a difference natural lighting makes! I swear I didn't get my hair highlighted.)

Can you tell a difference? I wasn't crazy about how she styled it. I think she was a bit nonplussed when I told her I don't straighten my hair, nor do I use a diffuser on my blow dryer (I don't even use a blow dryer!). I think she realized I meant it when I said I'm lazy about my hair. I do like the cut. The bottom layer, which isn't very curly, was getting a bit shaggy. Best part - the cut was only $15! I go to the Aveda school and students get to practice on me. :)

After my haircut, I went to a bridal salon in Denver to check out their options. Unfortunately, they didn't have the dress I wanted to try on. In fact, they didn't have that many dresses, period. Oh well.

I moved on to preparing for tonight's dinner. We're having friends over and I'm making a Vegan Feast! Well, three courses. Here's a hint for the last course. Jenna's Vegan Chocolate Pudding

I currently have eggplants broiling in the oven. Stay tuned to see if I burned the place down!

True Story: I can always finish a burrito

2010-11-02T06:09:00.000-07:00

Due to craziness at work and lack of groceries at home, I grabbed lunch out on Monday. I decided on a Chipotle burrito to keep me full in case I had to work late (spoiler: I did). This reminded me of a story. . .

Senior year of college, I went to dinner and a movie with a boy (I thought it was a date. I was wrong. Awkward.) He said "Let's go to Chipotle, I have a coupon!" Keep in mind, Chipotle was new at the time, and a fun place to go.

When we get in line, boy asks if I want to split a burrito. Um... sure? Remember, I was on "date behavior." Boy says he can never come close to finishing one of their huge burritos. cough*wuss*cough

I think I talked him into buying chips and salsa to go along with our one burrito. Pretty sure I did this by telling him I'd pay for it.

We then saw SAW (the original) and he walked me home, where he made it clear this was not a date by talking about the girl he did like. Lame.

Moral of the story: never trust a boy who can't finish a burrito.

National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo)

2010-11-01T13:06:00.000-07:00

Goal for November: post something every day!

The weekend was lovely. The future-in-laws were in town, so we headed up to the mountains to have some fun. Full recap later - once I download pictures. :)

Halloween was very quiet compared to previous years. Jake's parents left Halloween afternoon, so we did not venture out to any outrageous Halloween parties on Saturday night. We did watch Paranormal Activity, which was ok. I thought it would be scarier. We did drag ourselves out of the house to go to a spooky dance show. The David Tyler Dance Theater did a collection of spooky dances (think nightmares, Dracula, ghosts, and Medusa). For ten bucks, it was a fun way to spend an evening. Before we left, I gave out candy to six trick-or-treaters. I then left the candy bowl on the stoop. Jake thought the bowl would still be fairly full when we got back. Wrong. Seven pieces of candy remained.

Work today is go-go-go. We have several motions and responses due today, so drafts are being fired back and forth. Fingers crossed it all gets done!

A fitful Friday

2010-10-23T14:08:00.000-07:00

Friday started off well. I got my oil changed and ran some errands. I went over to Jake's home to make Jessica's Better than Crack Brownies. You'll need:

Phase one: brownies

Phase two: cover with chopped peanuts and Reese's

Phase three: chocolate-peanut butter with rice krispies

Two minutes after I finished the brownies, I heard a horrendous noise. I scrambled to the window - my car was in the same spot and I saw no other cars around. Phew. A few minutes later, I heard a knock on the door. A woman stood outside with her crying teenage daughter. "Is that your white car? My daughter just hit it."

Wah wah. I rushed outside to see this:

At first glance, it doesn't look that bad. Until I realized my left rear tire was completely out of whack. Information was exchanged and insurance companies called. I tried to comfort the girl, who felt awful. The body shop was already closed, so my car has to wait until Monday to get towed. Luckily, their insurance got me a rental. I have my long work commute on Monday, then have to pick up Jake's parents at the airport on Wednesday. I need a car this week!

Some of you may remember, I was in an accident in March and my car ended up totaled. I dreaded dealing with insurance again. The body shop where this car is going is the same one that dealt with my car after the March accident. If this car ends up totaled (which I doubt), I will pitch a fit. Promise.

After all the excitement, I needed some stress relief. As I had just baked, I decided on exercise. I tried Gina's Bridal Bootcamp. It did a great job taking my mind off of everything and giving me some much needed endorphins!

Saturday morning Jake and I headed off to the Tavern for brunch and to watch the Notre Dame v. Navy game. Oh man. Notre Dame got stomped. Not good. Not good at all. To soothe my soul, I made these freestyle treats!

Don't worry, we're heading out to a friend's Oktoberfest party and all the goodies will be coming.

A candyless day

2010-10-22T06:18:00.001-07:00

I've been in a bit of a funk this week. I felt really ill Tuesday night and very blah Wednesday. Then I realized, I've eaten a ton of candy this week. No, seriously, a lot of candy. I declared Thursday to be a candy-free day. I got my butt off the couch and went for a run.

I managed to not eat any candy, but I did eat 1/2 a piece of cheesecake at an event I went to last night. :) Today won't be candyless, but it will be a more moderate intake of candy.

