June 17th, 2013
monday monday. we have more company in town, camp1899 is hopping this summer! instead of throwing schedules to the wind though, a really good diy has been in progress for days. it won’t be completely finished this week but i’m going to show you what’s been done so far (in a day or two) because it’s really pretty at the almost finished stage, and big impact. mr blue eyes even skipped biking to the festival with us to keep trucking along on it so there you go.
our friend bishop and i, along with our nearest and dearest kelli & travis rode the hills to the highlands (we love having so many eclectic neighborhoods in any given direction of us) and mosied the booths and vendors and live music. something about walking or biking makes stuff like this better, especially in the summer. don’t you think? although, so many of the booths at this festival were commercial (think windows, siding, etc) i was really surprised. i don’t know how exactly but i wish festivals could steer further from sell, sell, sell and more onto community. but, friends, sunshine, biking, not a bad afternoon.
otherwise, i’m working on another of my summer to-do checklist.. reading the jack reacher (by lee child) series and planning our drive-in theater night, we’re thinking man of steel, are you going to see it? we’ve even put a library request in for the original superman to get ready. anyhoo, i think the scooter/side car above is the perfect getaway vehicle for me and the mister. a side car that looks kind of like a watermelon, i’m in. and he’d be in the side car of course. (:
Filed Under: life in the fast lane
Tagged: colorado, denver, highlands street fair
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June 10th, 2013
hooray! screen doors! we officially have a southern home now. (; they are wood, they slam (the best sound in the world), and no more flies! all done by me, him, and mama mia before she left town (thanks mom!). love these doors, they have made such a big difference and were so reasonable. we bought them at lowes for only $54 each and the knob and hinge sets were $15 each. because the doors of our house are newly framed but are really still 114 years old, husband had to cut them a bit to make them fit exactly (straightly framed lines, not so much) but once they were painted we couldn’t even tell. this is definitely a favorite project so far, little but good.
we had a really fun weekend but i wanted to share this diy before too much time had passed, updates on our frivolities tomorrow.. hope you all had a good one!
Filed Under: D-I-Y,life in the fast lane
Tagged: charleston historic colors, diy screen door, rhett pumpkin
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June 3rd, 2013
hello june! summer is already whipping by way too fast for my liking, you? time goes too quickly. my sweet mom headed home this sunday and even though she put up with us (and our less than glamorous guest accommodations) for over two weeks, it just went by in a snap. she lives far too far away. (do you hear colorado calling mom?) (;
over the weekend we went to a paris street market and it’s officially on our monthly summer agenda. it’s an antique market the first saturday of the month in littleton and the second saturday in boulder and for treasure hunters like my mom and i, heaven! and great prices, it’s well put together and i wondered if the prices would reflect that, but nope, lots of good deals. i found a goodie i’ve been wanting for awhile, i’ll take a picture and share soon (;
our final weekend with mama mia was a good one, junking, lots of sun, book reading, a finished diy that we are all smitten with (later this week!), friends over for dinner, more summer movies, and another blackhawks win. pretty good stuff all around. hope you had a good one too!
Filed Under: life in the fast lane
Tagged: colorado, denver colorado, life in the fast lane, paris street market denver
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May 20th, 2013
we have the most special guest visiting, mama mia is in town!! so of course we are already running here, there, and everywhere in just the first few days. we’ve thrifted (found some goodies, and wanted to steal one out of a girls cart when she wasn’t looking… i resisted, sadly), walks around the lake, watched the burbs (mom had somehow missed this must-see classic) and introduced her to cast iron skillet pizza, have tons more of everything planned. but to start….
