Just Me, The Mountains, and My Camera

Exactly one week ago, we had beautiful weather in Colorado. Let me clarify. We almost always have fantastic weather in Colorado, but last Sunday was perfect. There was not a cloud in the sky, it was in the mid-70s, and the air was clear and fresh (mostly, we have been having many forest fires lately).

The guys in my daily life were watching football; the girls were either not in the area or doing school work. So, I decided to head to the mountains with my camera and enjoy the gorgeous day. It has been on my "to-do" list to create a photo project spelling words with photographed objects and/or shapes, and I thought this would be the perfect time to start. Plus, there was the chance I might see some vibrant yellow aspens in the prime of their Fall color change!

So, at the ripe early hour of 12:30pm I headed west on I-70. Along the way, I was pleasantly surprised with numerous patches of yellow aspens tucked among the pines on the side of the mountain. I love how they speckle the mountain side like freckles. And it seemed around every curve there were more fiery orange and yellow trees waiting to make my day brighter (no pun intended). I wanted so bad to photograph them, but as the only person on my joy ride I could not both drive and take pictures.

As my drive wore on and I saw more and more colorful trees, I decided I would drive up to Loveland Pass to see if I could capture a mural of yellow, orange, red and green trees in a panoramic shot. Unfortunately there were not many aspens visible on my way up to Loveland Pass or even once I hiked out to the ridge of the mountain. However, the drive down the south side of the pass was a different story.

Below are pictures of Loveland Pass and the view from the ridge, and then some trees.

{Road to Loveland Pass on the south side}

{View facing west from one of the ridges. If you look closely you can see Breckenridge Ski Area behind Keystone.}

{A-Basin}

{Keystone and Breck}

{The road to Loveland Pass headed up the north side.}


And here are the trees. They speak for themselves.

After coming down from Loveland Pass I decided to go to downtown Breckenridge to look for cute and interesting shapes and building details that might make letters for my photo project. And guess what I happened upon...

{Please note the large beer mug balloons in the far left of the photo.}

Yep; the Breckenridge Oktoberfest. I mean there's food, beer, music, and dancing all happening as a street festival in a picture-perfect mountain town on a picture-perfect day...what more could a girl ask for?! Not much!! Well, actually, cash would have been nice. All the beer was purchased with tickets, which were only available paid by cash. Food vendors were also only accepting cash. So I quickly went in search of an ATM, and by the time I had cash in hand the ticket sales had ended and beer service was ending in 10 minutes. So needless to say I did not sample any beer, but I did enjoy a corn on the cob and a large pretzel (it's Oktoberfest!). I also enjoyed people watching and snapping some photos. Had I had a partner in crime you can bet I would have been out dancing in the streets (sober) with all the other drunk folk.

{Check out some of the outfits!}

{I never knew the chicken dance was a Bavarian tradition, but people loved it!}

After the chicken dance, the festival was quickly winding down so I started back to my car. On the way I snapped this photo, which looked very North Eastern US to me (maybe Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine?).

And then my camera died; remember this was a spur of the moment trip. Feeling very satisfied with how my day turned out, I hopped into my car and headed down I-70...

...only to get stuck in a horrendous traffic jam starting around Georgetown. Not a great way to end the day, but what can you do?

You can take the short cut, that's what. I'll be honest, when I exited the interstate onto that "secret" (but not really) road I felt like I was part of an exclusive society of veteran I-70 travelers. I felt immediately bonded to the people in the other vehicles making the same move I was. It was strange; like we were all in on the secret together, vowing not to tell others what we know so this road doesn't become just as jammed as the interstate on busy days. I felt stealthy and clever, almost as if we were silently gliding by unseen by other motorists. Things were going great and we were making good time, but then we came to a point in the road that was closed. Our entrance back onto the interstate was blocked which forced us to turn around and return to the previous on-ramp. Even then, one of the drivers at the front leading the "club" motioned for the trail of cars behind him to turn around as he drove back past us. It's like we're all looking out for each other, all helping each other to reach our ultimate goal: get home as quickly as possible.

Even though I had to re-enter the traffic jam sooner than anticipated, I was able to get home in decent time. And just in time for dinner. I guess leaving the guys home to watch football all day has its perks!

Happy Fall

Today, at precisely 9:09 pm, fall began. The weather today was very appropriate for the beginning of the new season (or rather, very not summer-like for the last day of the season). It was cloudy, rainy, and cool; only in the 70s. And although I'm ready for cooler weather, I would have appreciated one last nice, summer-like day. I think I'll be getting that wish this weekend though.

Seasonally-appropriate weather aside, I can not wait for this...

and this...

and these [and all products made from these (pie, cider, caramel covered...mmmm!)]


and these tasty treats...


and Halloween!


Not to mention bonfires, s'mores, football and more!

Oh, how I love this season. Happy Fall!!

Thought for the Day

Whatever is at the center of our life will be the source of our
security, guidance, wisdom, and power.

