Hiking Kenosha Pass

Kenosha Pass is the first trail I hiked when we moved to Colorado 2 years ago.  Ryan promised me changing aspens and feed me granola bars as I huffed and puffed my way up the trail.  Thankfully I'm a-okay with the altitude and now can really enjoy the view.

Isn't this place magical?

I shot some film while we were exploring, I can't wait to see how they turned out.   I'll be sure to share. 

I Am

I'm quite head over heels with Netflix.
              

Especially since giving up cable in August (again), it's so nice to still sit down and enjoy a good flick.  Most recently I watched House of Cards with Kevin Spacey, holy good friends, he knocked my socks off in a creepy old man, but somehow I still like you, kind of way.  While I was immersed in that show for a few weeks, I had left my beloved documentaries to the wayside. 
                  

Last night, I was "recommended" a recently added doc on Netflix called I Am.  I immediately assumed it was going to be biblical, since Jesus said those exact, albeit famous words.  But was surprised it was written/directed/about the director who made slapstick comedies: Bruce Almighty, Ace Ventura, etc.  And thought, hmmmm, I'm not so sure. 
                              

I have to say, the film felt a little cheesy at first, but the more I watched it, the more "into" I became.  It wasn't necessary religious, but it did have those undertones (which became major points) that everyone is connected to each other, everyone should be kind to each other, everyone in the entire world is a community in many ways. 

To say I was in tears by the end is a bit of an understatement.. it was late, I was emotional, it happens.  But more so, I do need those reminders sometimes that people are good; that we should stop caring so much about ourselves and start caring for our communities around us.  And this was a really good reminder. 

Check it out.

Homebuyers, oh and I'm back!

A girl can be a little indecisive, right?  Isn't that in our nature or something?

Welllllll, Wordpress and I didn't work out, so I'm back on Blogger for now.  Really, it's not so bad. Blogger and I had a pretty good thing going for a very long time and I'm sure I can find a space here again (with a few changes of course).  So, here I am!  Again!  Yay!

Jumping right in.... we bought a house.  And already had a little house warming party.  What?!

Thankfully there is little to update/restore, but I can't wait to share the small DIY projects we plan to tackle along the way. I'm looking at you, Young House Love, for some major inspiration. 

The death of Google Reader, plus a move

Hi friends!
I've missed you!

Ah, this little blog, all mine for 6 years.  It had 3 titles, over 10 headers and many more template changes.  It evolved from stories of an unemployed college grad, a haven for wedding ideas, the joys of DIY and sewing, and lastly to adventures while living in Colorado.

And now, I'm not sure where it's going next, but I know that I need to take a step back and figure it out.  I want to find a more genuine voice and for whatever reason a new format seemed to be the solution.  The creative juices are flowing again!  I've been exploring Wordpress for the past month and eventually created a new space: https://mysimplestoryblog.wordpress.com/

It's a work in progress, some of the links don't work yet, etc., but I wanted to share it with you all before Google Reader dies (seriously, why are you doing this to us Google?). So bookmark my new space and we can still keep up with each other!  I'll be writing very soon, I hope. 

My love for Instagram is still going strong, so feel free to follow me there if you aren't already  @my_simple_story

Skiing in Park City, UT

Ryan took a man trip to visit some friends living in Park City.  Between brewery tours and distillery tours, they seem to have found some time for skiing.  And these were the awesome shots he got!  He should steal the camera from me more often. 

I wasn't worried about the DSLR out and about in the snow at all.  Ha!

Tristan Prettyman is so over Jason Mraz

Tristan Prettyman has all the support she needs from our Denver community.  At her concert Friday night, the first stop of her tour, any time the word 'Jason' was mentioned, the entire crowd booed.  To catch anyone up, they were engaged in 2011 and shortly after he broke it off and left her devastated, poor thing.  So now, her new album Cedar + Gold is all about her next few years as a single person, trying to figure it all out.

I listened to her music in college, when she was a one woman show, so the addition of her band was really nice.  For the most part, all of her songs are upbeat and danceable.  The entire (female) crowd was singing along, she sure has a lot of followers! 

When the jacket came off and the band left, things got real.  She sang the song "I was going to marry you" which isn't a secret at all that it's about her and Mraz.  It's really beautiful and maybe my favorite from the album, but also incredibly sad of course. 

