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28 April 2011

Famous

Hey guys! Long time no post, which I was kindly reminded of by my lovely friend Stacie over at Officially Different! At least someone is reading...

So I can now officially add writer, producer, and director to my resume because of this ultra fun/cheesy video I did for work! Don't laugh too hard but I make a cameo appearance as "Susan".

More posts to come--- I have family in town so we have been having lots of adventures over the past few days and I can't wait to share what I've been up to!

Toodles!

p.s. if the link to the video doesn't work, let me know :)

20 April 2011

Jelly!

I have to say, I have some pretty good ideas. One of the best has to be Rachael and I's new monthy brunch tradition. It combines many things that I love: good food, coffee, my sister, breakfast food, going out, not meeting till 10:30 so I can sleep in. Did I mention food? okay, good.

We decided to meet at Jelly, a new breakfast/lunch spot that just opened in Capitol Hill. Brunch can be a bit of a dilemma sometimes. You have to put up with waiting (like our 50 minute wait at Snooze), lots of hungover hipsters, and occasionally screaming kids. Luckily we were two for three on this one. We thought the wait would be long but it turned out to be about five minutes. No kids here but hipsters were abundant.

The wait for food is so much better with their scrumptious little donut bites! They actually make their own jelly here, hence the name. They are warm, crispy, and perfect on a Sunday morning! We should have gotten more. I was partial to the raspberry filled donuts.... I took a bite before I had time to snap a picture.


Raspberry jelly donuts forever!!

Chocolate and cinnamon sugar

There was a bit of a wait but we did have great service. I ordered the crab cakes benedict... gotta love a good benny! I only have two critiques: I like my yolks runny and my potatoes crispy/boldly flavored. Other than that it was wonderful, some of the best hollandaise I've had. (can you see all my sugar packets in the background? That coffee was strong!) Plus the prices are really reasonable so I felt like I could splurge! I think this was one of the priciest things on the menu for around $11.00.

Rachael and I had such a nice talk but I wish I would have taken more pictures of the place! You can see some of the decor in the photo below. They have retro cereal boxes lining the walls- brilliant! We were reminded of our little brother Jimmy because there was a box called "Quisps"-- we both laughed because that's how we would use our little Jim Jim accents to say "Crisps"! My favorite one is to the right of Rachael's head. It has Mr. Spock on it!

Rachael, Mr. Spock is checking you out!
Hope you're all having a great week! Always looking for more brunch suggestions!

17 April 2011

Nik Freitas/ The Submarines


It was a bizz-ay weekend! Very fun and productive as well! I've been training someone new for the past few days at work and I do most of the writing for my blog at work. (Ssshh, don't tell anyone). So I've been slackin' a little on the ol' blog in order to set a good example.

On Saturday night I went to the Larimer Lounge with my friend Max to check out Nik Freitas and the Submarines. For the record I have to say that I love going to shows when I have no expectations of who I am going to see. All I knew in this case was the Nik Freitas played with the Broken Bells-- so I was in.

Max and I got some beers and listened to Nik Freitas and we were both surprised how few people were there to see him. Everyone else was missing out.

Next up was The Subarines, the crowd was definitely there to see them and some folks were gettin' a little rowdy! I love people watching and we really saw some interesting ones! The band was really fun though and the lead singer kept on talking about how Denver is like a "sister city" to her own town. cute.

So I made a playlist for you guys with some of the songs I liked, Enjoy! Promise it won't be so long for another post ;)
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Oh!

Speaking of great music my friend Max who I went to the show with just came out with an album. Check him out!  He goes under the name The Maykit and he will be playing a show in good ol' Omaha this weekend. Good luck Max!

-Adios!

13 April 2011

My Walls are Naked.

Its officially time for me to hang something on my walls. They have been bare since I moved in and I have been planning on getting some sort of artwork for a while now. Catch is that I don't really want to spend a whole lot of money and I definitely don't want any tacky dorm room posters anymore. The thought of DIY art gracing my walls seemed hilarious at first. I keep thinking that people will assume that my little brothers and sisters made it for me but I found this project on the web and I think it is do-able as a beginner DIY project:



I want that chair too!!!





I think I would change up this design a bit though so they look like poppies! My favorite!

