09/05
I took this photo on the shores of Horsetooth Reservoir. I was a hot day, one of the last I remember, and I worked all morning at Mugs baking like crazy. I got done surprisingly early and headed home to find J and tell him to pack a picnic immediately, I need to run down a beach into some freezing cold water. And that's exactly what we did. J made pita sandwiches with spinach and lemon-rosemary turkey and we headed for the hills. We climbed down to the water and set up our towels and I skipped to the water. It was no dreamy Italian coast but it satisfied my longing. I didn't know J was scared of open water and I was a total butthead about it, making him get in and watch me be a mermaid.
Here he is being a total dreamboat. He got sick of me always talking about Harry Potter and decided to read the books. I love hearing him chuckle as he's reading and saying "Hey baby, you gotta hear this part..." I know them all by heart but I indulge him anyway.
09/06
I got this wonderful postcard in the mail from little Oliver. I'd been his babysitter since he was 4 months old and he just turned 7! Here he's thanking me for the absurd amount of Legos I showered him with on his birthday in early August. I love this little man so much. This postcard and his 1st grade school picture now have prime real estate on my fridge and he makes me smile every time I reach for my orange juice.
09/12
Here's an example of what I spend my days doing. These are chocolate chip cookies-- a simple recipe and yet a stupid amount of work. I make the dough (of course I test some for quality control purposes...) and then I scoop, divide, roll, and shape each one. Every batch makes about 90 cookies. Holy canoli. It takes me forever and my forearms kill me by the end of it all but it's nice, peaceful work. I work alone, with podcasts on (usually Spilled Milk or This American Life) and I mix and measure and scoop and form until they're done. And then I make 3 more batches. I gripe, but really I love my job to bits. It gives me so much time to reflect and I learn so much from the podcasts I hear, whether it's the difference between lemon and clover honey or what it's like for an American woman to live in Juarez, Mexico.) My coworkers are such great people and I get to make food for people. It's a pretty fantastic way to spend my days.
09/14
I don't have a picture for this day because I got so scolded for trying to take one but on this night I went to see Neko Case play at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver. This was a few nights after Colorado got massively flooded and we weren't sure if we'd be able to make it but we did. She blew me away. She had the flu and still powered through her set like it was the first time she'd ever done it. Her back-up vocalist, I want to say her name was Faye) was totally remarkable as well. She played lots of my favorites and most of the new album too which I have been adoring and seriously overplaying all month.
09/15
So here's a terrible photo (my phone's a POS) of Neyla and Wesley of the Lumineers. Since I am such a party girl who goes to concerts everynight (not) we went to Red Rocks to see them play in the pouring rain! One of my besties, Emily, has been dating the bass player for a few years and he slapped our names on the VIP list for this show-- the first time he and J have been in the same state for a Lumineers show since ever. We had a blast and it was extra special since Dr. Dog was opening. We got to hang sidestage for the whole show and enjoy free beer and cheese and coffee and we were able to stay DRY which was a miracle. The best part of the night was a huge surprise for the concert-goers-- the Colorado Symphony Orchestra would be joining them onstage for some of their set! It was super mindblowing. I couldn't stop watching the string section the entire night. It was pretty special that they were there since, due to the rain and extreme humidity, the union gave them the option of leaving and about 60% did. The 30-or-so that stayed did an incredible job. I had a great time seeing Emily and Ben and J and I spent a sweet minute kissing in the rain. So cheesy and awesome.
09/17
I'm going to be completely honest and tell you that I cleaned my living room solely so I could snap this photo. The morning light that day was so pretty and I am do damn proud of how cutesy my house is, I wanted to share. I really love colors. My wedding colors someday are going to be EVERY COLOR. I have been organizing my books by color for years (because it looks awesome) and you can't really see it, but the bunting banner above the kitchen "window" (or is it just a wall hole since you don't see outside?) is a big rainbow and really brightens up the room. One of my favorite places in the world is the Redwood Forest in Northern California and upon seeing the absurdly huge photo above the couch online, I knew I had to have it. The white chair has been in J's family since before he was born and it's so mod and comfy. You guys, I love my house. It's all coming together and it's a place I LOVE to be.