Tristan really interacted with the crowd.  And like I said before, everyone seemed to be pretty big Jason haters now, so she joked a lot about him.. nicely of course.. and everyone yelled that she was lovely and "doesn't need him".  It slightly felt like a group therapy session, which is sort of awesome, thinking if I had got dumped by a guy, I'd sure love to hear from hundreds of people how great I was.  Right?!  Drama aside, she really has an incredible live presence and sang amazingly. 

She said, just recently, that she was truly able to let everything go, and that it took too much energy to still be so angry and upset.  She feels free now.  **crowd roars** 

We were definitely there for the music, but thank goodness we knew a bit about Jason and Tristan's breakup or we sure would have been confused why the crowd was so intense about this subject!

Three more members of Team Tristan.  Had such a fun night with Hannah & Rachel.

These are the places that you'll find me hiding.

Last Friday was cold and snowy, and then Saturday we received so much sunshine we didn't know what to do with ourselves.  Colorado is kind of funny like that.  As if it wants to be true to itself with a cold winter, but quickly gives everyone a warm break, just to keep friends -- perhaps it's a people pleaser.  I mean, I was sure pleased this weekend!  Especially after we biked to a new brunch spot and stuffed ourselves silly while basking in the sun. 

I made almond butter for the first time this weekend.  It's incredibly easy and tastes amazing.  I added a little honey and a pinch of sea salt and have been spreading it on celery every since.  Yummmm. 

Sunday Beth and I ended the weekend with a much needed yoga session with Tiffany at Vital Yoga.  Each week we have to talk each other into going and then feel so thankful afterward; class is always worth the effort of getting ourselves out of the house on a Sunday night.  Always.

Music at the Hi-Dive

Ryan heard Night Beds from a Daytrotter Session and knew I would love them.  So we bought tickets to the Hi-Dive earlier this week... and I prepared.

I was pumped up all day, listening to each band's album over and over again, reading all the articles I could find about the musicians.  It's what I do before every concert.. I'm that person blasting the music on my way to the concert of the band I'm about to see.  It's mostly embarrassing at Red Rocks where everyone has their windows down as we wait in line to park.  But who cares, right?  This is my MO.  Go to a concert with me, I'll tell you everything about the band, even if I just learned about them.

We were early birds to the venue, though isn't there something kind of magical about the quiet space?  I'm glad I had a chance to get these shots. 

The show was awesome, by the way. Wow, Wow, Wow.

I just found out Night Beds made their television debut days before this concert on Late Night With Jimmy Fallen. I hope they make it big, they were great.  And their opener, Glowing House, has a great folky sound that I just loved. I especially enjoy the song "All That Matters" from them, click on the link and you can stream the song.

Happy love day, everyone!

We'll probably make dinner at home, watch last night's episode of Top Chef, and have a glass a wine.  Yep, sounds like a normal Thursday night.  

Date Nights

He wanted to bike to dinner on Friday night.
I said yes, of course.

Really, I wanted to wear my cute boots, but that just wasn't going to work with the bike pedals.
So I put on some sneakers, bundled up real tight, and we made our way to Linger for a little date night.
The 30 degree ride was pretty exhilarating, and I felt like I earned my dinner with all the hills in our hood.
It makes me happy how he gets me out of my comfort zone.

We've been together for 7 years and I hold that one of the successes to a happy relationship is dating.
I don't know what it is, but dinner out is just... different than dinner in.
He picks up the tab, even though we share a bank account.
You get get fancied up (well, everything but footwear in my case) and there is this extra spark in the air.

The food was delicious (go to Linger, Coloradans!).
Conversation interesting.
And the people watching was stellar.

I love date nights.

Inside Our Book Club

(via)

Besides the great book discussions we have during our book clubs each month, I always take home a sheet of notes filled with even more book titles or films to check out, plus all kinds of exciting and useful info that I've learned from the ladies in our club. 

Last Sunday, inside our book club:

• Risotto is worth all the hassle of stirring, or whatever kind of love you have to add, because it tastes amazing every single time I eat it. 
• A recommendation to watch Tiny Furniture after chatting about the show Girls (Lena Denham and her mother star in the movie).
• I'm a little scared, but I hear I need to read some Agatha Christie.
• Lip stains vs lipstick.  Lip stain wins.
• 10 pages into White Teeth and heard it's worth a read. 
• Another YA trilogy that I will be reading of course.

