Lights, Action, Change...

Last Saturday evening we stopped at Home Depot and saw a box of 2 new lights for only $16.97. I had been pondering replacing the ugly brass lights at the front door and in the hallway, so we snagged a package of lights up.

Jason got to work Sunday replacing the old light fixtures.

That although match all the door knobs just weren't looking that sharp and pretty anymore.

Here is the new light up and in place. They look so much better and for just a few dollars I think made a nice difference.

We saved the old lights in case we ever need to replace them back to the brass ones, or in case some day we buy a house that has lights in even worse condition than these brass ones.

Friday Freedom

I've taken a few days off work in hopes of getting some much needed organization out of the way, as well as a few home repairs started and a few craft projects finished. Instead we've been snowed in. Well I guess I should say I've been snowed in. Jason made it to work yesterday and I stayed snuggled inside just spending the day relaxing.

A few photos of the storm, don't really do the 2 and 1/2 feet of snow outside justice, but...


This morning I have a few errands to run (I may be starting some Christmas shopping today - love it). Then for lunch I'm meeting my good friend Kristin from college to catch up and celebrate her birthday a month late.


The rest of the weekend looks like the weather should improve and we will be able to get out of the house and spend some time living large!

Happy Friday, Happy Weekend!

DNS Paintings

I've already posted on of my father's paintings that has made its way into my home, now I've been adding to my collection.

My father has recently taken to painting buffaloes which is ok with me because once a Buff always a Buff.

This is the one that is now at my office at work, except the picture frame has been cleaned of the figure prints:

Morning Mist

The others below I do not have, yet... they are still at my parents house. But they are still beautiful none the less.

Fancy Tiger

On Monday evening, before I got sick, Lauren and I stopped at Fancy Tiger to browse their fabric selection. That store is full of beautiful eye candy. Was in love with the textures, the color, the yarn, all of it! Lauren bought some fabric, and I wanted to buy the store but couldn't decide what I would do with my purchases, so I left with only their business card and few photos from outside the store.

Grateful Tuesday

Today I am thankful that my employeer is so supportive of sick days. Feeling under the weather and tucked into extra blankets taking a sick day. Tomorrow I plan to feel 100%, hear that headache, tomorrow we will be back at work...

Wonderful Weekends

Oh this weekend, as they all are, was wonderful.

Friday night we were planning to cook dinner but decided to through that idea to the wind and go out to dinner. The weekends are such a great thing to celebrate and eating out is always another reason to celebrate. We tried a new burger place that just opened up by our house, Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Some of you may know of this place as it seems to have many locations in the South. It has a very limited menu - reminded me of In and Out in that fashion. They don't have milkshakes which I noted as a huge downfall - who doesn't love a milkshake when they are already going all out and eating burgers and fries?! We tried their Cajun fries and Jas loved them, I on the other hand thought I would have preferred the original fries. But, all in all, we will probably go back some day to have more Burgers and Fries.
Saturday I headed to my parents house to meet up with my mom and mother-in-law for some scrapbooking time. We are all working on wedding albums, and I just can't wait to have mine finished. I would guess I'm about halfway. Saturday night Jason and I again shoved dinner one more time to enjoy some Pho at a little Pho joint down the street. I've been feeling like I'm catching some cold, so the hot soup did me good - plus you can't beat having leftovers for lunch the next day.

Sunday we ran about 100 errands. Home Depot for paint samples, Dollar Tree for paint drop clothes, Goodwill to scout for a old but new to me desk, Michael's for a picture frame, Scrapbook store for photo corners, grocery store, and maybe even a few more places I'm forgetting.

We came home and Jason installed two new lights in the house (that will be detailed in another post) and I worked on my scrapbook some more following a brief nap.

Now, back to Monday, but it is a short week here for me. I'm taking a few days off this week to catch up on things around the house. Wish I was telling you I'm planning an exotic getaway, but it is more a staycation while Jason works, I'll be painting, orgainzing, cleaning and restoring order to our little house.

May today be the start of a great week.

The very last of the fall mums in the garden.

Friday Favorites

Made it through another week!

I know I say it a lot, but I love Fridays at work just about as much as Fridays off. Fridays when I do work are just so quiet and relaxed. The atmosphere in there office is just comfortable and warm. Maybe that's what it feels like when you get to sleep in until the crazy hour of 6 AM... haha.

