Mile High Life Re-Boot!

Well, working as an attorney is not as conducive to cooking and blogging as I originally thought.  But, Ian and I have the BEST reason to start blogging again - Baby Buttons!

Buttons at 20 Weeks

Buttons is due to come live the Mile High Life with us on February 10, 2014 - a little over three months away! Ian and I are super excited (and nervous of course). We did have one other new addition to our household last year that has not been featured on the blog, Huckleberry, the Vizsla-Lab-?? mix we adopted last summer.

Huck and Ian camping in May of 2013.

He is a 45-lb lap dog who loves the outdoors. He was rescued from the Ft. Collins fires last summer, and we think that he was living in the mountains out there for a few months before the fires chased him out and he was rescued.  It's left him with a few quirks, like being terrified of thunderstorms, but also some pretty cool traits - like actually knowing how to hunt and drink running water while on hikes.  He's the first animal that Ian or I have ever had who could actually live off the land!

1/2 way up the trail

Huck requires a run every morning, which can get tough in the winter, but has kept me running late into the second trimester when most preggo ladies call it quits. Luckily for me, the pregnancy has gone pretty smoothly, so I can keep up with my old routines fairly well.  Ian and I (and Huck and Milo, his doggie BFF) even were able to hike to about 12,000 ft. a few weeks ago to see the Aspens change.

It was a great hike through Kenosha Pass and we think the gorgeous Aspens are going to be the inspiration for our nursery. Hopefully Buttons also will like the outdoors!

From what I hear, it's going to be a crazy last few 3.5 months, but I figure it is better to try and get back into the swing of blogging before Buttons comes, as it will be next to impossible to pick up a new hobby when he arrives.  Also, this will hopefully keep the facebook belly selfies and (later on) baby pics to a somewhat reasonable number.  Feel free to ignore until the main event occurs if you are only in it for the new addition.  Who knows what I might say while on these pregnancy hormones!

I thought winter was all sledding and snow-man making

It's not. There are long stretches of time where it is just cold. I guess living in Texas for so long I got the idea that when you went North it was cold and there was snow on the ground. Apparently, you do not get snow every time the thermostat goes below 32 degrees. This makes sense because it does not rain every time the thermostat goes above 32.  I somehow missed this logical connection for years - I just figured every time it got this cold you would be rewarded with fun fluffy stuff to play with. In fact, I have yet to build a single snow-man because we have not had enough snow to make one!

However, the same logic works in your favor, at least when it come to driving.  I thought every time I got on the road during the winter my 2 wheel drive Nissan would be skidding across the lanes, but when it does not snow there is a lot less slippy stuff on the road! (I don't know where the small amount of slippy stuff comes from, and I probably don't want to know). Again, a fairly logical conclusion I somehow missed in my years of driving in the South.

I am sure that in the future I will become one of those jaded Coloradans who grumbles about the first "big dump" of snow, but right now I cannot wait for it to fall so I can get over to city park and sled with all the other first timers and small children who still wonder at the snow. Right now I'll just have to be satisfied with the measly 1/2 inch hanging on from a few days ago, and the fact that my boots make a uniquely-winter crunching noise when I walk outside. Oh, and the Hot Toddys, which require no precipitation at all.

First Official Car Stuck In The Snow

...and it was in the driveway. Five feet from where my car started. Granted, it was at night, in icy conditions, but I expected my first snow-accident escapade to be more exciting than "I didn't understand how the driveway worked."

I was still out at Ian's cousin's, actually en route to the hospital to meet their new baby, when it happened. I was trying to reverse out of the driveway at an angle so I would not have to do a 3 point turn on the icy road. It was a poor choice. Unbeknownst to me, the far side of their driveway falls off into a 4 foot ditch - just enough to hold that front tire from touching the ground if you get stuck on it. It was covered in snow at the time, making it look like solid ground, and as I felt my car catch the lip of the ditch, the ice kicked in and my car slid into a precarious position with only 2 wheels on the ground.

After attempting to push the car myself for about 30 minutes, I gave in and decided to give the tow truck company a call.  Luckily, I was right by the house so I could use the phone to call the tow truck (remember no cell reception)...but I didn't know the house number, so I gave the towing company my cell to call and hoped that I could jump around enough to keep reception. They said they would be there in "15 minutes" - liars.

