Fall Adventures

We've had some beautiful weather here in Colorado. Very un-October like weather. Temps in the 70s and 80s. Weird! However... since we've had such nice weather... Jay and I and Heather decided to take full advantage of it on Sunday. By going to a farm! Say what, you say?  Yes, a farm.  Miller Farms, to be exact.  I heard about this place from a co-worker of mine. Apparently, its a place where you can pick your own vegetables. Hmmm....? Jay and I had already discussed (at length) the idea of going pumpkin picking. Heather has been all about doing anything "American" since she returned. So the three of us made a trek to the boonies of Colorado... to pick vegetables.
It was AWESOME!!!! I wish we had known about this place over the summer. It is truly a foodie heaven. F-R-E-S-H produce. That you pick yourself! You pay $15.00 per person, which covers the bouncy balloon, corn maze, pumpkin, the tractor ride out to the fields and up to 5 grocery bags per person of whatever you pick. So off we went!

onions!

We got the option to pick...onions (red, yellow and white), cabbage, green beans, carrots, red potatoes, sweet corn, and pie pumpkins!  The onions were pretty easy to pick, just pry them out of the ground since they were half uncovered anyway. We skipped over cabbage and Heather and Jay went to town picking green beans. I got the job of getting the carrots...which isn't nearly as easy as Bugs Bunny makes it out to be. The potatoes were pretty easy since they had a little tractor thing that pulled them out of the ground for you.  The pumpkins were also easy, but you had to be careful not to get carried away. They were small and so easy to grab!  The corn was my favorite part. We picked the ears right off the stalk, wandering up and down the rows of corn. It would have been easy to get totally lost. The best part about the corn...it was so sweet we shucked a couple ears right there on the tractor and nibbled away on the raw ears. Yum!

picking sweet corn right from the stalks!

chose not to get any cabbage...

corn!!

pumpkins!

our loot! 2 people's effort yields a lot of veggies!

Heather had her own wagon!

sweet corn for dinner

We got boatloads of onions and potatoes. I will be learning/making French Onion soup in the near future. I am also planning to make a slow cooker stew this week to use up some of the carrots, onions and potatoes. The corn is oh, so, sweet... and I am planning corn bread and possibly corn chowder as well!! Lots of cooking in my future... but it will be great with such fresh veggies!

The right colors...

the wrong team.  Thats how I felt on Sunday when Jay and I headed to a Broncos game.  It was the last of his birthday presents, so I felt like I should be a good sport and cheer for his team. We were both decked out in Blue and Orange (I might have left my Bears socks on)...and we headed to Sports Authority Field at Mile High.  Thankfully all the snow was gone and it turned out to be a pleasant day!

we were pretty high up!

The seats were pretty high up, but we were right at the 40yd line, so it was good viewing for sure.

I kept hoping that the field would magically turn to Bears...but to no avail.  It was still a very fun and exciting game!

During half-time, they held a tribute to Breast Cancer survivors.  A few women's stories were shared... and it brought tears to my eyes. It was really, very touching and great to see.

pink balloons released

The day cooled off while the game heated up. It ended with the Broncos losing (terrific effort made!)... but it was a great Sunday to spend watching football.

Got my competitive juices flowin'

Dance. I haven't talked about it much... mostly because there hasn't been a ton to talk about, and partially because I was hoping that I would have something exciting to post about soon. Which I do. Today.
I haven't competed since April (a month or more before I broke my foot) and hadn't been too keen to test the competitive waters in September when Longs Peak feis rolled around. However... due to the amazing teaching skills of my friend Mary (soon to be TCRG? fingers crossed!!)....some serious ass getting kicked in class and diligent private lessons... I felt ready to hit the competitive stage again for Octoberfeis. I opted to only compete in my hardshoe dances, that way I didn't feel too stressed out and because all my hardshoe was in Novice.
Octoberfeis. Ironically enough, it fell on the same weekend as the Great American Beer Festival. Which I attended/volunteered for. So... when Saturday afternoon came for class... I felt like poop. I didn't think I was dancing well... and was not looking forward to competing.  Mary kicked my butt a little and told me to snap out of it and own my dances.
So... Sunday morning... I headed back to the competitive stage. And totally rocked it.
 



