national geographic

Hi there errrrybody!

Hope you all are enjoying June :) I know I have. Today I wanted to talk about the weather and nature. The weather has been beautiful here in Colorado. Beautiful and DRY. Which has actually been a terrible thing for our gorgeous state. It has been one fire after another, and the latest gigantic fire is only a few miles west of my hometown, Fort Collins. I am saddened by every news report I read, by every aerial view of the fire I see, by every heart-wrenching post I see on facebook about the fire. It has demolished over 43,000 acres of land, forcing thousands of people and animals to evacuate their homes. At this point is is ZERO percent contained, with over 500 firefighters working on it --- which is terrifying! I have been thinking about it a lot, saying prayers for the safety of people and animals alike, especially for the safety of those trying to contain and fight the fire. It is already tragic, with one life lost, and I am scared to see what continued damage this fire has in store. :(

I went camping near Bailey last weekend, and didn't manage to take any photos while camping. Which I can hardly believe! Usually I am a photo-taking fiend! Especially in the beautiful mountains. It was a weekend of bliss, lounging in my camp chair, enjoying the sounds of birds and the little brook we camped by. Must have been near comatose to forget taking a picture. 

Because I didn't take ANY photos, I decided to go to NationalGeographic.com to look at their astounding photos of nature, and share some beauty and devastation (nature's elements can surely be terrifying...as demonstrated by the recent fires) with you...

 

Lightning during the April 2010 eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull Volcano. Photograph by Lucas Jackson, Reuters.

Birds fill an orange sky over Germany’s Wattenmeer National Park. This coastal wetland, covered by the sea at high tide, is home to some 3,200 different animals and a popular stopover for many migratory birds. Photograph by Norbert Rosing.

 

Here, three giraffes in Botswana's Okavango Delta stretch their necks above the horizon before a glowing orange sky. Photograph by Chris Johns.

A cooking tent belonging to expedition scientists glows in the twilight on the rim of the Nyiragongo volcano—one of the most active in the world—in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Photograph by Carsten Peter, National Geographic.

An adult leopard seal scans its surroundings on the Antarctic Peninsula. Photograph by Paul Nicklen, National Geographic. 

Two Japanese macaques, or snow monkeys, interact in a hot spring in Jigokudani, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.Photograph by Tim Laman, National Geographic. I HAD to share this picture because the Japanese macaques are one of my favorite segments on Planet Earth --- it's insane how they have created a social status within their groups that determines whether you are allowed to stay warm within the hot springs or not. Unfortunately for the macaques of lower status, they are forced to huddle in groups amidst the ice and snow on land, watching as the more powerful macaques lounge in the hot springs.

During the dry season, elephants in Chad’s Zakouma National Park drink at the last remaining water hole. Photograph by Michael Nichols, National Geographic. 

This is the great Japanese maple tree in the Portland Japanese Gardens. Photo by Fred An.

 

Photo by Andrew George. The Aurora Borealis in Iceland. I only hope to see a glimpse of the Northern Lights once in my life --- seems like a fairytale.

A tiny green frog sits atop a large lily pad in the waters of Atchafalaya Delta. Photograph by James P. Blair. 

  

Man vs Nature Photo by Matthew Titmanis. Perth's Australia Day celebrations. In the battle for awe inspiring sky shows...nature wins.

 

A lion and lioness share some quality time with their cubs in Kenya. Photo by Brandon Harris. 

I hope you have enjoyed these images! Just a sampling of the beauty I found as I perused NationalGeographic.com this morning :)

Cheers ---

pinterest night!!!

Howdy, y'all!

Hope you are enjoying a lovely Thursday afternoon wherever you are! Here in Denver it's getting dark and cloudy again, hoping it doesn't thunderstorm ALL night long again tonight! Kept me up forever last night!

So how many of you are pinterest fans? How can you NOT be? It's honestly just another way to waste my time online...but I have seen some awesome recipes, decoration ideas, cleaning tips, fashion moments, and cute ideas for that one day when I have a little munchkin of my own. I have posted probably hundreds of creative ideas on pinterest, and how many have I done? Probably under 20! 

One of my good gal pals Lindsey and I were fussing about how we never make anything we pin, and the idea of a Pinterest Night was born! We originally planned on doing like 10 things from pinterest...and it kind of turned into only 3 things. Haha. But moral of the story --- we had a blast of a ladies night, complete with trying new recipes while getting a little dance {and a little buzz} on :) Here is our evening --- documented in pictures, of course!