we visited betasso preserve and hiked the canyon loop trail. it was a nice trail, a lot of in-the-forest hiking versus big scenery, we’re learning that we all like either big views along the way or something super exciting at the end like our hikes to the fire tower or isabelle glacier. but! we like to try new and this is super close to us, just on the outskirts of boulder, and, it’s just down the road from boulder falls which was amazing!! one last note on the canyon loop trail, it was packed with mountain bikers and if that’s your sport i think you would love it. it’s challenging (or seemed like it would be to all of us), but well groomed; as a hiker the trail is less of an uphill climb if you follow the direction that bikers are required to go (we thankfully, unknowingly, went this way) but if you want all uphill go the opposite. and phoo, one big group of bikers saw three bears but we missed them, not sure if this is good or a missed opportunity. (;
Filed Under: life in the fast lane
Tagged: betasso preserve, boulder colorado, boulder falls, colorado, life in the fast lane
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May 13th, 2013
hello monday! this little beauty popped up in the middle of our green but haphazard and full of weeds yard. perfectly pale lemon and almost the only non-dandelion flower we’ve got. i found it while struggling with the eco-friendly, all man-powered mower that we have. let’s just say the yard looks like it was mowed by a blind person. push mowers and weeds are apparently arch enemies and the weeds are clear winners. that mower plows through real grass with no problem but give it a weedy strand and it is powerless. a year ago we had nothing but dirt so i’m really not complaining.
we worked our tails off on a diy this weekend that will (hopefully) be one hundred percent by the end of day today so i’ll be able to show off why we are both (the husband and i) sore and stiff. so short and sweet today peeps, we’re finishing our weekend project, and the new closet door, and one more diy. no time for dilly-dallying.
i must pause to say how grateful we are that sunshine and warm days are upon us this week. we, in-between working, soaked up some sun this weekend and it was glorious. we hung with neighbors and even had an impromptu dance party in the living room one night. and lastly, the diy we worked on all weekend, more proof of how much that husband of mine loves me. it didn’t have to be done, but i really really really wanted it and he not only obliged but didn’t complain and even might have said a time or two that it was a really good thing. ♥.
Filed Under: life in the fast lane
Tagged: life in the fast lane
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May 6th, 2013
in the event things were looking a little too glamorous around here (haha) a look at our not very exciting but productive weekend. the first collage of pictures was a tall, skinny, little did we know, hollowed out (how was it even standing) tree that produced about a bazillion inedible balls of squishy fruit that made the neighbors dogs sick and the entire back corner of the yard a big fat mess. and it was all around our power lines so it had to go. this was what the project was supposed to be, the end.
but you get boys with chainsaws and suddenly all of the other projects that need chainsaw attention come into hyper focus. the big elm next to our house has elm disease, as they are so apt to get. we know it must come down in it’s entirety at some point but for now (second collage of photos) the boys took the canopy as high as travis (our very kind neighbor who offered to help the mister, thanks t!) could climb and the pole chainsaw could reach. it might not look extra pretty in these photos but in person it’s a million times better.
then he and i, although ready to call it quits (and this is on day two) knew that with only one tree left it must be done. it too hangs over a neighbors yard and had limbs all interspersed with cables so one more canopy was raised and oh happy day. although i was about at my limit on how many times i could bend over and pick up sticks. there is only so.many.times. you can do this before becoming slightly irritated. after all, using the chainsaw and watching it all fall is more fun, although tiring too, but i wasn’t pointing that out at the time. and husband insisted on one photo of me with the chainsaw by my big pile (it’s larger than our car for goodness sakes).
plus a little (but exciting to us) home update. we scored big time on craigslist this weekend. don’t you love craigslist? last year after diligent searching we found solid wood, raised panel, 96″ tall doors for all of our interior except one. we had decided that in such a small house spending extra on upgraded (and taller) doors would make a huge difference, but they cost around $400 a piece, oof. a local builder that has occasional excess had listed new ones and we got lucky and purchased them for $75 apiece… huge savings. over the past year i have been looking and hoping for one more to pop up and finally the perfect size for our final door (the closet) was listed. and wouldn’t you know it turned out to be the same guy, he had not had any doors since then until this week. cha-ching! $69 later and we-are-done.