Have an amazing weekend my dears!

Oh right.

2010-10-05T14:31:00.001-07:00

Did I mention I ran my first 5K on Sunday? I participated in the Susan G. Komen 5K in Denver with 55,000 of my closest friends. I felt very claustrophobic at first with so many people around me. However, I just maintained my pace and kept going. It was tempting to try and "race" other people around me, but I knew if I started that, I'd be walking before mile two came. There were five or six live bands performing throughout the route, and a few groups of local cheerleaders. Seeing other runners' pink signs (who they were running in memory or celebration of) inspired me. One guy was running in celebration of "The Ta-tas." I finished under my goal time too! My goal was 40 minutes and I came in around 36-38. :-D There was no official time, so I went by my phone. And yes, I really am that slow after five months of running.

workplace bonding

2010-10-05T14:08:00.000-07:00

I won't lie. I was not pleased to be going into work this morning. I normally go in one day a week and telecommute the rest (it requires hour + drive each way). However, some workplace bonding cheered me right up. My other coworkers were saying how much they wanted coffee and I was complaining how hungry I was. True story, by 9:45 am, I'd already eaten a bowl of cereal for breakfast and my snack of a granola bar.
An hour later, I headed out to the local Starbucks to get drinks for the troops. While I was out, one coworker snuck out and got a breakfast burrito to split with me. Please note, this was not a McD's breakfast burrito, but an authentic Southwest style one. It was delicious and killed the gnawing hunger demons inside me. That made my day way brighter! :)
It also was in the theme for the day. Last night I made several trays of enchiladas to have for dinner tonight when guests come over. I used Janetha's recipe. I tweaked it a bit - added a zuccini (half needed to be vegetarian for a guest) and forgot the tomatoes (oops!). Due to work and commute, I won't be home until 7:30, so I wanted something that could mostly be done beforehand. I'll let you know how it turns out!

How my random act became a devious plan

2010-09-23T15:40:00.001-07:00

As many of you know, I got engaged several months ago. To my surprise, both of my parents immediately became obsessed. My dad had dreams about who should be invited. My mom had lists of lists. I became more laid back about the whole deal. :)

One night while I was home, Say Yes to the Dress came on. Mom came in and watched it with me. She was astonished at how much people were paying for dresses. (I think one girl had a budget of $5,000.) Apparently, Mom was also hooked on the show. A month ago, I found out she'd even gotten Dad to watch an episode or two with her. This is a major deal; my father only watches sports, stocks and the Weather Channel. Dad told me he couldn't believe how snooty all the sales girls were on the show. Both of them watched the premiere of Say Yes to the Dress Atlanta (the shop is about ten minutes from our house).

Yesterday, I went dress shopping. I'd gone once in Atlanta with Mom, but hadn't decided on anything yet. I had time and the urge to try on dresses, so I went by myself. I found a dress I liked, snapped some photos and emailed them home. Here's a sneak peek.

AVERT YOUR EYES, JAKE!!!!

The dress is a bit more than I wanted to spend. Here comes the devious plan. By watching Say Yes to the Dress, Dad has become hardened to the costs of wedding dresses. Anything under $5,000 seems like a good deal to him! (This dress is WAY under that.)

Stay tuned to see if I buy this dress!

A bad run and some knowledge

2010-09-21T15:57:00.001-07:00

My run today was no bueno. I had a big salad for lunch, with romaine, steamed broccoli, tomato, and some chickpeas. 2 hours later, my stomach felt a bit wonky, so I had a glass of water. 30 minutes after that, I headed out on my run.

Oh dear. I seriously thought I was going to throw up at some points. I ended up walking about 1/3 of the time. My salad was sitting in my stomach like I'd had a double serving of beef bourginon. The last five minutes I realized that if I can run with this, then my 5K in less than two weeks shouldn't be a problem. That's right, I'm running the Komen 5K on Oct. 3. I'm very excited to buy some pink running wear!

Side question: what do you wear to run outside when it gets cold? I started running in late April and was just wearing old yoga pants and long-sleeved shirts. I'm hoping I can keep running outside for most, if not all of winter in Denver. I'm worried about the dry, cold air aggravating my asthma. Any suggestions?

Low Key Saturday

2010-09-19T08:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was lovely. Very low key and relaxing. I woke up and made Jake's favorite breakfast - Polish breakfast. This involves potatoes, onions, sausage, eggs and cheese. It ended up being tasty, much better than last weekends attempt at pancakes. After letting the heavy breakfast digest for a bit, I went for a run. I didn't run as far as I'd like, but am still proud I dragged myself out.

The afternoon was spent hanging out on the porch, being jealous of the kid's birthday party next door (complete with bouncy-castle!), baking brownies, brewing beer and playing video games with Jake. Not exactly the most exciting Saturday night, but delightful all the same.

On the schedule for today, a trip to the farmers' market.

Have a great day!

Abandonment Issues

2010-09-16T12:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday a dear friend moved away. True, she moved to a fun city, near her family, and with a great job. However, she is no longer available to be my Indian buffet date and this saddens me.

