2014.

Here's what we're looking at.

Mainly exploring Colorado and all it has to offer. I've loved winter (or lack thereof compared to Chibera), with mild temps in Denver and snow galore in the mountains.  Although, I'd lie if I said I weren't most excited for summer. I can't wait to explore more of Denver on foot and bike and explore Colorado via hikes, camping, rafting and mountains.

 

Ben will continue to brew (although there's been a recent damper on that activity. Who knew that electric stove tops didn't get on hot as gas, this resulting in the purchase of a turkey fryer. We have yet to that out...) and I will continue to cook (I'm so excited for this cookbook I got at Christmas. The recipes have me salivating). Together, we will continue to drink craft beer :)

 

The last book on our 2014 shelf is the white one.  Part of the decision to move was the affordability of buying a single family home in Denver proper.  We've looked online for months (actually even prior to moving) and now with our lease ending mid-March, we've transitioned our search from online to in person.

 

So far we've toured eight homes and crossed 51 off our list (which doesn't include the homes we decided weren't even worth a second thought).  We have our list of wants and wishes and have not found the house just yet; although we do have one from last weekend lingering in our minds.

 

I am excited to keep you updated as we move forward in the process!



Quick Deal

I'm recovering from yesterday's adventures in snowboarding. If you follow me on instagram (@justcallmehaha), you had a chance to see what I was up to. There was practically no traffic due to the Bronco's game and there was fresh snow (in the mountain, not Denver) galore! 



Now I finally get why people get excited for fresh powder; it's SO much easier!



Of course, I'm still a beginner so my neck is a bit stiff from some falls, but I'm really improving. I even went down the bunny hill without any spills. Go me!



Between the mountains Sunday, and a run outside Saturday (only my second outdoor run since the move), I feel more like myself and more active...



...which is good considering Saturday night we went to Bull and Bush Brewery for dinner. When we came out in Summer 2011, our friends brought us here for dinner. It was my first brewery of Denver. It now seemed kind of surreal that two and a half years later, we're out to dinner that. Since I was starving, I succumbed to the burger of the month: bacon cheese burger with grilled cheese sandwiches for buns.

Here's a quadruple deal to shop: Banana Republic, Gap, and Old Navy have 35% off online purchase today with code NEWSTYLE and Piperlime is joining in the fun for 25% off purchases. Plus save an extra 30% on Piperlime sale items with code HAPPY. Don't forget ebates for another 7% back!

Don't understand ebates? Read here.

 

Whoops.

It's here. It's been here a week now. Whoops. This is certainly not how I planned to start off the blog in the new year, but ya know, the holidays are busy, especially when you travel!

A recap of our holidays:

We were all set to drive back to Illinois early Christmas Eve morning.  Ben had suggested driving back after work on 12/23 and I'd shot the idea down for fear of driving over night and us staying awake (last summer Ben's family drove out to CO and his mom fell briefly fell asleep at the wheel. Thankfully the rumble strips her up immediately, but because of that we instated the rule that someone needs to always be awake with the driver). Monday morning, 12/23, I got to work anxious to get the day over. After checking the forecast and road conditions, I emailed Ben and said "what the hell? we might as well drive after I get off to have the extra time with family" and we did just that.

We arrived home at 4am MT/5am CT and immediately hopped in bed for a few hours.  By 10:30 we were up and at 'em. We even made it to 10pm Christmas Eve Mass!

This year's Christmas was a strange one.  With our nephew being here, my SIL decided they wanted his first Christmas to be in their own home in Chicago.  My brother and his wife decided that their dog is on her last leg (so sad!) and it was best not to travel with her but they hated the thought of leaving her behind, thus we both missed siblings at Christmas. None the less, it was so nice to be home with our parents and Mr. Sister. Home is always home.

My parents wonky tree

Sleeping in my own bed

Family Tradition: Ticket to Ride and wine :)

 Thursday I got my first EVER spray tan. I went to a place called Flesh Tones as recommended by my hair stylist/wedding make up artist, Glam 2 Go. A person did airbrush spray and it was only $15! I was pretty nervous that first night, but overall happy with the results!

Friday Ben and I hopped in the car for our next roadtrip, a five hour drive to Indianapolis for MT's wedding! We were supposed to have arrived with an hour to spare before rehearsal, but do to the worst back up I've ever seen, thanks to a overturned jello and pudding semi load (REALLY! I could not make up a worse excuse!), we barely caught the end of rehearsal.