I did get enough reception to send a text off to Ian, which involved a bit of cursing and not much of an explanation of what had actually happened. He got it into his head to come and "save me" with his friend, but luckily I was able to call him off before they came charging up the mountain (I don't do damsel in distress well, it's more like frustrated damsel who will FIX IT HERSELF, darn it!)

I was also worried about leaving my car 1/2 dangling out in the road in the dark, so I stayed outside with it, directing the few cars that passed by around it. If there was one saving grace of this adventure it was the neighbors who stopped to help. Of about the 8 cars that passed in the 2 hours I was out there, 5 of them stopped to at least ask if I was alright. Some of them were more capable than others and had different ways of trying to get my car on 4 wheels again, but everyone came to the conclusion that it was more complicated than they thought, and I had better call someone. They also were pretty shocked at my lack of 1) chains, 2) four wheel drive, and 3) "strap" [still don't know what this is]. My favorite comment was "well these are street tires!" Since cars don't go on streets.

When it looked like I was going to be out the $200 it costs for a tow, a magical man in a pick up truck came to my rescue. At this point I was a little weary of help, and when he got out and started asking for my "strap" I just told him I couldn't move and it would be ok, thanks for stopping by. I should have known that he was more crafty than the others because he was out in the 25 degree weather in short sleeves and no gloves. Out of his truck came a 8 foot 2x4 that he wedged under the side of my car  and lifted it while I put it in reverse [it meaning my car, he lifted my car with only a 2x4]. After he got the car placed where he wanted, he went to the other side and pushed my car down so 3 tires were on ground and I could move. I still don't really understand how it worked, but it was amazing. What 6 people over the course of 2 hours could not do, he did in about 5 minutes.

I made it in time to see Cy before he went to sleep and now feel prepared for whatever this winter weather throws at me. The only loose end was that I passed the long awaited tow truck on my way down the mountain. I tried to call him off, but by the time I had reception, his cell phone was only going to voicemail. I think I'd feel worse if he had not told me that he was going to be there in 15 minutes at the start of the 2 hours. Then again, maybe not.

DMV Diet Part Deux: 9 Things I Have Learned In My Past Few Weeks of "Diet and Exercise"

1. I don't diet. Exercise will have to do.

2. Pilates is for people who are already skinny and want to "tone."

3. I need to tone like a deaf person needs to worry about perfecting their operatic vibrato.

4. The first free training session is not free, it costs you however many lessons you need to be able to do what you feel shamed you could not do with the instructor.

5. Spinning class will make your thighs bigger, but that burn is the crack of endorphin highs.

6. I look like a damn fool when I kickbox.

7.  Free weights are only for people under 100 pounds or over 200 pounds, everyone else must use the machines for fear of embarrassment.

8.  Deciding to do a p90x routine at home later instead of going to the gym = not working out that day.

9. Writing a pseduo-cooking blog does not help to match your actual weight to your "I lied about it on my drivers license" weight.

Are you Suburban or Urban?

I'm not sure what I am. Ian and I are planning on buying a house in the next 2 years and we are trying to think about where we want to be. Since he will be going to school in Boulder and I will be working in Denver, a suburb in between seems like the perfect compromise. Plus, there is all the good stuff that goes along with living in the 'burbs - the lower crime rate, the lower price, and the better schools (don't get too excited Mom, we are still talking 2 + years).

Growing up in Plano, a major suburb of Dallas, I thought I would always live in the 'burbs. It was so nice to go running in any direction for miles and not worry about what I'd run into. Plus my public school as one of the best in the state - I thought private school was just for snobs, not for people who desperately wanted to get their kids out of a failing public system. However, I went back to Dallas proper for a wedding last weekend and could not tell you a thing to do in the city. When I thought back to what I did growing up all I remembered was house parties and the local movie theatre. It's not like Dallas is a small city with nothing to do, it has one of the largest arts districts and downtown scenes in the US. I love exploring cities and finding all the hole in the wall places to go, yet somehow I'd never done that in Dallas. It got me to thinking, maybe I'm not a suburbanite after all.