Her leaving wouldn't be so bad, if three other girlfriends hadn't also moved away since June. That's right, 4 out of my 6 female friends have abandoned me. Bagel moved West. Ches moved back East. Lizzie moved North and Kim moved South. I pout.

Really what this means is that I need to work on making friends. I've been in Denver for over a year now and am really loving the city. I am looking into joining some groups. This will be my first experience trying to make friends outside of a school setting. We'll see how it goes.

Nobody else is allowed to move away for at least a year!

What do old people like more than free food?

2010-08-14T13:24:00.000-07:00

Trick question - nothing!

While all the cool kids are in Chicago at the Healthy Living Summit, I hung out with my people. That's right, I attended Senior Law Day! 1700 elders and myself had a blast scoring free swag and bags of potato chips. I almost lost an arm when I was too slow picking a bagel in the breakfast line. Luckily, I was trained by the best (my dad) and got into my old-person mindset. This included grabbing and stowing 3 granola bars, one bag of chips, homemade peanut brittle and some candy. I restrained myself and did not steal any tea bags. I did grab a muffin to wrap up in a napkin and take home, but I got hungry/bored waiting for the first speaker, so I ate it. :)

Other swag included information on reverse mortgages, living wills and whether I was ready for retirement. There were over 23 separate sessions, but you could only attend 4. Once again, I was reminded why I want to practice Elder Law - the people who do are amazing and you are providing a real service.

Nerd alert and something sappy

2010-08-06T09:14:00.000-07:00

True story: I just found Inuyasha is on Hulu - all 170+ episodes. I may never work again.

Also, in exactly 365 days, I'll be marrying my best friend!

Did I mention that for my 24th birthday, he threw me a surprise party where he cooked like 8 courses for everyone? And this was before we were dating! Can you see why I'm marrying him?

manual emergency

2010-08-03T15:07:00.000-07:00

Today I had the mission of moving Jake's car from its spot on the street to a spot around the block. Why? To avoid street sweeping day. As y'all know, Jake has abandoned me for the week to gallivant around Alaska and kayak. When I asked him what to do about moving the car, he said "You can do it!" I told him of course I could move his car. Only problem, his car is manual. Now, I've had a lesson on manual, but it was two years ago. As I got into his car this afternoon to move it, the problem became abundantly clear.

First I could not get his car to start. "Great," I thought to myself. "I've broken his car." After a little internet research, (Thank you, Wikipedia!) I learned I needed to push the clutch all the way in, AND have the car in neutral.

Second attempt, I got the car started. "Yes! Victory is mine!" Wah wah. No. I couldn't get the car to shift from neutral to first without it making horrible noises and dying on me. Of course, it didn't help that I had an audience for this. Two guys working on the house next door must think I'm crazy or completely incompetent. I'm not sure which I'd prefer...

This is how I felt.

I knew I needed to do something to turn my luck around. Time to bake! Luckily, Tina posted this recipe earlier. I didn't have any sweet potatoes, so I used 1/3 cup peanut butter and 2/3 cup plain yogurt instead. Delicious!

I decided to try my luck one more time. I read the wiki article again and headed out. I got the car started! I got it into first gear! I stalled at the first stop sign.

As I waved the lady behind me around, she asked if everything was alright. I nodded, smiled, and took a deep breath. This time I got the car started! I got it into first gear! I didn't really stop at either of the other two stop signs (no other cars were around and I was turning right). I didn't take the car out of first. Yes, I went awkwardly slow. I kept sweet talking the car around the block. Finally, I pulled the car into a spot twenty yards away from her original resting place! VICTORY! I just have to do this all over again on Thursday. The perils of living in the city.

Did I mention I was shaking by the time I got out of the car? I was. I went inside and administered one oatmeal/raisin/coconut/peanut butter cookie and felt like this.

Please excuse the shininess. Sometimes, I have an eerily alien glow about me. :)

Gripes and joy in the little things

2010-08-02T19:37:00.000-07:00

First off - gripes

I left home at 7:45am and returned at 8:15pm.
I stayed late because I was waiting on my coworker to finish up a project before I could finish my part of the project. She chatted to the plant guy for 45 minutes, then orchestrated phone calls for 30 minutes for personal business.
The boy is off kayaking in Alaska for the week and will not have cell service for a week. I already miss him terribly. :(

And now: joys!

Because I ended up staying late at work, I ran across the street to grab dinner. I went to Mad Greens - a first for me. I had a delicious salad!
This is our first Valentine's day-over three years ago! It always makes me smile. :)
I hope y'all are finding joy in little things today!

Play ball!

2010-07-29T13:43:00.000-07:00

We went out with some friends to see the Rockies play Tuesday night. Unfortunately we lost, but the game was fun!

Friends!

I was surprised to find a hot potato bar at the game. I got a giant potato with all kinds of goodies on it. So good.

In other news, I've spent an embarrassing amount of time today watching Bones and be completely unproductive. I decided I'm okay with that. :)

Wedding pics, finally

2010-07-27T06:18:00.000-07:00

Mom finally sent me her pictures from the wedding we attended over the 4th. So much fun was had by everyone.