Wedding day was perfect.  MT had arranged for hair and makeup (and food) in the private loft area of an adorable salon called A'Do.  From there we went to a beautiful Catholic church for pictures and the ceremony.  Who would have thought that the last Saturday in December in the Midwest would end up being 50 degrees?!

I was pretty proud of my makeup! I saved $50 and did it myself :)

The party bus and reception were a blast. One of my best friends, MJ and her husband were there. I hadn't seen her in months so it was great to catch up and hang out. 

I die. Love the look on MT's face

 

Sunday morning, dead tired, we drove back to the QC to watch the Bears lose. My inlaws had driven to Chicago on Christmas day and taken our gifts for SIL with, returning with their gifts for us; so Sunday night we FaceTimed and opened another round of gifts.

10 months old; isn't he adorable?!

...because we were up early on Monday to get on the road back to Denver!

The loves of my life

We got home around 5pm and had our last Christmas tradition: Ben and I's exchanging of gifts. I love this quite wrap up (or should I say unwrapping? ha!) of the holidays and the time between the two of us after the chaos of family.

 

 I hope you had a great holiday season!

To the Mountains We Will Go: Wknd Recap

Good morning! My shortest work week yet! I'm working today and off for the rest of the week (granted I took two vacation days, but whatevs).

This weekend flew by. Ben's company flew him back to Chicago last week for his company's holiday party (and put him up in a hotel; score! They must really like him:) so Friday night it was just me and Oscman.  The timing worked out perfectly as I was schedule to work Saturday morning.  It won't last forever, but given my job's strict timeline, once about every two months I have to come in on Saturday.

After work I picked up Ben from the airport and we headed home. I was a bit disappointed that he was too tired to go out, we'd talked about going to see Anchorman 2 or going to Zoolights, instead we grabbed dinner at a bar and curled up on the couch to watch some Breaking Bad.  We're still catching up, but man is it so good!

We kept in an easy night because we planned to go snowboarding yesterday. I can't remember if I mentioned or not, but Ben is determined to make a snowboarder out of me.  He bought a cheap board in high school and taught himself. He's gone sporadically throughout the past couple years and moving here, there was no doubt we'd go on a regular basis.

One of the first weekends we moved here there was a ski expo and I decided to drop a pretty penny (or several hundreds, yikes!) on snowboarding gear. I figured buying the stuff on big discount was worth the savings if I decided to stick with it; and if not, then I could sell the stuff on Craigslist, basically brand new.

Black Friday, we had White Friday.  We headed to the mountains.



We went to Winter Park (one of the places our season pass we bought is good for, more money) and signed up for lessons. Funnily enough, my instructor was from my hometown! It was a rough day with lots of falls but I wasn't defeated. I'd anticipated that. If anything, I was more determined to learn this sport.



Yesterday we went out for my second time and it was SO much better.  I started off on the bunny hill and Ben rode with me to give some pointers. After a few runs there, I agreed to graduate to a green hill. Although I still fell (and admittedly, almost had a melt down), I didn't cry and I made it to the bottom feeling like I'd achieved something.


Instructor Ben; telling me to watch others



The more I go, the better I'll get and the more I'll like it. Besides, with views like these, it's hard not to love being in the mountains.

  



Holiday Cheer

I'm still pinching myself that Christmas is next week. With the move, our traditions and routine of the holidays aren't quite the same. I'm not sure I'd realize it was holiday season if I hadn't insisted we get a tree.

 

You would think for sure that in Denver's surrounding area there would be plenty of spot to cut down your own tree...but after spending some time on google it seemed like our only option was to get a license to cut from a forest.  My sister has joked that since moving to CO my style as become more lumberjack (see below), but I'm not quite there there!

J Crew Factory Vest (similar) // Lands End flannel (similar)

Old Navy Vest (similar, $15!) // ModCloth Scout top // Sorel Joan of Arctic boots (cheaper option)

 

Instead, we opted for a tree lot conveniently located at Little Man Ice Cream.  Ice cream and a Christmas tree? I was in Heaven.

Oscar got his first taste of LM and LOVED it! He may even be a bigger fan than his momma.





