Summer Vacation

{miles and miles of gorgeous forest}

I flew to Colorado last week. I've not flown for years and it always freaks me out a little bit when we take-off, while we fly though, and when we land.  The only part I love is how quickly I get there-that always amazes me! Last summer Groovy Girl and I drove to Denver and it takes us two days, flying, of course, took an hour and 1/2.  Big difference of time yet you do miss all the cool stuff along the way. 

We spent two days in Denver, hanging with my brother and his family. I especially loved just sitting on the patio soaking up the warm Colorado sun. We visited Odell's Brewery and a fresh Mexican restaurant called Lola.  And then after our down time in Denver we headed to Estes Park, one of the gateways to Rocky Mountain National Park. While in the park I saw a very large male moose with a huge rack, several elk, and a baby brown bear. We hiked to Alberta Falls which was a long walk up and luckily we found a shortcut back down. There is something about the fierce rushing water sounds that makes me feel small.  I also love to dream about the first people to come upon something as beautiful as this falls for the very first time. The trails were packed with many other humans and while I'm glad the park is being used it would be so cool to be there by yourself.

We headed to Castle Pines after Estes to stay with Janice and Dean for a night. We ate at Duke's and took a drive to see a whole herd of bison and their babies. The next day we spent the morning sitting out on the porch watching a hummingbird flit back and forth. They've had a mama bear and three cubs roaming nearby and actually captured footage on their animal cam.  This morning Janice let me know that the mother and one of the babies had been shot and killed by a local resident. Why are you up at 1am shooting at a mama bear? I am just sickened by the thought of this on so many levels. Why would you not just call animal control?  I can't get the video to transfer to my laptop so you can see the bear video. I'll keep trying and share another time. 

It was a great trip! I love being in the mountains, I love the view. Blessings to all. 

Ah summer! Cheers to Brunch.

I've relaxed into my first full week of summer. I've done an equal share of cleaning, reading, and organizing so far. Oh and a little napping tossed in. I've had lunch with a few friends, celebrated two birthdays, had a pedicure, and started each day with yoga.

One major accomplishment was hosting a brunch last weekend.  We have a group of theatre friends and colleagues that we like to get together with to talk about all things theatre and beyond. I like the idea of people sitting around our large kitchen table having interesting conversations about the world. All I needed to do was pick easy yet delicious recipes that I could put together the night before and in the morning. I didn't want to be in the kitchen while guests were arriving or at the table. Sometimes I seek out recipes online but this time I went straight to a a cookbook that I love from The Cottage in La Jolla, CA. I've shared this cookbook before in a post about the amazing Buttermilk Coffee Cake (recipe included) and another post about Blueberry Muffins (recipe also included).  If you love brunch this is the perfect cookbook for you.

I made the coffee cake, Carmel Brunch, an egg dish, and their roasted potatoes and I pre-prepped the egg dish the night before so I had one less thing to mix up in the morning. I put my husband in charge of one dish for the gathering (he is the theatre person in our house after all + he loves jicama!) and I found that recipe, Jicama, Avocado, and Mango Salad in Friendsgiving by Alexandra Shytsman.

Everything turned out well and people ate heartily around the table. One friend brought warm french bread with Wild Blueberry Jam and warm blueberry muffins as well. One friend tried his first Bloody Mary ever and that was a hit. I do love brunch and this was a perfect way to bring friends together.  If you need me to share any of the recipes I used please let me know. Enjoy! Salud!

Talents

This week at school we had two mornings filled with our talent show. It was amazing and as I watched I was overwhelmed by all the talent we have in our school.  We had dancers, very funny comedy routines, dynamic singers, piano players, tiny musicians, and one young man who solved his Rubic's Cube while jumping on a pogo stick. 

As teachers we put together a synchronized routine following these two routines from YouTube. We did a good job of and had lots of teachers involved.

I started thinking about my own talents that I could share and came up with a very short list:

I am a very good reader 

I can mix a great drink

I am an adequate cook

None of these are talent show worthy.  Long ago I was in a small town beauty contest (not my idea) and had to come up with an act. I wrote an interesting parody about friendship and read it aloud; people laughed and I won third place.  Not bad for a brunette. My talents will have to remain low-key. 

I am ready for the year to end but it is always bittersweet; this group of 6th graders were in 2nd grade when I became the librarian at Hansen. There are more than a few of them that I will miss a great deal.  

In other talented news I made this dish, Mediterranean Chickpea Salad, this morning for a picnic and it was delicious.  I'm reading two books right now; The Inquisition by Taran Matharu (the 2nd in the series) and Eat to beat disease by William Li. Recently my husband and daughter watched his excellent TedTalk, Can we eat to starve cancer?,  and I watched What the Health on Netflix one afternoon. I was pretty disgusted how major health organizations are sponsored by meat/diary/fast food companies. If you have a chance both of these videos are worth your time.  

Happy June!