Category Archives: Life

Weekend Recap Part 1

4 Replies

The FIRST time I drafted this post I wrote that the pretty photo above was there to ‘mislead and lull you into a false sense of security because things were about to get real’.  I continued to write, upload photo’s, and edit for over two hours at which point WordPress decided to delete all the hours of progress I had made.  I nearly chucked my computer out the window.  I actually had to walk away from my desk because I was going to sucker punch the keyboard.  So I have kept that photo there this second time around in part to calm me, but mostly to re-create everything I had written earlier.  I’m retracing my steps.

I would like to make a note about this post before we begin.  In order to truly enjoy the suspense and comedic payoff, please don’t scroll down further than each line you read at a time.

Here goes nothing…

Jon was out of town AGAIN this weekend for a bachelor party in Las Vegas so I was left to work and entertain myself.  I obviously have no photo’s to post about his trip.  In fact all I know about his trip is that there was zero sleep, the opposite of zero amount of blackjack, a fanny pack wearing future groom,  and a Motley Crue concert.  When I googled ‘Motley Crue fanny pack’ for a photo for you guys, I almost pee’d my pants at what it gave me:

…god I love google.

Jon flew straight from Vegas to San Francisco for a ‘business meeting’ which I’m convinced was a total ruse.  Lately, Jon has been making an unhealthy habit of hanging out with my favorite people without me.  This so called ‘business meeting’ was no different in that he got to spend 24 hours with MY cousin Ryan.  Who Jon wouldn’t even know if I hadn’t graduated high school, gotten accepted into college, worked at a golf course on pelican lake, moved to Denver, and eventually forced him to fall in love with and marry me.

The amount of abbreve’s (that’s an abbreviation for the word abbreviation…it’s complicated) and ‘That’s What She Saids’ I must have missed out on is nearly killing me.  I bet they have all these lame new inside jokes that I’ll never get and instead they’ll just laugh and ignore me anytime we’re all three together.  They’re truly diabolical.  Well guess what boys…so am I.  Take this:

Nice capris and lady scarf.

And as for you?

Nice life.

Ahhhh.  I feel much better about myself now.

SO.  The reason this post is entitled Part 1 is because when I first looked back on this past weekend it appeared quite uneventful.  In further retrospection I realized that it wasn’t thanks to a brunch mentioned earlier, a photo-editing night, an awesome gift from a friend, and a birthday celebration.  I have proof in the form of pictures.

No Ryan not fake pictures from google.

Pictures on my actual camera.  I had JUST as good of a time as you two.

That post will be coming tomorrow.  TODAY I had already planned on posting a two week delayed weekend recap.  It’s delayed only because this time the pictures weren’t on my camera, they were on a friends and I just recently acquired them.

So two weeks ago (the last time Jon was out of town having fun without me) a big group of friends and I went to Red Rocks first ever Winter concert.  It was amaze balls.  The performers were Common, an awesome DJ, and Atmosphere (go Minnesota!) and it truly was a blast.  We started the night out pre gaming and layering at our place.  For the record, I was layered the most expertly out of everyone for I am the most expertly trained.  Again…go Minnesota!

We then packed into two vehicles, one of which was a giant suburban being driven by our hired driver: a pirate joke loving woman named Brenda.

There was a prize for  knowing the most answers to said pirate jokes…

…a room temperature can of bud light!  So congratulations Amy for knowing the answers to jokes such as:

Q: What is a pirate’s favorite country?

A: Arrrrrrrrgentina.

I mean come on.  I came up with this and won nothing:

Q: What is a horny pirate’s worst nightmare?

A: A sunken chest a no booty,

Right?  I should have gotten at least half the warm beer.

Something you may not know about Red Rocks is that the tailgating is as much fun if not more than the actual show.  PLUS it presents the perfect photo taking opportunities:

There were lots of surprises that night…

…such as a plentiful amount of ‘stuff‘ being sold in the parking lot (excuse the crappy photo but he got mad at me for even snagging this much)…

…illegal fertilization/avoidance of port-a-potties…

…and many people being confused into believing they were ‘thug’.