First --- we took the Bandana Brigade to the dog park :) Aren't these puppies adorable!

Of course we needed a fun drink to sip on while we made our first pinterest beverage :) NEW FAVORITE! Absolut Wild Tea --- mixed with Crystal Light lemonade --- delish! And low cal :)

Pinterest beverage success --- Ruby Red Grapefruit Margaritas! Did I mention we like limes?

Cake Batter Puppy Chow! OMG. To DIE FOR!!! Seriously heaven. So sweet. So good. Make it right now. And sprinkle with as many glittery sprinkles as you can handle!

Next treat of the night --- CAKE POPS! I have been wanting to make these for over a year! Lindsey brought over her fancy cake-pop-maker, and we made lemon cake pops with a cream cheese glaze --- and lots of sprinkles, DUH!

 

Full and happy, we hunkered down on the couch with the rest of our pitcher of Grapefruit Margaritas, and watched Letters to Juliet. I know, that flick has been out for a while, but I hadn't gotten around to seeing it! It was super cute --- and I just adore Amanda Seyfried!

And that, my friends, is how a Pinterest Night is done!

Cheers :)

not a good time

You know what's not a good time?

Having back surgery. 

Okay well I wouldn't call what I had a back surgery. 

I may be a tad dramatic :)

But in April I did have a mole scraped and sent to the pathology lab for them to determine whether or not it was of the scary kind. Pathology said it was halfway scary. On the scale of scary it goes "normal --> mild atypia --> moderate atypia --> severe atypia --> melanoma" --- and this mole was moderate atypia. 

Halfway to MELANOMA.

For years I have said that if I am going to have a cancer, it's probably going to be melanoma. I always said this with a laugh, because I know my love of being the color bronze is both stupid and dangerous. I am not a chronic tanning bed user (used it before prom, Mexico, and my wedding - I admit), and each winter is a serious struggle to not open up a tanning membership and get a little color on my pale skin. 

I've eased up on tanning outside, mostly because school is not conducive to spending a lot of time outside, but also because I know those UV rays are dangerous. It's like an addiction though. A stupid obsession that will not leave me. I suppose it's wrapped up in my self esteem --- "This color will look better on me when I'm tan."  "My legs look SO much better tan {truth}." 

I was kind of sick to my stomach when I heard I had moderate atypia goin on in my skin cells. And I was SUPER nervous last Thursday when I went in to my dermatologist's office to get my scary mole excised. Sounds like an EXORCISM. Yikes.

Other than getting my wisdom teeth out (for which I was totally out), this is my first surgical experience. I was literally shaking like a weak little fish on that exam table while she scalpaled me open. And it was REALLY odd to feel the skin lose tautness across my back, everything loosened up like it had been unzipped. Of course I just chatted the whole way through it, asking about the procedure and what tools she was using for the surgery. Thank God for Lidocaine, because it didn't hurt one bit --- except for the 12 pokes of Lidocaine it took to numb the area in the first place.

The aftermath hasn't been so pain-free though. She ended up having to do a 3-inch long incision and had to cut through multiple layers of my back to get the atypical cells out. I'm hoping she got out as much as she needed. This is what my Frankenstein back looks like:

Personally, I think it looks like someone sewed a worm into my back.

It's right next to my spine, which makes it incredibly awkward to do anything to...luckily I'm married to a doc-to-be who loves wounds and was thrilled when I told him I'd let him take my stitches out in 5 days. I swear he teared up a little at the news. 

I share this with you for two reasons:

1) I'm a whiner. You know this.

2) To spread the word about sunscreen.

Though this post is kinda sarcastic, I get sad when I think about the future of my skin. I wish I were always better hydrated, and I wish I wore more sunscreen over the last 26 years. I suppose it's never entirely too late to start, although a lot of damage has already been done. This back  exorcism excision has sucked and I don't want to have to go through more in my future. 

So that's all. 

Any neat ideas for the name of the worm that now lives on my back?

Cheers ;)

staycation : the finale

After my very very LENGTHY last post about our Staycation, I'll make this final Staycation post brief :) {Not really as a courtesy to you, but mostly because the last day of our Staycation (Weds) was short}

Wednesday morning we woke up on our own, and were grateful not to have a band of drumming protesters as an alarm :) We went downstairs where, BEHOLD, Hotel Monaco officially won my heart over with complimentary iced coffee bar ---

complete with vanilla, hazelnut, carmel, and raspberry flavoring syrups!