My very suburban high school

I'd loved the past few years that I lived in the heart of Austin. I was walking distance away from my favorite restaurant (Trudy's) and within a $5 cab ride to the center of downtown. And now in Denver I live in a similar location - walking distance from an awesome wine bar (Cork House) and $5 car ride to lodo - and this was the farthest out Ian and I would consider while looking at rentals. While it's not as safe as say Broomfield, it has a life to it that is uniquely Denver.

We live off Colfax, which is such an iconic street that there is a book
dedicated to it's "vintage nightlife style"

We have tons of time before we make a decision, but it's weird to think that I don't know whether I'm a suburban or urban person. I feel like the longer I live close to the city, the less I am going to want to move away from it.  But then again it costs the same amount to get at 5,000 sq ft house in Broomfield as it does to get a 2,500 sq ft house in Denver proper. I know most of my friends now live in the cities, but does everyone plan to stay there as they start to settle down, or is settling down something you can do in an urban environment? Maybe settling down isn't something we want to do? I'm not sure, but my 2 year plan is starting to seem shorter and shorter as I try to make up my mind.

It's Fall And The Leaves Are Falling

After living the past 10 or so years in Texas, I have forgotten about the wonderment that is fall. We always had a long summer, a few days of winter, then a quick spring lasting only until summer took over again. The lack of autumn made me forget about all the beauty that comes with the slow change of weather. Well, fall has come in full force to Denver and I am in love. In the ten minute drive from downtown to our house we get views like this:

City Park

And this:

Hudson St

And there were only pictures from my car. When you actually get out and walk around, it is just gorgeous. When we moved here I got really excited about seeing the first snow and a spring that actually brings a bloom, but completely forgot about fall. I don't think I will forget it from now on.

As you can see this brings tons and tons of leaves tumbling down (especially with the 30 mph winds we get within city limits), but luckily the giant tree in our front yard has yet to let them drop, or even change color. But even with the lack of change in our yard, I think the view from our front porch is my favorite:

Sitting area of the front porch

The fall atmosphere just gets me excited and wanting to go out and explore everyday. Maybe this is some sort of evolutionary thing - perhaps I am biologically now ready to go plow some fields...or something. Whatever it is,  that crisp feeling in the air may just push fall past spring and make it my favorite time of year. Hopefully I will have the same reaction to the upcoming winter snows!

Life Without Half Price Books

It's kinda sucky. Especially for an avid reader who now has too much time on her hands. About a week ago I finished my latest read - Pillars of The Earth. For all the hype and Oprah-love it got I was hoping for a modern novel that would finally grab me like my go-to classics do. I think my aim was set a little to high for a former fantasy writer taking a foray into the medieval realm. There was a whole 5 pages devoted to a circus bear fighting a pack of dogs while church building peasants cheered the spectacle on. Seriously. But, it was entertaining about 1/2 the time, and over 1,000 pages - a must have when a lot of your time is spent sitting at DMVs/Social Security Divisions/Title Offices. I did finally finish this not-so-classic, and I was at the awkward time when I need a new book to read and don't have one lined up in the queue.

I finally settled on Gone With The Wind, another 1,000+ pager that I have been meaning to read for a while. I got it into my head that I should get the hardback version since it is such a long book and the spines tend to break in paperbacks if they are too legnthy. Also, GWTW is was a classic that I'll want to keep around for a long time, or at least have on my bookshelf to look impressive. So, I hopped on the google and tried to find my nearest Half Price Books. As indicated in the title, they do not exist here. In fact, I have yet to find a single used book store in Denver. There was  a place called Tattered Cover that sounded just the place to go - but when I researched it, turns out it considers itself one of the boutique book stores that can charge triple the price for the 'unique' atmosphere. I'd rather grab a pumpkin latte from Starbucks at my nearest Barnes & Noble while only paying twice as much thankyouverymuch. 

I next tried to get it online through Half.com, an associate of ebay. I found a hardback for only 8 bucks and quickly put my bid in. But that fates were against me again, and days later I found out my order had been canceled. No notification, I only noticed that the money had been put back on my debt card statement. There goes that option for future literature purchases. 