Here's the link to ther article where I found them... with full instructions! Takes out the guess work.

They have some really great, affordable frames at Ikea that I was planning on putting them in.

We'll see if I can pull this off. I think it would be a really fun weekend project. Craft time!

12 April 2011

Portlandia

I need to make a point to watch this show! The clips are so funny!

10 April 2011

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Yesterday was gorgeous! I took Stella on a long walk through Five Points. I know, Five Points is the scary part of Denver but when I was driving through it the other day it didn't seem so bad so we decided to explore.

The only dodgy part was when a guy came up to me and asked if he could take Stella for daily walks... I declined.

She was so excited about the pigeons, she loves chasing them around and there seemed to be a lot of them out yesterday.



I also noticed that the trees are in bloom! This one reminds me of the one in my backyard in Nebraska.



We came across a buffalo!



And had to make a few pit-stops along the way...



We probably ended up walking about a mile or so which is quite a bit for Stella. She was pooped but that was the point. I went up to Blackhawk last night with my sister, Dad, and stepmom for some gambling and steak consumption so Stella stayed with Buddy and Eulafaye. They are such a nice couple and they adore Stella so she had a blast!

I didn't win big money at Blackhawk but I had fun playing the penny slots-- I don't really understand anything else! We feasted on some  delicious steaks, mussels, and glasses of Chianti at Farraday's.

We were going to hit up the buffet the next morning but we arrived a few minutes after the paramedics. Yeah, someone died at the Calypso buffet that morning so we decided not to eat there. So sad.

To end on a positive note, the drive home to Denver was lovely.



The picture doesn't do it any justice but it's taken from inside the car. On a side note, I think my camera is broken. The right side of the image is all blurry in all of my photos. Major bummer.

Wait.. positive note! I just called my Mom's house and my little brother Eddie is such a comedian! He answered the phone with an accent and said that he owned a taco shop and he would give me some free coupons. He cracks me up! And my brother Jimmy scored the one and only touchdown at his first flag football game of the season! So proud :)

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!!!

09 April 2011

Take Me Out to the Ballgame...

....Buy me some hot dogs and Blue Moon.... you know the rest.

On Tuesday night I went with my sister, Ace, and some friends to the Rockies game! Baseball season has officially arrived! Most people know that I am not a big sports fan but I do enjoy going to games, mostly for the atmosphere.

Rachael and Ace

My sister Rachael and I
Ace and I at the Rockpile!

Rachael and her boyfriend, Dave
Rachael and Abby
We didn't get there until the 7th inning because Ace and I decided to walk and we came across the Great Divide Brewing company where we had to stop for some brewskies! I love living within walking distance of Coors Field. This summer + Rockpile tickets = happiness.

p.s. sorry for all the posed pictures, I need to stop that!

Saturday Playlist



Happy Saturday! Here's some music for ya... It's a pretty laid back playlist this week so I hope you enjoy :)

I'm going to go take Stella for a walk in this gorgeous weather!


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Shiver Me Timbers

Last weekend I went with my sister and our friend Abby to the pirate exhibit at the Museum of Nature and Science here in Denver. It was the perfect day to go since it was freezing cold and snowing after a day of 80 degree weather.

I ended up learning a lot about pirates and was bummed I couldn't take pictures in the exhibit! But luckily Lazy Eye Bailey over there let me braid his hair.

It was really interesting how the pirates operated in the early 1700's. Once you were accepted into their ship by signing the papers, you were an equal member of the team regardless of race, sex, or age. In fact my favorite story was that of an 8 year old pirate. He was captured after a ship that he and his mother were travelling on was commandeered by pirates. He threatened to kill himself if he could not become a pirate so they just let him do his thang. He got an equal share of they booty. (when I told my mom this she thought I meant boo-tay! haha)

On a side note I was really sad that the museum closed their "Hall of Life" exhibit that I have loved since I went there as a kid. The stuff was all really old so I hope they will update it and re-open. When you went to the hall of life you would get a card that would track all of your stats when you went through the hall and it would basically tell you how healthy you would become based on your choices (food, exercise, smoking, alcohol intake, etc.)

I still recommend taking a trip to the museum, especially on a rainy day!