I still have things to work on... but coming back from a broken foot and placing my Treble Jigs and Hornpipes? Felt GREAT! My Treble Jigs moved into Prizewinner... sadly there were not enough people to move my Hornpipes. But still. I. Felt. Great. And it was fantastic to be competing again. Looking forward to the next feis!!

Beer, baby, Beer.

I love when September rolls around. Not only is the start of my favorite season... but it also means cooler temperatures, brilliant colors, and BEER. Yes, I associate beer with fall. If you lived in Denver and were a beer lover, you would too. Why? Four words...
Great. American. Beer. Festival.
Seriously. Imagine a convention hall packed with tables. Each table has beer on it. From different regions of the US. 2400 different types of beer. Bliss doesn't even begin to describe it.
GABF is a great event...made even greater when Heather and I decided to volunteer to pour beer 3 festivals ago. We had no idea what to expect, what we were in for... or how utterly AWESOME it was.
Let me sum it up for you.... by being a Brew Crew volunteer you:
get in FREE
pour beer
taste beer

meet people
free Brew Crew shirt and
drink beer...lots and lots of beer. FOR FREE. Enough said.  Also... at our first GABF as Brew Crew, I met Jay. Two whole years already. Obviously, GABF now holds a special place in both Jay's and my hearts.

Happy Anniversary Babe!

 The beautiful Miss Stacey joined us again this year (last year was her first, and now she's hooked!) And... my mom joined the Brew Crew as well. She seemed to have a total blast, and I am pretty sure the brewers wanted to take her home with them.

Brew Crew newbie!

She's back!!!

This is typical Heather and I

Stace and Jay!

my girls and I. Love these two!

Sadly... beer fest has ended for another year.... see you next year GABF!

A house divided

I am a Chicago girl. Born and bred. I spent the first 6 years of my life in the city...and even once we left the city for the suburbs, there were lots of visits to the city.  I have been in Denver for almost 10 years now. I love it and don't have plans to return to the Windy City any time soon (except for vacations, of course)
That being said, I have a few Chicago teams that I still cheer for. Like...the Cubbies! And... Da Bears! Bear down Chicago Bears
I bring this up since football season has started back up. And when you live with an avid football fan, as I now find myself doing, you can't help but be more vocal about your love for the Bears! Luckily, I have a wonderful and understanding boyfriend... and he gives me gifts that are perfect for the Chicago girl....

Bears Jersey!!! 

Recently, Jay surprised me with the 1940's throwback jersey... the one I have been wanting since I saw the team play in them last October! 

So now, I sit here on this beautiful Sunday afternoon and get to watch my Bears play. To add to my awesome jersey... I have my super sweet Bears socks as well!!

sweet Bears socks!

So what does this all mean for the non-Bears fan in my life?  Well, luckily he is very understanding... and his team (the Denver Broncos) share similar colors. Blue and Orange. So...in order to make sure Jay didn't feel left out on football days, I whipped up a little something so we can both share our love of our favorite teams. (please forgive the shoddy quality pictures, thats what happens when you rely only on your phone)

Broncos

Bears

So why am I showing you pictures of Broncos and Bears print? Because...I made a fleece tie blanket! I have seen a couple of these in friends' homes...but had never tried to make one myself. So... I decided that since Jay and I had a split household that what we needed was a Bears/Broncos blanket.

one side Bears the other side Broncos!

Now...everyone can be happy! :) At least until the Bears and Broncos play each other. Then we might have to fight over which side of the blanket is on the outside!

A house of orange and blue!

You know its fall....

...when Longs Peak Scottish/Irish Highland festival happens in Estes Park. It is by far, the biggest festival in Colorado... and is the most fun!  It is also one of the bigger feissana (irish dance competition) that we have in Colorado.  I believe that this year, there were over 450 dancers signed up to compete. 4 years ago... it was also my first ever adult Irish Dance competition!  I only competed in a few dances, but I was hooked.  Last year, it was my fist ever competition as an &over. It is by far my favorite feis of the year. However, this year, I didn't compete. The competition fell about 3 weeks after I returned to dance after breaking my foot back in May.  While classes have been going well...my feet feel good. I haven't lost all my height in my dances...I have just lost all my stamina. So... 3 weeks was just not enough.
But...Jay and I headed up to Estes for the weekend anyway! Jay volunteered (I mean...I volunteered him) to help out with the stages on Friday morning.  It gave us the opportunity to walk around the festival without the mass insanity that usually occurs on Saturday and Sunday.