Bridesmaid luncheon! Weather was supposed to be crummy all weekend, but it held out until it was time for fireworks. Bride is in the middle in the poppy-colored dress.

Mom and me enjoying mimosas!

Transportation from the wedding to the reception! Colorado is so much fun. :)

Our wedding is about a year away!

The family. Yes, we are all in blue; no, we didn't plan it. It could be we are all vain about our blue eyes... And yes, that giant next to me is my brother. :)

New!

2010-07-23T05:42:00.000-07:00

New design! What do you think?

Oh Monday

2010-07-12T08:47:00.001-07:00

Good news: the move went well. There are still a ton of things we need to get. Right now, my makeup and meds are in a plastic bag on the kitchen floor.

Bad news: I managed to set off the alarm at work. Due to the move, I was without internet most of the weekend. When the boss emailed me last night to tell me he didn't have time to add my alarm code, I did not receive it. In the midst of the craziness and to get away from the loudness, I ran outside to call the alarm company. I shut the door behind me and locked myself out. Awesome. Luckily, a co-worker (who doesn't normally work on Mondays) came in about ten minutes!

Packing

2010-07-09T20:46:00.001-07:00

There is much packing going on. And much cursing and throwing of items. Not by me...

I'll just sit on the couch and avoid the danger zones.

I'm marrying MacGyver

2010-07-02T06:23:00.001-07:00

The boy and I went camping with friends last weekend. Shenanigans were had.

Jake and B went kayaking in Poudre Canyon.

It's pronounced "Pooter" I promise.

After all the fun, we set up camp. Jake went back to get his sweatshirt out of the car and broke the key off in the trunk. There is a spare key, but it was 2+ hours away. Jake, the man I am going to marry, managed to use a pair of scissors off a pocket knife to get the key remnant out. He then managed to get the car started. Very impressive.

I'm off to my cousin's wedding this weekend. I'll return with pictures!

Fun in D.C.

2010-06-21T14:30:00.001-07:00

I went to D.C. for my 5-year reunion right after the engagement. :) I stayed with several friends and got to see some of my favorite sites.

Lovely ladies - ignore the shine.

Coalson and I got bored and baked. These are brown-butter pound cake cupcakes. Insanely good. I think C and I should open a law firm/bakery.

Could we be any cuter?

Extraordinary!

2010-06-01T07:47:00.001-07:00

I spent the past weekend in Minnesota with the boy's family. Lots of food and lots of celebrating.

Oh, and also - I got engaged!!!!!

We were watching the sunset at the end of a dock, overlooking the lake when he popped the question. I managed to say "yes" in between grabbing the ring and laughing.

Very happy.

More pictures to come.

Disaster!

2010-05-22T10:25:00.001-07:00

Last Wednesday night was the Pink Party! Big rosé wine tasting party. Everybody was to wear pink. There were over 15 tables of multiple rosés to try. Some bubbly, some tart, some dessert-wine sweet. People went all out. Lots of pink wigs, pink balloons and pink party dresses.

We went with friends who definitely got the memo.

I apparently was not paying attention...

See? I'm barely wearing any pink at all! Disaster. I could have outfitted an army in hardcore pink, but I dropped the ball and wore a smidge of pink in a pattern on my shirt.

Oh well, I was proud to see my favorite color so well represented. And the wine wasn't half-bad either. :)

Celebration Food Part 2

2010-05-13T14:36:00.000-07:00

And the celebration continues! We went out to Mizuna for their tasting menu last night. Before hand, we cleaned J's apartment and drank proseco. We know how to party in style. Last night was to celebrate J accepting a position with the DA's office. Before we left for dinner, I got a call that I have an interview! Actually the same position I was supposed to interview for a few weeks ago. They reposted the ad on craigslist and I reapplied. :) Nice to know I didn't totally blow it with bad calendaring skills.

No pictures from Mizuna dinner, but please believe it was delicious. Our server said "bon appetite" before each course, which got a little old, but was great other than that. J had a few 1/2 glasses of wine with courses, I stuck with a glass of riesling.
First course: 5 tastes, each from a different chef. First bite was crab with sesame seeds (amazing). Second bit was a salmon dip (ok). Third bit was an incredible piece of blue fin tuna. Fourth was a spring pea crostini. Last was a truffle quiche. The crab dominated for me.
Second course: a perfectly seared scallop with caramelized fennel. So good.
Third course: hand made cavatappi pasta with grilled prawns. Delicious.
Fourth course: lightly sauteed halibut, wrapped with a sliver of prosciuttio, served with morel mushrooms. I think this course was my favorite. The fish was perfectly cooked and so tender.
Fifth course: palate cleanser of blueberry fizzy drink and grapefruit sorbet. The sorbet tasted like grapefruit pith. Not a fan.
Sixth course: Beef with mushroom duxelles and horseradish cream. I thought my heart was going to explode. I gave most of mine to the boy. I was feeling really full at this point.
Seventh course: dessert of deconstructed apple pie. Good, but not amazing.
Two cookies, warm from the oven, came with our check. Yum.

