Friday, July 30, 2010

it's the little things ...

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... getting off early on a friday afternoon and spending it with a good book and some good music on the balcony.
... charlie coming home after a work trip.
... starbucks in the morning.
... a glass of malbec and a late night phone conversation.
... dreaming about ikea visits in MD.
... a husband who buys me ginger ale and advil when i'm sick.
... not having to hike a 14,000 foot mountain when i have the flu.
... elin hilderbrand books.
... waking up to the smell of coffee on a sunday morning.
... clean sheets.
... my cat who hasn't left my lap all weekend.
... a late night walk with my puppy.
... thoughts of fall: mums, apple pies, pot roasts, boots, sweaters, aspen trees.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

summer love: part 4

the canoe.

Summer favs - canoe

a warm sunny saturday. a polka-dot bikini. turkey sandwiches. arnold palmers. using life jackets as pillows. watching charlie fish. jumping into the cold lake. a good book. my straw hat. almost tipping over. anchoring in the shade (yes, we have an anchor for our canoe). lots of suntan lotion & some aviator glasses.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

summer love: part 3

hiking.

Summer favs - hiking

it's no secret that i love hiking at all times of the year. but in colorado, summer is the best time. trails that are covered up 9 months out of the year are suddenly open and blooming with wildflowers and the temperature is perfect.

watching the dogs take off a the beginning of a hike. eating mojo bars at the summit. wild orchids. streams and creeks filled with snowmelt. views from the top. getting an awesome workout & being happy while i'm doing it. walking on snow capped mountains. glacier-fed lakes. the smell of evergreen trees. hanging out with friends and family.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

summer love: part 2

summertime loves: k9 edition

Summer favs - the dogs

playing ball. playing tug 'o war. playing tag. rolling in the grass. cooling off in the fountain. long walks. hiking. swimming in streams.

Monday, July 26, 2010

summer love: part 1

summertime loves: around the house

Summer favs - around the house

grilling out. our balcony with it's lights, our teeny table, and flowers. steak + asparagus. new belgium beer. open windows. sangria. late night dinners. vanilla candles.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

love.

dear charlie,

remember friday night, when i convinced you that beers on the patio were a much better plan than a movie in the theater? well, i do. in fact it's nights like those that i love more than anything. you + me + some good music + a drink or two + henry sleeping next to us = good times. it's so nice to take a break from tv, computers, and phones for a bit.

lets have more nights like that.
love you, dan

ps. remember when i told you that i seriously loved our life? i wasn't kidding. it's awesome & i wouldn't trade it for anything. we're lucky, lucky people.

DC_080724_195449B

Thursday, July 22, 2010

it's the little things ...

summer windows
... open windows, a puppy dog, a comfy chair, and my favorite pillow.
... charlie grilling steaks on a sunday night.
... watching the real world. so trashy. so good.
... summer paperbacks.
... when i call me dog & he actually listens.
... walks with the dogs at dusk. everyone's in the homes, the sun's gone down so it's cool.
... popsicles.
... cleaning on a thursday.
... having ALL my laundry clean.
... rainy nights.
... waking up at 3:30 am to go hiking & feeling like we're the only people who are awake.
... an afternoon nap after the early morning hiking.
... breckenridge. so cute.
... downloading zac brown band's new album to my ipod.
... the fact that zac brown band combined free and into the mystic, two of my favorite songs into an ultimate favorite song.
... buying tickets for zbb at red rocks in september.
... my shaved cat. he's so cute.
... my turkey sandwich every day at lunch.
... starbucks on a cold rainy morning.
... playing with our camera.

Monday, July 19, 2010

it got hot ...

and then i shaved my cat.
shaved.
the former vet tech in me knew it wasn't the best idea.
but i was sick of vacuuming the couch every day.
every. single. day.
charlie called me when i was in the middle of it.
i said, "please don't be mad but i have to tell you something".
he said, "oh my god, you shaved the cat".
but then he got home and decided he didn't look as ugly as he was expecting.
i'm glad i shaved him.
the shedding is almost nonexistent.
hopefully it will grow back by winter.
or october when i'm sure we'll get our first blizzard.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

the opposite of lazy...

is hiking a 14er.

it took me until thursday to get over my laziness from last weekend.
pathetic.

thursday night we went to see OAR at red rocks with some friends.
we didn't bring a camera because i had read that they were "prohibited".
and then i saw about a million people with them. whatever.
red rocks was awesome and so was OAR.

saturday we decided to hike quandary peak.
we were up at 3:30 am.
i'm definitely glad we started early because when we were coming down everyone was coming up and i hate crowds.

we started hiking at about 6:30 am.

us w. Quandry Peak
this is us about 3/4 of the way up with the peak in the background.

up.
up, up, up ...

