Tuesday, December 21, 2010

i LOVE ... THE HOLIDAYS!

Happy Holidays!

 
 photos by me


It's been crazy busy here so I wanted to wish everyone a great holiday season before my computer & I head off on vacay.  My mom is in town and my aunt comes in tomorrow then I'm heading to Aspen/Snowmass and the comp is going into the shop for a little TLC.

I took these photos a few years ago at my mom's friends house.  She has these Nutcrackers all lined up on her mantel and they look magical.

See you all in a few weeks!

Peace & Love.










Sunday, December 19, 2010

dear jenny, do you take time to see the beauty?



Took this just about two years ago and I love it.  Hope everyone has a nice Sunday!

photo by me

Thursday, December 16, 2010

crafting



photos by me


Happy Thursday!  My friend Kel came over to hang out and she ended up being the best elf a girl could ask for!  I had a few gifts to sew and then she wrapped them.   Since I haven't given the gifts yet I'll post the finished products later.  Have to say I am pretty impressed with what I've done!  ...and that wrapping...its fab!






Wednesday, December 15, 2010

spinster

In life I really would like to meet my soul mate & have lots of babies with a full house of noise.  However, if I am destined to be a spinster I think this kitchen would be perfect.
What the hell...maybe I'll have it anyway

 photo from honey and the moon

ob.sessed.

Totally loving this & can't wait to see more.

 

Haven't been so in love with a gown since Gwen's...


but Carrie's dress sure did steal my heart.


 & I'll always be stunned by Christian Siriano.


Tuesday, December 14, 2010

peace, love & nyquil dreams

which i've learned can be a bit whack

old friends

photo by me


Yesterday I was so lucky.  I ended up speaking to three old and dear friends.  It was so random to speak to all of them in the same day.

I'll go backwards.  

I ended my evening with a phone conversation with my friend MP.  She was my first friend at Florida State.  People ask us how we met and I absolutely love making it into this over dramatic story.  Thank goodness she is easy going otherwise one day she would tell me to cut it out. 

Like most big girl things I face, there are some tears shed.  Pretty much balled the first few days of college.  It was orientation, back in the Summer of 2000.  We were in the same group and I had just come off a crying binge before I attended another orientation class.  After class I was walking back to my dorm when MP came up and started talking to me...I was THRILLED...a friend!  And we are in the same dorm?!  Oh M Gee.  Do you know why she came up to talk to me?  Oh, that's because she remembered seeing me in our dorm earlier and had forgotten how to make it back after class.  Used! 

But we became the closest of friends and I am lucky to have her.

Plus we are both Aries & have the initials MP...I really like that we share those things. 

My second old friend connection was with a guy I've been friends with since high school.  We were total opposites in high school.  He was cool...I (hello) was not.  But we had a class together and became friends.  We both ended up at FSU, lived in the same apartment building and stayed friends after college.  I love talking to him.  He's VERY funny and mischievous.  I adore him.  We had a two hour banter via text which consisted of topping each others jokes.  Two hours of laughing...we win.
 

It all started yesterday with my lunch break and a phone call to my friend C.  She is one of the first people I feel like I have made friends with as an adult.  We have become friends as women and its a really great feeling.  She's wonderful and I really look up to her.  Smart, strong, kind, level headed & has this WILD side...its fantastic!  What a spark.  

We have both moved in the past few years and among other things, I hear her say so many things I relate to in regards to living somewhere new.  Moving far from 'home' and friends and family is tough.  To miss the familiarity of those people who just KNOW you.  But I guess its just a growing process.  Moving makes you grow and evolve...its not always easy or comfortable but I tell myself that its all worth it.  

When I talked to her wished I was there hold her hand.  For being my GF.  Becoming a new mom.  For being able to be herself to me through all of the words she said.  For making me think I'M NOT CRAZY...someone else feels the same things.    ...and for her to hold my hand too.  

Those connections yesterday were a gift to me.   

I LOVE

I also LOVE the band OAR.  LOVE THEM.  It’s been a LOVE affair I have had through all of my 20’s. 

The soundtrack to the last decade of my life. 