Dinner took about 2.5 hours and was worth every penny. I love celebrating with food.

Celebration Food

2010-05-06T06:30:00.000-07:00

Jake got a job offer on Monday! (He got another one on Wednesday, too!) We decided to celebrate with fish tacos. Food of champions.

Jake fried the fish on the porch, using his camp stove and secret family recipe for batter.

I made a red cabbage slaw, guacamole and this southwestern quinoa with a few modifications.

I a added a red bell pepper and cumin/chile pepper instead of taco seasoning. Very good and really filling.

I made a ton of quinoa; we'll be having leftovers for ages.

How do you celebrate events or special occasions? Is food involved? Is it the focus? For me, food is always involved, and sometimes the focus. Have a good Thursday! The weekend is almost here!

Cheeseburger in Paradise

2010-05-04T06:32:00.000-07:00

I might have had a cheeseburger for dinner three nights in a row over the weekend. Marzyck's, My Brother's Bar and a birthday bbq. Don't worry, I made sure to have salads and greens the rest of the weekend.

Saturday Jake and I headed out to Confluence Park to meet up with cousin Lizzie and some other paddlers. Confluence Park is a play park for kayakers. I went along to carry things and take pictures. :)

Jake playing in some waves.

Me posing by the shore. I think I missed a shot of the crazy/drunk guy who decided to run it in a play inflatable boat. He got lucky and didn't get dunked in the COLD water.

Lizzie battling for a wave. Group.

The weather out here has been crazy: 70 and sunny at noon, 35 and pouring later on. We even had a mud rain earlier last week. It was gross -- my car looks like I went off-roading.

The very bad, horrible, no good day.

2010-04-30T06:50:00.000-07:00

Thursday was rough. I had a Domer networking breakfast at 7am and a group interview at 5:30. I was prepared to walk/take light-rail. Walk outside at 6:30 and it is snowing/raining. My umbrella does not open all the way. Fine, I'll just drive. I got to the Delectable Egg a bit before 7 and ask the hostess if anyone is here yet for the ND event. She says no, but they do have a reservation at 7 for 6. I wait -- it's not ND. 7:15 I finally just ask to be seated. The hostess asks if I knew there were two Delectable Eggs downtown. No, I did not. Lame.

I leave work early in case traffic is bad due to snow/rain. I find the building and wait in a Starbucks. I walk in to the office a bit before my interview is supposed to start -- empty office except for one guy in the back office on the phone. Oh, that must be him. I'll just wait for everyone else to get here. I count 11 different fake flower arrangements. At 5:30, he is still on the phone and I am still the only person there. Not good. Turns out the interview was yesterday and I am a moron. :(

Good news -- the boy took me out for tapas to cheer me up.

Food Blogs

2010-04-26T18:19:00.000-07:00

Somehow, I am late on the bandwagon. I just discovered food blogs about three weeks ago. I love them. It fascinates me what other people eat and why. Mostly, I've been inspired to focus more on fresh fruit and veg. Jake and I had gotten into a bit of rut. Chicken Tandoori is currently marinating in the fridge. :) I doubt I'll start taking pictures of every meal I eat, but I might post some more pictures of recipe successes.

I had a very good weekend. Saturday was spent lazing about, then meeting friends for drinks. We migrated from beer and pizza to margaritas and tacos, then back to Jake's for home brew and cookies. Rock Band was discussed, but I'd had two drinks and was too comfy to rock out. Two of those who came are still in law school and gearing up for finals. I am glad that part of my life is behind me, even though I (not-so) secretly loved school. I'm glad the pressure of grades is over. Sunday I got in an early yoga session and then met C for brunch. The biscuits were amazing. The afternoon was spent running errands. I got a new yoga mat (mine is 4 years old and came from a cereal box), a new i-pod adapter for my car and some more scrapbooking stuff. Now I just have to scrapbook.

Victory, finally

2010-04-22T15:18:00.001-07:00

I finally closed a few cases at work that have been going on for months. My two big ones were a lot of work, a lot of back and forth and a lot of conviction that my client needed help. Luckily, both of the cases were victorious; client got what they wanted. It's good to feel I was able to actually accomplish something. :)

Wait, what?

2010-04-20T12:35:00.001-07:00

I have only a month left at CLS. My fellowship thingy ends on May 21st. I've been looking at job postings recently and thinking more about hanging my own shingle. I sent in my resume in response to a post on CraigsList. Small firm looking for estate planning attorney - at least three years experience. I have three months.

Last night, I got a phone call from a local number I didn't recognize. I assumed it was the woman I've been playing phone tag with regarding a rental property. Imagine my surprise when it was the receptionist at the firm, inviting me to come interview next week! It's a group interview, which should be interesting.

Hurrays!

Free

2010-04-20T12:33:00.000-07:00

Check out http://greensandjeans.wordpress.com/2010/04/20/did-someone-say-giveaway/
for a chance to win a tea press!

I promise I'll post more later.

