Denver, Colorado

When McKane officially moved back to Denver, I knew it was only a matter of time before I went out to see her and the city that made Hurricane McKane the person I know and love.  The weekend was just as expected and even better…dinner and margaritas at the famous El Rio Friday night, one too many bowls of queso, a long night of dancing; big brunches, long lazy days,  and good times with friends.

Unfortunately we had such a great time that the only two photos taken are below:  One of the 3 Margarita limit sign at the Rio and the second, the aftermath of me having said two and a half of said margaritas. 

A Lady of Leisure

With a week off between jobs (more on that to come), I was able to spend approximately 10 days as a lady of leisure.  Similar to my last break in work, my days were packed!

I volunteered at Glide Memorial Church, enriched myself at museums and the library.  I worked out every day alternating between long walks, Barre, Pilates and the gym.  I lunched and drank with friends and was able to sneak in my annual tune-up (facial, massage, haircut and foot-care).  It was amazing!

It was so amazing that I tried to convince Martin that I would make the perfect housewife.  At which point he kindly pointed out that during the week I had done no housework at all, I cooked no meals, I did no laundry, Martin still made breakfast every morning and not only did I not clean, I even forgot to pay the house cleaner. 

Whoops!  Good thing I have a job to rely on!

The 30 Day Challenge

It started innocently enough: my boss told me to wear jeans to work instead of my normal business casual.  Accustomed to something a little more formal, I began with the baby step of swapping out my pressed pants for tailored dark jeans.  After a year, the tailored jeans became a little less nice and the classic top had digressed from twinsets to basic sweaters with a statement necklace. The slippery slope continued into year two and three and into what would eventually be deemed Hobo Chic…I had officially given up.  Holes in jeans, tennis shoes and sweatshirts with the occasional fashion scarf... on most days I looked like a 50 year old single woman with cats who had given up.  On bad days, I looked closer to a well-dressed homeless person.  And on the rare day that I would receive a compliment, it was typically the result of me having brushed my hair and put on a pair of heels. 

And so, after a particular day in July when I was told I was too cute to dress like I did, I decided to challenge myself – for the entire month of August I was going to put an effort into my wardrobe and business attire…no casual jeans, no t-shirts and absolutely no sweatshirt material.  I cleaned out and organized my closet to avoid any temptation and picked out the outfits for each week on Sunday. 

Below is a montage from the month, including my extra credit week in September.

After the month, I was impressed that 1) I had that many outfits hidden in my closet (and still had a few to go), 2) I was surprised at how easy it was to dress nicely with a little planning and 3) I felt so much better at work, playing the part of a successful woman.

I am not sure how much longer this will last but at least I have a few ideas for future outfits, if needed.

A Summer of Family

With German Invasion in full force to wrap up the summer, I took some time to reflect on all of the fun we had with the American side of the family tree this season.

Martin and I celebrated my Granny’s 88^th birthday, Granny and Grandpa’s wedding anniversary and Father Days all in one go with a Sunday morning of church and brunch.  Here they are cutting the celebratory cake in the church’s rec room.

Martin built the addition on the cabin which required multiple weekends at the Lake with the parents.  Everyone chipped in, including Blake.

Martin and Ray rode 130 miles in the Shasta Super Century ride, while the family was there for moral support…in reality, only my mom and I were physically there at the finish line.  The kids were exhausted from a day at the river.

And my dad taught me how to fly fish (please excuse the beer gut)

I would call it a great summer!