A Few of My Favorite Things

Travel, Lattes, Independence

This was taken on my trip last year to visit Calle in New Zealand. After a 3-day sailing adventure that we went on together, I got to spend a lot of time exploring by myself during the day when she was at work. It was a nice, sorta independent time, but also with the comfort of knowing I would be going to hang out with someone I really enjoyed in the evening. The other thing I really like about this photo (besides the very artful pattern the barista made for me) is that I love lattes. They're like comfort food in the mornings. I love having a latte and watching people walk by the window. Or while reading a book.  It  makes me slow down and appreciate the peace of the moment.

Bling, Rain, Dogs, Flowers, Family

I adore shiny things. So these raindrops were like special sparkly treasures. It doesn't rain that much in Colorado, so I always enjoy it when it does. I was dog-sitting at the time for two huge, lovable, fluffy Old English Sheepdogs named Cromwell and Hastings. (Awesome names -- I feel like I should cultivate a British accent just to hang out with them.) And there's always the sentimental side when I see or take flower photographs. When we moved to Colorado my grandma on my Dad's side used to come and visit. She grew prize-winning orchids in her basement and had a fascination for alpine tundra flowers. I think she went on every guided nature walk that Rocky Mountain National Park ever offered. And I think she cataloged every possible variety of flower there. When we moved her out of her house she literally had a dozen+ boxes of flower photos (not shoeboxes, think bigger, like a box that would hold a shelf of books). So I've seen a couple flower photos in my lifetime...and I guess I didn't fall far from the tree if I'm also taking them.

Bike Rides, Outside, Autumn

The picture above was taken on a bike ride around Dillon Lake with my buddy, Becca.  We happened to be there on the perfect day to see all the Aspen colors -- and it was sunny too!  Can't get any luckier than that.  I can't describe how much I like riding my bike.  It's the best tax return investment I've ever made.  Riding is when my brain processes through most of those sticky thoughts or bottled-up things that I don't easily let go.  Being outside is a part of that.  I like the feeling of huge open space and nothing over my head to hold it all in.  It lets those sticky, bottled-up bits just float right out.  Plus I think I might be part plant or something because I feel better when in the sunshine.  I like exercising, too, because it lets me be a little less careful about what I eat (or it used to - sigh) and I'm always chasing that feeling of coordination and fitting into my space that comes with it.  I prefer to ride by myself most of the time because I'm terrible at pacing and hate holding people back.  Plus from the articles I read on riding it seems like there's a pack order and a social/physical obligation to contribute to the pace by taking the lead sometimes.  That would totally defeat the purpose of me letting my brain unwind.

Split-Aparts

I know this is a cheesy picture, but I look like I was the page of some magazine!  The sepia tones, the symbolic "new view" of opening the curtains, the way the beautician did my hair, the fact that I don't look too chubby, etc.  All nice work from the photographer.  But this really symbolizes being a part of a team. I like working together and accomplishing something bigger than you could by yourself.  Those little things you learn from other people -- little on the fly tidbits or the new ways to see something -- fascinate me.  And marriage is the ultimate team, right?  The two of you against the world?  Before I get to carried away, I better move off that topic, but you get the basic point, right?  Just one more thing -- apparently the notion of split-aparts is something I got from a movie I don't remember ever seeing.  I'm terrible at remembering movies.

Ice Hockey, The Path Less Traveled, Art

This is a statue of a jazz band in the wintertime in Reykjavik, Iceland.  Nobody goes to Iceland in the winter on purpose, right?  Most tourists go in the summers for all the outdoor activities.  But for this atypical tourist excursion, I went with my women's ice hockey team.  I love ice hockey -- it can be quick, physical, strategic, and still a finesse game all at once.  The women's teams I have played on seem to be very interested in setting up plays and learning to work together (men's teams seem to be more about the physical and individual glory).  Sadly, for the Iceland tournament, my team didn't do any scoring on the ice (hee), but we do have some great stories to tell!

And that's how I arrived at the new image at the top of this blog page - it's almost all of my favorite things all smushed together into one collage.

Time For a Change

We saw Julie and Julia recently.  I was jealous (or inspired). Now that I'm done with the Bridezilla project, it sounds fun to have a new project and it even sounds fun to have a deadline.

But what to do?

I sorta half-heartedly started this type of thing with the 5280 magazine's top restaurant review. I blogged about the meals we had out. This was fun (and I might continue) but it's been over done, I suppose. And I currently have no set schedule or goal.

I should learn to cook. It looks fun, and I sure do like to eat. Even thought that's been done, I could pick a different cookbook that sounds more fun to me. Like the Moosewood Cafe (their book for cooking at home) or the Coyote Cafe cookbook. I could get a cooking series show on DVD (I think I saw the Giada De Laurentiis and the Rachel Ray series at Target) and cook the things they make. But Iggy is already a great cook and he seems to like cook the evening meal. And, honestly, I don't see me sticking with this one for very long.