Love
we even love each other at 14,000 feet.

DSC_0139
henry @ the summit.

USGS marker
usgs marker. 14,271 feet.

Quandary's Summit - 14,271
requisite family picture at the top.

livin' life on the edge
love this picture.
henry looks like he's falling off the edge of the world.

Friday, July 16, 2010

winter love.

this happens to me every year.
without fail, in the middle of summer and winter i start getting nostalgic for the opposite season.

i don't feel this way about spring and fall.
maybe because fall is my favorite season?
maybe because i'm ready for a change by the time they come around.
maybe because in colorado, they're both about a week long.

but when i see pictures like these:

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schnow


SnowyHenry

night shot.

... and this,
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it makes me miss winter just a bit.
as long as i have a warm hat and boots and jacket when i'm outside.
and a hot toddy and a fire to come home to.

Monday, July 12, 2010

lazy is me.

wow, we were lazy this past weekend.

friday, we ate dinner @ rock bottom, complete with sangria & sundays.
then took a walk with the dogs when we got home before the sun went down.
after-dinner walk
henry was fixated on a rabbit, as usual.

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gotta love summer nights.

saturday, we did a lot of nothing in the morning then ate brunch at 2 in the afternoon with more sangria & mojitos. then we went shopping at the apple store (always a bad decision).

we did play with the puppers for a bit.

tug 'o war
the only game henry will participate in.

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sunday, we ate brunch at an irish pub, listened to the soccer game, and then came home and watched the rockies.

ollie
couldn't forget about this guy.

beer love.
apricot beer = awesome.

summer windows
oh and the weather was beautiful, which meant we had our windows open all weekend.

Friday, July 9, 2010

it's the little things ...

cowboy henry
... cowboy henry.
... sleeping in.
... watching house hunters and my first place with charlie.
... 60 degree days in july.
... sangria. (it really was that good.)
... fiction.
... jumping into a cool lake in the middle of a hot summer day.
... my straw cowboy hat.
... reading in the sun.
... peanut butter and honey sandwiches.
... grilling everything.
... hot dogs with yellow mustard.
... starbucks on a monday morning.
... long, long hikes.
... i-70 west.
... late night walks with henry.
... 4th of july. red, white, & blue.
... apple pie on the 4th of july.
... shrimp pasta.
... yogurt covered pretzles.
... ginger flavor izzie sodas.
... flowers in empty izze soda bottles.
... tea. when it's cold and rainy outside.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

family photo.

we don't often get pictures of charlie and i together when one of us isn't holding the camera out in front of us. so when we went hiking with some friends we were excited to just get a picture of the two of us where you could see more than our faces smushed together.
i was also excited because our friend behind the camera is a photographer.
good background.
good photographer.
good light.
and then henry happened ...

classic.

now that is LOVE.

i still think this would make a pretty good christmas card.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

sangria.

i mentioned that i made sangria for the 4th.
it was my first time making sangria and i was told it was impossible to mess up & i think everyone was right.

i used this recipe because it was made with red wine and was easy and fast.
remember, the kitchen and i aren't good friends.

i made two batches of it. hey, it was a three day weekend.
the second batch, i didn't put any oranges in because i didn't have enough room. and it was definitely not as sweet, but in a good way.

sangria!

i think if i made this again i'd cut the sugar in half.

oh, and instead of gin i used coconut rum & i didn't measure, i poured. a lot.
it was good. :)

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

fourth of july weekend

friday night:
made sangria & had dinner and drinks at lodo's.

sangria!

saturday:
took the canoe to boyd lake.
had an arnold palmer & m&m's for breakfast, lunch on the canoe, & hot dogs and sangria for dinner.

boyd lake

boyd lake & a beautiful day.

i successfully jumped out and back into the canoe without tipping us over, read a good book, and watched charlie fish.

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he caught a little fish ...

baby catch

... and a bigger one.

big catch

we also got lots of sun.

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sunday:

charlie broke out his new trail running shoes:

the charlie charlie shoes

and we hiked bear peak & south boulder peak.

me

goof ball

we made it down just before it started to rain.

south boulder peak

and then we baked an apple pie, grilled out with some friends, drank a lot more sangria, and watched some fireworks in the rain.

monday:

had breakfast @ panera and then braved the traffic and drove out to the mountains to hike herman's gulch.

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made it

doggie love

dunkin loves me. :)

herman lake

herman lake

family photo.

snow in july

snow in july.

pretty good weekend. :)