They have been companions by the pool, on drives with my besties, inspiration to fabulous dancing & been the backdrop to good times with people I hold close to my heart. 

One of the best parts is I share my LOVE for OAR with my friend Jess.  We are probably totally geeked out with some of the stuff we do...but the music touches us both.  Concerts with her are a must.  I’ve seen a few without her and I always miss her.

I just missed them in Vail but the last two times I've seen them at Red Rocks here in CO...beyond, just beyond.



 


 

I LOVE the jams

Marc's voice

The lyrics and their ever changing flow

Something really magical about them

I LOVE

So I haven’t posted in about a week...YIKES!  I’ve been sick & useless.  However, I have found a new LOVE…NyQuil.  Since I am a lightweight and just took some I’ll attempt to post as much as I can before I slide down into my comfy sheets.
store brand = cheap thrill
photo by me

Sunday, December 5, 2010

weekend





photos by me

My shoes are TOMS.  Check them out...comfy & goes towards an amazing cause.


Anyway, good weekend?  Ready for another week?  Yeah...me too.  Just a few more days would be nice!  Right now I just keep reminding myself to work hard bc the year is almost over and then I'll have some time off. 

There was a Santa Pub Crawl this weekend.  We dressed up, brought a toy or two and joined about 1,000 of our closest Santa friends.  It was so much fun to see how people made their costumes into their own. I did a lot of staring.  Here are a few pics.

Ready to see Santa!
 

After seeing a very attractive Rudolph we me the ONE, the ONLY, Jolly Saint Nick!


We also met Giving Santa,


& Wise Santa,


we were protected by Ninja Santa,


& surprised by an Impostor Santa,


 FOUND Waldo Santa,


checked out Leggy Santa,


and snuggled with (fake) Txting Persian Santa.


But Santa wasn't the only one we met, there were Parting Elves 


while this elf was hard at work!


& there was a bunny.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

take a look


Happy WEEKEND!  I'm off to play with 1,000+ of my fellow Santa's but wanted to share this link.  The first video is super cute and funny...wonder what about this music moves him....?  The second, well its chilling & phenomenal.  I'll probably watch it 10 more times.

love. 

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

I LOVE

I LOVE my hometown.


Sunrise in St. Pete
 
      photo from my madre


Daytime St. Pete view
 
photo from my madre


Daytime Denver view 

photo from me

Sunset over the Rockies view
 
photo by me

I LOVE my hometown, ST. PETE, FL.  It’s paradise.  Really.  My love affair started when I moved to St. Pete at 16.  I moved from Miami and while I think Miami is fabulous, ST. PETE was the complete opposite and just what I needed. 

It’s this wonderful place & the people who live there LOVE ST. PETE.  Like mine, families live there for generations and it provides me a great sense of warmth in knowing that’s part of my family history.  It’s a fabulous family town and have always said I would raise my kids there.  Now…well who knows! 

I also LOVE my friends in ST. PETE.  One of my fav ST. PETE ladies, C , found out today that she is expecting a beautiful baby boy!  Can't wait to see that belly in ST. PETE in just a few months!

These photos my mom sent from her office remind me how beautiful that place is and how much I LOVE it. 

PS i also LOVE holiday treats from friends!  Thanks, Linds!

Monday, November 29, 2010

thanksgiving re-cap

I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving and spent it however made you happiest.  For me, it’s a time for family, friends and food.  & cocktails.  & laughing.

The below are a few shots of my weekend...my third roll of film...first inside...I'm learning people!

                                                                                  It's beginning to look a lot like...winter.
photos by me


The chef with his bird.

YUM!

                                                             Proud producer of blue cheese, cream cheese, olive & pecan spread.

                                                  Allyson's aunt sent cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake before she arrived.



                                                                                                                          the Ladies.



Since I have developed this AWESOME not-able-to-sleep-though-I’m-exhausted pattern I thought I would blog.

My Thanksgivings have changed a lot over the past few years and for the first few it was really hard.  My grandmother passed away a few years ago which changed our whole family dynamic.  No more holidays with my grandmother perfectly preparing our meal on a beautifully set table.  She would let go just a bit so we could bring a few sides and desserts.  God bless her, I now realize how much work it was and she never complained-just as long as we didn't get in her way.  

