Filed under: adventure, doggie style, goretex vortex | Tags: Boulder, Chautauqua, dogs, Fenway, hikes, hiking
Jessica, Fenway, and I went on a great hike up to the 1st and 2nd flatirons on Sunday. It was a great workout and we saw great views. Fenway decided that drinking out of a muddle puddle at the top of the Flatirons wasn’t gross enough, so he decided to just lie down in it. It was the dirtiest I’ve ever seen him. I wish I had taken a photo of him after the hike (or my shower after I attempted to clean him up!).
Tuesday was my 28th birthday. I went through this whole thing in my head where I suddenly realized (duh) that that means I am not starting my 28th year on the planet, but rather I have already lived 28 years and I am embarking on my 29th rotation around the sun. Because I was zero when I was born, see? It’s funny that I had no problem wrapping my head around the fact that the millennium was actually 2001, not 2000, but I never really thought about what one’s age really means.
Anyway, embarrassing realization aside, I had a wonderful birthday. One thing that Facebook has enabled (besides hours of procrastination) is receiving lots of birthday wishes from people who otherwise would never remember your birthday…e.g., your sister’s neighbor, your second-cousin-once-removed, your brother’s high school friend, etc. I got literally dozens of “happy birthday” messages on Facebook, plus some very entertaining phone calls and text messages from family members and friends. My friend Vanessa took me out for a delicious Tamale Tuesday lunch, and then about a dozen co-workers and other friends all joined in my after-work birthday beers celebration at my favorite Irish pub, Conor O’Neills! We did the 2nd annual birthday carbomb race, and I won (out of a field of 8, I believe). Woohoo, 28 years old and I can still drink with the best of them! Then we partook of the 99 cent Taco Tuesday menu (it was an alliterative day) at Juanita’s, and finished off with a nightcap at Pearl Street Pub. The number of people who came out for my birthday celebration plus all the great messages I got through the day made me feel very loved. I have good people in my life.
I think that 28 (29?) is going to be a good year.
I really enjoy making something out of nothing. Okay, not nothing (I’m no alchemist), but turning raw materials into something attractive and functional is good for the soul. I recently bought a sewing machine and I’ve been teaching myself to sew. My first few projects were simple headbands, but then I decided to attempt something far more ambitious: this fabric basket. I wanted to make something cute for my friends Justin and Abby’s baby shower. They don’t know if it’s a girl or boy, and I knew they were decorating the nursery with blues and greens, so I picked out some mostly green fabrics, with brown and off-white. It turned out far better than I expected, although I accidentally made it about 25% larger than it was supposed to be (I made all the squares 2.5″ rather than 2″) and the lining is slightly too big. Overall, though, I think it’s adorable! It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I can’t wait to make more!
Filed under: everyday life, goretex vortex | Tags: b.side, Boulder, chai, coffee, everyday, farmers' market, Mountain Sun, Sidney's, the Cup, The Office, trivia
I’ve been in Boulder long enough to develop some traditions of places I like to go on certain days of the week. I don’t necessary go to each place every week, and the routine varies by season, but it’s comforting to think over the week ahead and have a sense of what my options are. It’s an ever-evolving routine, too, as I discover new places and make new friends.
Mondays: Monday is Mug Monday at Sidney’s, my favorite coffeeshop in Boulder. My co-workers and I go there several times a week, and it’s always a welcome break from the office, but we make a special effort to go on Mondays because there is free drip coffee or $1 off any other drink with your Sidney’s mug.
Tuesdays: Tuesdays have recently become trivia night at Harpo’s. Our team is currently called JAM, although I intend to change that due to its total lack of creativity (it stands for Jessica, Alissa, and Mohit, who were the first three team members present at the first trivia night we went to). We are regularly noted on the blog as being the loudest team of the bunch, although we are never competitive.
Wednesdays: During the summer and fall, Wednesday evenings are spent at the Boulder Farmers’ Market. They set up a little beer garden (featuring local microbrews) with live music, and it’s right across the parking lot from our office, so we always get a good group of co-workers and their families and friends. Practically everyone in Boulder visits the farmers’ market, so I always run into people I know. It’s one of my favorite Boulder traditions. (During the winter/spring, I like getting LOST on Wednesday nights!)
Thursdays: I don’t really have a usual place for Thursdays – Thursday nights are a nice night to curl up at home with the dog and watch the Office.
Fridays: Friday nights often mean happy hour at b.side lounge, the best happy hour in town. They have a bottomless glass of wine for $5.75 which can be very dangerous. They also have delicious appetizers (half off) and martinis. Another favorite place for a Friday night is West End Tavern. They have a fun rooftop bar and a good selection of beers.
Saturdays: I recently discovered that the local movie theater has $5.50 early bird matinees, so I like to start either my Saturday or Sunday off with a cheap movie. Saturdays are good all-purpose days for getting caught up on sleep, running errands, getting exercise (skiing in the winter), etc. I usually go to my sister’s house to do laundry on Saturday afternoon/evening and hang out with my family for awhile.
Sundays: I like to take my laptop to the Cup (another great Boulder coffeeshop) on Sunday afternoons and surf the internet while sipping a chai (yes, I am a yuppie). A great way to end the weekend is heading to the Mountain Sun for live music on Sunday nights…drinking beer and listening to music at 10pm on a Sunday night feels remarkably bohemian and carefree. Sundays are actually one of my favorite days of the week.