For our last foodie adventure of the Staycation - we headed down to Crepes and Crepes, a charming little French restaurant that specializes in...well...crepes! 

We lounged at our little table, enjoying the sunshine and the light morning bustle of people at Writer's Square on 16th Street. A lovely, relaxing, delicious end to our Staycation :)

We said adios to Hotel Monaco, I promised to return for complimentary wine and coffee hours again soon, and we were off to Camp BowWow for a puppy reunion. At Camp BowWow they told us Penny's anxiety was minimal, except for the time where she jumped on the countertops and trampled the keyboards everyone was working on, or the time where she started eating the fence...but other than that, our furry little anxious girl managed for 48 hours without us :) Gryffin of course did fine, that social butterfly. 

I'm sure you are ready for the Staycation Chronicles to be over {as am I}, but I want to encourage you and your loved ones to plan a Staycation of your very own! Wherever your home is, take a few days to do those things you've been meaning to do but never have. Splurge a little for some luxuries life doesn't typically afford you. We all deserve it. Plus --- I finally feel like I can say I'm a Denver local!

Cheers!!!

staycation : part 4

Haven't been keeping up with "The Staycation Chronicles"? Realizing you've just clicked on part 4 in my little series documenting our adventures in Colorado in the last week? No worries - you can catch up here :) 

Tuesday morning began with a bang --- quite literally --- when we woke up to the sound of protestor's marching beneath our hotel room window! 

So that was interesting! Because we didn't feel like paying $10.95 to use The Brown Palace's internet for 24 hours {lame!!!}, we decided to pop down to Starbucks {like 100 feet away} to grab some bagels and chai, and to take advantage of free internet. I thought you might enjoy seeing the interesting way the cashier came up with to spell my name! haha

 And yes...I am checking in on my puppies on the Camp Bow Wow website :) They have puppy cams available online 24/7 so you can watch your furbaby during the day while they play with other dogs! Love it!

After our quick breakfasts - the time had finally come to venture to the Brown Palace Spa! I made appointments for us to have 50 minute Swedish Massages in the Couples' Suite, and had high expectations given the Brown Palace's reputation --- and let's just say that my expectations were totally beyond met! This was my first spa experience ever --- and it was amaaaaazing! Everything about the Brown Palace Spa is synonymous with LUXURY. I was escorted by a spa staff member to the ladies' spa lounge, where there was bottled water, yogurt-dipped pretzels, mixed nuts, delicious hot tea, and current magazines awaiting me. Before the massage began, I was invited to spend a few minutes in the steam room --- which I totally took advantage of! I had the spa lounge all to myself, and I totally reveled in having that time and space! The ensuing massages were so wonderful! My masseuse was soft-spoken and had serious skills! I usually find myself squirming a little as the masseuse finds the right pressure for my back, but this woman nailed it! What a relaxing hour it was, and it was so nice for us to both be getting massages together! Total splurge of our staycation - but I'm glad we did it!!!

After our massages, we went back to our private spa lounges again. I took a few more minutes in the steam room and then enjoyed the fun products they had for clients. The most amazing lemongrass shampoo and conditioner, silky lotions, and complimentary hair brushes and hair products. You had me at complimentary. 

 We said goodbye to our beautiful palace, in total states of zen, and hit the road to head to our next adventure --- INDOOR SKYDIVING!

On the way, we stopped for lunch at the Irish Snug - a fun little pub I have been wanting to try for over a year! I am that girl who orders eggrolls whenever it is on the appetizer menu --- Southwest Eggrolls, Avocado Eggrolls...I get them every time! The Irish Snug had Corned Beef Eggrolls! Essentially Reuben Eggrolls --- Yum! Had to try them. They also had the cheesiest, spiciest, yummiest, worst for you appetizer I have ever had --- Spicy Buffalo Waffle Chips! Mmmmmmmm

After that delicious lunch, we had a few hours to kill before our skydiving appointment, so we went shopping at Park Meadows. We had great shopping success at Marshall's, including these cute new shoes for me :)

Next --- we actually got to our adventure destination of the day! Indoor Skydiving!!! I first got the idea to go indoor skydiving from this website that lists "100 things all Coloradans should do" --- and so it has been on our list for over a year, and we finally did it! Tyler has done real-deal skydiving (for his 18th birthday), but this was my first taste of  skydiving! This facility has these incredible wind tunnels with simulated winds of 120 mph and it is used by novices and professionals to improve their skydiving skills. It was SO. RAD. 

