Bright winter West

It may only be the end of February, but it certainly already feels like Spring. I've been cleaning and organizing everything at home these past few weeks (including a lot of "purging" and donating of old clothes, books, random trinkets, etc.), the weather in Denver this past week has been incredible (70º today!), and flowers seem to be popping up more and more in daily life. 

In my three and a half years in Denver, I have yet to experience an awful winter. While major snowfalls certainly occur in town sporadically throughout the season, the sun always shines through, and most of the time, the city enjoys the snowy mountains in the distance rather than snowy streets at home. Great weather and the start of a brand new year always means lots of things to which to look forward. This year is no exception!

Owen and I are excitedly awaiting our upcoming trip to France, which is just about a month away. This will be O's first trip there, and I can't wait to show him around, not to mention speak, read, and hear French everywhere for ten days!

As I've been introducing Owen to my love of all things French this past year, he has come to know a bit about the most famous French comedian, Gad Elmaleh. This past autumn, we listed to a This American Life podcast about his fame in France and his decision to try to make it big - from scratch - in the USA. Lo and behold, not too many months later, I found out that he was coming to Denver to perform his new comedy act in English! After having heard the podcast, Owen was into it and we decided we had to go. It was an amazing show! The audience was a mix of French, Moroccan, and American (he's Moroccan by birth, and naturalized French), and everyone - O and I included - was laughing the entire time. O and I both had a blast. Not only was it an incredible treat to be able to see Gad Elmaleh live to begin with, but the added bonus was that tickets were only about 1/3 of the cost of what it would be to see him perform in France!

That same weekend, we flew to the LA area to catch up with friends on both of our sides, and attend the wedding of one of Owen's friends. It was a beautiful wedding (at an old library right on the beach!), and we were happy to spend quick, but quality time with great people in our lives (and meet more of each other's friends, too!). 

A windy day in Huntington Beach!

Owen's birthday followed shortly after our California weekend, and we decided that this year, we'd adventure out to the Snow Mountain Ranch YMCA and spend a wintery weekend in a yurt! I've been wanting to stay in a yurt for years, and Owen thought it would be fun to try it to, so we went for it, 20º overnight lows and all! It wound up getting really windy overnight, and the canvas of the yurt flapping around on the frame until sunrise made for a fairly sleepless night, but the evening before was beautiful and we both enjoyed the experience nonetheless. Top it off with a beautiful drive both ways, a nice evening walk through the snow around the ranch, and some delicious pizza for dinner in Winter Park, and we were happy campers. 

Our cute yurt!

This past weekend, my sister came to Denver to visit! We decided that the long holiday weekend would be the perfect time for her to fly out and have a mini sisters' vacation before she welcomes Baby #2 later this year. We had the best time! I couldn't ask for a more amazing sister to be friends with and look up to. It's always so much fun when we spend time together, and I'm grateful to my brother-in-law for taking on major dad duties this weekend so we could have a few days, just the two of us.

After a luxurious morning of sleeping in and a fancy breakfast at home, our first stop was to check out The Cheese Importers in Longmont, CO with Owen. Talk about the perfect way to prep for a trip to France! This place is part cheese shop, part French import shop, part cafe, and all charm. It's housed in an old small-town warehouse on Main Street, and we spent about an hour and a half poking around their array of kitchen wares, linens, soaps, kids' toys, and fresh cheeses, as well as enjoying a delightful French-inspired lunch (caprese baguette sandwich and a slice of quiche with Orangina, anyone??). She and I both found some fun things for ourselves (and her kiddos) and the three of us had fun getting lost in all the nooks and crannies of this great spot. 

After lunch, it was off to pick up chocolates at Robin Chocolates (European inspired as well) and then tour and taste teas as Celestial Seasonings in Boulder. It was a decadent day!

Sunday was a relaxed and homey day. After lunch with Owen at Native Foods, my sis and I snooped and shopped for fun things for the kids, grocery shopped, enjoyed a tasty Smoked Butterscotch latte at Starbucks, and cooked a fabulous dinner, complete with homemade coconut macaroons for dessert!

On Monday, we decided to check out the Denver Botanic Gardens and see their Orchid showcase. We were surprised to discover that it was a free visit day - super bonus! The Orchids were gorgeous, and I had fun playing with my Nikon DLSR to snap some great flower photos. 

 

After that, we had lunch downtown with O and then stopped by VooDoo Donuts for a quick treat (the line is unfailingly WAY too long at the VooDoo in Portland, so my sis opted to get her first taste of VooDoo in Denver. She's too Portland for Portland. ;) ) before my sis packed up and we took her to the airport to head back to the PNW. It was tough to send her back home and not be able to go with, but we're both right where we're supposed to be in life, so it helps that we can count on the fact that we're both happy and doing good things. It's amazing to spend time with my sis whenever I can manage it, and this weekend was perfect! I love that we're so close and are such good friends. I can't wait for our next weekend together when I go home for a visit in April!

In the meantime, there's lots to look forward to; a trip to France not the least among the items on the list!