Thursday, June 30, 2011

Musings

Its been hot here this week. I mean hot. H.O.T. Like, 90+ degrees everyday. Now, being from the midwest, I can honestly say that its not as horrible as the 90+degree days with humidity. But... since we are a mile closer to the sun... it makes it hot.
This brings me to my first musing.... when the weather gets really, really hot.... work attire starts to really push the borders of whats appropriate and whats not. Now, I do not work in HR, so I am not constantly checking people's work attire to deem whether its inappropriate or not. But, walking through my building's lobby at lunchtime is a good indication. Skirts are shorter, clothes are more casual.  I also feel like I can tell which of the people walking around drive themselves to work and which take public transportation.  The public transportation people are dressed to deal with the weather.
Very interesting....
My second musing is that...after 6 weeks of not wearing a real pair of shoes, your foot gets used to not being enclosed.  And putting on a shoe feels really, really weird. But, HOORAY for no more boot!
Third... since the boot came off, I started working out. I was told no dancing or running, but pretty much everything else. This seriously limits what I can do... so I brushed off an old abdominal work-out that Miss Heather and I used to do. Oh yes, the P90x ab ripper. Umm.... I feel as though a truck ran over my mid-section. Seriously. And to be this sore... you would wish that the results were immediate. They are not. Sadly. My post-break squish is still there... I just feel like I was run over. Joy. But, to be the best masochist I can... I will be back at it again tomorrow.
If I don't die in the meantime.
Which I might if I keep sneezing.
Sigh.
Lastly... its a long weekend coming up. So hopefully that means I will actually have something exciting to post about. Rather than random thoughts that go through my head.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Slacking!

So I have been slacking on updating lately. Not because I haven't been doing anything, but just because I have been slacking. Its how I am. Its what I do. Its... how I keep you hanging... :) Or something. Soo... this is what I have been up too:
Wednesday night is date night with Jay. Normally I will put something together or we'll go out to eat... this time, I wanted to push my own boundaries. So I decided to try something new. And different. And hopefully yummy.
Herb and Goat Cheese-Stuffed Chicken Breasts Recipe
courtesy of CookingLight.com
So I made these! Chicken breasts stuffed with goat cheese... and spinach... and garlic. So I didn't follow the recipe exactly... but it was soooo tasty. Jay and I enjoyed it with spicy udon noodles and a small spinach salad on the side. We finished off the whole meal with chocolate dipped strawberries! Yum!

Thursday, I took another sewing class. This one was all by myself, but it was at a new place, called Fabric Bliss.  Its a super cute place and the owner is adorable and really friendly. I took the Super Soft Baby Blanket class. No, I am not having a baby. But since it appears that everyone around me seems to be getting pregnant and all that, I figured it would be a cute skill to have... in case I needed to whip out a quick gift for someone. Although... now that I know how to do it, I would love to make a BIG blanket, because the fabric is just soooo soft.
cute pattern!

So now, I know how to make super cute baby blankets. Bring on the baby showers!

On Friday, it was time to send Claire off to Chicago in style! A few of us headed out to dinner... meandered over the the Pour House for drinks....
tres amigas!

college friends... long time friendship
Then we met up with a whole bunch more of Claire's friend over at Wynkoop for pool and drinks and more shenanigans. It was a great night out! But, Claire, I will miss you!!!!!
my partner in crime

Saturday... Jay and braved the heat and headed out to Wash Park to celebrate my friend Shannon's bday. Games, food, drinks and friends... it was hot, but it was a lot of fun!
All in all a great weekend, a semi-busy week.... and so much more to come!

Monday, June 20, 2011

Just some stuff

I still continue to pine after dance... and am looking forward to when I am back at the studio practicing. I have been trying to stay busy... and not bored.
So... Friday night Jay and I headed out for a date night! Dinner out followed by a show at the improv theater downtown. Coloradoans... check it out if you've never been: Impulse Theater. Its like "Whose Line is it Anyway?", but live. So you (the audience) get to suggest things to the actors. Jay and I somehow managed to be seated up front and center. Because of this....we ended up making lots of suggestions. And laughing our butts off. By the time the show was over, both of us had sore faces from laughing so much and so hard.  A fantastic way to spend our Friday.