I've wanted to learn to garden too. But we're getting close to winter, and I'm sure I'd lose momentum. Plus the wait to see anything is somewhat incompatible with my need for instant gratification.

I like doing home improvement projects, and I have quite a few of those on my list that I'd like to do. But probably half of those are the "hire a contractor" type as opposed to the do-it-yourself type.

I've seen some cool photo blogs where they take a picture a day. That might be fun. But what sort of goal to set?


I love riding my bike, but I'm such an amateur that I'm fairly certain I have nothing to say on the subject. Besides, that's one of those things that's more fun to DO than to TALK ABOUT.
I've always loved reading -- and I'm in 2 book clubs. The problem with that is that right now I read so sporadically I rarely finish the books in time for book club. And my book clubs tend to pick best seller types, so those tend to be over-reviewed. I'm not sure I'd have much original to add.

I thought about trying my hand at creative writing today...and after all, this is a writing medium. I saw some interesting ideas all over the place (for example: 100 ideas, Writing Forward). But, again, what goals/timeline?

Thoughts? Advice?

Maybe I don't need a project...I'm behind at work anyways (but that's a constant state).

MILs

View from the Balcony

 We woke up to the sound of the waves gently rolling on the shore. The light is very muted here since it’s “rainy season”. For some reason, laying in bed listening and letting my unfocused eyes wander around the shell-shaped swoops of the textured ceiling I thought it would be cold outside. The AC isn’t on very high and the temperature is pleasantly in between cool and comfy-warm.

 

We’re here to get married. Which is exciting! And I am so glad to be here for a host of reasons that are unrelated to the wedding that’s sorta hard to sort them all out:

 

• I get to see Calle. (This is my friend from New Zealand and it will be twice in her 3-ish years there that I’ll see her. When she moved down under I had resigned myself to the occasion email.)
• I successfully got my dress here. (It was a royal P.I.T.A. carrying it through the airports and the planes didn’t have a closet for it as promised. I have no idea what shape it’s in after being smooshed in the overhead bin on top of everyone’s roll-aboard carry-ons…we’ll find that out later today.)
• I am on VACATION! (I stayed up all night before the trip trying to get caught up. I really should just work 10 hours every day – including weekends. It would be a lot easier in the end. I got my hours in at the layover at Phoenix and while there are 2 things I promised to get done before I left that I didn’t…well, someone else will figure them out. And hopefully have forgotten that I dumped that on them when I get back to work in a couple weeks.)
• Iggy, while a nervous traveler, seems to be a great companion (not only for trips but in general).
• One set of in-laws is here and that is going well…which brings me to the something I’ve been thinking about for a couple days.

 A couple of days ago a friend of mine posted on her Facebook wall “my MIL makes my life difficult”. And this weekend I’m about to gain two MILs. So how should I approach this?

 

I had a MIL once. She was great – fun, adventurous, brave, successful, smart, savvy. But she made my life difficult too. Her son, my ex, always chose her over anyone else. Granted I was easy-going at first. So every time he wanted to spend Christmas at my in-laws’ house – and there was always a good reason why we needed to, some saddening life event, some challenge she was facing, etc. I said “Ok, but next year maybe we can go visit my folks or have people come to our house.” It never worked out that way. And he was always wanting to go to their house in the mountains and spend the weekend. Every vacation we went on while we were married, they went too. She was cool, but I was second fiddle.

 

So I got to thinking about that. My ex-MIL was someone I really liked and actually liked hanging out with. Just not for every free moment. And my ex didn’t really see what I was complaining about – I mean his mom was cool, so what was my deal? So does anyone think their own mom would be a difficult mother-in-law?

 

Then I realized that this isn’t the point. For my own mom, we have differences, sure. But I have a lifetime of getting to know her and getting used to the nuances of what makes her happy or sad. So anyone coming into the picture now is a couple of decades behind me in figuring this situation out – they’ve got some adjusting to do. I think it’s like a foreign culture, almost, to try and learn how someone else’s family works. Do they brush their teeth before or after breakfast? Is it acceptable to have a nightcap before bed? Do they eat meat? Do they like to debate at the dinner table? Do they pray before dinner?

 

Anyways – here’s to adaptability and new adventures! I hope this weekend of all our families and friends meeting goes well. I’d hold my breath, but I’d probably pass out. And the scenery’s too pretty to miss…

 

See the bee?

Quality Time at the Ballgame

So, before you go and think that I never actually watch the game when I'm at the Rockies, here's a picture of the game -- you can see the baseball and everything:

 

Now on to the non-baseball part of the night.