and finally i think you will all agree that two days of yard work = pizza. i tried an (almost) entirely homemade pizza with a gluten free crust (my one cheat, i used a pre-packaged crust mix). next time i plan to use this homemade gf flour blend (once all ingredients are purchased and at the ready) which my girlfriend lindsey is using for everything and loves. (thanks for leading the way miss L!) even so i wouldn’t hesitate to use the mix again, with a few minor adjustments; follow directions as on package but (if you are doing cast iron pizza like we did) roll the dough extra thin, i found that it was a bit thick and not quite as cooked in the direct center of each slice. this did not deter us from eating it all (of course) and husband is one thousand percent loving this pizza, crust rolled thin or not. anyhoo, i’d roll it thin and that’d be that, i think it would be perfect. (it says spread with hands which i did and was easy but like i said, not just right). even if you are using a regular pizza pan i would roll thin just to be on the safe side. also, we had a little bit of dough leftover that we topped with olive oil and herbs and cooked plain, best flatbread ever.
so there you go, hellloooo monday! how was your weekend?
Filed Under: life in the fast lane
Tagged: gluten free flour blend, gluten free pizza crust, tree trimming
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April 29th, 2013
kiddos, we had a really good weekend. it. is. official. sunshine fueled vitamin d is a must-have for this mrs. lately i have been feeling like someone strapped into a roller coaster with miss mini meltdown. until i mentioned to the husband that maybe i was going just this side of crazy, i hadn’t known what to think.
i couldn’t believe it when he instantly said, no way, i know what it is, it’s the weather. the gray skies, zero sunshine for weeks, that is your problem. and thank you very much, i think that man was right. the sun was out in full force this weekend and i’m back to my old self. and very relieved.
in other fun news, our super cute neighbors dave & kate got engaged! it was on the agenda for someday, but miss kate had no idea it was going to be this week and we are very excited for them, brought back lots of remember when stories. we had coconut margaritas (totally addicted now) and home-made mexican food with some amazing southern friends (that share my alma mater), love having some arkansas peeps just up the road from us, the south doesn’t seem so far away now.. (;
and do you see how cute that man of mine is… he came out wearing pastels and first thing i asked was .. what are you buttering me up for? because honey, i do love him in preppy pastel head-to-toe goodness. couldn’t stop looking at him.
lastly, a special shout out to my girlfriend lindsey.. she was recently bestowed the honor of blog of the month by mr jamie oliver and his food revolution team, lightning the world on fire my dear! and today is her special day, your edgewater peeps are thinking of you and sending you big wishes!! xoxo
Filed Under: life in the fast lane
Tagged: life in the fast lane
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April 22nd, 2013
i am sure you have all seen this commercial by now.. it makes me laugh every time i watch it, especially since it makes him and i think of someone we know that we can easily imagine throwing a ball this way. too funny. how was your weekend? we popped into the denver botanic gardens to see if any tulips had survived the multitude of snow storms, and there were about a dozen, all in planters by the green house. not a flower (practically) to be found on the grounds but! the hot (tropical) house had flowers and fruit abundant, plus new sculptures were being erected, it was definitely worth the trip despite the less than lush landscape.
since installing our new cooktop we’ve been cooking much more and readjusting what we eat. being vegan, and he, pescatarian, our staples are all pretty healthy; but like anyone, slippage occurs (which can, hence the name, be a very slippery slope). and then i started reading the book pandora’s lunchbox and oh my. i have read so many books on health and diet which is both the reason i am vegan and why i carefully watch ingredient lists (minimal number of ingredients if it is a packaged food, no hfcs, no added sugars of any kind, yada yada), but good lord there is a lot of tricky business out there in the world of food. and the food you buy with no label, that you have no idea what’s in it, oof. this is a great book for families, if you have kiddos i would say it is a definite must read. (it’s not about being vegan btw, it’s about processed foods, chemicals, that sort of thing)
my girlfriend lindsey turned her families diet upside down, eliminating all preservatives, food coloring, and gluten, and the results have been unbelievable. since, i have read so many stories of other families with similar to the exact same results. it has made us look even closer at what we had been eating and overlooking, such as natural flavors (hmm.. turns out not so natural). the few things we found had such easy, same price fixes from whole foods (pickles with no chemicals, mustard with no natural flavors). there’s a lot to the statement, you are what you eat. i also checked out miss gwyneth paltrow’s new cookbook it’s all good, and it is! hoping to try some recipes very soon. and that’s that, poof! the weekend was over. i think we should flip this 5-2 weekend thing on it’s head. don’t you think?
