Little Man Ice Cream in Denver. Get the salted oreo if it’s available.
My friend Benjamin is backpacking the world, and he’s taking some incredible photos along the way. Check out his recent trips to Siem Reap and Northern Thailand. Speaking of travel, Sarah Jane is doing a lot of travel for her job (currently in Buenos Aires) and is going to be blogging at SarahJane.co. Rob and Emily are also in Thailand right now during a six-week trip to Asia and their pictures on Instagram are making me want to book trips. right. this. minute. And one last link on travel, these panos from Iceland remind why I love that country so much.
This week I went to lunch with Liz Kantner from Dance to the Radio. There is something so nice in meeting with someone face to face.
I am crazy in love with this floral banner from Oh Happy Day.
We met with our architect/contractor this weekend to go over the initial plans and found two options we really like. Now the question is do we gut the house or do we gut the house and do an extension. I feel so much confidence in who we picked and that is helping immensely. Either way, I think we’ll be happy. The worst part is now they’ve told us to plan a year for the renovations, which is making me incredibly itchy. I am ready for a house to entertain guests and also to not have my stuff divided between my place and Vikas’ place.
At then end of March, I went to a fantastic blogger meetup called “Eat Drink Create” and I have been meaning to blog about it but never got around to it. Then the hosts blogged about it this week and I was like…huzzah…I am not behind yet.
Anyway, the awesome Erin from Art Social and Lexy from the Proper Pinwheel threw a great meetup at West Elm. It was full of awesome snacks and awesome people and we made paper lanterns covered in fringe. (Erin’s roundup and Lexy’s roundup of the event.) Rebecca from Manzanita and I drove over to the event together, and she is so talented and inspiring to be around. I love her photography.
There is nothing that makes me happier than free stuff! And guys. Their swag bags were awesome. A flower brooch from Band.do, free crafting supplies, free tote bag. <3 Also, Katie from Lemon Jitters put together really cute magnets and put together a tutorial. I used my paper lantern for Beerster and my baker’s twine schwag at the candy bar.
Last fall I went to another blogger meetup and I was blown away by all the awesome local bloggers I met (outside of tech). There are some really talented ladies out there. If you’re interested in going to the next Eat Drink Create follow Erin and Lexy on Twitter for when they announce the next one!
This weekend was my first farmer’s market of the season. I am biased but I think Boulder has one of the best in the country. There is no better way then to kick off the weekend with a breakfast sandwich from the ModMarket booth. Carbs and eggs are pretty much my two favorite things combined.
Some of my other favorites include the sourdough and jalapeno bread from Udis, the granola from Breadworks, the peach jam from Elas Family Farm, the chevre from Haystack Goat Cheese, the Vietnamese iced tea, and pretty much any of the produce that is in season. Also, this time they had artists and I was crazy for the scarves from Cloth & Ink.
Also, I can’t wait for peonies and peaches to be in season. <3
I have tried every restaurant in downtown Boulder. Literally. Every single restaurant. Sometimes when I see someone check into some place new on Foursquare I get really excited because I think there is a new restaurant and then it ends up being someone’s house or other such nonsense. I crave new experiences, so sometimes Boulder can be a little tough since new restaurants don’t open up that often.
Despite having tried all of the restaurants, I really wanted to go to Taste of Pearl because at least the food would be in different venues (downtown stores) paired with Colorado wines. And you know what? It was awesome. We went into so many stores I had never bothered going in before. I also got acquainted with Colorado’s surprisingly many wineries, which were better than I remembered.
Participating restaurants were Frasca, Beehive, Pizzeria Locale, Oak, Kitchen Next Door, Mateo, Aji, Brasserie1010, Flagstaff House, Q’s, Riffs and Salt! On the good news front, Mateo is opening up for brunch.
Cheers to new experiences! Thanks to Joni for being my partner in crime as always!
The tomato bisque with goat cheese profiteroles from Brasserie1010.
After a week of being snowed in and absolute cabin fever, I am very much looking forward to getting outside today. First on the agenda is the Boulder Farmer’s Market and maybe a hike.