Since I was not competing, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and the scenery, and went horseback riding!

Mom and I before the ride

We saw a bear while on our ride!

refreshments after a long ride!

It was a three hour ride, with some trotting...and we were all sore afterward! But it was a great day out!!

On Sunday, we headed back to the festival.  I helped out back stage, making sure that all the small girls and boys got to the right stage, on stage and off stage.  Its always fun to see the tiny kids (11 and under) have so much fun at the competitions. There was one tiny dancer that was only 3 years old! While she was pretty much the cutest thing under the sun... I think it was a bit early for her to be competing.

The afternoon was the "big kids" competition.  Which would normally be when I compete... but not this year. However, I did stick around to help Miss Stacey with her hair and make-up.  Luckily, Stacey trusts me to get her stage ready....because I love, love, love getting people ready.

Stacey!!!

Stacey ended up having a kick-ass competition. I unfortunately did not stay around to see her kick butt... but I am glad she did!  I love it when my friends do well!

I am sad I missed the competition, but I knew that physically, it would be pushing myself too much...and could possibly injure myself. But, there are many more competitions to come... Octoberfeis in just a few weeks!!

Hiatus - the move

so... I have taken a bit of a hiatus on blogging. And as beautiful Miss Stacey exclaimed to me today... she hasn't had anything to stalk! So... a couple posts to play catch up.

First and foremost... I moved. Phew! It was tough... going from a 15 minute walking commute to an hour on the train commute. The things you do for love... eh?

Things have pretty much gotten unpacked. Pretty much. There is still a lot to do... like hang up "our" artwork.  And find places for all the extra stuff we have between the two of us.

The biggest issue Jay and I have had is combining the cats.  Over the past year, Jay has been the caretaker for Heather's kitties, Dodger and Oliver.

Oliver and Dodger

Before Heather left on her trip around the world, her 2 cats and my 2 cats lived together. One big kitty family. My cats, Gus and Willow and Dodger and Oliver had a balance... a pecking order.  Gus was the king of the castle, followed by Oliver and Dodger. And Willow was just the little princess of the group.  Once separated, Gus still reigned as king of the castle and Willow was still the princess.

Willow, the little princess

Gus, the King.

Initially, the re-introduction of the 4 cats went...poorly. Lots of hissing, screeching, growling...not good. Over the last couple weeks...its gotten better. There are still some issues between the cats, but luckily its getting better.

Thankfully.... only one more week of all four cats together. Then Heather will be back. And Dodger and Oliver will be moving to their new home. 

And Jay and I can get back to making our home... Ours. :)

The first thing that Jay and I did...was paint. The extra bedroom was painted a greenish-bluish hue.  As Claire put it, it was reminiscent of a hospital room.

the green...with the new white paint starting to cover it up

With help from my mom...and my tall boyfriend, we painted the room a fresh white. It opened up the room and made it look clean and big and airy. Which is good... because that spare bedroom is now the guest bedroom! Hooray! Guests can stay and not have to sleep on an air mattress or on the couch!

We have work to do to make the place "ours" instead of Jay's...but we're getting there!

Busy busy busy

Its been a busy last week (or so) for me. So I have been terrible at posting. Why so busy? Packing. Lots and lots of packing. To move!! I really don't have that much stuff... but its hard to pack when the cats keep trying to pack themselves...

one cat is packed and ready!

More updates and details to come!

T.G.F.D. (thank goodness for dance)

With all the frustrations that this week has brought. All I could say yesterday was TGFD. Thank goodness for dance. Pounding out my frustrations in hardshoes? Perfection. Emptying my mind of everything else but reels and slip jigs? Fantastic. Laughing over silly things. Stacey's sexy laryngitis voice, Julie's super sweet pink tape, and Mary's utter fascination about how wrong things have been taught? Wonderful. 


 For the 2 hours I was at dance last night...it was easy to forget the minor (and major) things that have been bugging me. Instead I got to focus on nailing the rhythm in my hornpipe step. Keeping my feet turned out on my treble jig run. Pointing my toes on my leaps in my slip jig.  Not looking at the ground during my reel. That was what was important and totally occupied my mind. 