Like I said…surprises:

All jokes aside, ‘for a hot minute’ as Brandi Glanville would say (RHOBV joke again):  we had a fantastic time.  There was this palpable energy shooting through the entire facility that allowed everyone to let loose and get crazy.  At one point I was standing at the base of Red Rocks after getting a beer and I had a ‘come to jesus’ moment.  I looked up at the however many thousand white people getting down (pretending to be hard core) to Common and Atmosphere in Patagonia’s and Smart Wools and thought…only in Denver.  I love this city.

Please don’t be overwhelmed by my ‘bad assedness’.  It comes naturally.  I get it from my mom : )

Also, don’t be intimidated by Hanna’s cuteness – she comes by it naturally, from her face.  So cute.

There is no better explanation of what the ENTIRE crowd/night was like than this photo:

Chaos/hardcore thugging with hardcore light beer.  So fun. Until this happened…

…looks fairly innocent at first glance…

…wrong.  Because we thought documenting THIS shortly after the TWO (delicious) and giant (warm) vodka filled hot chocolates was a good idea…

…I told you in a past post AND earlier that I was going to post less fluff and more ‘realness’, well…

…shit just got real.

P.S. Peeing.  We’re just peeing.

Hiatus.

6 Replies

Hello All.

And by all I mean mom.  Hi mom.

Sorry for the short break in the action but we had some major things happening around here this past weekend.  Denver had it’s version of a ‘blizzard’ which essentially means that it snows, everybody freaks out, schools and businesses shut down, and everyone from Minnesota laughs.  Out loud.  While pointing.

Denver wouldn’t know what a blizzard looked like if one black iced its ass into a ditch.

So an entire metropolitan city shut down starting Thursday night and didn’t really re-open until Monday.  They cancelled schools and closed offices Thursday afternoon before a single drop of snow fell because of predictions (apocalypse).

Yes it snowed, and yes it snowed more than an inch.  However, the problem in Denver isn’t the amount of snow, it’s that THEY DON’T PLOW.  Ever.  Not at all.  I’ll give the Minnesota readers a moment for that to sink in.

It’s Tuesday afternoon and they STILL haven’t plowed any side streets which are now like driving through a sugar beet field.

So when Jon and I awoke Friday morning expecting six feet of powdery goodness forcing us to stay inside, we were instead greeted with sunshine and about 7 inches of rapidly melting wet fluffy snow.  Damnit.

Thanks to Jon and his hatred of all things lazy, we took full advantage of a day off  and ran errands.  Ran errands where we could because random businesses were just simply closed.  Because it snowed a little.  ANYWAYS – onward to my point here.   One of these errands included FINALLY buying a new mattress!!!  This is where my complaining of not being permitted to be lazy will end.

I can’t even begin to explain how happy I am about this.  We have been agonizing over this decision since before we got married.  The only thing we could decide on was the size…KING (duh).  People have warned that king size beds are a marriage ruiner.  You know what else is a marriage ruiner?  Sleeping like a plank on the edge of a sunken queen while glaring at your husband who is comatose and impersonating a starfish.  The promise of a king has been the only thing keeping me from stuffing a dirty sock in his wide open sound asleep mouth.

Ahem.

It was delivered Sunday and we’ve BOTH had two nights of blissful comatose starfish impersonating sleep.

I will say that I’m not sure yet if it’s because of the Temper-Pedic.  We could have bought a water bed and it would have been an improvement over the catastrophe we’d been sleeping on.  In fact, our entire room was sad and pathetic and un-relaxing.  I’m sure like the cooking post I will regret this, but with embarrassment…here it is:

Hahahaha.  Oh my god it’s so much more horrible here.  To answer your certain to be asked questions, yes we sleep near our bikes (Jon doesn’t want his stolen), yes we do sometimes become depressed when standing in there, and the mattress bottom is all torn up because our cat/dog prefers to torture during sleeping hours.