Several years ago I met Janette Crawford through my friends Emily and Rob. She is an awesome new mother, blogger and co-founder of StoreEnvy. A beautiful scarf she designed is featured on DesignMom and you can purchase it through LiveFashionable, which supports sustainable business in Africa. The site has some really beautiful scarfs (and remind me of LemLem).
I love all things Kate Spade, so this DIY Tutorial on creating Kate Spade style ballet flats from Oh Sweet Joy is awesome.
I was researching craft stores in Japan and Hong Kong and came across this blog. Love the party hats with the faces on them. I am hoping to do a China trip in September or October, but am thinking it is fairly unlikely.
I found a new local blog, A Denver Home Companion, that I absolutely am in love with. I am a big giant tourist in my own city and always love following people who go on adventures.
My first wedding-related purchase came in the mail and it is so heavy I have no idea how I’m going to get it from work to home. Speaking of which… Yesterday, I saw the Gilt alert flash on my phone that BHLDN was having a sale on Gilt. Picked up these beauties and some other party goodies. <3
It snowed in Colorado yesterday. Again. For the third day in the row. In April. We’ve had an incredibly dry winter, and every week I check the drought monitor, so I know we need the moisture. But I am seriously at my breaking point because my least favorite thing in the world is cleaning and after that it is scraping the snow off of the car.
So I thought I would make a list of things I am looking forward to this spring and summer in Colorado when the sunshine hits. Do you hear me Mother Nature??? I have plans, so step aside and let me enjoy myself.
- Taste of Pearl Street (Boulder/April 21st) - A bunch of restaurants set up food and wine inside shops, so you can graze on food while shopping. What’s not to love?
- Spring Heritage Day at Walker Ranch (Boulder/April 28th) - I’m a dork, so what did you expect? A day dedicated to celebrating the pioneers in Boulder? Please let me get to make my own candles or such thing.
- Asian Food Bazaar (Arvada/May 4th) - This amazing Japanese Methodist church in Arvada hosts awesome events including an upcoming Asian Food Bazaar.
- Huevos Revueltos Lecture Series at the MCA (May 30th) -José Noe Suro of Ceramica Suro discusses his Tlaquepaque-based ceramics factory while making tacos for the audience. You hade me at ceramics.
- Lyons Farmette Farm-to-Table Dinner (Lyons/June 5th) - They hold several farm tables throughout the summer, and I’m hoping the first one in June isn’t sold out yet. This is where we took our class on raising chickens.
- Mapleton Hill Rummage Sale (Boulder/June 8th) - The wealthy residents of Mapleton unload their belongings so you can buy it for an awesome price.
- Mapleton Whittier Garden Tour (Boulder/June 8th) - Boulder has some incredible gardens and this tour lets you traipse through other people’s homes. And it benefits the local elementary school.
- Greek Festival (Denver/June 14-16th) - You haven’t lived until you’ve had a Loukoumade, fried dough covered in honey, sugar and nuts.
- Ballet in the Park (Boulder/June 23) - Free ballet performance in the Boulder Bandshell.
- Firefly Market (Boulder/June 29-30th) - Amazing handmade market in Boulder.
- Horseshoe Market (Denver/July 13th) - A handmade market in Denver. I haven’t been to this one but have heard awesome things about it.
- Film on the Rocks (Morrison/Schedule Not Announced) - I am not a huge concert goer but it is awesome to catch a classic movie at Red Rocks.
- A Midsummer’s Night Dream at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival (Boulder/Aug 7) - CU Boulder does an incredible job of putting together this long-time festival.
- High Street Shoppes (Boulder/Ongoing) - Pop-up shop in Boulder by two decorators with all kinds of awesome home furnishings. Get on their email list to find out the next date.
What are you looking forward to this summer?
The Japanese Doll Festival at the Simpson United Methodist Church in March
One of the visions I had for Easter was to do a display of blue ombre vases with white flowers. So I began frequenting Boulder’s Goodwill looking for glass vases in multiples and amassed quite a collection. (Related: where do crafters store all of their craft supplies? Because I feel my craft supplies are now my landlord and I am some kind of tenant relegated to the corner.)