The first few years I don’t think any of us knew what to do on holidays…we just made it up as we went.  Now since I’ve moved half way across the country, the last two Thanksgivings have been spent with my CO friends.  It’s taught me that it’s important to be able to go along with changing family traditions…its life.  May be hard but it really is what happens in life.  My mom continuously reminds me that if you are going to love you have to be open to accept the loss and change that comes with life & love.  Family, friends, loves, pets.  A brave thing to do in my book.

Thanksgiving makes me feel warm (maybe from the wine) and happy (probably the food).  It’s a time to come together with people in your lives to visit, share stories, and be together over a leisurely meal.  

This year I was lucky enough to have many people invite me into their homes & had two very touching phone calls Wed evening with invites.  I am VERY thankful for that (them).  WOW.  Lucky me to have friends who care about me so.   

I ended up going to Allyson & Pete’s home and spent it with their family and friends.  We talked traveling on the West Coast, being from the East Coast, food trucks, food, politics, cars, writers, photography, TSA body scans, GLEE, Project Runway, various Embassy events in DC, and our travels.  We laughed, played a made up version of Family Feud and catch phrase.   PS...I announced how AWESOME I am at catch phrase then proceeded to eat.my.words.


Ended my weekend with bfast @ Snooze.  It's a Denver must.  & we saw Trista and Ryan from the Bachlorette.  My grandmother would have been beside herself.  

About once a week I think...

I am so thankful for my life.  

I am so thankful for my life.

I am so thankful for my life.

Thanksgiving is another day to remind myself of how lucky I am for the life I have.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

dear jenny, do you even know what it means to be a NOLE?

photo by me


Today, after six long years, my college football team beat their rival.  YAY!  The Noles didn't just win the game...we smashed em!  I game watched with some close friends and fellow CO Noles.  It's a nice sense of community and makes me miss that little town of Tallahassee.

The huge tailgates.

Humid, thick FL Panhandle air. 

40's we used to drive to GA to buy (we were THAT cool).

Living next door to great, fun friends.

& many more memories of the time I was fortunate enough to spend at Florida State.  (thank you to those who made that possible).

Friday, November 26, 2010

I LOVE

photo: debateitout.com



I LOVE corrupt countries and entities.

LOVE EM.   

Cuba.  Colombia.  Mexican cartels.  Italy's Camorra.  and especially North Korea.  I find them beyond fascinating.  Would give anything to go to any of those places.

Some (or most) would say every country, including the US, is corrupt.  To some extent I agree with that.  However, some countries are out & out crooked.  It’s so public, governing an entire body of people and as time goes on some look nearly impossible to stop.  

My attraction to corrupt countries has a bit to do with the fact that I have two friends with connections to N. Korea and I grew up in Miami where I was the 'gringa' in a sea of Cubans.  I went to an all girls school my first two years of high school, a lot of the girls are first or second generation Cuban Americans.  Their parents and grandparents grew up in Cuba, their families still live there.  I can't say enough about their culture, which at some points I am envious isn't my own.  Part of its beauty has to do with the oppression of their families and lives they have built in the US.

But N. Korea...I'm sold.  I’ve watched multiple documentaries but this three part series attached is VERY good.  

How can people be so publicly oppressed??   

Take a look....
 





Thursday, November 25, 2010

happy thanksgiving



                                                   I hope you have a great day full of family, friends, food and lots of laughs.  
                                                                                I'll be back with fotos once they've happened!




Monday, November 22, 2010

mailboxes are neat

  

                                                                                                        dirt road near boulder, co. 

                                                                                                                      photos by me


                                                                    

                                                                    dirt road in tampa, fl.  old and a bit fuzzy, but funky just the same.

                                                                                                                                                                             

                                               

Sunday, November 21, 2010

.weekend.

Who doesn’t love the weekend?  I hope yours was as nice as mine.  Here are a few shots from the park a few weekends ago. 


photos by me




Food trucks I guess are becoming the new rage…I’ve never eaten from one but I love the idea.  The Paseo airstream was at the park & they were kind enough to let me take a few photos.

check it.  PASEO