Shiny and newish

2010-04-11T20:28:00.001-07:00

This is my shiny newish car! Basically a white version on my old car, but with AWD and a V6. Upgrade. I test-drove over 7 different cars and didn't find anything I loved. I was ready to put money down on a RAV4, but the salesmen wasn't willing to bring the price down at all. So, I walked out and went back to Saturn. Mom's worried I'll lose it in the snow. :)

"I brought a bed bug in a bag."

2010-03-29T19:13:00.000-07:00

Car shopping continues. I'm down to a Vue and a RAV4. I test drove about 11 cars and didn't love any of them. They were either fine, or I knew I didn't want it. When I test drove my first Vue, I loved it. Oh well. I'll be happy with either.

One of my clients today brought in a bed bug to show me. You should know, I am not a bug person. A week at camp turned into a week in the hospital because of them. Saturday night, I'd convinced myself there were bed bugs on me and itched all night. J did not appreciate all of the thrashing about. And today, I actually held one. I managed to keep my cool, but immediately threw the bag containing the bug into the outside trash can. Shivers. Hopefully, tomorrow will be bug-free.

Snow and spring time

2010-03-23T18:03:00.000-07:00

The last few days here have been crazy. Friday afternoon it started snowing and just kept on going. I even got out of work an hour early. Saturday and Sunday were upper 60s and abundant sunshine. Monday was sunny and 50s. Today, I woke up to 40 degrees. Rain started at 2. Snow started coming down hard at 5:30. Weather channel is saying possible 10-16 inches overnight. As long as we keep getting gorgeous spring days mixed in with all of the snow, I can handle it. March in Denver. :)

Car hunting is going alight. I test-drove four cars last night and crossed all of them off of the list. So, now I have to make a new list.

Cravings

2010-03-11T08:24:00.000-08:00

Car stuff is under control. Luckily, my insurance is covering most of it and they set me up in a sweet little subaru rental. I should have my car back in about two more weeks.

Lately, I have been having the weirdest craving -- for ice. Not just any ice, but that crushed ice that comes in little pellets. This is strange for several reasons: 1) Ice is a weird thing to crave; 2) I don't really like ice and almost never get it in my drinks. Yet, I've been sitting at my desk drinking water and wishing I was chewing on ice. Odd.

blerg

2010-03-08T06:53:00.000-08:00

Well, the weekend started off great. Friday, Jake and I went to Marcyz's for a wine tasting then had home-made pasta. We also watched Good Fellas.

Saturday we headed to the Colorado History Museum garage sale. That's right, my lovelies, the museum had a sale. I was in heaven. We arrived 15 minutes before doors opened to find a line already 150 people long. I was shocked. I thought there might be 15 people there, but 150? Before the doors opened, another 100 people joined the line. The museum let in groups of people at a time. We grabbed about 8 pictures. A few are 8x10s, but two are giant. The are maybe 3x5 feet. The bigger pieces are on foam board. Including the pieces we picked up for Preston and Christine, we spent a whopping $42. The sale included some truly random things, like stemware and a table saw.

That afternoon I ran some errands. I finally replaced my watch. My trusty Swatch that I bought with my parents in Switzerland after high school finally died. I was on a mission for new black boots, as mine are falling apart. I think I waited too long. Every store I went it was focusing on sandals. I couldn't even find them in clearance. After shopping, I hung out with some friends for drinks. Then Jake and I went to a fellow brewer's place for his cherry stout unveiling.

Sunday, three of us went skiing. We were on I-70 by 7am. We were on the mountain at Keystone by 8:30. The weather was gorgeous, warm with blue skies. Unfortunately, the snow wasn't great and all three of us lagged. Around 1:30, we decided to head home to avoid the crazy traffic. This is where things went downhill.

There was already some heavy traffic. We'd be cruising along at 65, then everybody would slam on their brakes. I thought I was going to hit the car in front of me at one point. Around 2:30, my car veered out of the far left lane and hit the cement divider. I managed to regain control of the car and get it off onto the right shoulder. No other cars were involved. Everybody was ok. I was pretty shaky, though. It looks like my front left tire blew, causing the veering. My bumper is smashed up and the radiator was leaking hardcore. AAA was called, the police came and filed an accident report. Luckily, Megan's hubby Ryan was at home, so he came and got us. I am now dealing with insurance and the car place, trying to get stuff figured out. The dealership was closed, so the tow truck apparently dropped my car off in the back alley or something. As of right now, the dealership can't find my car. Awesome.

Free Booze

2010-03-04T06:40:00.000-08:00

Last night Megan, Jake and I headed over to the Gin Mill. We'd heard on the street that they were giving away drinks for customer appreciation. We figured they 'd be doing that (if at all) for like an hour, and we could probably on get Coors. Wrong. Free drinks from 7pm to close. Any drink you like. Nice. We did not take full advantage, as we all had work in the morning. Still, free drinks are always welcome, especially on a Wednesday.

Mardi Gras!

2010-02-23T06:56:00.001-08:00

M and R are big ski buddies. They both lived in Louisiana for a bit. They received the skull goblets as wedding presents.

M made two delicious King Cake's. Best I'd ever had. After numerous pancakes and several Bloody Marys, it was time to go. Having to work the next day made me feel very adult.