So I sucked it up, found my local Barnes & Noble (got my latte) and bought the book there for full price. Thus, instead of the $8 hardback I expected to keep on my shelves forever, I got a $15 paperback whose binding will no doubt break by page 600. I just don't understand a large city with a fairly educated population not having a good used book store. Maybe I have just not found it yet, but then again, if it is so hard to find, then who is turning in their used books there? It all seems pretty suspect to me. Maybe there is a conspiracy hiding all used book stores from newcomers so all the locals can get the good used books first. I think that makes the most sense. At least it would in the Pillars' pseudo fantasy, bear-fighting-dog medieval world.

First Visiting Friends!

This weekend Ian and I had our first set of visitors! About a week before they came we realized we didn't know the famous places to take them, then promptly did nothing about it. Turns out you can have fun just being with your friends in a new city. The lone landmark we took them to was 16th Street mall - we wandered up and down it for an hour or so, but then had to rush off to watch the Longhorns game at Govnrs Park, a tavern close to downtown where the Texas Exs host the game watch:

Govnrs Park Porch

It's a really fun pub/bar that turns burnt orange most Saturdays - what else could you ask for? Govnrs Park's answer is extra beer. After 4pm you get 2 for 1 beers. It's a dangerous combination with the football watching, but always creates a great time. This Saturday was no exception, though it did lead to quite the early bedtime for all of us.

The next morning we got up and tried to take them to our usual breakfast place, but we couldn't get there because of the Rock N Roll Marathon that had taken over downtown. It was why our friends came into town in the first place, however we, not being the crazy fit Denver people yet, did not quite make it. Instead we tried out a new place, Toast.

Toast, in the Cherry Creek Area

It was pretty good. As far as I can tell Denver does not really have a "food" it does except breakfast, a.k.a the Denver Omelet. So, we were expecting a pretty stellar meal and got a medium stellar one. I got the famed Denver Omelet with bacon (I would add bacon to everything if my heart would not then explode). It was definitely good. Probably really good. But, every other place I've been to has been definitely, beyond all doubt, delish. Thus, getting merely whelming food while our friends were in town was a bit sad. Despite that, it was a wonderful weekend and it was so nice to have great friends in town to make our normal weekend extra fun. Showing them around reminded me how the city first grabbed me, and helped me realize how at home I feel in it now.

DMV Diet

After miles and miles of red tape I finally have my Colorado license with my new last name - yay! Even better, my picture somehow turned out decent, which makes 2 in a row. However, there is one thing about my CO license that I can't stand...it actually has my weight on it. I know all DMVs ask for your weight, but I always thought that the dreaded number went off somewhere in the inter-office-webs never to be seen again in daylight - that's how they did it in Texas! Not so in Colorado. Perhaps it is because they are the healthiest state in the US, or because everyone I meet here has done at least one triathlon/marathon/bike tour. However, even my skinniest friends don't like to parade around their number.

The other issue is that I told them my normal number when I went in - the one I have spit out at doctors since I have been in college. And that number is usually about on target...except that since I have been here I have been cooking like a fiend, and thanks to MC, with a lot of butter. Now, I feel like I need to lose weight not only to be healthy, but so I'm not a liar on an official government document.  I think that's at least a misdemeanor.

So, thanks to the DMV, I am going to try and be healthy again. I've already joined the 24 hour fitness down the street and have figured out the best spin class times. I also have all my healthy cooking materials from before I embarked upon classic French and American cookery (Don't worry, I'll still be cooking the classics, just cutting down on the portions so there won't be leftovers for days of butter-filled food). The only thing I am lacking is a good quick fix healthy meal. I've grabbed a few Healthy Choice things and liked them a bit, but I feel like there is better out there. I think next week I am going to buy a whole array of insta-healthy food and see which one suits me best. Any brand/flavor suggestions?