It was an interesting night before we even got to the game.  Iggy, Becca and I had sorta planned to eat before going into the game, but Becca didn't get here as soon as I'd estimated based on her IM saying "leaving soon".  And when she got here, I looked at the time and said "I think we'll have to eat in Coors Field" -- more so we were all on the same page about the initial destination than anything.  I'd worked on my stuff right up until the last minute so it wasn't like I was sitting at the door going "WHERE *IS* SHE?!".  But I made her feel bad that she'd screwed up the plans.  (sigh)  At least she shrugged it off easily.

Then we seemed have front row for everyone making out.  I think July 6th must be National Make-Out Day, but somehow the holiday was left off my calendar.  I'm not big on PDA for myself, and so I'm not being hypocritical when I prefer that they wait until they get home for tongue action.  At least on the train.  And in the ball field.  The couple right in front of us was pretty impressive.  They arrived in the 2nd inning.  Each had a beer in each hand.  Then they left at the top of the 4th and came back later with round 2 of 2 beers each.  They left in the 6th.  I hope neither of them was driving.  During the time they sat in front of us their vocalizing went from cheering for the players/friendly banter to a fight to making up (tongue action) to the decision to leave while they were both still in the mood.  I suppose they could've come back (we left not too long after them)...

So of course I'm sitting there thinking about communication (my slip with Becca) and couples (well they WERE right in front of us).  Getting married soon has me worried about communicating and keeping that up -- it's a lot of work.  It's worth it, but it's never really easy.  And just when you think things are going along fine is really when they're all about to blow up.  Or maybe I'm really just a closet pessimist.  That's about when I looked to my left and saw this woman:

I basically get this:  it's a nice night out and she gets to spend time with her honey.  And she gets to do something she likes.  I just wonder what the conversation went like where you arrive at it being OK to spend money to sit at a game and read a book.  OR maybe she lost a bet.  At least she was in the nose-bleed section, right?

Fashion Cents (Tales of Bridezilla, part 2)

We were sitting at the Rockies game tonight and I got to thinking about fashion.  No, silly, I was still following the game, but it's sorta hard to see the game when you're sitting on the aisle and people keep walking up and down *supposedly* in between at-bats.

Just FYI, I would spend the rest of my life in my favorite jeans (if I could just lose this darn 15lbs I gained in the last 2 years), a tank-top bra, sweatshirt and my trusty Ecco Receptors if I had the choice.  I dress up to go to the office under great duress because I find all business clothes stuffy, uncomfortable and pretentious.  Or slutty.  There seems to be no middle ground.

So I color me incredibly surprised when I am totally excited about a wedding dress.  I don't quite know what to make of it.  But even the whole fairy-tale thing seems to come into focus for me with Iggy.  I have never been so girly in my whole life really.  When I went through the whole wedding thing before it was basically because my best friend was a fabulous party planner and I figured it was just me that couldn't grasp why you'd have a big day of pretending to be fabulous and wearing a $2000-single-use-dress.

Anywho...the Rockies game.  I saw a lot of flipflops and sneakers pass by.  But I also saw a surprising number of high heels.  Who wears high heels to a baseball game?  On a Tuesday night?  These women were uber cute - nice designer handbags (also a new weakness of mine - wtf???), cute mini skirts, trendy flowy "jackets" over a camisole with some glittery beaded necklace.  I love high heels even if I don't wear them much (I seem to already be sorta tall) and I find it fun to wear them with jeans.  I have been known to wear them to bars too -- but the point is to look sexy there.  I wouldn't wear them to a sporting event because there are lots of sticky children and people spilling mustard and beer on you there.  And I just really don't want that all over my toes...or my fancy shoes I guess.  I just rinse my sneakers off if they get dirty, but I'm not so sure my cute shoes would hold up to that.

Earlier today while I was in a meeting, er, while I was on a break, I surfed for a picture of a wedding dress I saw in some bridal magazine (oh gag me -- a bridal magazine?!? what is happening to me?).  The picture was 1.5 inches by 1 inch so you really couldn't see it.  But the picture I found on the web was...well, I am sure that is a $2000 (or more) dress.  And after all the shoes and put-together women passing by, I am sorta thinking that even though that dress would probably make me into a Greek Goddess (probably Athena and not Aphrodite -- don't get too carried away here, I'm not quite *all* that), I think I have the wrong hair.

Huh?

I recently got about 14 inches of hair chopped off for a hairstyle that looks like this:

Granted, Katie Holmes is much cuter than me and could certainly pull off Aphrodite in the expensive gown.

But at the moment I picture my hair matching something more like this dress:

Which is, of course, uber cute and uber fashionable and uber un-pull-off-able for someone that really, really, really doesn't like to be the center of attention.

This is more of the hair that I would need for the dress I saw:

But Salma Hayek could pull off any dress.

I dunno.  I have zero fashion sense.  I just know that cents-wise I would have a hard time paying a lot of money for a one-time-wear-dress.  So I am not sure I am going to go try on that dress...or if I do, I will pretend to you later that it only cost $200...