The shame I now feel is only motivating me to complete our re-decoration more.

Sunday morning I went crazy and emptied EVERYTHING out of there to prepare for our new arrival.  It is currently sitting on a pristinely vacuumed floor because much like the mattress choice, choosing a bed frame has been agonizing.  I kicked all the other crap out of the room because it didn’t deserve to be in the presence of such magnificence.  I hastily piled on the new/unopened king size sheets, blankets, and duvet that have been sitting in my closet for months waiting and collecting dust.  The change is indescribable.

Jon asked me this morning after he had gone to work if I was already excited to go to sleep again.  My answer was yes and I hadn’t even peeled myself out of the bed yet.  The next step will be the bed frame, followed little by little with more changes such a less depressing paint color, some new bedside tables, a home for our bikes and some pretty pillows.  Until then I plan to continue sleeping like the dead and perpetuate Jon’s fear of all things lazy.

Stay tuned…

I Will Regret This.

9 Replies

Alright.

I’ll just tell you since in the last post I promised to be ‘more real’.

Sitting in our lovely hotel room in Santa Fe on New Years Eve, waiting to leave for dinner, Jon and I each wrote down five resolutions and sent them to one another.  The sending was done in an effort to support (nag) and remind (harass) the other to stay true to said resolutions.  We spoke prior about making them realistic and beneficial to our lives.  They were.  They are.  They’re probably the most attainable and bettering resolutions I’ve ever made.  So far I’ve kept them.

I will tell you two of the five…for now.  The first was always going to be about this blog:

1.) Write 4+ blog entries a week.

So far I’ve done this, I’m sure that I won’t always.  I aimed higher in hopes that it would at least guarantee me two a week.  The second also happened to be about the blog, but more so keeping Jon happy in our marriage:

2.) Try one new recipe a month and blog about it.

THIS is much more difficult than it sounds.  I work in a restaurant and work mostly nights, and when I’m not working at night, I absolutely do NOT want to be serving somebody food.  However, Jon loves my cooking (so easy to please) and it’s fun to blog about and take pictures of food.  It in turn supports resolution number one.

What I’m getting at is that last night was the 31st of January and in true Ali fashion (procrastination) and effort to keep my 2nd resolution, I tried a new recipe.  It was pretty half assed but (here come the excuses) I got done working way later than anticipated, still had to go to the grocery store, and drive home through traffic.  Oh yeah – and then cook/eat/cleanup said meal.  I was trying to get it done quickly, trying to watch Mitt Romney speak, and do not have my dads natural talent for timing food therefore I didn’t snag many photo’s.

I found the recipe online and chose a pasta dish because starting tomorrow (February 1st) there will be no carbs for me until after Hawaii.  Wish me luck.  So tonight we indulged.  It’s called Pancetta and Leek Pasta and honestly, it was average for a final carb fest.  Alas, here is my lame first attempt at food blogging. I’m already embarrassed.

We had olives to start.  I bought them pre-mixed.

The recipe did not call for baby’s breath, they were just too lovely to pass up.

The recipe DID call for leeks.  They were far more beautiful than I ever realized.

My (our) new chef’s knife that came in the set I bought at Williams Sonoma would be mad at me if I didn’t mention him.  He’s handsome isn’t he?

I was pretty pissed at that red wine for ruining my shot of the cheap flowers.  We don’t allow wine in our house.

I realize this looks nothing like pancetta and leek pasta.  That’s because it’s the primary color themed salad I whipped up while the pasta was overcooking.  Al dente can suck it.

This was the second pancetta attempt (note: READ the recipe carefully) after I yanked the first try out of the oven and nearly set off the fire alarms before running the smoking tray out to the patio.  Sad, but true.

