My not-so-secret Superwoman ability: throwing fantastic parties and playing hostess
I used to think that most climbers were assholes. Last night I was proven wrong. We had quite the climbing dinner party last night and I had a blast. Before the party began and I was prepping in the kitchen (more on the menu later) I realized I would not know the majority of people at the party. There is some sort of ethereal power that comes from hosting a party that inspires me to chat with as many new people as possible, making them feel comfortable and welcome in my house. Image a tree of happiness, shaking its leaves all over the party. I love that the good vibes of old and new friends, mingling and making new friends, permeates and energizes a room. That's a good get-together.
Is there anything better than the mixture of good friends, great food, drinks flowing and rockin' music?
Lauren is the baker and I played chef. Our dishes were flying off the platters. My new friend Ken cooked up some venison stew. YUM! As a Michigan girl, you would think I would have tasted such a thing before but I had not. Ken, the venison brought me back to my roots. I made some mini-burgers: turkey burgers with feta, serrano and cayenne pepper and chicken burgers (I know, right?) with mushrooms, serrano and feta. Those didn't make it from the platter I was carrying to the table. They were awesome. I think they were so good because so much love went into those little buggers. Plus the awesome apron I was wearing (thanks Tot). And Lauren, she amazes me. She made these chocolate cupcakes with a mocha frosting and a berry tart. All we had left in the kitchen this morning were a bunch of empty beer bottles. You know its a Colorado party when every single beer is a microbrew from Boulder, Ft Collins or Breckenridge. Wow. We should throw dinner soirees more often.
Sure, the food was a great component of the dinner party. And someone even commented that this was the best food he had had at a dinner party. Hell yes! But the people. The new friends I have made and continue to meet in Denver just amaze me. So many share the zest for life and exploration, being silly and laughing. Good times!
As we sat outside taking in the fresh Colorado air, I realized that I absolutely love Denver, Colorado. It is the perfect city for me. Why am I so lucky?
Friday, March 26, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Smile on my face :)
The seemingly random, small things in life happen to have the impact of an impeding avalanche. They just burst into my life and BAM! a smile is created. Maybe that is why I am annoyingly happy the majority of the time. I see the minute details of a day's events as the ones that count.
For instance, two weeks ago I bought a coffee grinder and French press. No more of this buying coffee at Dazbog or Starbucks. Or so I thought. I pulled out of my driveway (steep angle - this is important) and drove down the alley to the road, this is a full block, mind you. When I was about 1/2 block out of my alley, I reached for my beautiful green coffee mug. It was not there. Here is my train of thought that followed: Oh shit. Where is my coffee? In the kitchen still? Oh no. Oh no. laughter follows. a lot of laughter. I placed it on my trunk. REVERSE THE CAR! End of my thoughts. Where was the coffee? Spewing into the road, at the end of the alley. At this point, I was so impressed that the coffee mug had traveled down the driveway and the full length of the alley only to fall when I turned into the street. There it was, my freshly ground coffee that smells of fresh blueberry pancakes, seeping onto 16th Avenue. Oh, Monday mornings.
Small, seemingly random event #2:
The trees of China Bowl at Vail. I can't even begin to explain the sheer joy that I feel when I reach China Bowl. I don't ever need to go to China because my idea of China is defined by Vail's back bowls and it is wonderful. Well, maybe I'll still go to China someday but I think my image of China is going to be centered on the sharp curves around tightly packed trees. These trees grew knowing that a snowboard would hug their curves and allow boarders and skiers to use them as leverage on a narrow turn or as a base for resting when legs are burning up.
Let's talk about spring skiing. There is this thing called the sun. And it warms up the packed powder enough to make it mushy and like a pillow. Flying through that just makes my day. I hit up Eldora - it was alright through the tree runs, Vail (of course) and Breckenridge this weekend. "Breckenwind" was icy and not nearly as great as Vail. But it was a day of snowboarding and I got to practice riding goofy and hitting the rollers. I took a bad fall but it was SO FUN. Slip N Slide has NOTHING on cruising down a semi-icy groomer.