16th Street Mall at night
 Saturday was Mom's birthday! Happy Birthday Mom! Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures... but we did all have breakfast at Jelly! Such yummy food, it was Mom and Andy's first time there, and they seemed to enjoy it. This was followed by a few hours at the Highlands Street Festival.  They had crafts, food, classic cars... and lots of great people watching!
Saturday night Jay and his friend had tickets to the Rapids v. Galaxy game. Luckily, I didn't have to stay at home since Claire and her friend Andrew picked up a ticket for me as well! Jay and I were on opposite sides of the stadium. But it was a fun game to watch... and I got to spend more time with the beautiful Claire, who is leaving me so soon!
Claire and I - being our totally normal selves.
Sunday was a lazy day. It was great. We got to sleep in, I called Dad to wish him a Happy Father's Day... then Jay and I decided to be productive... and clean his place. And move furniture around. Yes, really. I helped move the furniture, boot and all. In between all the cleaning and moving, we watched re-run episodes of True Blood. New season starts on Sunday!!!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

I am missing dance...

Irish Dance

Good Morning America - "Jig"

These two links came to my attention lately. I have probably watched them 5 or 6 times each in the last few days.
I am really missing dance right now. Being bummed about my bum foot. Bored and missing all my lovely dance friends.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

A(nother) Birthday!

Today is beautiful Miss Stacey's birthday. Sunday was the lovely Miss Claire's. Wonderful how two birthdays fall so close together!
Last night, Stacey and I re-started our Tuesday night girl's night tradition. We had missed the last couple of weeks and both agreed it had felt like an eternity. Last night's agenda? Talk. Talk and talk and talk and talk. We didn't cook food, we didn't watch movies. We just talked. Catching up on whats been happening the last few weeks. For Stacey, it was a lot. For me, not so much. But still it was great to catch up. No more lapses in girl's night!!!
Also last night, I gave Stacey her birthday present. Since I have been a crafting/sewing fiend lately... I made her a purse. A special Stacey purse.
stripes for Stacey
 Stacey had made a comment to me when I first started on my sewing adventures, that she really liked stripes. I felt this fabric was perfect for her! With a couple little fabric flowers (made by moi) and some colorful buttons, the purse was ready!
Stacey seems to like
So Happy Birthday, Miss Stacey. Hope today is awesome!!! Now I just need more birthdays to be coming up so I have an excuse to sew more!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Foot update

I went to see the doctor this morning to check up on my foot and how its healing. Apparently my diet of calcium pills is actually helping! I have new bone growth on each ends of the break... so now we just have to fill in the middle. The doc said it looked good and that if things keep healing the way they are, I only have my sexy boot for another 3 weeks!
Obviously dance and running and other high impact activities must wait until the end of July, but 3 more weeks of the boot I can totally handle!
The other plus to the healing process is that I no longer have to sleep with the boot on. Which is good, because the temperatures are rising... and it will be nice to air to foot and leg out at night.

Fingers crossed that the healing continues...

Monday, June 6, 2011

Being crafty...and a birthday celebration

So... while I am out of dancing and running commission, I have been trying to keep myself busy and distracted. This is my goal for two reasons, 1) so I don't go out of my mind with boredom and 2) so I don't eat myself to 500lbs. I think these are good goals, don't you?

My first order of craftiness came when Jay found an old (from his youth) sweatshirt from his dad's Alma mater.  While Jay didn't spend much time in his birth state as a kid, he likes to remind me all the time, that he is not a Coloradoan. He is from Texas. Sigh. Regardless, instead of letting him throw out the too small sweatshirt, I transformed it into something more useful.
Pillow!!

Looks good on his couch :)
 My second project was for my beautiful friend Claire's birthday present. Happy Birthday Claire! Obviously she has already gotten said present, otherwise I wouldn't be posting the pictures. Talk about a surprise spoiler.  A couple years ago, I had made myself a jewelry picture frame to hold all my earrings (as they get jumbled and tangled so easily).  Claire had asked for the same. So... I picked up a plain wooden frame, had Jay help me pick out the gorgeous turquoise color, found some great polka dot ribbon and whipped one up for her.
Claire's jewelry frame
 I had also decided to make a yummy treat for Claire's bday party... and the chosen recipe was PB cup cheesecake squares.
Chopped up PB cups
 The finished product was soooo tasty. So much so, that I am now loved and hated by members of Claire's family. :) The squares were the perfect size that they had everyone coming back for one more...and just one more... and one last little one...
the finished yumminess
 I had also put together a little photo collage for Claire. Since she is leaving CO for Chi-town at the end of the month. I felt she needed to take her friends with her. I dug up some old pics... including this one from Sophomore year of college.
the trio
 And this one from our time studying abroad. This was taken when Claire came to visit me in Glasgow while she was in London. We took a bus trip to St. Andrew's and I was pretty sure I was going to be the first person to die of a hangover.
 There were so many pics to choose from that I now have lots of extras that didn't make it into the collage. Regardless... now Claire has a little bit of home and some great memories to take with her. Love you, Claire!
at Claire's bday this weekend. :)