Scenes from a Trip : Denver, CO VI

Tuesday, November 2nd - Denver, CO

My actual last day in Denver was really only a morning. Sarah had a few early meetings so she left me on my own for the first time during my trip. We hugged goodbye and she was off. I set out my thank you note, ate my pumpkin bread and dragged my feet until I absolutely had to call a cab. The car showed up shortly after. I said bye to Roscoe and headed out the door. 

I arrived nice and early for my flight. As luck would have it I was sent to the same gate I flew out of over a year earlier. This time, my life looked much different and my flying companion was myself. Bye bye mountains. 

First stop was over three hours later. My layover was in Orlando, FL. For those of you who don't know, Denver to Florida to Long Island isn't exactly a direct line. The airport in Orlando was full of families toting around Disney bags and it made me remember how excited I was when my family had gone to Disney when I was a little kid. 

Next a shorter flight from Florida to Long Island and I was home. So tired, so hungry, and pretty darn happy about the amazing trip I had. 

I'm already thinking and salivating about my next potential trip. It's so much easier to think about all your life options when you're away from home. When you go back to what's familiar it's harder to accept there's a difference between your reality and your dreams. Until next time...

Thank you so much Sarah and Trevor for putting me up in your house and showing me around your amazing city! I can't wait until we get to see each other again. There might even be a little Meep running around next time!!

Phew! Back to real time. I'm heading to my parents tomorrow night after work and then it'll be full blown Thanksgiving prepare mode until the big meal. I cannot wait. 

Friendships are Funny

Monday, November 1st - Denver, CO

Sarah and I have known each other for the last five years. We met while studying abroad in London. I was starting my junior year and Sarah was going into her senior year in college. We were both in very different places in our lives, but that didn't matter. It's an ongoing joke between us that I still remember the shirt she was wearing when we first met on the plane ride over. She was sitting a row ahead of me and wearing a white long sleeved waffle shirt with little flowers on it. I remember her occasionally popping her head and big blue eyes over the seat back to chat with everyone. I don't know why I remember those things so vividly, but I do. 

As luck would have it we ended up being paired to room together on our home stay. We stayed up late writing in our respective journals, talking, and bonding over so many of the things we had in common. All while laying on bunk beds in a townhouse in Portland, England. When we arrived in London and started classes we went our own ways connecting more with different groups of girls. We would always check in on each other though, whether it was drinks or stopping by each others room to catch up. We swapped a few foreign boy stories and talked about the people we were missing back home. It was as if in just that short time she had already become one of my oldest friends. It was comforting to be around her. 

Over the years we fell in and out of touch. I always kept tabs on her, though mostly online. There were scattered phone calls, "So who is the Trevor guy you're seeing?". Then in February of 2009 I went out to Denver with a completely unrelated group of people and reconnected with Sarah. We were in touch daily after that. I started almost obsessively following her life through her blog and we would chat about everything going on with ourselves. From what we were craving for dinner, to our most sincere thoughts and feeling. 

Basically, friendships are funny. Sarah and I share so many of the same ideals and interests yet we're such completely different people. For example, Sarah doesn't really care for the beach (GASP) and I can't imagine living without it.  I think it works because she doesn't put any judgement on me for the way I am. Sometimes I think she knows me better than friends who have known me much longer. Or maybe it's just that she has more respect for who I am as a person than other people do. I was upset about something the other day and Sarah knew that I needed time to think and stew and form my thoughts before I was able to talk about it. No one has ever said that back to me and it made me feel like she was saying, "It's ok, I know how you are." There was no judgement about it, no rushing me to handle situations like she did, just understanding. She knew who I was and was letting me be me. You can't ask for much more than that in a friend. 

Sucre Sunglasses, Madewell Navy Sweater Dress, Gray JCrew Tights, Old Sweater, Old Riding Boots
Necklace from Clyde's Rebirth, Banksia Top from Megan Nielsen

So that's why I had such an amazing time in Denver. It was because I was able to spend time with a friend that has not only spanned the years, but also the many states separating us. And just to pat myself on the back a bit in our friendship, I completely knew something was going on with Sarah through an email conversation we were having a few months ago. She called moments after I hit send to tell me they had just found out she was pregnant. 