Filed Under: life in the fast lane
Tagged: denver botanic garden, it's all good, pandora's lunchbox, vw
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April 15th, 2013
we had a major milestone this weekend, our final yard sale. finito forever! i feel like i can honestly say this because the process of getting rid of almost everything has taught me (when i didn’t think there was any more to learn on the subject of downsizing stuff) more at each turn, and every sale, and every trip to the goodwills of the world. and now that we’re here, at this place of super simplified, we don’t intend to go backwards.
i am a big fan of getting-rid-of. i think stuff that gets kept for maybe someday, it was a gift.. i can’t get rid of it, i paid so much for it, basically anything other than flat out love, prevents more good from coming into the now. it’s similar to the theory that a clenched fist can’t grab anything because it’s already full and closed off to new (and potentially fabulous). i’m always surprised at how much storage people want in their home, if it’s in storage (minus holiday and a few memory keepsakes) what’s the difference anyway? do you go look through your boxes once a week and visit all that stuff? each to their own though, my purpose and story isn’t to say get rid of it all! but to share what it’s done for us having let go of more than we would have ever imagined.
what he and i want our home filled with is friends and laughter and dinner parties and birthdays and holidays and fun. because this house just fits us, not too big or too small, it eliminates a lot of purchases because there isn’t anywhere to stuff it (well… technically there is, hoarding is always an option, haha!). we instead have open space to sit and dance and eat and have 2 or 25 friends over. have you ever not wanted company because your house was a mess, or you had to scramble to cram things in the closets? although this is not something we’ve ever had an issue with (we love to entertain so not much stops us),
i know so many people who don’t have friends visit for this very reason. even though we haven’t dealt with that, our downsizing to 528 sq. ft. has freed us up even more. we can clean and straighten the house in ten minutes flat and be raring to go. our memories will be made sharing time with each other, with friends, traveling, cooking, and hopefully making a difference in others lives.
so that’s it we think, we’ve had more than our fair share of yard sales to last us a lifetime anyway. they’ve all been worth it but i also have to say that giving things away is just as good. i’ve given away so much stuff it rattles my brain. i gave away to kids, strangers, and neighbors (despite their kicking and screaming) yesterday, and i’m not sure there is a friends house that i couldn’t go in and say, hey! that used to be in our house. (; if you love it, need it, or it’ll look good on you, rest assured i’m going to send it home with you.
Filed Under: life in the fast lane
Tagged: downsizing, life in the fast lane, yard sale
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April 8th, 2013
over the mtns, through nederland co ↑ to lunch in boulder ↓
and home again ↓
how was your weekend peeps? we were very productive. 2 diy projects were checked off the list and i cannot wait to show you them tomorrow. totally smitten with ourselves and what we’ve done. (; plus the big biggie that is only waiting for me to get off my butt and get the post in order to show you, this week foh sho.
we also took a morning roadtrip and drove from edgewater, through the mountains, on a (why-do-i-forget-this-road-is-SO-curvy) loop going through some tee tiny towns and ending in boulder. skipped breakfast so we could indulge in vegan sandwich goodness from native foods (we first ate here in palm springs and hip hip hooray for one so close to us now!), of course i had the reuben. strolled the streets a little too full, then drove the back roads home again.
hung with the neighbors a little, cooked some crispy tofu (working on the perfect tastes-like-fried-chicken-but-it’s-tofu), finished season 7 of dexter and oh my. we love that show and are supremely disappointed that season 8 is the end. ); do you watch it? snow is on the forecast for tuesday, with heavy accumulation (according to weather.com), and i don’t think i need to spell out what i think about that _______.
Filed Under: life in the fast lane,travel
Tagged: boulder, colorado, dexter, diy, life in the fast lane, native foods, nederland
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