Shopping

When you're young, shopping is all about buying the latest toy, or maybe fun jewelry from Claires Boutique...in high school, you move on to fashion, purses and shoes...and that often continues into your 20's, 30's, 40's, and beyond...once you become a homeowner, trips to Home Depot and Lowes are MUCH more exciting...and when you're moving, finding and buying a trailer is WAY more thrilling than you could ever imagine!  How do I know?  I'm now the proud owner of a 5x8' enclosed trailer...wanna see it?

 Dave is ready to go ~ he jumped right in...

it's carpeted inside, with a shelf and lots of tie downs

and straps, which I'm told will be helpful! :)

 Let's get this show on the road!!

Of course, I'm not really interested in all of the specs and details...my first thought is how plain jane white it looks and how fun it would be to decorate it with some kind of Uppercase Living vinyl expression... :)

Cutie Patooties

I got to spend time with these cutie patooties this weekend ~ nothing like little ones to boost your ego (or tear it down) with the cute things they say...I love being 'Auntie Mel' to these guys...  We spent time at Chik-Fil-A and they were super excited because 'the Cow' was there and gave them hugs and 'high fives'.  They also got to participate in a neighborhood Easter egg hunt and then pig out on the candy ~ their mom and I helped them in the pigging out.

 I didn't get to see them on Easter Sunday, but their mom kindly sent this adorable picture dressed in their Sunday best.  I sure will miss these sweet faces in Alaska!

Cranberry Hibiscus

One punch card down, 2 more to go :)

Today was a new flavor...Cranberry Hibiscus...a little tart, but very good!

Bunny Butt Cupcakes

This is what Duncan and Dave see every day in their never-ending quest chasing after rabbits in our neighborhood...the backside of the rabbit as it scurries into the nearest drain or hiding hole.

Here are a bunch of 'Bunny Butt' cupcakes...

Aren't they so cute?  I wish I could take credit for the making and creating of them, but I only contributed in the eating of them...my co-worker's wife is the crafty person behind these...they are carrot cake cupcakes, coated with a thin layer of chocolate frosting, then a crumb coating (the rabbit's crawling into a dirt hole of some kind) :)  ...a mini-marshmallow tail, coconut-covered marshmallow feet, mini chocolate candy and chocolate frosting for the paws.

Divide Weekend

My weekends are normally pretty unscheduled and unplanned, but with my time in CO quickly shortening, I've been trying to make the most of my remaining free time, so THIS weekend I went away with some girl friends to Divide, CO for a scrapbooking retreat.  Very relaxing weekend, lots of good food, lots of visiting, and moderate productivity with our various projects.

Mountain cabins in CO seem to have a common theme ~ a few years ago I spent another weekend with friends, ironically enough, also in Divide, CO, at a beautiful cabin named
"Bear-a-dise" (see pictures here from my friend Mary's blogpost about that weekend back in 2008 ~ thanks Mary).  Any black bear decor you could imagine was in that cabin...and while our cabin THIS weekend did not have an official name (at least that I'm aware of), I dubbed it "Bear-a-dise II".

We had some unexpected visitors ~ kind of rude just to show up unannounced, but we forgave them...they were actually probably thinking the same thing about us...

It was a fun weekend ~ here's a group shot of all of us at dinner Saturday night...want to guess how many times it took before we got a picture with ALL of our eyes open?  Let's just say we had a VERY patient waitress!!

Thanks ladies for a GREAT weekend!! :)

Addiction

My name is Melody and I am an addict.  It's not what you think...I promise...alcohol is not my drug of choice...it's self-serve frozen yogurt.  It started about two years ago when I visited a college friend in CA.  I can't blame this particular friend, but she IS the one who introduced me to my current addiction...in an innocent looking shop in Pleasanton, CA.  I thought it was just a one-time thing...but then last fall...Labor Day weekend to be exact, I found another 'dealer' for self-serve frozen yogurt in Santa Fe, NM.  And I secretly envied the fact that I couldn't get a 'fix' in Colorado...but then, this past November, something wonderful happened.  A shop opened up in Parker...and then ANOTHER shop opened up in Parker...and ANOTHER is scheduled to open very soon...AND there's one in Centennial as well - so I can get a fix whenever I need one - work, home, whenever...I'm covered!

My wallet is filled with frequent buyer 'punch cards'...and I intend to fill up every one of them before I leave town! 

There are so many interesting flavors to try...and the toppings ~ any kind of fruit, candy, nut, fudge, caramel, etc...you can imagine...

My most recent flavor creation was non-fat Angel Food Cake frozen yogurt with fresh strawberries, fresh raspberries and UDI granola toppings...MMMmmm.

Other recent favorites...
 **Lavendar Honey frozen yogurt with chopped nuts and drizzled honey topping...
 **Caramel Apple frozen yogurt with caramel sauce, cinnamon sauce and chopped peanuts (tastes like a crunchy apple pie or baked apple crisp).
 **Red Velvet frozen yogurt with hot fudge sauce and chopped nuts (notice I like having a little bit of crunch in my combos)

The shops have between 12-16 flavors to choose from and you can sample as many flavors as you'd like. Flavors are rotated on a weekly basis, so there is always something new to try.  You fill up your cup with as much or as little as you'd like, add whatever toppings you want, then slide it on to their scale to weigh and you pay by the ounce...anywhere from 39 cents to 41 cents an ounce depending on where you go...Most of the flavors are non-fat or low-fat, so there's no guilt, right?!? :)

Notice I don't have any great photos of my creations...I finally thought to snap a picture of this one...in the car...before I dove into my cup of goodness last night. 

And I ate it in my car / on the way home because the shop was PACKED out with people and there were no seats left.  And it was only 50* last night ~ can't imagine what it will be like this summer!!