We're adapting more and more into our new life. Oscar loves having Ben home with him.  Ben likes working from home, but I can also tell it's sometimes a struggle not to be in a typical work environment. But it has it's perks; for him: being able to wear sweat pants, make lunch or go for a lunch run; and for me: coming home to a clean apartment (included mopped floors) and clean laundry (this guy's a keeper!).

Sometimes I feel like I'm putting too much pressure on me/us to "get going" making friends, volunteering and to build up our connections here. Then I take a deep breath and remind myself, we've been here not even two months. We'll enjoy the holidays and then I'll try to put more effort into those goals in the new year.

We just need to get through the holidays, right Osc? It looks like he's already tired of them.

 After all, it IS the most wonderful time of the year.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Now that fall is here in full blast and we're finally settled into our new apartment, I've been eager to try out some recipes for pumpkin pancakes.  Ben was leery, but gobbled them right up! And you know how picky he is...if Ben likes them, they must be good!  

Ingredients:

(Original recipe; Makes ~10 6" pancakes)

•  1.5 cups milk
• 1 cup pumpkin
• 1 eggs
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 Tbsp vinegar (I used apple cider)
• 2 cups flour
• 3 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking power
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt

• In a medium sized bowl, mix together wet ingredients: milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar 

• In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices

• Mix dry ingredients into wet, stirring just enough to combine.

• Scoop batter on top a lightly oiled skillet over medium heat.  The batter will spread, so start with small scoops (~1/4 cups)

The first couple 'cakes came out slightly crispy and fried from the oil. Admittedly, these were the tastiest!

 Oh yes, and they're Oscar approved too!

Linking up with Let's Get Bananas and Blissfuly Miller for Taste of Tuesday

 

 

Week Recap

 Me oh my was this past week a doozie! Both the Bulls and Blackhawks were in town and we planned to take full advantage. After all, most Bulls tickets for standing room (at the tip top of the United Center) are typically around $100, so now that we've in Denver we felt like we could actually afford tickets! Then I was pleasantly surprised by a coworker with free 10th row tickets...free is even better!

 So instead, we spent a little more on Blackhawks vs. Avalanche tickets than we planned.  The game was terrible (for Hawks fans) but we did have some fun before the game!

 

 That was Tuesday night; Thursday night was the Bulls game. Darn, TBS scheduling meant we were the second game of the night, starting at 8:30 MT! Once again, the game was another dud as a Chicago fan.  The most exciting part of the game was 80's Night half time perfomance by Tiffany ("I think we're alone now..."

 The new screens at the Pepsi Center are insanely large!

With the late night Thursday, we had planned to lay low Friday and go snowboarding (for my first time!) on Saturday...however, we didn't realize how strict the rule of signing up for lessons 48 hours in advance was (you'd better believe I don't dare set foot on the mountain without lessons first!), so instead we checked out a few breweries.

Our Mutual Friend Brewing will be celebrating their year anniversary in two weeks.  This was the cutest and quaintest little brew pub. It was so cozy for a cold night!

 

 From there we headed over to Epic Brewing, which has a much more commercial (and bright) atmosphere, but some awesome berry! I had their stout mixed with a kriek (tart beer) for a chocolate cherry flavored beer combo. Yum! Epic's story is pretty interesting. They're from Utah and recently wanted to expand but were told they weren't allowed; instead, the set up camp in Denver and now brew three beers that are only available in CO

 And of course, leaving Osc alone for a few hours, he was rowdy and excited for us to get home.

Sunday morning we hopped over to Crema Coffee House, one of the supposed top coffee shops in Denver, and I'd believe it. Not only was the coffee good (although a little fruity for our liking), but their cinnamon roll (warmed) was amazing!

 

Later I met my first "friends" in Denver, some girls from a message board I frequent for an amazing brunch at Roija downtown, Denver's top restaurant according to Yelp. No pics, but trust me, you want to try their raspberry marscapone french toast. My mouth is salivating just thinking about it. The company was great too. It's so funny to meet people in person that you "know" from the internet.  I know it sounds weird, Ben thinks it is, but really there weren't any lulls in the conversation! It was refreshing!

The rest of the day was spend ordering our holiday cards (woohoo!), shopping for Thanksgiving (yep, we're staying here and having our first Thanksgiving on our own. Keep your fingers crossed that our beer-brined, of course, turkey turns out!) and relaxing with my boys.

Hope you had a great weekend!