Well, there you have it – a typical week in the life of Jane. I hope nobody reading this is a dangerous stalker.
Filed under: adventure, poetry schmoetry | Tags: failure, inspiration, Oscar Wilde, quotes, risk, Samuel Beckett
Ever tried.
Ever failed.
No matter.
Try again.
Fail again.
Fail better.
-Samuel Beckett
I’m trying to get better at failing. I grew up being the kind of girl who never wanted to try anything unless she knew she’d be good at it (at least in public). Taking very few risks. Now I am a little more willing to put myself out there. To make a fool of myself. To learn from my mistakes. As Oscar Wilde said, “Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.” Whether it’s risking being wrong (my least favorite thing in the world), risking my physical safety, risking my security, risking my heart, I am trying to embrace risk and failure as necessary parts of living a full and adventurous life.
Filed under: do gooders | Tags: charities, Las Vegas, MS Walk, multiple sclerosis, Scottie Pippen
My friend Katrina is participating in the MS Walk in Walnut Creek, California in April, as she does every year to raise money for multiple sclerosis. Katrina’s mom June has MS and thus this is a cause very dear to her heart. I spent an awesomely fun girls’ weekend in Vegas with Katrina and June and Abbe (Katrina’s sister) last year, and June is an amazing woman with a wicked sense of humor (and the nerve to hit on Scottie Pippen in the hotel buffet line!!). I also recently learned that my sister’s friend Joanne was diagnosed with late-onset multiple sclerosis. I made a small donation to the MS Walk in hopes that they will find a cure in time to help June and Joanne and everyone else suffering from MS (I wish I could afford more!) and I hope that others will consider doing the same – to make a donation in support of Katrina’s MS Walk efforts, please click here.
Just because I haven’t posted a picture to the blog in awhile, here’s a picture of June, Abbe, Katrina, and me at the Cirque du Soleil show in Vegas:
This Onion article brought up a repressed memory for me:
When I was about 5 years old, my family went to New York City and we saw Cats. It was my first Broadway show. One of the cats came into the audience and kissed me on the cheek, and I cried. The End.
Nothing against the Irish, but I’m feeling really good about my decision to not celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this year. After walking home from work at about 6:30pm and witnessing an extremely intoxicated young woman trip over a curb and fall face first into a tree, I decided that living it up with the drunkards on Pearl St was just not what my mind or body needed tonight. Instead, I watched part of American Idol (country week = pretty boring!) and took advantage of my new subscription to Core Power Yoga on Demand, which I find utterly ridiculous in concept, but awesome in practice! I did a workout which is focused on strengthening and straightening the spine, which is exactly what I need – between scoliosis and sitting at a desk all day, my back is in terrible shape. It felt so good to stretch out my shoulders and back and even better to know that I wasn’t wasting my hard-earned dollars on growing my little beer belly! The temperature has been in the high 60s this week, and I can’t hide my gut under bulky sweaters any more!
Filed under: adventure, everyday life, pop culture | Tags: cooking, Eldora, everyday, food, music, shopping, skiing
This weekend was not quite as adventurous as last weekend, but still a lot of fun. Friday night we had a work happy hour; we used to have happy hours ALL THE TIME but lately it’s only been the younger crew coming out, so it was good to have a good mix of people at this one. Then a couple of us stayed and watched the Duke game and I ate mashed potatoes, which is my favorite thing to eat when I’ve been drinking at West End Tavern.
Saturday I went up to Eldora with my friend Mohit to ski. I am just learning to telemark and he’s just learning to alpine, so it was nice to have someone to hit the bunny slopes with! Unfortunately, I think I needed to take another lesson because I was terrible…I was on borrowed skis so I was adjusting to them, the snow conditions were pretty bad, and I couldn’t turn right to save my life! I’m not an ambi-turner! I fell really hard a bunch of times, and now my hips are pretty sore. After skiing, I went to happy hour with my friend Vanessa and a bunch of her really fun friends, and we got pretty silly and took lots of goofy pictures while trying to put our legs behind our heads and things like that.
Sunday was pretty lazy – lying in bed talking on the phone/internet for a couple of hours, then I finally motivated to leave the house when my sister called to say that they were going to a consignment shop in Boulder, which turned out to be really awesome! It’s called Plato’s Closet. Apparently it’s a nationwide chain, but I’d never heard of it. I got a really nice North Face fleece (I totally have a North Face fetish) for $23, a pair of shorts for $8, and all three American Pie DVDs for $12. Then I was in impulse buy mode, so when we went to Starbucks, I bought one of their compilation CDs called Heading West which has great artists such as Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Cat Power, Aimee Mann, Old Crow Medicine Show, etc., and it’s got this awesome mellow, acoustic vibe that makes me want to go on a dusty summer road trip through Appalachia or something! Then I did groceries and my near-weekly Target visit, and bought a few more things that I didn’t need, like a t-shirt that says Hawaii on it (so random!) and some capri yoga pants (those will actually come in really handy).
Tonight I made the world’s most delicious scrambled eggs (with monterey/cheddar cheeses, cilantro, and sea salt) and I’ve just been relaxing and listening to my new CD and dreaming of road trips. I think I will watch American Pie now.
Filed under: everyday life