Recipe goes like this:

Don’t burn the pancetta, add leeks, nondescript amount of butter, Ramona Singer (you have to have Bravo T.V. to get this) amount of dry white wine, guilty amount of heavy cream, simmer simmer stir stir, add soggy overcooked pasta and vioula:

…cat puke on a pretty plate.

Yum.

I spoke of my old blog earlier this week and one of my favorite quotes from it was:

“an experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you want”

This meal was an experience.  Better luck next time.

Memory Lane

Leave a reply

I think I used to be a better writer.

I spent the better portion of my day yesterday going through an old blog and all its posts.  I did this with great trepidation, expecting to be a little embarrassed, but mostly because I was truly nervous to revisit those days and the painful feelings that filled them up.

I was surprised to find how many posts I actually wrote and how many of them were quite positive.  I was surprised at how much time has passed since then (2008 to early 2010) and how many things have both changed and stayed the same.  But what really surprised me is how much I enjoyed reading what I wrote.  I’m not sure if it’s because I was reading things that I had experienced and it was an interesting experiment to go back, or because the writing was actually pretty good.  It’s probably both.

I think what made it compelling for me was how raw and honest and real everything I said was.  I wasn’t putting up any airs.  I wasn’t trying to be anything I wasn’t.  I wrote about the bad AND the good with equal emotion.  It seemed like I was feeling more.  Or at least I wasn’t afraid to tell everyone what I was feeling, no matter what it was.

It was cathartic to go back.  I cried a lot reading the thoughts of my formerly scared and sad self.

I was fresh out of college and had just finished four years of professionally writing papers (or so it felt) so my writing skills were a bit more honed.  I’m going to try and be better at that in this new blog.

I think the biggest thing I took away from re-reading those posts was how not real I have been in this new blog so far.  I’ve been honest, sure.  I just haven’t really posted anything with any passion yet.  I’ve been intentionally very self restrained.  I quit writing that blog because I thought it represented a part in my life I wasn’t proud of.  I had just moved to Denver, I was immeasurably sad and felt very very alone.  I moved on from those feelings and left them behind me along with the writing of the blog.

I wanted this new blog to be a fresh start, maybe a gateway to a photography business, and definitely less of a diary.  What I didn’t want it to be was a bunch of fluff.  I am bounds happier now so clearly that will be reflected in the snippets of my life I put on here, but I have posted a fair amount of fluff.  I realize it’s early on, and I do want this blog to fit more in the ‘lifestyle’ genre, but I’m going to try and be less self-conscious about what I write from now on.  Lucky you : )

I’m also going to include some posts from that old blog, here and there.  You have to look back sometimes to see how far you’ve come in certain areas and stayed stuck in others.  But don’t worry, there will still be plenty of good old fashioned guilty pleasure fluff.

Better than coffee.

3 Replies

I’m sitting at my computer doing my morning rounds on the internet which consist  of e-mail, blogs, calendar and news when I notice I’ve added a new daily viewing to my list.  It’s a video that I came across a couple weeks back and bookmarked because I knew I had to share it.  I’ve found myself watching it daily, mostly in the morning, and it has this strange little jumpstart/caffeine effect for me.  Besides that, it’s just so beautiful.  I recommend making it as big as you can on whatever screen you’re watching on.

First, here’s what the creator had to say about it:

This was filmed between 4th and 11th April 2011. I had the pleasure of visiting El Teide. Spain´s highest mountain is one of the best places in the world to photograph the stars and is also the location of Teide Observatories, considered to be one of the world´s best observatories. The goal was to capture the beautiful Milky Way galaxy along with one of the most amazing mountains I know El Teide. I have to say this was one of the most exhausting trips I have done. There was a lot of hiking at high altitudes and probably less than 10 hours of sleep in total for the whole week. Having been here 10-11 times before I had a long list of must-see locations I wanted to capture for this movie, but I am still not 100% used to carrying around so much gear required for time-lapse movies.  A large sandstorm hit the Sahara Desert on the 9th April and at approx 3am in the night the sandstorm hit me, making it nearly impossible to see the sky with my own eyes.  Interestingly enough my camera was set for a 5 hour sequence of the milky way during this time and I was sure my whole scene was ruined. To my surprise, my camera had managed to capture the sandstorm which was backlit by Grand Canary Island making it look like golden clouds. The Milky Way was shining through the clouds, making the stars sparkle in an interesting way. So if you ever wondered how the Milky Way would look through a Sahara sandstorm, look at 00:32.

 

 

I feel like as adults we don’t get or take the chance to wonder at things all that often. That’s what this seems to do for me and it really kickstarts my day with positivity and appreciation.

Here is the link to the artists vimeo page where he has several other incredible videos as well as short and informative commentary.  I hope you enjoy!

Weekend Recap.

5 Replies

This past weekend was deliciously indulgent for Jon and I in more ways than one.  The main reason being that my weekends are usually filled with something that could be called the opposite of indulgent…work.  Problems are created where having fun is concerned because nearly everyone else on the planet has the opposite schedule.  However, this past weekend I was blissfully free.

I did have to work Friday afternoon/night but, I finished up early and went to see a late movie with my girlfriend Ashley.

We indulged in some popcorn and chose to see one of our favorite books that the movies chose to ruin.  Alright not ruin, but change.  For several years now, when anybody asks me for a book recommendation, I excitedly push them towards Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer.

The book is wonderful and one of my all time favorites, though i’ve heard from others that it’s tough to get started.  I believe that’s because the narration of the book comes from inside the mind of Oskar Shell, who is a smart, funny and sometimes heartbreaking nine year old boy.  It’s a unique point of view for a book, but surely not the strangest.  Well they went ahead and made a movie of the book (of course) and Ashley and I went to see it.

It’s got a big name cast, centers around a big event in history, and is sure to be a big success in theaters.  It’s just not as big as the book.  Read the book.

Saturday morning Jon and I got up bright and early to walk down the street and meet friends for brunch at Lola.  We were celebrating our friend Ryan’s 30th birthday with delicious food and even more delicious flavored mimosa’s.  Brunch turned into neighborhood bar crawl which naturally turned into beer pong.  It was a gorgeous 58 degree sunny January day, so indulge in it we did.

My skills in beer pong proved once again to be pathetic, so I bowed out gracefully and let the real champs go to work.

It would be tragic if I left out Nick and Leah’s adorable dogs who are one of the main reasons I want the kind of dog I want.  A mini poodle.  NOT a toy poodle.  A mini one.

This is Remy.  He posed nicely (by nicely I mean for 1/4 second) for a few photo’s.

This is Mojo.  He had zero interest.

It was a great afternoon.  Happy Birthday RyGuy!

Jon and I got home starving so we decided to walk 1/2 a block (I love our neighborhood) to one of the most popular and well reviewed restaurants in Denver, Z Cuisine.

Jon had been there before with a client, but this was my first time.  Don’t get me wrong, he has tried to take me numerous times, but they don’t take reservations and it is ALWAYS packed.  It’s described as a French Bistrot and Parisian Wine Bar and it’s about as authentic as you can get.  If you live in Denver and are reading this…GO – but please call and invite me first.  It’s incredibly cozy and romantic, the waiters are intimidatingly knowledgeable, and the food is to die for.  We indulged happily in a beautiful cocktail, delicious wine, and the fact that even on the website they encourage you to linger.  No rushing through this experience allowed.

I can’t wait to bring my dad the next time he visits.  It just might be the place to finally convince them to move here.

Finally on Sunday Jon and I indulged in some lazy alone time at home of which I will spare you any boring photo’s.  We lounged around, did some Hawaii research, I blogged/facebooked and of course we watched about 45 hours of football.

I wish every weekend could be just like this one.