Breaking News?!?

I have been a total slacker when it comes to watching much of any local news coverage - just the occasional headline browsing...for SOME reason, I decided to click on the 9news website tonite...and just what was the headline that greeted me?!?

TRADER JOES FILES PAPERWORK TO COME TO COLORADO...

How was there not one single post about this on Facebook today?!?  I think I'm suddenly feeling a little homesick... :)

It's All Relative

One of the first things I do when I wake up each morning is check the weather...I used to turn on the t.v. to do this, but now with that new fangled technology out there, I just pull up the weather app on my phone...it's great because you can set it to see the weather in multiple locations so I can check Colorado, Alaska, Russia, South Africa...wherever I want to see. It's been in the mid to upper 80's here recently, so when I saw the forecasted high of ONLY 75* my first thought was, 'Oh, it's going to be colder today.'  And then I started laughing (yes, I laugh at myself / by myself sometimes...don't you??) as I thought, 'when I'm in Alaska, if it gets UP to 75* I'll be thinking, Wow, it's really WARM today!'  :)

COLORADO Today Jun 17

Sat 18

Sun 19

Mon 20

Tue 21

Isolated T-Storms	Isolated T-Storms	Mostly Cloudy	Scattered T-Storms	Few Showers
76°F	79°	79°	66°	72°
High	High	High	High	High
55°	56°	56°	54°	55°
Low	Low	Low	Low	Low

ALASKA  Today Jun 17

Sat 18

Sun 19

Mon 20

Tue 21

Sunny	Partly Cloudy	PM Showers	Showers	Showers
69°F	70°	64°	64°	65°
High	High	High	High	High
51°	53°	53°	54°	53°
Low	Low	Low	Low	Low

La Sandia

One of the things I like best about Colorado summers is the opportunity they provide to sit outside on restaurant patios...today was a perfectly sunny, warm Colorado day so I was able to do just that for lunch with some good friends.  I'm kicking myself that I didn't snap a photo of the terrific view of the mountains, but it was beautiful...blue skies, lots of sun...and a shaded / cover patio for us to sit under.

La Sandia is a great Mexican restaurant that has both an upstairs and main floor outdoor patio / bar area.  They make guacamole table side, provide sangria by the pitcher, and have fabulous food!  This was the first time I'd been on a weekend, so was able to try out their brunch menu...

Iron Skillet Tacos with potatoes, eggs, onions, cilantro, chorizo sausage, flour tortillas, black beans, salsa verde and salsa rojas...it was delicious!   And I always love their presentations...

Ashley's choice...tortilla soup, cheese enchilada and chicken tinga taco...

 And Dean's choice...chicken quesadillas...with a Coors Light... :)

 the blue skies turned somewhat cloudy by the time we left, but it was still a great day...

 close up of the cool punched tin stars decor hanging from the ceiling

Thanks Dean & Ashley for a fun birthday lunch!

I Heart Newborns

I'm very fortunate to have a lot of friends who have kids or are having them so I get to have my 'kid fix' whenever I want.  Just got to spend time snuggling with this new little munchkin...

Nothing like a teeny, tiny little bundle of one-day old baby to remind you how amazing life is. 

Here are her proud big sister and big brother...

some new pillow friends

Right before we took this picture, Will informed me that he'd "lost his smile".  When I asked him where he'd lost it, he replied, "At the farm..."  Thankfully, we were able to find it in time to take some pictures...

Congratulations Ashley & Joe!!  Your newest little one is so precious ~ love you guys!

A Paris Street Market

Each May through October, there is a fun local outdoor vendor market that sets up in the parking lot of a nearby mall.  It's called A Paris Street Market and it has a lot of fun things to see (and buy if you're so inclined).  It's typically held the first Saturday of each month, and what do you know...this past weekend was the first Market for the 2011 season.  I love going because you see new things each time, dogs are welcome, and it's held outdoors so you feel like you're taking advantage of the nice weather without having to exert yourself TOO much. :)

I've been successful at finding just the perfect thing in the past ~ there's one guy who sells GREAT refinished furniture pieces at REALLY reasonable prices ~ I've bought a dresser and an end table from him over the years. 

There are old books, quilts, dishes, furniture, suitcases, windows etc...as well as new items...jewelry, clothes, hats, crafts etc....but there are always new and different things to see.  There have been many times my friends and I have commented to one another, 'My grandparents used to have those...' so it's fun to reminisce.  Granted, there are SOME things you find and think, 'I wonder which Goodwill they bought THAT from' so you have to be discerning in what you're looking for, but it can be a fun way to 'treasure hunt' if you're a collector of something in particular.

Saturday was one of the first 80+ degree days we've had in Colorado and MANY people were out and about.  I brought the boys with me because I knew they'd enjoy getting outside, and I knew they would be a good deterrent for me from being able to shop TOO much as it's easier to just wander up and down the middle of the rows with two pooches than it is to actually get in to each of the vendor booths (plus there MAY have been an incident last year where I got too close to the furniture guy's booth and Dave MAY have mistaken a piece of furniture for a fire hydrant...thankfully I had Lysol wipes handy and the vendor was VERY understanding). :)

Here are a few pictures of things that caught my eye...

This was one of the boys favorite places...

Dave may be more ready for Alaska than I thought...whenever we got to a place with shade, he immediately plopped down into his 'Superman' pose...

and as soon as we got back to the car, he made a beeline for whatever shade he could find...

Saturday was a success - lots of looking, but no buying given my recent vehicle expenses and being in the midst of packing/downsizing.  I'm just about ready to start counting down the days...for now I'll tell you it's only 7 weeks until the adventure begins!! :)

It's Gonna Be a Warm One...

Looking forward to the weekend...

with stick-your-head-out-the-window kind of weather!

Missed it by THAT much...

What do you get when you combine the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Red Rocks outdoor amphitheatre and guest singers Sarah McLachlan and Idina Menzel?

You get TWO amazingly, fabulous summer concerts...that are both taking place (sadly for me), this July!!  Sarah is here July 10th and Idina Menzel (most widely known for her portrayal of Elpheba in the Broadway hit "Wicked") is here July 17th.  I love both of these ladies voices and have serious envy for whoever gets to attend these concerts.  Red Rocks amphitheatre is one of THE greatest outdoor venues out there in my opinion...definitely a highlight if you ever spend any time in Colorado for sure!

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!

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!! :)