Pictures taken by Sarah

By the VERY IMPORTANT way, do you see that cute collar poking out from beneath my navy sweater? It's handmade by the one and only Megan Nielsen. I have gotten so many amazing compliments on it so far. You can shop her Fall 2010 Perth Collection here. There are only a few items left, but I would highly recommend picking some things up. The design, fit, color, and quality was above and beyond my expectations. Plus she's a good egg. You should invest in some of her designs based on that alone.  

If you were wondering, Sarah's blogging was one of the main reasons I started down this path myself. Friends and the crazy things they get us into. Well I have to go talk to Sarah on gchat now. Bye! 

Scenes from a Trip : Denver, CO V

Monday, November 1st - Denver, CO

My last full day in Denver, the day after Halloween, I woke up to Sarah blasting Christmas music from her computer. Very fitting for Sarah, she loves the holidays. For breakfast we had some of the pumpkin bread we had baked the day before. Sarah had work to get done before we headed out to run errands around town, so I sat with Roscoe for a bit.

I peer pressured Sarah into stopping at Fluid again to grab some hot drinks. I went with the Autumn Sweater, which was a combination of ginger and mate teas. Yum. Then we set off to Target via the scenic route so she could further entice me to move to Denver. Sarah and Trevor were trying to finish their basement so I helped look around for some special touches. 

After our Target run we headed to meet up with Zoë for some coffee near her work. Of course I completely forgot to take pictures, but there's some proof here. You would have found out she is much taller than me, and much cooler. We talked for a while about this and that. It's never enough time to get to know someone, especially someone as interesting as Zoë. I wish we would have had more time to chat.  Zoë is an incredibly kind person and I would highly recommend her company to a friend. 

Sarah and I headed back towards downtown and suddenly realized how hungry we were. We went to City, O' City for a delicious late lunch (where I started to take pictures for the day). I chose the black bean burger with avocado and a HUGE helping of fries. I really liked the vibe at City, O' City. Sarah and I looked around and tried to figure out the relationship between all the other couples. There were some interesting ones there to say the least. Father, professor, ...boyfriend?

We went to City Park in Denver to enjoy the end of the day and take some outfit pictures. Then back to the house to change and play with Roscoe. We met up with Trevor and some of their friends at a local bar for the Colts game that night. It was really great to meet so many new people while I was away. The whole time I was fighting this dreadful feeling that I had to leave the next day. We finished off the night with some delicious ice box cake, if I do say so myself, then hugs all around and off to bed!

I'm almost done with my Denver posts. Phew, just in time for Thanksgiving. It's the weekend! I hope you all have a relaxing, fun, and fulfilling one. 

Scenes from a Trip : Denver, CO IV

Saturday, October 31st - Halloween

Halloween! Sarah and I had been planning for this day for quite some time. As soon as I decided the weekend I was going to visit we started brainstorming all the lovely holiday and fall inspired things we could do. High priority on the list was baking. 

Trevor once again made us breakfast. This time he went with omelettes. It was probably good that we started off our day with savory, especially since there was an abundance of sweet to come. While we were eating Sarah and I started to throw out ideas of what we should bake for the day. I love being in the middle of a meal and starting to talk about the next thing you're going to eat, ha! Trevor had some work to finish in their basement while Sarah and I ran off the store to stock up on ingredients. I made Sarah take me back to Fluid Coffee Bar so I could get a Pumpkin Spice Latte. It was just too perfect an opportunity to pass up. 

As soon as we got back to the house we put on some Ella Fitzgerald, lit a pumpkin candle, and the baking began. We settled on making Mexican Wedding Cookies into bones, and No Bake Cookies into spiders with the help of some M&M's and chocolate covered pretzels. I peer pressured Sarah into making some of her Grandma's Pumpkin Bread and we ended up with two loaves of it. I also remembered that I had to make my families Icebox Cake for them, so that happened too. So many sweets. I'm more of a cookie person than a candy person anyway so it was a great way for me to get my sugar fix on Halloween. 