Guess What's Coming Around the Corner!?

I'll give you a hint...it starts with 'snow' and ends in 'season'.

That's right! Snowboarding season is just around the corner. A-basin will likely open mid-October for the fantastic early season riding, which mostly consists of grilling out at the car, drinking a few beverages, and hanging out with friends in the beautiful Rocky Mountains. Of course we also take a few runs, but with hundreds of skiers and riders and only 1-2 runs open, the riding really isn't what early season is about.

To get in the proper mind-set for this phenomenal time of year, a few friends and I went to 'Snowboard on the Rocks' last night. It was an event held at Red Rocks Amphitheater where they showed 3 new snowboarding videos and had 3 performers entertain. It was the first year they have ever had this event, but I believe it is going to become an annual thing. The whole event was executed very poorly; it was extremely unorganized and the technical difficulties at the beginning of the event resulted in a large amount of time of 'filler-entertainment' which was awful. It was basically two guys who sounded like stoners walking around on the stage, talking about nothing, and shouting out 'yeh' or some other ape-like grunt. They finally did get the videos playing, but due to the extra time it took to fix the technical difficulties, they cut one of the entertainers from the line-up and the event still didn't finish until midnight. I wasn't upset about the entertainer being cut. All 3 of them for the night were pretty bad hip-hop type rappers. They had some nice background beats and we enjoyed it enough to have a good time and dance, but really I just wanted to see the videos.

Speaking of the videos, they were great; especially the last one. It was called The Storming and it was the very first premier of the video. The riders in the video hadn't even seen it. A couple of pros in the video were at the premier last night to introduce it, so that was also pretty cool! I don't know his last name but Torstein something-or-other was there, and he was the main rider in the video. Apparently he is the only rider ever to land a triple inverted trick and he did it while adding spins (I think a 900). That is how the last video ended. It was a great video; very well produced with some gnarly lines dropped and catchy music. I think it is sufficient to say that by the end of the night we were all pretty stoked for the season to begin. Here's hoping this year brings more snow than last.

Thought for the Day

Loosen up; the unaimed arrow never misses.

Projects!

Since the end of July I have been a busy busy bee. I was apartment searching in early July; then I was packing and preparing to move in mid/late-July; then in late July I did move. Not far though, just to a different suburb of Denver on the east side of I-25.

Part of my preparations for moving included some home-improvement projects that have long been on my list. On the top of this list was to strip my great-grandma's old dresser of it's ugly gray paint and restore it to it's original beauty. I wasn't exactly sure what that original beauty would look like, but it turned out it was in fact quite beautiful.

Stripping paint from old furniture is not a task for the faint of heart though. It is one of the most tedious, mundane tasks you can imagine. It took me 2-3 rounds of glopping stripping agent onto the dresser and chiseling away the paint to get down to the wood. And don't even get me started on the areas that have grooves in them. They were a pain in the butt! I can't even imagine how painfully slow it would be to strip a true antique dresser with detailed carvings. In fact, I'm quite sure I would have given up if my dresser were any more detailed than it was...and it wasn't hardly detailed at all.

I would give you the step-by-step 'how to' of stripping and staining dressers, but honestly, I just don't feel like it. It's been a long day. So this is what you can do instead: Google 'how to strip a dresser.' You will find all you need to know there. When you are finished with that step, you can then type in 'how to stain a dresser,' and all that information will be provided as well, if it wasn't already provided along with the stripping instructions. You can add finishing touches to your project by replacing old-worn out handles and knobs with brand new hardware. I finished my project by replacing the lovely old orange-ish plastic handles that were broken and duct taped together with some nice, new metal detailed handles.

Check out the before and after photos of my project below:

{before}

{after}

{the detail on the hardware}

The next project on the list was to sew one of those plastic bag dispensers. I'm not sure of the proper name, or if there even it one, but they are the hanging bags that you load from the top with plastic bags, and when needed, a plastic bag is pulled out of a hole at the bottom (you'll see in a minute if you're feeling clueless right now). Anyway, I had seen these as finished products before, but never had I seen a sewing plan for one. Nor did I have a sewing machine or any clue how to use elastic in sewing. Nonetheless, I bought the fabric and elastic to make one, and I did it. I thought it all out very thoroughly in my head, but I was still super surprised when it turned out as well as it did. And using the elastic went much smoother than expected. Check it out (and keep in mind this was completely hand-sewn so it's not perfect, by any means).

{you've seen these, right?}

Sadly, I do not have any before photos of this last project. If you can imagine though, the piece of furniture was a shade darker gray than the dresser from the first project, kind of a charcoal gray. This particular piece of furniture is a small night stand (I figure) that I am using for my bathroom. After moving into my new apartment I discovered there was no place in my bathroom to store all of my lotions and hair supplies like curling irons, blow dryers, and brushes, so I bought this stand for that purpose. I found it at a second-hand store in Colorado Springs called Thrifty Ricky's, the same place I found my little dining room table, which I love.