Can't say enough how much I love this group of women. 

Gentlmen of the Road

 
Tickets purchased!

See you soon(ish), Oklahoma.  I'm so proud. 

Sadly, I didn't see any of the Real Housewives

I finally made it to Beaver Creek this weekend, a pretty swanky resort in Colorado, that I've been excited about visiting ever since I heard you get free chocolate chip cookies at 3 o'clock.  It was a beautiful day too, clear skies and fresh snow, you can't complain about that.

I made a 6 or 7 year old friend on the first ski lift.  She was wearing head-to-toe pink, which I loved, and had little flower pedals on the bottom of her ski poles.  Pretty much the cutest thing I saw all day.  We started chatting and she told me about the kid adventure areas, marked with a smilie face on the map, so my goal was to seek those out later in the day.  I mean, she really talked them up.

...and they were my favorite runs.  We skied through teepee's and deserted "cities" and long tunnels, all over moguls through the trees in which I laughed and laughed as I sloppily bumped along.  I realized quickly she was probably a much better skiier than I am!

And before we knew it, it was 3pm.  That's cookie time.

Pure enjoyment, can't you tell?

I ended the day standing in the middle of the Ritz Carlton, looking for any celebrities.  I took about 10 steps inside the massive lodge and fell, legs flailing in the air, right on my booty.  It was awesome.  And by awesome, I mean really embarrassing.  I was sad Camille Grammer and her housewife friends were not around because I know they would have helped me off the floor and my debut on Bravo would have been a classy one, obviously.

A Winter Playlist

(via)

The Depth of Winter

Heavy Feet - Local Natives

You and I - Wilco 

Stubborn Love - The Lumineers

 Even If We Try - Night Beds
So Within - Seryn
Say Anything - Tristan Prettyman 

When You Come Back Down - Nickel Creek
Tamer Animals - Other Lives 

Hello My Old Heart - The Oh Hello's

Listen on Spotify:

The Coffee Shop Effect

There aren't too many things I love more than spending an afternoon in a coffee shop. 

I can't pinpoint exactly what makes my heart so happy; perhaps it's the combination of coffee aromas, quiet chatter, people immersed in books and newspapers, the lightening and artwork on the walls, and the quality of conversation when you're with a friend (it just seems better). 

Almost anyone can drink a cup of joe at home, but instead they make their way to a coffee shop, just like I did, to enjoy the experience of it all.  

Crafting at work is fun!

A co-worker and I were all about the handmade gifts for Christmas last year.  Once we realized the mutual love of crafting and sewing, we found a project online we both liked and set aside time at lunch for a week to get crafty.

We really wanted to recreate the Bina Brianca Wrap, it's worn a thousand different ways and seemed pretty simple to make. 

After a bit of Pinterest research, we found a couple DIY tutorials and set out to Joann's for fabric to start our project. 

We worked for 3 days, ironing, pinning, sewing, wrapping...

And no matter how we attempted to wrap up in our new creation, it just wasn't working out.  It was too short here, or not long enough there.  Honestly we had no idea where we went wrong.  We laughed, a lot, and finally finished up the project saying sometimes-DIY-isn't-as-easy-as-it-looks!  Or a close runner-up, make-easier-to-understand-tutorials-Pinterest-lovers! 

 

Mostly this post goes to show that sometimes projects don't turn out the way you hoped for, but the preparation, especially done with friends, is a fun time no matter what.

Celestial Seasonings in Boulder, CO

Between the 2 ski days we had this weekend, our friends wanted to take a day off and explore Colorado.  I just love being a tourist, so of course I was on board and suggested Celestial Seasonings in Boulder as our first stop on Saturday morning for a little tea time. 

Before the factory tour, guests were given the cutest little white cups to sample all kinds of hot tea.  I particularly enjoyed the pumpkin spice.    

We sipped and chatted before we had to join about 30 others in a movie room to start the tour.  The story behind the tea company is really interesting; it's always a treat when someone's passions become their success. 

After the film, we were given these stylish, baby blue hairnets to wear for our factory tour. 

And sadly, no more photos allowed on the tour.

We had a fun morning sipping on tea and chatting; right after we jetted to Mountain Sun Pub for some grub and brews.