 After indoor skydiving, we headed back downtown to check in at our second hotel - Hotel Monaco. As fate would have it, we arrived JUST in time for the hotel complimentary wine tasting! Score! They had a WONDERFUL watermelon sangria that I could drink by the bucketfull!!! But I didn't. They were out of buckets. 

For dinner, we decided to go to Marlowe's. I had eaten there once before, but Tyler had never been, so that's where we ended up! Marlowe's included some fab happy hour --- including this delicious melted bacon mozzarella appetizer!!! Delish.

Next stop --- Jazz@Jack's - a jazz lounge we have been wanting to try! It had a great atmosphere, some awesome funk music, and the most incredible frozen hot chocolate drink I have EVER had! Okay maybe it was the first and only frozen hot chocolate I have ever had --- but it was delicious!!!

Last stop of the night --- The Tilted Kilt, an Irish bar, and got a few drinks, because drinks had been in short supply that evening ;)

And then there's a chance Tyler was a little energized from all the Happy Hours we had taken part of throughout the day, and we stopped by the hotel gym for some quick hula hooping! And then we may or may not have had a dance party in our hotel room. All before midnight :)

Man, last Tuesday I learned that we really know how to pack 24 hours with fun!!!

Phew and Cheers :)

too good not to share

Alrighty folks --- a little Staycation break for you had to happen so that I could share with you 2 AMAZING recipes we have tried lately! 

Tonight, we had: 

Asian Rice and Vegetable Bowls with Eggs and Chili Sauce

I know, the name of the meal is more than a mouthful, but it is totally yummy! Courtesy of Real Simple magazine (February, 2011)

Serves 4| Hands-On Time: 15m | Total Time: 1hr 10m

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup short-grain brown rice
• 1/3 cup Thai sweet chili sauce (such as A Taste of Thai; found in the international aisle)
• 3 to 4 teaspoons Sriracha or Asian chili-garlic sauce
• 3/4 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 bunch broccoli, cut into florets
• 2 red or yellow bell peppers, thinly sliced
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into thin sticks
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 4 large eggs

Directions

1. Cook the rice according to the package directions. In a small bowl, combine the sweet chili sauce, Sriracha, sesame oil, and vinegar; set aside.
2. Meanwhile, heat oven to 450° F. After the rice has been cooking for 25 minutes, place the broccoli, bell peppers, and carrots on a large rimmed baking sheet; toss with 2 tablespoons of the canola oil. Roast, tossing once, until tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
3. Heat the remaining teaspoon of canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Crack the eggs into the skillet and cook, covered, 2 to 3 minutes for slightly runny yolks. Serve the vegetables and eggs over the rice and drizzle with the sauce.

Nutritional Information Per Serving: 

Calories 244, Fat 16g, Sodium 848mg, Protein 12g, Carbohydrate 42g, Sugar 11g

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2 weeks ago we tried making lettuce wraps for the first time! We found this recipe online, and tweaked it a bit to be a little more our style. The result was DELICIOUS - and I would say on par with PF Chang's lettuce wraps! Much healthier, too!

Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps ---

Ingredients:

1 tbsp peanut oil

1 onion (chopped)

1 14 lbs ground turkey (lean)

12 cup sauce (purchased asian peanut)

1 tbsp hoisin sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce (additional, dipping)

1 cucumber (peeled seeded chopped about 1 14 cups)

13 cup fresh mint (coarsely chopped, small, sprigs)

12 butter lettuce (leaves) 

chopped green onions - sprinkled 

sriracha or any other spicy sauce - add if you like it spicy! 

Directions:

1. Heat peanut oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Add turkey and sauté until brown and cooked through, breaking up with back of spoon, about 7 minutes. Add peanut sauce, hoisin sauce, and 1 tablespoon soy sauce; heat through. (Can be made 8 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Reheat in microwave or skillet, adding water by tablespoonfuls to moisten if necessary, before continuing.) Stir in cucumber and chopped mint. Season with salt and pepper.

2.  Transfer turkey mixture to medium bowl. Place mint sprigs and lettuce leaves on platter. To make wraps, spoon turkey mixture onto lettuce leaf, add a few mint sprigs and green onions, fold in sides over filling, and roll up. Pass additional soy sauce/sriracha alongside wraps for dipping.

