Ahh Summer. Finally.

We just got back from a nice, impromptu trip to Denver for the weekend and it really was a vacation.  We didn't have anything scheduled in to our days except Ultimate Frisbee.  We got to relax and spend time with friends, ate way too much food and didn't take enough pictures (I'd like to share some but my memory card is being weird and I'll be very sad if it deletes my photos).  Tonight we're heading to a concert in Albuquerque and the next few weeks are a whirl of trips, events and relaxing with friends, isn't that the way summer is supposed to be?

My biggest trip will be to Paris next Wednesday!  I'm going with a friend and we'll be there for a whole month!  We're taking an intensive language class, learning French of course and hopefully traveling and site seeing on the weekends. 

PARIS by ALPHABETdiva

What are your summer plans?  Anything you're excited about?

My Little Valen-cation

As I told you in this post, I went away for the weekend for a little mini-vacation. We left Thursday and headed up to the Southern Colorado mountains for a weekend of relaxation and refreshing.

It was wonderful, it was quiet, away from the daily grind, away from people, just us, the pup, and a bunch of snow.

There were naps to be had.

Smiles to be shared.

Views to be ooh-ed and ahh-ed over.

And, of course, more snow.

What did you do for the weekend? