826 Denver?

Last night I had the great joy of meeting a couple good friends at the Tattered Cover in LoDo to listen to Dave Eggers read from his new book (Zeitoun) and speak about reading, writing and democracy. The crowd was what one would expect: young, hipster, ambitious and a little nerdy. There was one teacher working on an oral history assignment with their students, another trying to help his students read Zeitoun. There was also, of course, the crazy-haired guy who hovered near the door and cornered Dave right before the book signing.

What was so great about Dave was his passion for supporting youth to think critically about their lives and their world, to not accept the status-quo so easily. He spoke about civics (including the duty to pay for newspapers if we want a real democracy) and oral histories (the seed of Zeitoun), the choice for students to choose their reading materials and how his students don't connect to JD Salinger anymore (gasp!).




I was there with my friend Beth and we have always had the inner desire to start an 826 Denver. It seems way too daunting for the two of us so we were delighted to hear that there is already a contingent of Denverites looking to start an 826 in Denver. Each 826 has a "front" store: in San Francisco its all about pirates, in Brooklyn superheros can purchase all their supplies. So the question on my mind today: what would we sell at 826 Denver?

Resolutions, Schmesolutions

Seriously. It's March 2nd and I have blogged exactly two times this year, which clearly does not constitute following a New Year's Resolution. However, with today's blog posting, it does average out to one blog a month, which seems to be an improvement over last year.

Since almost two months have past since my last posting, it seems appropriate to update people on exactly what I've been doing that is so important that I can't blog:

1. Riding Bike: With a Century in June, my friend Brian has been outlining a training regime for Rachel and I. This has including biking up Lookout Mountain when there was still ice on the road and climbing a 7% grade for 12 miles on a Saturday morning when I would much rather be sleeping in. I miss the Brian who likes to party (aka DJ Brio who will be appearing on March 13th at the Highlands Tavern in celebration of Erin's 30th Birthday).

2. Doing Yoga, Lots of Yoga: Ever since high school, February has seemed like the longest month. With no holidays to speak of and cold, dreary weather, February drags on and on. So to get through it this year I decided to practice yoga everyday for 10 days. Done and done! I felt amazing, moved out of a rut of a not-so-great relationship and can hold forearm stand for more than 30 seconds.

3. Importing all my CDs to iTunes: Remember when albums used to have 15-20 songs? This occurred sometime in the mid- to late-'90s and seems to have gone to the wayside, along with flannel shirts, My So-Called Life and real reality shows.


In closing, I hear by solemnly swear to return before April.

Ciao!

I am a crock-pot fanatic

This would be my fourth New Year's Resolution and so far it's going swimmingly! Three recipes down and another to go tonight. So yummy. So easy.

My favorite recipe so far: Creamy French Toast with Blueberries. Yum!

1 T butter
1/2 c. soft cream cheese (from a tub) (light of course)
8 slices of stale bread, crusts removed (I'm thinking WW bread here)
1 1/2 c. wild blueberries
8 eggs, beaten
2 cups light cream
1 cup Splenda
pinch salt
2 t vanilla

Grease the crock pot with the butter & leave the excess in the crock

Spread cream cheese onto one side of the bread slices. Place the bread, cream cheese side down, into the crock.

Sprinkle the blueberries over the bread.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.

Pour mixture over the bread and berries in the crock. The bread will start to float up. Gently press the bread down into the egg mixture. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes and then press the bread down again.

Cover and cook on low for 3 hours. The casserole will be “poofed” and slightly browned on the edges when done.

2K10

When did this happen? New year, new decade and a new way of writing the year. It also occurs to me that I have not written here for over three months. It seems absolutely crazy and preposterous that it has been that long and I haven't written in this blog. So. Time for my yoga-inspired New Year's Resolution: I am an up-to-date blogger.

The yoga inspiration came from a class I took last week where the teacher talked about the pitfalls of New Year's Resolutions: they always hint at a deficiency we have. For example, "I will eat better" = "I don't eat well enough" and "I will lose weight = I'm fat". So in class, she had us meditate on a more affirming Resolution-of-sorts: "I am healthy and strong". Then in my next yoga class (on New Year's Day), the teacher had us meditate on a similar mantra: "I am yoga". Both of these mantras focus on what we are and are rooted in the present. They somewhat hint at the past, but mostly they just speak to who we are and what we are in the here and now.

Thus, my New Year's Resolution is: "I am an up-to-date blogger." Another one is, "I am riding a century." And, of course, "I am yoga."

There it is folks. 2K10 is upon us and there are my resolutions.

Happy New Year!

Poppy

I am certainly not someone who really cares about brands. Kohl's is my favorite place to shop and I like to get a good bargain. Yesterday, however, I purchased something from the Coach store and I had an unexpected rush of joy and happiness when the woman wrapped up my pretty little wallet, tucked it in a pretty little bag and handed it across the beautiful sales counter. Now, I must note that I bought this little wallet for a purely pragmatic reason: I need something to protect my work badge. I've already gone through two badges in my short year in my current job and each time it needs to be replaced, I have to pay $25. Ugh. So, I decided to invest in something that would protect this badge, while also being kind of cute and pretty. Thus, enter the Coach store.

The whole place is beautiful: white walls adorned with shiny purses, luxurious gloves and silky-soft scarves. Everyone who works there is smiling and treats each sale like it's about to be Christmas. It's actually quite mesmerizing. I found a little wallet/id badge holder and the sales woman fetched me one from the back of the store (apparently, one does not buy the items out on the sale-floor that everyone has touched). They rang up the purchase, wrapped it up in pretty tissue paper, and placed it in a fancy bag.

Then I walked off, feeling happy and more special than I used to, with an over-priced little badge-protector, that somehow seems so much greater than it really is.

The Title of This Blog is A Lie

Well, it's a partial lie, at least. There is no humidity; that part is true.

However, it is NOT 70 degrees.
It is NOT sunny.
There is NO chance of a shower in the afternoon.

Instead, it is cold outside, it was dark by 7:30pm tonight and there is a chance for showers all day tomorrow. Ugh. After spending the weekend in Austin visiting Aunt Marcia and Uncle David (and attending one mud-filled day at ACL), I'm used to warmth and slight humidity. I was warm all day long and my hair was extra-curly. It was fantastic and relaxing and wonderful (more on the visit later...).

It appears that Autumn has officially descended upon us and it's time to pull out the extra blankets and the hot tea. Other things on my to do list for the Fall:

1. Visit Lee & Karen in Wyoming with my parents.
2. Perfect my Halloween costume. I'm going as an "Emo" teenager, inspired by some of the girls who attend my Anger Management Group at work.
3. Help my friend Rachel shop for a new wardrobe (we're calling it "Rachel's What Not to Wear").
4. Find some awesome tall brown boots.
5. Read, read, read.
6. Hold my forearm stand for longer than 5 seconds.
7. Carve a pumpkin, drink some cider and otherwise be very fall-esque.

Attempt at a Restart

After a year of no blogging, it seems like time to try this again. A lot has happened since the last post: I started a new job, moved, ended a two-year relationship and got a new car. Other highlights included accidentally burning my parents' land in Kansas on Jan 1st, visiting good friends out in Pennsylvania (both last fall and a few weeks ago), house-hunting (unsuccessfully) joining a small group at First Mennonite Church in Denver, and buying my first piece of real furniture (a couch).

Today I've been taking it easy around the house: watching Soprano's Season 5 (I'm watching the whole series again), catching up on Project Runway and The Office, napping, sipping coffee, etc. It's a beautiful day outside, but sometimes when the weekend arrives, I just want to relax and be lazy! I needed to refuel and get back on track with sleep and rejuvenate. I'm hoping that tomorrow I have more energy and plan to do some yoga, go for a walk, and get grocery shopping done. Then, in the evening I'm headed over to watch the Emmy's with a group of friends. And just to be silly and get into the mood, we're all wearing a formal outfit; I'll be wearing my purple prom dress from my senior year of high school. Ha!

From now on I hope to be blogging more, including sharing some highlights from the past year. To start, I'll share a video of Emma swimming in the mountains in July. My parents came out for a visit and we spent a day and a half near Winter Park. We enjoyed staying at a friend's condo and then went for a nice hike on Sunday. While hiking we came across a nice deep pond and Emma enjoyed swimming to fetch sticks.