Thank goodness for dance.




The best medicine

for a crazy week? girl talk in the car + dance + fabulous dance girlies = best medicine ever.

This week has been hectic at work. Like... stressed to the max, hectic. So stressed that I scheduled a massage for 6:00pm tonight... and I will be lucky if I can last until then. Le sigh.

But dance last night? Was awesome. Wonderful Miss Mary was teaching again last night... with some helpful tips from the lovely Julie. Combine that with 4 dancers (where was everybody?) and you practically get one on one attention. LOVE! I am still uber sore... but not nearly as bad as last week. My jumps are feeling better. My leaps are leaving the ground. And I can actually make it through most of my dances before I feel like I am going to pass out. Progress!!

Here is a quick little pic I snapped of Stacey's feet and my taped up feet before dance last night...

Now to just get my stamina back....

Sew Random

A quick update on some of my sewing projects... since soon I will be back to writing about running and dancing again. They will be back to consume my life!
But to begin... I have taken a page from one of my fave blogs, New Dress A Day, to give new life to some cute shirts that I have found in my thrifting adventures. I am not quite at the point of fixing the clothes to fit me... but I can make them into adorable purses and bags! Like this shirt for example. I loved the color and giant flower design... but the shirt was itty bitty....

 So I made it into a great extra bag! Perfect to take with me to the grocery store... or just quickly run out the door!

I have found a bunch of other shirts that I will eventually get to... but this one I wanted to show off since its going to be gifted away. Today! My wonderful dance buddy Melissa celebrated her birthday this past weekend. Since I wasn't there to celebrate, she is getting her gift tonight before dance class... Luckily I know she won't be checking out this blog before I get there!
Melissa's gift is 2 pieces. The first, was a shirt I found that had some extra writing and such on it. But I loved the main design so much I figured I could work around it...

this is what caught my eye

 So... I cut off all the extra bits that I didn't like, found some great green fabric in my stash and went to town!

 I think it will make a great shoe bag or hair bag or glitter/make-up/accessories bag for Melissa. Fingers crossed she likes it!!

I even added some festive trimmings!

For Melissa's slightly more "grown-up" birthday gift, I whipped up one of my special purses for her. Mostly they're special because I haven't moved on to a different type. Awesome. But I love the way the color combo turns out, so hopefully she does too! Happy Belated Birthday Melissa!!

Back at it!

Last night was my first night back at dance in... almost 3 months. It was awesome. Seriously. I mean, I was crazy out of shape...and sore from my waist down...and my feet were so taped it was like wearing an extra pair of socks... but it was awesome.

hello, hardshoes. I've missed you!

First of all... it was fabulous to see all my dance people again. All the adult ladies (and gent) and all the younger girls... it was awesome to catch up with them all. Stacey and I both celebrated that we made it through class (she hasn't been all summer either). And its amazing to see how some of the younger girls really change in 3 months. They all look so much more grown up. Crazy. And yes, I totally understand how old that makes me sound.
Second of all...it felt great to get my feet back into my shoes. To start working on some new blisters and get back into the swing of dance. Sure, during warm-ups, every time I left the floor I was a little afraid of coming back down... but I worked through it. And it will only get better and easier the more I am back at dance.

hooray! new blisters!

The best part of the night was that we have a new(ish) teacher for our Prizewinner class. This isn't saying that we haven't had great teachers in the past (because I love, love, love Jules - Cyn - and Karagh) but...now we have an official, every week, same time, same person - teacher. MARY!!! Mary used to dance for our school. Then she left to tour with Celtic Legends... then she fell in love and decided to move to Pittsburg... but now she's back! Back for good!! And teaching. In class last night, in the first 5 minutes my muscles were burning, and it felt good. She totally understands my fears returning after my broken foot, so all her criticisms were for things I can work on - without pushing myself to injury. I find myself inspired to dance and practice again.
Irish dance, how I've missed you!!

Today is the day

That I can return to dance!!  I am both excited to return to class and a little nervous (as to be expected after healing from an injury). But... since I have come back from a broken foot once before... I know I can do it again.

Can't wait to get back to normal and dance my feet off!!