On a walk with Buddy.

Boulder is beautiful. Oh, the frontrange.

Phoenix Peekaboo

It seems she loves to be startled

Living in Boulder

My drive to Boulder just felt like a long drive. It didn't hit me that I was going to live here until I got off on the Baseline Rd exit and passed the Hop/Skip/Jump bus on the way to Chelsea's house. The Flatirons are right in our backyard. I see them out the window, and I can walk into the hills just a couple blocks away. Though I haven't yet.


Since I've been here, I have spent 2 weeks mostly working at Snarfs on the Hill. I also spend time with the kids, watching Sesame Street, going to parks, etc. Phoenix is 5 months old and is a joy. She never cries (unless big sis pinches her), she is very observant, pretty cute too. Tiger is 3 1/2 and is super fun to pretend with (Mommy horsie and baby horsie, surprise ghosts, etc)...but she's also exercising her independence and can be really irritating. She's learning her alphabet and has lots of good questions about the world, so it's pretty cool to be here for all that. But she also makes it clear that I'm not her favorite person, (for instance, requesting help and throwing a fit or completely ignoring me if I offer) and that pretty much sucks. I also hate seeing her hit/pinch/squish/throw things at Phoenix for attention, or not listening when Chelsea tells her to do something. Chelsea, my sister, is a wonderful mother. She's very patient with the girls, very attentive, quite creative, and super fun. She's also a great boss. All the employees at Snarfs appreciate her. A+, Chels. Vinny, my brother-in-law, works long hours at the tattoo shop but loves what he does, mostly, and has a great sense of humor about all the women in his house recently. In addition to the normal wife and 2 little girls, there's me, and a friend of Chelsea's has been staying here too....full house!


Me and Vinny too early in the morning. Ha!!


We've had 3 snow storms since I've been here. One when I was driving in, one last week (I went sledding on a super long and awesome hill with Buddy, the husky), and one a few days ago. Here is me with Phoenix at the park, you can see the storm brewing in the mountains behind me.


This is the next morning on my walk to work.


There was a power outtage in the area, so I had the day off. I walked through CU campus, it was lovely.

Last weekend I hung out with Lenore, and used the space at the house she was housesitting for to work on making pendants. On my day off, we tooled around, going to the post office, to the Salvation Army, and making a delicious salad dinner.



I uploaded a Pee Wee Herman soundboard to my phone so that I have him laughing every time I have a notification. Let me just say:


i-chat is the savior of long-distance relationships. I can even have a long distance relationship with my cats.

Goodbye Party

I was sent off to Boulder with a kickin' party at Mecca. I had my last improv class (love that class! and I definitely miss it already), and then people started piling in! My grandparents showed up which was a wonderful surprise, and everyone brought tasty treats. Complete with a Teresa Special cake!

Parsnip, my kitty came and had fun running around and hiding under the sombrero hat chair.



We had fun poofing on the hookah, being silly (imagine that!) and playing music (video below)

And I had one more good look at Tribalina, the collage I made.

Navy and Gold

I have a crush right now on the pairing of navy and gold.

It has a bit of a faux nautical bent to it: nothing from my background on the water says "navy and gold," so it seems much more romantic or faux nautical than real sailing.







Anyway: navy and gold. Except I'm not exclusive...pretty much any blue and yellow combo works for me. I don't really have much navy in my wardrobe. Or gold for that matter. Not that I need more clothes, but I'll have to work on that.

Glitter mess

Tiger said she had to go poop. When I heard the sink twice, but no flushing, I went in to check on her. She had gotten into my makeup case and had emptied 10 canisters of eye glitter on the floor, the walls, in the toilet, all over her hands, just everywhere. I was proud at how calmly I excused her so I could clean it up, making sure she understood that she needs to ask permission before getting into other peoples stuff again... but I am very frustrated. Though I can't blame her for thinking it's pretty.

prairie dog town

Every time I drive west I am lured to stop here. Promises of the largest prairie dog in the world, rattlesnakes, 6 legged steer, teensy donkeys... and every time this place gets more derelict and has even fewer not-so-exotic critters. This time it looks completely shut down . I didn't see any prairie dogs through the cracks in the broken down fence like I usually do. just a lone Canada goose.

pitstop

how can you really blog about driving and make it interesting? I'm not sure you can. this is my dinner, some Indian somethingorother from a can that I transferred to a non-canopener needing vessel. Earlier on radiolab, regarding the idea of some sort of afterlife,"because we exist only in the minds of those who remeimber us, we lose control of our lives and become what They want us to be."

I'm a nomad.

heading to boulder, I am 4 hrs into my drive and have been enjoying RadioLab. I have seen 3 hawks, a herd of reindeer (near Santa Claus, Indiana), a lone marathon runner in brilliant Orange running on the wrong side of the highway, and a strange backyard full of WW2 (?) model airplanes and jets. refueling (heh heh- totally on empty) in mt vernon.

here I go! I was planning on driving straight through with just a couple hours nap to avoid paying for an extra day of rental, but it turns out the receiving rental place in boulder is closed on Sundays so I get to take my time a bit more. 1st stop, run into Mecca to grab my sweet gifts from Misty and Julie that I forgot the other night. my car is packed to the brim. my packing abilities are unstoppable.

Cat Clothes

I'm taking a break from packing for the upcoming move. And lucky you, I know you were really chomping at the bit for me to post such gems. These cat clothes are choice. They are so bad, they're amazing. I kind of want them. Unfortunately (or Good Thing), I don't know where these beauts came from.

Tribal enters mainstream?

In one day, I found these two images on two separate fashion blogs. It's like a few years ago when "Bohemian" became the favorite style in Target...will we be seeing an influx of faux Afghani, Banjara, and other ethnic jewelry in Targets around the country in a year or two???



Here's how we tribal style bellydancers respectfully borrow other culture's adornment and rock the look in Western countries. (Pictured: Moria Chappell, Zoe Jakes, Kami Liddle, Sharon Kihara).


And here's how they look in their native locations.

Aldiko & Moonfleet

One of my favorite applications on my HTC hero android google phone (I'm sure there's a shorter real name for it, but I am a little bit confused on what moniker I should give it) is Aldiko. It allows me to have some books to read on my phone, like a tiny Kindle, or other digital reader. I am reading Moonfleet right now, an old adventure story first published in 1898 by J. Meade Falkner. I read it when I'm walking to and from work, and sometimes before bed, snuggled under the covers, phone in hand. A bonus of reading on the phone that I wouldn't have thought about: you don't have to hold the book open, a small but unexpected nicety. This picture reminds me of the section I just finished where John is recuperating in a hidden cave that has an outlet to the sea. I imagine it just like this.

Labyrinth

For a boost of reminiscing and joy, please follow the link to Design Sponge's "Living in Labyrinth" post. I agree with all of it, especially: "to this day, I’ve seen nothing quite as mesmerizing and slightly terrifying as David Bowie in tights. Thank you for that, Jim Henson."