Anywho, dark gray was just not going to work in my relatively bright bathroom, so I decided I was going to paint it all one color, but paint the drawer a different color (an idea I was entertaining with my dresser from project #1; I'm definitely glad I decided to strip that though). I ended up going with white for the majority of the stand and blue for the drawer. The blue matches my shower curtain and rug, the major sources of color in the bathroom. I didn't put quite as much energy into this project, thinking to myself 'it is just a bathroom; who's really going to see it that often?' Also, this lack of effort is really only apparent if you are looking at the stand closely; then you will see the area where paint dripped (from the previous owner's work; I couldn't get it to sand down and like I said, I didn't try too hard) and the fact that the paints are two different finishes (white is glossy, blue is flat; it was cheaper to buy a sample of blue paint and they only come in flat finish). Even though it's not perfect, I'm very happy with it.

I'm working on one more major project right now. Who knows how long it will be until that is finished, but you can rest assured, when it is finished there will be pictures.

Happy Birthday to You

Happy birthday to you;
Happy birthday to you;
Happy birthday dear:

Christian
Inspiring
Nutrition expert
Devoted mother
Youthful at heart (and in years)

Yoga-enthusiast
Energetic
Regular traveler
Genuine
Loving
Excellent cook
Radiantly remarkable

Happy birthday to you!!!
And many more...

Happy Birthday Mom! I love you.

A Taste of Italy

In case you're wondering, no I did not go all the way to Italy to sample their foods like I did recently here in Denver at A Taste of Colorado. I wish I had though, and since I don't have the luxury of being able to travel there at the current time, I brought Italy to me.

Tonight I made Bruschetta, and it was phenomenal! I kid you not, this is a totally simple and delicious recipe. You must try it.

To begin, go to the store and bring home Italy (AKA the following ingredients):

{french bread, extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, 5 roma tomatoes, fresh basil, garlic, and fresh mozzarella; also be sure to have butter, salt and pepper at home.}

Next, boil a pan of water. Once boiling, remove from heat and place whole tomatoes in water for 1-2 minutes. Remove tomatoes from water (you may discard water) and chop the tomatoes into small pieces (careful not to burn your fingers if the tomatoes are still hot). You may choose to remove the skin or leave it on, and remove the seeds or leave them in. I did a combination of both, removing the skin when it peeled off on it's own, and leaving the seeds that didn't fall out on their own in. Place all tomato pieces in a medium bowl.

Add 2-3 fresh garlic cloves, minced, to the tomatoes. Measure 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar and add to the tomatoes and garlic. Chop basil into thin strips and add about 1/8 cup to tomato mixture (add more or less as preferred). Stir ingredients to mix well and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Finally, melt a small amount of butter in a frying pan (you may choose to use oil if you wish) and brown slices of french bread on both sides, much like you would a grilled cheese sandwich (I even put a small amount of butter on one side of the bread before browning to maximize the toasting and browning). Place pieces of toasted bread on a plate and top with tomato mixture. Serve immediately and enjoy the flavors of Summer and Italy. I recommend complimenting the bruschetta with a glass of wine. Mmmm, perfecto!

Option: you may add fresh mozzarella cubes to the tomato mixture, or serve on the side.

Fly Me Away

Ever since missing the Colorado Springs' Balloon Classic last Labor Day (2009), I have been looking forward to it for this year. Living in Denver, rather than the Springs, made it a little bit less desirable though, simply due to the fact that I had to be up at 4:45 am. That's right, I woke up at 4:45 am on my day off from work to drive down to Colorado Springs and watch some hot air balloons fly around. Maybe that sounds plain nuts to you, but hot air balloons are so pretty, and really, I think there was a sentimental piece too. The Balloon Classic was the first thing I did as a resident of Colorado two years ago. I arrived in town on a Friday night, and first thing Saturday morning I attended an awesome festival with hot air balloons. Nothing like that happens in Springfield, IL. So I wanted to relive it.

We were on the road by 5:30 and arrived in the Springs around 6:30. We includes only my boyfriend, Donnie, and myself (isn't he amazing for coming with me!? yes, is the answer). After finding a place to park, we wandered over to the park where the festival takes place and watched some crews inflate their balloons. There were many less balloons this year; I'm thinking that might have had something to do with the fact that it was the last morning of the event and some crews had already left to head back home. Either way, the balloons that were there were very pretty. It's so neat to watch them inflate the balloons and then raise them to vertical. I feel like I'm watching the erection or a monument or a barn raising or something. The announcer makes it a big deal and has the crowd clap and cheer. Pretty neat stuff. Anyway, about 45 minutes after we arrived they made an announcement that the pilots wouldn't fly because it was too windy, but they would leave the balloons inflated and we could ask questions and get an up-close view of the balloons. With than in mind, we wondered around a bit, got some breakfast, snapped some photos and then left. Take a look!

{The sun was rising behind the balloons and made them appear to glow!}

{The inside of a balloon}