Playing with my new camera

2010-01-31T13:59:00.001-08:00

Ches and I ventured out to A-Basin on Friday. We could not have asked for a prettier day. It was sunny and in the 30s. I finally got the memory card for my new camera, so I brought it along to experiment. I'm pleased.

Oh, why did we go skiing on a Friday, you ask? To celebrate my last days of freedom, as I am now officially employed! I start work Wednesday. Ches and I are going to try and make it up to Vail Tuesday to get in one more day of skiing.

Tings

2010-01-22T10:14:00.000-08:00

Birthday weekend was great. Jake and I went to Parallel 17, a Vietnamese bistro and enjoyed tons of food. Their pork buns are amazing! The weekend was spent skiing at a variety of locations. Keystone had no snow. A Basin was surprisingly fun. Vail's back bowls were not crowded and we got in some good runs. I did a black run at Vail, twice! Then I got tired and let the others continue on the blacks while I stuck to some blues. Jake and I decided to wait out the traffic back to Denver and saw Avatar in Frisco. I enjoyed the movie, but was struck by similarities to Fern Gully.

Back in town, my computer decided it was full of viruses and needed to have a complete melt-down. I managed to get my documents off of it, but am now waiting for Dell to send my an OS disc that will hopefully make lappy run again. I do not want to buy a new laptop right now.

I got to hang out with Lizzie and Ches at a wedding band showcase. As I described this to other people, they all thought I meant wedding band as in ring, not as in musical band. The musical bands were very entertaining. Any of the three will be great entertainment come Lizzie's nuptials.

flowers!

2010-01-13T16:21:00.001-08:00

My brother is officially a grown-up. Look what he got me for my birthday:

A pink bouquet with red roses and a pink vase. He got Mom flowers for her birthday, too. I fully support his new streak.

In which there is lots of skiing

2010-01-09T20:29:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the responses about non-profit work in Denver. I'm waiting to hear back from Colorado Legal Services. They are "intrigued" by my situation. I think that's a good sign, right?

I drove up to Boulder Wednesday night to do dinner and a movie with my cousins, Ches and Lizzie. We ate at a pub and saw Nine. I enjoyed Nine, but didn't think it was the greatest movie ever made. I was super-impressed by Fergie and Kate Hudson's singing voice (girl can sing). Ches and I decided we should take advantage of our "funemployment" and go skiing on Friday. So we went up to Keystone and had a lovely, easy ski day. Bright blue skies and uncrowded trails. Since Ches is even newer to skiing than I am, we did mostly stuck with the easier blues, though we did venture in some harder territory. It was low-key and soothing. I felt like I knew what I was doing.

Today was a totally different experience. I went skiing with Jake and some of his friends. The friends are very good snowboarders. When I ski with them, I always feel that I am stretching my ability. This is both a good and bad thing. We did a few blues that I felt very good on, then did a blue/black with a ton of moguls on a steep wall. Snowboarders have an easier time on moguls; they can sort of just scoot their way down if necessary. I had to actually maneuver, which made me very slow. We then did an "off the map" trail. It was narrow, steep and had bumps. I was a disaster. I fell, twice. And cursed, a lot. I pitched a bit of a fit, but eventually made it down. I think I need another lesson, either with an instructor or with Lizzie (who once trained for the Olympic mogul team). Hopefully, that will make me more comfortable on those sorts of trails.

Query

2010-01-05T17:05:00.000-08:00

Anybody know of a public interest group in Denver looking for a full-time attorney volunteer? ND says they'll pay me for a few months if I can find this type of work... So far, I'm having trouble getting people to respond to my phone calls. I'm hoping this is just due to a backlog from holiday vacations. Dream volunteer position would be with Colorado Legal Services' seniors division.

New Year

2010-01-03T08:39:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! I just got back to Denver after being home and then skiing in Pagosa. Skiing was great. There was a ton of powder at Wolf Creek our first day (16 inches) and the second day was lovely groomed trails and powder amongst the trees. I'm feeling more and more comfortable skiing.

New Year's Resolution: find a job
New Year's Eve was pretty low key. We had to get up early the next day to ski, but we all managed to make it to midnight. :)

Survived!

2009-12-26T13:18:00.000-08:00

Wow. My family has managed to survive Christmas, but just barely. I had a really bad case of food poisoning that left me not wanting to eat for about a week. Just when things were calming down and we were ready for Christmas, Grandmere fell. She is doing well, but it meant Mom and Dad spent most of Christmas Eve in the emergency room. We managed to squeeze in stone crab for dinner and make it to midnight mass, but then Mom came down with some kind of bronchitis. Hopefully, Dad will not catch it. His immune system is low right now due to chemo, so we're taking extra precautions around him.

On the bright side, CHRISTMAS! We opened presents and feasted on some of the 800 cookies Dad and I baked. Karl and I haven't managed to get Mom's blu-ray set up correctly yet (four hours later). I'm afraid it might have to go back to the store until the parents' neighborhood gets better internet service. I got a digital camera, so expect lots of pictures once the memory card arrives.