09/22
So today I went a little crazy. I went to the Bath Nursery in search for a bird feeder and bought three plants instead-- two cacti and a pretty, leafy houseplant with waxy leaves that I don't know the name of. I went home and gave them all little spots to nest and went to Home Depot in search of a bird feeder (for real this time...) I came home with a cute simple one and two more plants. Oops. Let's hope I don't kill them all. The repotting of my venus fly trap was a bad idea. It's dead. And one of my cacti looks like it didn't want to be adopted but I will make it love me. Pictured is my venus fly trap, a little cactus tree I couldn't resist (it reminds me of the Little Prince for some reason) and a terrarium in which I am vainley trying to raise a bed of succulents. They don't like me either. Oh, and isn't that a great view?
09/24
On the 24th I flew to visit my aforementioned bestie, Aaron, in Pittsburgh, PA. After a super happy run-and-hug in the middle of baggage claim we drove to the local Whole Foods, where he works in the Seafood department, so we could buy breakfast goodies for the next day. We decided on rolled oats and peaches and I talked him into buying some of the fresh ground honey roasted peanut butter because holy cow am I obsessed with it. We spent the afternoon walking around his neighborhood, Lawrenceville and Bloomfield.
That night we went to the bar he used to work at, Brillobox and sipped hot toddys until we got real sleepy/sloppy.
09/25
The view from my room in the attic at 7:45am.
Around a more human time to be awake, 10am Aaron made us coffee. I got the black mug. I love it. It's made of corn so it doesn't get very hot and there's a little pinky nook on the handle! It's the little things...
Doesn't this look delicious?? We made the rolled oats we bought the day before and sliced a ripe peach on top. Yummmm.
Probably my favorite excursion on the trip was the long walk we took through Allegheny Cemetary. I'm a sucker for tangible history and cemeteries just really warm me up inside. It was incredible to see the gravestones and tombs of people who lived so stinkin long ago, not to mention the sheer expanse of land this cemetery covered! I never thought it would end (not that I wanted it to.)
Our dogs were barking like mad after that long walk and we went to a place called Franktuary for a drink and some sun-basking. I had a Vodka Watermelon Lemonade spritzer that wet my whistle in a wonderful way. Aaron had a pumpkin beer. Figures.
Here's his dreamy face. We relaxed at the house for a but before heading out to see...
KURT VILE & THE VIOLATORS
It was pretty great. It was held at the Carnegie Lecture Hall and there were maybe 50 people there. So crazy. They had some technical difficulties during the show but since they started the set with my favorite song, "Walkin on a Pretty Day." Listen to it. It's great!!
09/26
In the morning we went to The Bloomfield Sandwich Shop which is owned by the nicest woman, Mama Roz. It's a little trailer on Liberty Avenue and it's yellow and homey and cozy and fun and the food is delicious and crazy cheap! Definitely check it out if you're in Pittsburgh. You'll feel right at home.
We spent most of the rest of the day at the Carnegie Museum. I won't bore you with all the stuff I saw and loved. Enjoy some photos.
The gems and minerals exhibit was my favorite. Holy moly. I couldn't stop oooohing and awwing and straight-up gasping. SO MUCH SPARKLY BEAUTY!!
Afterwards we sat out in the courtyard for a bit and enjoyed the sunshine and a cup of coffee to overcome our serious case of Stendhal syndrome.
by aaron.
09/27
We drove through all sorts of neighborhoods to get to Frick Park because "I gotta see some nature, man!!"
Frick Park was a super enormous park in the middle of Pittsburgh. You couldn't hear the city. Just walking through a big ol forest. It was so great.
09/28
And then I flew home. I took this on the drive to the airport. It was foggy and the sun was just coming up. Such a dream. I was pretty sad to leave. No one wants to go back to work after spending 4 super wonderful days with their bestie. But I did.
09/30
To fight my post-vacation blues I made some hummus and it was damn good. I put 1 can garbanzo beans, 1/3 cup tahini, 2 T olive oil, 3T pesto and 1t salt in my little magic blender thing and ate that with a spoon.
So there ya have it. That was September. I write this on October 3rd, because it takes me forever to publish a post, apparently. It's supposed to snow tonight. I can't wait. But also, tomorrow morning J leaves on tour for three weeks. So that sucks. See the tour schedule here and go see him and tell him I miss him.
Lots of love, friends. I'll be back soon. I PROMISE. <3