Thhhbbbbbbbbtttt on Uhaul

Uhaul gets a big thumbs DOWN from me...that's me sticking out my tongue at them up there in the title in case you couldn't tell... :(  It's a no go on the trailer with them...

They offered one of their trucks to drive and then pull my vehicle, but the cost of the truck and the gas would NOT be worth it, even according to the Uhaul rep making the offer, so now I'm doing something else I never imagined I'd do...shopping for an enclosed trailer...

I've found a couple of possibilities on Craigslist, but apparently enclosed trailers are popular and sell quickly...who knew?  So I'm keeping my eyes peeled.  I'll get to Alaska one way or another...and with or without my possessions. :)

Frisco & Breckenridge

Some people are drawn to the mountains of Colorado for the skiing, or the hiking, or the fishing, or the camping, or any other number of outdoor activities...and while I like to ski, and 'hike' (if you can call it that)...what drew me to the mountains of Colorado this weekend was the food at the Butterhorn Bakery & Cafe in Frisco, CO.  I LOVE this place ~ they have such delicious baked breads, pastries, and other goodies.  My friend Kim (hi Kim), mentioned she'd been craving their Cinnamon Fruit bread and that's all I needed to hear before agreeing to take a trip up to the cafe.  It's a small, local hot-spot ~ usually completely packed out...their famous tag line (seen on the backs of all the staff T-shirts) is:

**Baked! High in the Rockies of Frisco, CO  9097'** 

but I promise there are no 'special' brownies on the menu. :)

 **Located off Main St in Frisco, CO**

**shelves of colorful rainbow mugs**

 **delicious looking cupcakes**

**wonderful raspberry croissants**

 **how many restaurants do you go in that have a

skiing dog hanging from the ceiling?**

**helpful suggestions for the bathroom**

They have delicious sandwiches and soups ~ my favorite soup is their tomato basil...but sadly they did not have it on the menu this time...I still had a yummy grilled cheese sandwhich with avocado and tomatoes on fresh whole wheat bread.  Kim stuck to the breakfast side of the menu and had one of their frittatas.

After brunch/lunch, we drove in to Breckenridge to wander around and visit a couple of fun shops.  We didn't see a lot of skiers in Breckenridge, but we saw a LOOOOOONG line of people waiting to get in to the Breckenridge Beer Fest...not something we opted to participate in but it was a nice day to be out and about in the town.  One of my favorite local shops is called Magical Scraps.  They have really cute handmade items...bags, hats, belts, jewelry, and on and on...you can see a small sampling on their website and Etsy shop, but it's really worth it to take a walk through their store...I was good today ~ I didn't buy anything this time, just admired the talent the ladies of the shop have...I did snap some photos of the store...I've seen these embroidery hoops displaying fabric on other blog sites before and think it's a really cute, inexpensive way to decorate a wall...

**Love this wreath on the door ~ just strips of colorful fabric

tied in knots around a wire metal wreath form**

**aren't these appliqued hand towels so cheerful looking?**

I saved the best for last...this next photo was NOT in

the "Magical Scraps" store ~

but I had to include it...

move over "Mounted in Alaska"...

this is Colorado's version of taxidermy...

Plush Trophy Heads...

could be cute nursery decor for an Alaskan baby, right?  :)

Our final stop of the day before heading back to Denver, was to the Silverthorne Outlets ~ just to check out a couple of stores as we each had some discount coupon offers to use.  My favorite purchase of the day was a light-weight ruffled scarf...I've seen a similar one (almost identical actually) for sale by one of the bloggers I follow, but they are kind of spendy...$28 for a scarf is hard for me to swallow...but I got this one at Eddie Bauer today for a whopping $10!!  Love getting a great deal! :)

All in all, a really great day!!  Thanks Kim! :)

Signs of Spring - Part 2

About 2 days after I took the picture of the flower buds on the tree (see previous entry), the same tree now looks like this...

Love, Love, Love to see these signs of Spring!!!



Signs of Spring

Spotted this on Saturday...

and then by Sunday, we were back to snow...

tomorrow is supposed to be 70*.

Gotta love Colorado ~

Weekend Activities

This weekend was one of ups and downs, or downs and ups...said good-bye to a friend who moved away...even though I'm leaving in 3 months, it was still hard to see her go...I won't say it was EXACTLY like this Friends episode where Rachel said good-bye to Monica, but there were some tears shed...

Saturday ended up being a GREAT weather day ~ we hit above 80* ~ and took full advantage of it by heading out to a park that is practically in my backyard ~ but was someplace I had yet to visit.  Castlewood Canyon State Park is in Franktown, CO and has many hiking trails to wander around, and many places to see the Cherry Creek flow through the park.  My friends, Ashley & Dean, their two dogs, Angel and Chardy, Duncan, Dave and myself all headed down there. 

It was so nice to be out in the sun ~ the trails we were on were easy to maneuver ~ but there were A LOT of other people enjoying the day as well.  I wasn't sure how Dave would do, but he kept up well, even when we got off the path a little and created our own 'path' / scramble back to the top after spending time down near the creek.  Duncan & Dave don't LOVE baths, so I wasn't sure if they'd go in the water..but they did venture out a short way, at least to get their paws wet...Angel & Chardy have NO reservations whatsoever.  They LOVE the water...

Duncan preferred watching from above

 Angel 'fetching' rocks

 I think the water is still a little chilly

Ashley, Dean & the girls

Muddy dogs get to ride in the back of the car

After an afternoon out in the heat and the sun, a treat is in order...for puppies and humans...Good Times has special doggie treats called "Paw Benders" and they are only $1.00...one of the best deals out there.

They were a BIG hit!!