I managed to see lots of friends and am very pleased with the season. I'll be heading to middle of nowhere Colorado soon to spend New Years with Jake and his family.
I hope y'all had a wonderful holiday season!

Ski Time!

2009-11-12T15:11:00.000-08:00

Ski areas are opening left and right, so all of Denver has lost its mind. J and I both bought ski passes and I bought the bullet and bought ski gear. Wednesday was a federal holiday so J didn't have worked. We went up to Keystone with another friend and took day lessons in our respective sports. Skiing for me and snow-boarding for him. I was surprised at how much I remembered from 8 years ago.

The lesson was definitely worth it. I paid for a group lesson, but ended up with only one other man and the instructor (who kept calling himself a coach). My instructor looked very much like Mark Hamilton/Luke Skywalker. Very cute, as is only appropriate from a ski instructor. My poles were taken away for most of the day, my coach said I was using them too much. I only fell once, and that was when attempting to take my skis off, so I count the day as a win. My right calf is extremely sore today. I hope it will feel better by Sunday, when we're heading to Breckenridge to ski.

Halloween!

2009-11-03T09:01:00.001-08:00

Halloween was pretty fun and low-key this year. J and I went as zombie JFK and Marilyn Monroe.Zombies were a big hit this year. We had friends come over as a zombie girl scout and a zombie disco queen. J had about 20 trick-or-treaters, including lots of little ones. I may have made a two year old cry...

Another guest dressed up as Faith from Buffy, so I decided we needed some pictures of her staking me.
She then roofied me by pouring me several glasses of her amazing punch. :)

It's official -- I can practice law in CO!

2009-10-27T09:57:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was the swearing-in ceremony. The ceremony itself was fine, about 45 minutes. Lots of attorneys from courts and bar associations gave quick congratulatory speeches. The CJ officiated our oaths and then we were official.

Aren't we cute?

Mom even managed to get me flowers from a thousand miles away. Mom is friends with the mother of one of Jake's fellow clerks. The other mother came to see her own daughter sworn in, and brought flowers for me, from my mom. Complicated, but very appreciated.

After celebratory drinks with Preston, we met his wife for a pizza dinner. Delicious. J fell asleep while I watched Interview with a Vampire to get into the Halloween spirit.

Fun-filled Saturday

2009-10-25T09:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a ton of fun. J and I met up with several of my cousins and aunt for lunch. L lives in Boulder and was wedding-dress hunting with her family in Denver. We ended up poking through a few stores before lunch. J got to see the frillyness of Priscilla's of Boston and drool over tables in Restoration Hardware.
We then headed to the ND game watch at Wash Park. It was a pretty small turn out -- maybe 25 people compared to the normal 50+. The Irish played poorly, but BC was a hot mess, so we managed to pull it out.
Later, we headed over to a friend's house for a bonfire! There was beer and s'mores. Good times.

Blergh to the max

2009-10-19T13:01:00.000-07:00

Job stuff is making me super-frustrated. I've been working through ND's alumni connections and emailing everyone I can think of. The few people who do respond mostly say "I don't know of any jobs, here are 2-20 more people to contact." *headdesk* I am seriously considering the whole solo route again, but it still intimidates me.

In happier news, C and P got married on Saturday! It was a very fun wedding, mostly friends, little family. The ceremony itself was like 10 minutes, then on to the party. I ended up driving the bride and groom home because I was the only sober person by 3pm. :)

I passed the Bar!

2009-10-11T19:54:00.000-07:00

Thursday morning was rough. The page said the results would be up no sooner than 9 am. So of course, I was refreshing the page every 30 seconds. After a grueling 11 minutes, my name appeared on the magic list. YES! Jake and I had a shot of tequila to celebrate before he ran to work. The rest of the day was a bit of a blur. I refused to do anything job-hunting related, so ended up watching tv all day. I met up with J and several of his co-workers, who had also just passed, for a happy hour. We then moved on to a fancy steak dinner to celebrate.

The rest of the weekend has not been nearly as much fun. I might have had a minor meltdown Friday night over a variety of things. . . There were two events planned for Saturday. One got moved to Sunday afternoon, but the other got canceled. This left J and me with nothing to do but watch bad movies. We watched 1/2 of Bad Boys and all of Transformers 2. The only good thing we watched was Monster Camp - a documentary about L.A.R.P.ing in Seattle (think live action Dungeons and Dragons). It did snow Saturday, so the city is quite pretty.

The upcoming week should be fun. I'm meeting up with cousins in the area to talk about skiing options and watch chick flicks, then the end of the week is blocked out for C and P's wedding!

2009-10-07T08:22:00.000-07:00

Bored.

6 hour CLE

2009-09-30T18:28:00.000-07:00

Today I had to attend "Practicing with Professionalism," a six hour mandatory CLE to gain entry to the CO bar. It wasn't bad, but there was lots of "don't sleep with clients," "you'd be surprised how easily an attorney-client relationship forms," "don't be negligent." Things I spent a semester and more learning.
I'm feeling more settled in Denver. I have a daily routine worked out that involves job hunting, networking, working out, watching tv and grocery shopping. I'm hoping once bar results are out in a week that the job search will be a little bit easier...