Breck, from the Peak 7 gondola:
#3. After a morning of snowboarding, I headed back to Denver where it was 65 and sunny. I ran about 4 miles in a tank top and t-shirt. This is my life and I am definitely in the right place. Gotta love it.
My house is always open to visitors... just saying.
For instance, two weeks ago I bought a coffee grinder and French press. No more of this buying coffee at Dazbog or Starbucks. Or so I thought. I pulled out of my driveway (steep angle - this is important) and drove down the alley to the road, this is a full block, mind you. When I was about 1/2 block out of my alley, I reached for my beautiful green coffee mug. It was not there. Here is my train of thought that followed: Oh shit. Where is my coffee? In the kitchen still? Oh no. Oh no. laughter follows. a lot of laughter. I placed it on my trunk. REVERSE THE CAR! End of my thoughts. Where was the coffee? Spewing into the road, at the end of the alley. At this point, I was so impressed that the coffee mug had traveled down the driveway and the full length of the alley only to fall when I turned into the street. There it was, my freshly ground coffee that smells of fresh blueberry pancakes, seeping onto 16th Avenue. Oh, Monday mornings.
Small, seemingly random event #2:
The trees of China Bowl at Vail. I can't even begin to explain the sheer joy that I feel when I reach China Bowl. I don't ever need to go to China because my idea of China is defined by Vail's back bowls and it is wonderful. Well, maybe I'll still go to China someday but I think my image of China is going to be centered on the sharp curves around tightly packed trees. These trees grew knowing that a snowboard would hug their curves and allow boarders and skiers to use them as leverage on a narrow turn or as a base for resting when legs are burning up.
Let's talk about spring skiing. There is this thing called the sun. And it warms up the packed powder enough to make it mushy and like a pillow. Flying through that just makes my day. I hit up Eldora - it was alright through the tree runs, Vail (of course) and Breckenridge this weekend. "Breckenwind" was icy and not nearly as great as Vail. But it was a day of snowboarding and I got to practice riding goofy and hitting the rollers. I took a bad fall but it was SO FUN. Slip N Slide has NOTHING on cruising down a semi-icy groomer.
Breck, from the Peak 7 gondola:
#3. After a morning of snowboarding, I headed back to Denver where it was 65 and sunny. I ran about 4 miles in a tank top and t-shirt. This is my life and I am definitely in the right place. Gotta love it.
My house is always open to visitors... just saying.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Snow
As I sit at Hooked on Colfax, gorgeous March snow is falling down in big, puffy flakes. I can't get enough of this white, airy stuff. "This is why I live here," is a slogan seen across Denver and throughout Colorado. It's a quote that is repeated so frequently I think there is a bumper sticker. There has to be. If not, I am on that. And it would be the one and only bumper sticker I would ever put on my car. I'm not a fan of the overly decorated car with multiple bumper stickers, many of which highlight the driver as some extreme idealist or extreme Republican. If my car were magnetic, I'd throw some magnets on there because my mood and thoughts change too much to have permanent ink on my car.
So much has been happening in my life that I haven't had a chance to brain dump my travels, experiences, wild stories and fears in a while. Warning: there is not a focus to my writing, it's a "lluvia de ideas," in English - a downpour of ideas.
Snow. I love it and live for it. I've been up to Breckenridge, Vail and Beaver Creek so much this season; Vail is now my home mountain. The snow at Vail is to die for. I could die happy after riding through China Bowl all day. Next topic: China Bowl.God has created a beautiful country and such a pristine maze of trees up there. I feel like I am experiencing something so unique to me, only shared with the man upstairs, and that feeling is empowering and spiritually charging. The last time I was up at China Bowl, I made my own line down through the trees for about 5-10 minutes because there was so much fresh powder and uncharted area. My snowboard was gliding like I was riding through buttery sugar. Then, I stopped. There was too much powder. Luckily I stopped - I was on the edge of a cliff that dropped straight down and at the bottom was green run. That run was really far down; if I had to estimate the distance, it was 20 feet or so. Too far to jump for this kid! I had to trek out and eventually take off my board to walk out for a while. That was exhausting and tiring. Eventually I made it down to a green run, was exhausted and sat on that chair to recharge. The man next to me heard me telling my cliff story and was cracking up. He is someone to look up to - living in Vail for 40 years and skis over 100 days a year. WHAT!? I have been up to ride enough to lose count; I long for the year I can live and ski, live and ski. He made that ride warm up with a shot of whiskey! Oh, to be wealthy enough to ski for a living. How can I get paid to do that?