One of their friends came over to hang out for a while and watch football with Trevor. While the boys were drinking beer and watching football, Sarah and I were in aprons (well Sarah was) baking away in the kitchen. It was so domestic. I kind of liked it. By the time we were done baking everything the whole house smelt like fall. 

After literally hours of baking and being in the kitchen Sarah decided that she was going to make us chili for dinner. Pregnant Sarah who had been on her feet all day, yes that one. While the chili was cooking we all went outside to carve our pumpkins. I made the mistake of telling Sarah that I had never carved a pumpkin before and it became her mission to make it happen. It was part of the reason we even went pumpkin picking. 

Since it was my first time carving a pumpkin I decided to stay on the safe side of things with a pretty straightforward design. Sarah and Trevor made much riskier decision when it came to their pumpkin designs. Don't fret, we removed the beer bottles when the trick-or-treaters came. Instead Trevor told them that's what would happen if they ate too much candy.

 

We sat down to enjoy our chili after a long and rewarding day as the trick-or-treaters started to arrive. Sarah was so excited because this is their first house together which meant their first official trick-or-treaters. There were more than they'd expected so Trevor had to run out and get more candy. It was also my first time ever watching It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Apparently another great Halloween tradition I missed out on. 

At about nine at night we decided it was time to close up shop as far as trick-or-treaters goes. We turned off all the porch lights and shut the doors. Then realized that Sarah and Trevor are already that old couple on the block, "It's nine o'clock what are they doing still coming to houses?" ha! We decided watching The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus would be a great way to the end the day. It was. It blew my mind. I would say this year was absolutely one of the best Halloween's I've had. There was no stressing about what to dress up as, no drama, no nonsense, just really great times with delicious treats and amazing friends. 

The word pumpkin appeared ten times in this post. Happy Halloween! Muahaha. I hope you all had wonderful Halloweens wherever you were.

A New Denver

Saturday, October 30th - Denver, CO

This is what I wore for Sarah and my day of shopping and relaxing around Denver. I was really surprised by how much more I liked Denver this visit. I mentioned yesterday that I had been to Denver once before, but that trip was so much different. The city was more of a quick stop between the airport and the mountains. I didn't really get a chance to look around and take everything in. 

Being in a city so far from home made it very easy to forget about all the little annoyances going on in my life. It gave me the feeling of starting fresh, and maybe that's part of what appealed to me about Denver. It's similar to the feeling you, or maybe just I, had when I went away to college. I felt like I was starting with a completely blank slate. The new people I was meeting hadn't known me since middle school, or even as far back as nursery school. Everything was fresh. 

The idea of starting over is certainly something that appeals to me right now. I just want to stand up in the middle of it all, shake everything off of me, and keep walking. I want to be happy and really mean it. Yay for me! Beyond that there were so many other little hidden gems in Denver that made it such an attractive place to me.

I like a lot of hippie-esque food (sorry I tried to phrase that a few different ways, but that is really what I wanted to say). I wouldn't say that I try to eat healthy because of some sort of diet, but I'm interested in eating things that are nourishing and good for my body, most of the time. Once I found out about all the health benefits of drinking yerba mate I was hooked. (You may know I'm obsessed by now.)

What I'm getting to is that Denver had all those things and they were offered city wide. It wasn't something you had to search for, it was something you stumbled upon. Being there made me realize that you shouldn't always have to struggle to find what you want. Instead of trying to accept the downfalls of a place (ehem or person) and the things that don't work, instead of overlooking them and forcing something to work that just won't, you should go out and find exactly what you are looking for and what's right for you. 

Pink Scarf from NYC Street Vendor, Mustard Scarf from Target, Velvet Shorts from Madewell
Socks from Madewell, Tights from Duane Reade, Boots from Madewell, My Mom's Sweater

The one thing I missed the first time I was in Denver was the lack of a coast. Something about this time though, left me feeling less dry. And much happier. Who knows, maybe there will be a big change for me in the future.

All pictures taken by Sarah, Thanks Sarah!

In case you're wondering, I'm really into pairing mustard with this pale pink these days. I tied two of my scarves into circle scarfs and wore them together. It felt like a nice way to add color to an otherwise almost monochromatic outfit. Plus I thought I was going to meet Zoë, so I tried to dress up. 

Yay for Denver.