So I arranged them how I thought I’d like to display them and subdivided them into five groups that I would spray paint different shades of blue.
But…when I started spray painting them different shades, it felt like the blues were all colors from the eighties gone horribly wrong. So I thought I might stick with the mint color and then do the rest in gold, but when I got down to it, the mint color didn’t feel soft enough. So then I gave up. And I spray painted all of the vases champagne gold from Home Depot. Despite being a failed craft, it turned out alright.
Also, because of where they were placed in the empty lot next door, no less than five people asked if someone died and if it was a memorial.
As I mentioned in my Peeps Pinatas post, I really wanted to step up this year’s decorations for our annual Easter brunch. We host around 50 people who aren’t with their families on Easter, and I love for people to walk in and feel a sense of awe and specialness.
It helped immensely that I stored last year’s decorations. In January, I started working on decorations for this. I recently stumbled upon a post from Youremyfave which described my decorating strategy for Easter perfectly - think in multiples and rainbow-ize that biz.
If you’re up for more party goodness you can follow my blog with Bloglovin!
I used the Paper Rosettes from last year. I used paper from Paper Source and they have a great tutorial on their website.
I made rainbow paper chains last year and used Martha Stewart’s Cherry Blossom Deep Edger Punch for a creative touch.
It is driving me nuts that these aren’t perfectly straightened but lining up the plastic eggs from Target had a big impact for a cheap and easy tablescape.
A mimosa bar for our guests with orange juice, blood orange juice and grapefruit juice and crazy amounts of champagne. We still have 11 bottles to kick.
I purchased the awesome polka dot straws from Shop Sweet Lulu.
Used rainbow pinwheels to line the walkup. I reused last year’s and made about 25 more using card stock from Michaels.
I wish I had a better picture of this but I created a rainbow crepe paper background for the candy table. I used thecrepe paper tutorial from Rachel of Heart of Light. I glued the crepe paper on dowels and then used non-adhesive hooks to hold them. The pink cupcake wrappers are also from Shop Sweet Lulu, and put bunny ears and tails on them. I hoard apothecary jars all year long.
I color sorted a lot of the candy for a better visual effect.
My friend Sarah from Domestic Dilettante made Easter themed cake pops that turned out amazing.
Lined up plastic Easter baskets in the entryway.
Loved how these turned out! Peeps pinatas tutorial if you’re interested.
I lined up Bunny Ears from the dollar aisle at Target for our guests to wear!
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Once a year, Denver holds “Doors Open Denver” where the city opens its doors to the general public for a sneak peek behind many places you can’t normally visit. Museums, performing arts venues, hotels, offices, apartment buildings, historic homes all let tourists sneak a look. It’s one of my favorite weekends of the year since I love all things historical, touristy and behind the scenes. Each year new places pop up so it never gets boring and there are usually 80+ buildings so you have so many choices.
My favorite of this year was the Dikeou Collection. It was an incredible modern art collection that I never knew existed until yesterday. They had a car entirely made by cardboard, the amazing ginormous inflatable pink bunnies and what was essentially a musical chandelier. In years past, I’ve gotten an awesome ghost tour at the Crawford Hill Mansion, a behind-the-scenes tour of the Ellie Caulkins, a look into the old tunnel system that ran beneath Denver during the Prohibition and toured the suites of the Brown Palace. I also tour the Governor’s Mansion each year.
it is still going on today, so if you’re Sunday is free, be sure to check it out.
My friend Rob made an incredible brunch punch for Beerster. This was wonderful for several reasons.
One: It tasted awesome
Two: It was very boozy
Three: We ended up with 11 extra bottles of champagne. Thanks Rob!
The recipe is as follows:
Royal Brunch Punch
25 oz Earl Grey tea
1 bottle Lillet Blanc
1 bottle Hendrick’s Gin
1 bottle Solerno
18 3/4 oz fresh meyer lemon juice
12 1/2 oz orange marmalade
12 1/2 oz soda water
Brew tea and set aside to cool. Combine all ingredients except soda in a punch bowl with a few large blocks of ice and stir briskly to combine. Add soda water and serve. Rob used whiskey ice cubs.