07 April 2011

Weekly Yoga Update


Okay, I'm not gonna lie. It's been a bad week for yoga. I have been super busy doing fun (museum, Rockies game, sister time!) and not so fun (taxes, headache, doctor appointment) things. Oh well.
So I won't even be able to go until tomorrow since I have a little tax meeting with my Dad where I could turn out being minus a G or plus a G 1/2. I'm hoping it turns out in my favor! I haven't had the best luck with taxes for the past couple of years.

I really do want to be going to Yoga more, I have been bummed every day I miss a class but it's all good. I will post more exciting adventures once I upload some pictures to my computer so look out!

The most recent time I went though my balance was awesome! I was "like a lamp post" as they say. Here's one tricky pose that I nailed the other night.

Other than that I am going to try to go plenty going forward. It has been a lot of fun so far!

06 April 2011

Coincidence?

Wow, just after I posted about "Waiting for Superman" I saw this article on the front page of the NYT website. I love when I learn about something new and then its everywhere I turn! (really nerdy but whatever!)

Enjoy!

Waiting for Superman


If you haven't yet heard of the documentary "Waiting for Superman" I highly suggest that you check it out! I watched it the other night and the film is about the American public school system and its successes and (many) failures.


I have been waiting to see this film for a while now. It won the Audience Award for the best documentary at the Sundance Film Festival in 2010 and when you see it you will know why. The stories in this documentary are so moving I still find myself thinking about some of the students the film featured days later and I hope that they are on the right track.

The film opened in New York and L.A. back in September so I got it once it came out on DVD at Redbox-- one of the best inventions of our time!!

Daisy-- Wants to be a surgeon AND a Veterinarian


The film follows some young students in different parts of the country who have so much promise but they have schools and teachers that are failing them. Most of the students come from low income families who don't have the option to send them to better schools. The students live in areas where they are destined to attend high schools labeled as "dropout factories" (meaning schools with a senior class made up of 60% or fewer of the kids who entered as freshmen). From those high schools even fewer of them will be prepared for four year colleges because of the inadequate education that they received.

I really liked how the film focused on the fact that it doesn't matter what kind of background you come from, kids from disadvantaged backgrounds can end up doing better in school that people who can afford pay for a first class education. It takes a lot of work, good teachers, people who care, and holding kids accountable for their education.

Some of the stats were amazing too:

Out of the 34 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United States now ranks 25th in math, 17th in science and 14th in reading on the Program for International Student Assessment. Shanghai, however, ranks first across the board. reference
In Illinois, where one in 57 doctors loses his medical license and one in 97 lawyers loses his law license, only one in 2,500 teachers loses his credentials, because of union rules. reference
I don't want to give too much away because I think this film is really worth watching but when you do watch it little Anthony's story really caught my attention and I was actually bawling at the end when they do the lotteries.

Anthony-- one of the students featured


It made me think of my good friend Kait, who is about to graduate and start teaching. I know that she will be one of those exceptional teachers and I am so proud of her. She really cares about the kids that she has been working with and I know that she has already made a difference in the lives of those kids!

My takeaway from this film was that the system can be changed but we need to shift the focus from the adults back to the kids. And it can be done but it takes a lot of work.

Here is a link to take action. I plan on donating to DonorsChoose.org (which is basically what it sounds like-- you get to choose who your money is going to) A lot of teachers spend their own money on food and supplies for students who can't afford it themselves.

Francisco! So cute!

With my recent volunteer experience I'm hesitant to jump in to a volunteer position again but I will consider tutoring in the future. Right now though I am lucky enough to have 6 little brothers and sisters who I can mentor and encourage to do their best in school. My little sister, Olivia, is a blossoming writer. I bought her a journal that she has started writing stories in. (and I'm planning on posting one here when my mom sends it to me... stay tuned! It's hilarious!)

I know that we all have people in our lives that we want the absolute best for so you don't have to be a parent to care about this issue. I'm even still looking in to it and there is a lot of controversy about all of the topics which I will not disregard.

Here's the trailer for the film:



Any thoughts? Suggestions for further research?

02 April 2011

Saturday Playlist


Happy Saturday everyone!

It's gorgeous here in Denver and it's supposed to hit 80!!! I'm going out to enjoy it!


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