Nutritional Information Per Serving:

Calories 304,

Calories from Fat 14, Total Fat 16g, Sodium 559mg, Sugars 7g, Protein 26g

	CHEERS TO GREAT EATS!!! :)

staycation : part 3

Hey all! Thanks for joining me --- if you missed the first parts of the "Staycation Chronicles" --- you can click HERE.

After spending a lovely Sunday with my family perusing spice shops at old town (and picking up some delicious lemon sugar!) and having a relaxing evening in, the Aurora crew (myself, hubs, and puppies) left for home early on Memorial Day. 

Memorial Day side note --- the past couple of years I have been really into celebrating the meaning behind our holidays, instead of just being ecstatic that I had another day off of school. Memorial Day especially means more to me the older I get and the more people I know who serve our country. Having my little brother as a Marine for the last 3 years, I have gained a lot of insight about the sacrifice and bravery involved in serving. My brother is to be deployed to Afghanistan this summer, which scares the crap out of me...but I also respect his pledge to protect the USA. It is a bittersweet holiday, one in which we are reminded of the many losses our country has experienced over the years, but we are also reminded that our servicemen and servicewomen never stop working toward what they believe in. And that is inspirational.

Okay, side note taken care of :) Back to Staycation. Monday was SO much fun because we decided that we weren't going to really have a set plan (how shockingly spontaneous of me, I know!). We took the puppies to Camp Bow Wow (an overnight dog boarding facility), and I definitely almost cried when we dropped them off. Haha. I'm silly like that. From there, it was off to the BROWN PALACE!!! :) I have ALWAYS wanted to stay at this hotel - known for its luxury spa treatments. Here are a few pics of our hotel:

Travel-sized bottles of luxury :)

Super excited to be there!!!

Tyler insisted on jumping on the bed! haha --- that's my man!

After checking in, we carried on with our plan of not having a plan, and just began strolling down 16th street. We decided to go in to whatever bar/store/restaurant seemed fun, and just do whatever we want! This game plan turned out to be awesome! Because we decided to have small meals everywhere we went, we were able to try out lots of places we have never been! In a nutshell, here is what we did on our "no plans" Monday :) 

Bought a new book --- because it's not like I have a bookcase already full of books I need to read...but I've heard this one is really good! And I had a 20% off coupon, so had to use it obviously!

Stumbled upon Appaloosa Bar and Grill --- where we had the BEST Thai Curry we have EVER ever ever had. So delicious. I could eat this for every meal for the rest of my life. Did I mention we HIGHLY recommend this?!?!

After walking around with a thai-curry-induced smile on my face for a while, we decided to pop into Mellow Mushroom, a pizza place I have wanted to try out for a long time! We weren't very hungry, so we ordered beer tasters and a slice of pepperoni and pineapple pizza to share. This place has EXCELLENT pizza! That greasy on top, crunchy on bottom, not too much sauce style that makes it comparable to NY pizza. Fabulous!!!

After Mellow Mushroom, we popped into Sports Column for a few beers while we waited to head over to Coors Field for the Memorial Day Rockies Game. We went to the game with our friend Manuel, and we had such a blast! 

Coors Field, Denver

Indulging the 7-year-old within me :)

 I swear --- the best sunsets in Denver are from Coors Field!!! LOVE THEM.

The game was tied 6-6 after 9 innings, and I was admittedly getting a little antsy by that point. I mean, turns out I really only enjoy about 5 innings of baseball, then I'm over it. Luckily, at the bottom of the 10th we scored a few runs! Big win for the Rockies! Beat the Astros 4 times this week --- I like it!

After the game, there were even FIREWORKS!!! It took awhile for them to get set up, but man it was worth the wait! They did AMAZING! Plus - I am pretty sure I saw 3 types of fireworks at this show that I have never seen before! Since I'll be gone for 4th of July (working at a Diabetes summer camp for kids), I was thrilled that I at least got a summer fireworks show in :)

After the game, we were a little hungry from all of our snacking throughout the day, so obviously the most logical food option was a late night slice of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory! We got a heavenly White Chocolate Blueberry cheesecake and enjoyed it in our luxurious Brown Palace hotel room --- doesn't get much fancier than that, folks!

And that tops off Monday :)

CHEERS --- stay tuned for Tuesday's adventures!!!