Vail. In a nutshell - powder, bowls and so much terrain you can't do it all in 40 years (as told to me by a man who has been living there for 40 years).
I feel renewed every time I leave the mountains and head back to Denver on the 70. Denver is such a great city that coming back down is okay; I know I can head back up to Breck, Keystone or Vail for a weekend or a day's skiing. The vacation never ends when the snow is so close. What am I going to do when there is no more snow!? Yikes!
Well - one thing I will be doing - running 5Ks and 10Ks in and around Denver. I ran the Running of the Green today in Denver. The weather was awful; below 30 degrees, cloudy and overcast because it was about to snow. Yesterday was in the 60s and sunny. Spring is here! Plus, the resurgence of Denver Cruisers and the Wednesday Cruisers rides will be awesome!
Oh - and I am heading back to South America! Por fin!
June 22nd - depart for Peru, Machu Picchu and then off to Buenos Aires, Agentina and Bariloche, Argentina. We'll end the trip in Santiago, Chile. 35 days of la pura vida.
So much has been happening in my life that I haven't had a chance to brain dump my travels, experiences, wild stories and fears in a while. Warning: there is not a focus to my writing, it's a "lluvia de ideas," in English - a downpour of ideas.
Snow. I love it and live for it. I've been up to Breckenridge, Vail and Beaver Creek so much this season; Vail is now my home mountain. The snow at Vail is to die for. I could die happy after riding through China Bowl all day. Next topic: China Bowl.God has created a beautiful country and such a pristine maze of trees up there. I feel like I am experiencing something so unique to me, only shared with the man upstairs, and that feeling is empowering and spiritually charging. The last time I was up at China Bowl, I made my own line down through the trees for about 5-10 minutes because there was so much fresh powder and uncharted area. My snowboard was gliding like I was riding through buttery sugar. Then, I stopped. There was too much powder. Luckily I stopped - I was on the edge of a cliff that dropped straight down and at the bottom was green run. That run was really far down; if I had to estimate the distance, it was 20 feet or so. Too far to jump for this kid! I had to trek out and eventually take off my board to walk out for a while. That was exhausting and tiring. Eventually I made it down to a green run, was exhausted and sat on that chair to recharge. The man next to me heard me telling my cliff story and was cracking up. He is someone to look up to - living in Vail for 40 years and skis over 100 days a year. WHAT!? I have been up to ride enough to lose count; I long for the year I can live and ski, live and ski. He made that ride warm up with a shot of whiskey! Oh, to be wealthy enough to ski for a living. How can I get paid to do that?
Vail. In a nutshell - powder, bowls and so much terrain you can't do it all in 40 years (as told to me by a man who has been living there for 40 years).
I feel renewed every time I leave the mountains and head back to Denver on the 70. Denver is such a great city that coming back down is okay; I know I can head back up to Breck, Keystone or Vail for a weekend or a day's skiing. The vacation never ends when the snow is so close. What am I going to do when there is no more snow!? Yikes!
Well - one thing I will be doing - running 5Ks and 10Ks in and around Denver. I ran the Running of the Green today in Denver. The weather was awful; below 30 degrees, cloudy and overcast because it was about to snow. Yesterday was in the 60s and sunny. Spring is here! Plus, the resurgence of Denver Cruisers and the Wednesday Cruisers rides will be awesome!
Oh - and I am heading back to South America! Por fin!
June 22nd - depart for Peru, Machu Picchu and then off to Buenos Aires, Agentina and Bariloche, Argentina. We'll end the trip in Santiago, Chile. 35 days of la pura vida.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)