Girls Night Out, And Then Some

Finally blogging about some living in the city! Last night I went out with Carolyn (my sister's sister in law - try saying that 3 times fast!) and some of her Denver friends. They do a girls night once a month and I was super excited to get an invite for October. We met up at Prime Bar down off of 16th street:

In Denver, 16th street is not open to the public for driving, but serves as a free bus route and open air mall for about 10 blocks, featuring some of the most fun places to go in Denver. It is in the heart of Downtown so it's a very popular place to go for happy hours. Prime Bar itself was fun - at first it seemed like a place that would take itself too seriously, but they ended up having a very good happy hour deal, especially for DT Denver, featuring a whole bunch of $5 apps, $3 drafts and some $5 wines. The apps were very yummy, I particularly liked the hummus, and they had a decent malbec on special as well. My one complaint was that they only had one wheat beer (my favorite kind) on tap - Blue Moon. It makes some sense since Coors is only 30 minutes outside of Denver, but in a state known for it's microbrews you'd think a nice place like this would have more selection. My beer disappointment aside, we had a great time and I got to meet a whole bunch of really nice Coloradans, who are very excited to help me come up with some sort of winter wardrobe.

After that I met up with some recent Denver University MBA grads at The Pour House. This place was in LoDo [short for lower downtown] and had more of a dive bar feel:

Instead of nicely plated apps the tables were adorned with beer buckets and hot wings. It is a fun place to hang out and features a big patio on the roof that is great for summer nights. I wouldn't take the co-workers for drinks here after work, but I definitely would meet up with some good friends to grab a beer.

The last stop of the night was at Illegal Pete's to get a late dinner. This place is Colorado's version of Chipotle, and I think they do it better:

Sorry the pics so small - I had to get one off the
internet and this was the best I could find

Maybe it's because this is the ONLY place I have found in Denver that makes a spicy queso...and that one incident of food poisoning that turned me against Chipotle a few years ago. BUT it is generally agreed to be the best option for a make it yourself burrito in Denver, and in my opinion the best "Mexican" food I have found yet. [I highly recommend putting the queso on the burrito - yum!] All in all it was a great night with 3 new places I'd be happy to visit again.

Settling In

So I promised to talk a little bit about the house, and what better time to do that then on a lazy Sunday? For those of you who we didn't complain to, finding a house to rent in Denver is much more difficult than expected. Ian and I had 2 crazy weeks of viewing houses, most of which already had an application in on them or were trashed/way on the wrong side of the tracks/or in one case had an unmanageable infestation of wasps.

But through some fastidious craigslist-ing we found our place. As the search wore on, I began refreshing the craigslist renters page every 5 minutes to see the new places as they came up. I was doing just that in a coffee shop downtown in between viewings when around 2PM (2:05...2:10...2:15?) a cute place in our price range popped up. I immediately called the agent and set up a viewing for that evening. We somehow were not the first people to see the place, but we grabbed an application right away and returned it to the agent that night.  We still didn't think we would get it because the agent told us that there was "a lot of interest" in the house. In our experience this meant that even though we had the first application in they were going to pass us over for another tenant they liked better. Luckily our references were amazing and within a week we were signing the lease and putting down deposits on our cute Tudor cottage.

Home!

It has taken a few weeks, but we are finally feeling like this is really our home, not just our house. It started with a whirlwind of furniture finding with my parents. They actually drove with me to Denver from Dallas and spent three days helping us get started in our starter home. After how hard they worked - building tv stands, mediating Ian and my arguments over bedroom furniture, all while sleeping on a blow up mattress - I am not sure they are coming back soon. But there was still more to come. After everyone left and Ian went off to school the boxes arrived. They where everywhere:

You can't tell from here, but the kitchen was filled up as well!

It took about 3-4 days of nonstop unpacking to get most of the boxes unpacked. Three things that I didn't know about unpacking and don't ever want to have to deal with again: 1) the little tiny cuts on your fingers from the box cutters/boxes, 2) the ENDLESS amount of packing paper that you have to methodically fold for disposal, 3) the boxes still exist after you unpack them! This latter fact become the bane of my existence. For about a week after the movers came we spent our spare time trolling for recycling dumpsters with our car full to the brim of broken down boxes. However, after a while we had everything cleared out and the house was officially our home:

Living/dining room sans boxes

It was really quite an experience, completing our first move, but in the end it was so worth it. We absolutely love this house. We are still figuring our all the quirks (how does one clean out storm windows?), but it feels like we finally do have a spot in Denver to call our own.