Anyway, a few of my favorites from the week.
Saw this quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald on Allison's blog "The rhythm of the weekend, with its birth, its planned gaieties, and its announced end, followed the rhythm of life and was substitute for it" and thought it was so fitting for leading into the weekend.

Love reading all of OMG Mom's posts. She is so funny and direct, witty and honest.

These cards from a. favorite design as seen on poppytalk had me cracking up:

Happy Friday, Happy Weekend!

For Today: October 22, 2009

Inspired by Ali, who was inspired by The Simple Woman's Day Book...

Outside my window... the sun is starting to rise, but the buildings downtown are still mostly dark. It's still on the early side for the city to rise.

I am thinking... that I wish I could blog all day everyday.

I am thankful for... today's new bag of coffee at the office.

From the kitchen... my warm organic waffle covered in peanut butter and honey.

I am wearing... black pants, teal cardigan and a pretty necklace - client meeting, must dress up.

I am creating... a more whole me.

I am going... to pumpkin night tonight. Bringing pumpkin soup and my pumpkin that I'll be drawing on, not carving.

I am reading... all the posts in my Google Reader this morning.

I am hoping... that the day goes quick and that tonight's roundtable is a chance for learning.

I am hearing... the sounds of Ingrid Michaelson, Everybody.

Around the house... dirty dishes and recycling that need to be taken care of, but not worried about that now.

One of my favorite things... etsy. Whenever I want to see pretty things I know it is the place to turn.

A few plans for the rest of the week...tomorrow more work, Saturday scrapbooking with the moms, and then Sunday hopefully a chance to get out with the Holga camera.

A picture to share...

Product Review: Haagen-Dazs Tart Natural Yogurt

Ever since tasting the creamy, yet tart, flavor of frozen yogurt from places like Suzy Q, Bam Bu & Nubi all I do is crave it. The unfortunate thing is we do not have many places in Denver that serve tart frozen yogurt, so what is a girl to do?

Try the Haagen-Dazs' version at home:
I found the tart flavor on sale at King Soopers recently and must tell you it tastes pretty close the real thing. It is of course not soft-serve, but the price and the taste are just right. I give it 5 stars, 2 thumbs up, and all the other good ratings I can give. Plus for a special treat, it isn't too bad on the waist-line.

It is actually making me wish I was eating some right now. I recommend you give it a try if you are in the same boat as me with few frozen-yogurt locations to choose from.

I was NOT paid or given product in exchange for this post - just my opinions, sharing what I like with the blog world.

Grateful Tuesdays

Just 3 drinks.

1. Coffee. I never like coffee growing up, but I love looking forward to it in the morning on my train ride to work. I just love one spoonful of sugar, a splash of cream and medium roast coffee. Delish!
2. Tea. I like a apricot tea with a few drops of agave nectar. It is normally my second drink of the day.
3. Chocolate Milk. I normally don't drink chocolate milk, but every once in awhile I decide I want some and then it is so smooth, creamy and delightful.

A few of the things (drinks) I'm thankful for today.

Weekends are Wonderful

This weekend was beautiful, both weather wise and just in how full life was. Friday I enjoyed my day off running to Costco. I browsed just about every aisle while there and just enjoyed people watching and looking at all the things I didn't need to buy in bulk. Love that store. I cooked a great dinner and we headed to Dairy Queen for ice cream before settling in to watch Mad Men for the evening.

Saturday I visited the parents while Jason headed to play volleyball. I just couldn't get enough of the beautiful sunshine.
Dad and I ventured to Goodwill and to another thrift store to enjoy the thrill of the hunt and love of the find. He bought a few paintings and I really just enjoyed browsing. Saturday night Jason and I went downtown for dinner and then rented The Proposal. Although I know it received mixed reviews for a romantic comedy, I thought it was pretty entertaining for the evening.

Sunday we as always went to the grocery store, and then I really just spent the majority of the day napping. We had plans to meet Jason's dearest friends to take some family photos for them and to enjoy dinner. Their little boys are just the cutest things, I could eat them up! I mean seriously look at that smile.

And look at that face of a little boy ready to be done with photos! A.dor.able!

Rach, if you are reading this, I should have all your photos editted by the end of the week and a disk in the mail for you this weekend! Consider this a sneak peek of your cute little ones.

I Promise

I promise I really do have so much to be blogging about, but my energy levels are at an all-time low (maybe that's how I have to fight off the cold that seems hammering the office).

Anyway, I'll hopefully resume posting later tonight with the weekend recap, as well as all the other posts I've been promising. In the meantime, saw this on a blog, and I love how it combines my birch bark tubes that we used for our wedding centerpieces and my new love of succulents.

