Kitchen Dreams

 

 {kitchen as of this morning}

 

Ew. I know. This is why I can never just accept my apartment. Painting is required for peace of mind lol. Thank God its affordable. The appliances are all an old offwhite color too.

 

 

{The color in normal light is actually a bit closer to turquoise...}

 

I actually ended up blending my own color, using the darker bottom color and a lighter color I purchased. This was before I decided to just paint the cabinets white though... Still not sure if I will do the lighter or darker. The darker just seems a bit too bright for my taste, and I think would be to overwhelming. And yes, that is a crack in my wall.

 

{bedroom and kitchen color swatches}

 

For the bedroom I am leaning towards  the middle color on the lower swatch. I have a white fabric headboard, and white curtains, so I think the light pink/peach will go well and add some playfulness too.

Avenue Q at Theater 2

I got to see a wonderful little theater production last Friday! For freeee! Ha! Hehehehe. I just love shows...

One of my friends ended up getting some free tickets to Avenue Q (a very successful and older production) which is sort of a Muppets meets South Park thing. Not only was the show itself just fun and full of good humor, I was so impressed with the performers! They all sang wonderfully and some even did the voices for more than one character!

We all know I am pretty critical, but I literally had no complaints. It was such a wonderful night!

{Linsdey, Julie, Me}

 

The show was put on at Theater 3, but in the theater 2 stage, in uptown Dallas. The place is only a couple blocks away from all the bars and restuarants of uptown, and we almost were going to hand out at the GingerMan afterwards, but as Lindsey was pretty sick she headed home and Julie and I just sat outside of a wine bar and chatted for awhile.
 

 

I really hope I get to go back to this place!

 

Colorado in August

omg.

I have officially discovered a love for hiking.

I went to visit a friend recently for 4 days, who lives in Denver, CO. Our plan was to mingle some much needed girly bonding time (jane austen/knitting/blankets/alcohol) in the mountains with some challenging hiking.

I flew in to Denver on Friday, and then we headed out to the mountains that night to check in at our lodge. I haven't seen mountains.... since I don't even remember lol. Just being able to drive through them was exhilarating, and I felt like my heart had woken up! Everything was so pretty compared to icky Texas.

Saturday morning we hopped into the car all ready for some hiking, with our little lunches wrapped up and packed in the backpack and our water bottles filled and sparkling. And then we realized after driving and driving and searching and squinting, that trying to find the very few trails secreted away was going to be a more daunting task than anticipated lol. Really, the area that we weere staying in had only a few places and they were more the 12 mile backpacking trails rather than any friendly day hiking. Once we bitterly accepted this truth, we salvaged the day by hanging out in Salida, a nearby little mountain town.

 

{Cafe in Salida, CO}

 

I begged Tyler to let us stop someplace (anyplace!) for coffee, and we had to stop in at a cafe in the end lol. It was a super cute place though and I wish we could have tried some pie! I always want to try pie lol.

 

{I loved this little yarn and fabric shop!!!}

We had a fun time exploring shops and things, and then went back to the lodge and just vegged out and watched movies.

Sunday we headed back to Denver in girly shame lol. Such fools... ah well. We then planned on doing some hiking in Boulder, CO bright and early Monday morning!

Again, we packed out little lunches and headed out to the little college town. There are the Flat Irons about 2 minutes from the downtown area *jealous* so we parked out there, and started our trip!

 

{Flat Irons in Boulder, CO}

 

Even though it was August! the temperature was only about 70 when we started out at 11ish in the morning. It was so perfect for exercise... and to think Dallas would have been in the high 90s at least! Ick.

 

{my Kill Me face}

 

So... this was me, struggling up, and up, and up, and up that trail lol. Not only am I admittedly not in the best physical shape, but I had never hiked up at a constant slope before, with a backpack, at a heightened elevation. It was hard lol.

 

{See that above me? Yea, that was the trail}

 

 

 

 {more rocky trail}

 

 

 

{ok, not the actual trail, but it would have been cool if it were lol}

 

.

 

 

{we finally reached the top! yay!!!}

 

 

 

{this was the Royal Arch we were hiking towards}

 

 

We almost turned back before lunch, but after snacking on our salads and drinks I felt much better and we were able to keep going. Thank goodness too!

 

 

 

{the view}

 

 

 

 

{victory photo lol}

 

 

 

{chillin, on some big rocks} 

 

 Aaaand after about 4 hours of hiking upward, we got to go back down! Yaaaay lol! That part was actually pretty fun! We were basically bouncing down the trail because of the steepness, and although I felt like it only took 20 minutes it really was about 1.5 hours. 

 {finally back in the foothills}

 

 

 

 

 {leaving Boulder forever... *tear*}

 

It was just so amazing and fun. I did this hike in crappy cheap athletic shoes, and definitely felt it. Before I do anything serious again I am absolutely investing in some hiking boots, now that I know I really love hiking. Although I am not sure anywhere near Dallas will be worth the investment...

 

 

 

 

 

Window Dilemma

Ok. Future window plan.

I was definitely stumped for a bit regarding this feature in the living room, as there are about 8 inches within the niche above the windows of just wall, that would make trying to frame the windows with a curtain rod look weird.

Solution: Creating a cornice to cover up that area! So easy! Of course this requires shucking out the ol' sewing machine... Ah well. We will just put this project plan aside for later...

I also want to throw in some pillows to create the feeling of a little reading/sitting area. I am going to try to use the relatively deep window sill (14") as extra seating if I want to have a large get-together!(hahaha yeaaaaa)

New Baby -> Baby Blanket

I'm an Aunt! Aunt Ashlie! Yay! It's definitely different having a nephew rather than a niece, but maybe it is better to have started out that way. Less responsability I think... whew.

He is just so funny looking lol! According to his mother he is becoming "a bit of a porker", but hopefully that is just part of him getting the nutrients he needs. I think he looks so much like my brother though! It looks like he has a bit of the red from Brittony's hair, but we will see...

I had wanted to knit/crochet a baby blanket for him, but as he was born in the sweltering heat of summer, there hasn't been a real urgency to this lol.

I started working on it a few months ago since I had to be on a bus for a few hours. I chose "Baby's First Yarn" by Lion Brand for the white and light blue, which is a cotton and acrylic blend. Machine washable and dryable, of course. It really was more of a last-minute desperate need-for-yarn decision. I actually really like the yarn though after corcheting with it; it is very soft! Its not too slow going as well since its a Bulky 5 yarn. I am using a size J crochet hook, and doing a half double stitch.

I had to go with a different type for the navy color as they pretty much just don't make dark colors of the baby yarns though. Ah well. Its a bit less bulky, but is still manageable.

My sister was very unhelpful with regard to color other than blue being "ok", so I just decided to pick out what I liked on a whim and have fun with it. Hence, the haphazard stripes! It reminds me of sailing...

Hopefully it will be warm and lovely for him once the winter comes up there in Idaho! I am making it large enough so that he will be able to use it over the next couple of years too (unless he really does become a porker haha!)