Source

Rockies Lose

So by now all readers know that the Rockies were eliminated from the post-season playoffs on Monday night.

Jason won tickets from work, so we had the company's great season seats in the lower level.
It was fun to be there with a packed crowd and in such a high energy game.

The Rockies had the lead in the top of the 9th, however they ended up blowing it.

The Phillies advanced to the next round.

This was my first playoff game, so it was an experience. Jason ended up goin to the first game of the season and the the last game of the season.

Upcoming Posts

I have so many things to blog about right now - ideas just storming in my head, however short on time with a long list of blog topics doesn't really make the best situation.

So stay tuned for photos from the Rockies game on Monday night, my latest product review (the best new frozen treat to date), my favorite new tv show, weekly inspiration, photo light box recap, and more!

I promise I will get everything written down soon and share with you the latest. Until then, Happy Wednesday, we've made it half-way through the week.

Grateful Tuesday

Today I'm just simply thankful for my health. As the flu surrounds me at work, on the train, and who knows where else, I'm thankful that today I am healthy.

Wonderful Weekends

So back to the normally scheduled weekend recap (grateful Tuesday will be posted later today).

Friday night, Jason and I enjoyed Bombay Bowl, which for those who don't have one nearby is basically a fast casual Indian food place (think Chipotle or Noodles type places). We then went to Costco and shopped around. Costco is one of my favorite place to shop - even for clothes sometimes. They have a killer wool jacket I had my eye on while we were there. Once home we settled in and watched a episode of Mad Men (which will require a whole other post - but loving that show).

Saturday was the annual ping pong tournament for work hosted at Lauren's house. The boys got together and brainstormed the bracket, while the girls looked at wedding photos.
Then it was on to the challenge. Everyone played one-on-one.
Followed by a mad game of around the world ping pong. If you haven't ever played, I highly suggest it. You basically hit the ball and run around to the other side of the table to return the next hit.
I had to snap a few pictures of Tank - Lauren & Andrew's adorable rescue dog.
After the ping pong party we stopped at the grocery to pick up some fresh produce so I could make vegetable beef soup. It was so tasty with some homemade corn bread muffins. We watched more Mad Men.

Sunday we headed to Jason's parents house for football and dinner. While there I worked on a recipe book combining all the magazine tearouts I've been keeping folded up. The book to hold them all was a gift from one of the ladies I ride the train with. Jas and I were supposed to go to the Rockies game on Sunday night, but that moved to Monday afternoon. After dinner with his folks, we really just relaxed at home and prepared for the upcoming week.

Before the Weekend Recap

Before I dive into the weekend recap (which is going to be later tonight or tomorrow, as I still haven't uploaded the photos from the weekend), I will let you know that following this post, I will no longer be blogging about toilet cleaning.

Got this email from my mom (Hi Mom):

caught up on your blog this morning.

friendly hint.... you should never mention cleaning your toilets in your blog. just unflattering and ... lots of reasons.

So, advice taken, I'm moving on to other things - sometimes Moms are wise.

Weekend Plans

The chill of fall has settled on Colorado for the weekend, I plan to hide inside as much as I can tackling a few lingering items on the to-do list.

This week of course left me full of inspiration, as always.
>Oprah's October 7 show featuring Stephanie of NieNie Dialogues. Her blogs is one of my favorites and I so admire her strength and faith. She is a remarkable role model and mother.

>Soraya's Halloween advent calendar is too cute for words - hoping to replicate something like this for Thanksgiving.

>Every single photo by Gabrielle Kai Photography is breathtakingly moving.

And really so many more things just left me feeling motivated this week. My Google Reader is always packed with a breathe of fresh air.

A few things I'll be planning for the weekend:
Saturday we have our annual office ping pong tournament, I'll be going more for fun than to achieve a winning title.

I want to make a big batch of vegetable beef soup (if anyone has a killer recipe, please comment).

I want to start seriously making plans for the guest bedroom and begin work on the shelf gallery I've posted about.

Of course this weekend will also consist of laundry, cleaning bathroom, and other household chores.

Happy Friday, Happy Weekend!

DNS Painting

In my father's retirement he has finally found time to devote to his passions. He spends his days painting beautiful master pieces. I finally got my hands on one of his paintings and put it in a frame (that I scored at Michael's with a coupon of course).

The 11x14 piece is of a masked cowboy riding a blue horse, that purposely has a small head and oversized legs. Thnk it will look great hanging in my office.

Product Review: Vaseline's Sheer Infusion

Let me start by saying that this is NOT a paid product review, I didn't receive free product from the company in effort to get me to blog on this, I'm simply choosing to share with you a product I recently tried and am loving. (I know the FTC is cracking down on paid endorsements online, but have no fear, I'm not being paid).

The other day my mother gave me a bottle of Vaseline Sheer Infusion. First off, generally all things that mom's recommend are normally pretty good. My dad gave me one warning as my mom handed me the bottle, "Don't use too much or you will be sticky." I was thinking whatever, what does my dad know about a lotion marketed at women?

Source: Sheer Infusion site

Well I went home, took a shower and lathered up with the lotion when I got out. Yep, I was a little sticky to say the least. I figured the next day I would give it another go, this time thinking "sheer" I only applied the lotion lightly and let me tell you I loved it! It was so silky, so smooth, so sheer. The smell is soft, pleasant and not too powerful. My skin felt soft for several hours and the smell stayed with it. So if you do try it out, take my dad's advice and apply very little at first, too much will leave you sticky.

Head over to the Sheer Infusion site to learn more about the product, and even score a $1.50 coupon!

Ok stepping off my product review soapbox, or lotion bottle, and returning to normal postings.

Growing Collection

I started by creating one succulent planter and have now added to my cacti collection with this little beauty in a Frankoma pot:

Vail Ventures Day 2, Year 2

Day 2 came much to quickly in Vaill, I was wishing it was still only Day 1.

We ventured out in the quiet cool morning. It was just another beautiful day, and the village was nearly empty.

We went to Ludwig's at the Sonnenalp Resort for their breakfast buffet based on a friend's recommendation. I was promised on the way in that there would be pancakes, there wasn't. Needless to say, the overall breakfast didn't deliver. I was disappointed with the breakfast, and after having to great meals the day before, it felt even worse. Anyway, we won't be going back there for breakfast.

After checking out of the Vail Plaza Hotel we decided to take a drive to take a few last photographs of the changing leaves.

The weather was perfect, and the sun was so bright and crisp.

Then we hit the road to head back home. There was light traffic headed into the Eisenhower Tunnel (which for those not from Colorado is a tunnel just over 1.5 miles - can't hold your breathe through that one, but you can honk a lot).

I had never thought to take a picture of this adventure. I have so many great memories of driving through this tunnel as a child.

We had to get home to pick up the Riley dog from my parents' house, stop at the grocery and make it home in time for Jason to enjoy the football game. It was such a great weekend away, hard to come back home always.

Vail Ventures Day 1, Year 2

Jason and I took this weekend as an opportunity to get away and celebrate our "engagaverisary" by visiting Vail. The high country was just beautiful, we lucked out with great weather.

Lake Dillon crystal clear, although I'm sure very cold. We didn't stop, but I took this as we drove by.
We headed straight to Larkburger in Edwards without stopping. I know they recently opened a location in Boulder, but we had yet to visit this well reviewed burger joint.

I opted for a little lark burger, Jason got the truffle burger, and we induldged in truffle and parmesan fries. It was heavenly. Can't wait to try the Boulder location the next time we are up that way.

After eating, we drove back into Vail and wondered around the village, snapping photos along the way.

The leaves were just the perfect shade of golden and the fading sun just made them glow.

Last year we stayed at the Arrabelle, we which loved, but this year we decided to try another location that was running a great fall special, The Vail Plaza Hotel. We still wondered over to Lionshead to take in the spot that Jason proposed at last year.

We sat on the same bench, and someone offered to take our photo, it was just perfect timing.

Then we headed back to the main village to ponder the perfect dinner location, stopping for more photos along the way.

We ended up at Terra Bistro, which was recommended by the front desk person at our hotel. Terra Bistro was running a fall special, 50% off all entrees. To start with I had the best beet salad ever!

Jason enjoyed a plate of mussels for a starter. Then he ordered the
grilled Amish beef tenderloin for his meal, and I ordered the pan roasted striped bass. I didn't get any more photos of our meal as I started to feel funny pulling the camera out in the middle of a nice dining establishment. For dessert we shared my favorite, creme brulee. It was the perfect meal.

Following dinner we enjoyed a dip in the hot tub. It was a great day exploring Vail and remembering our engagement the year before.

Next up, more photos from day 2 of Vail Ventures.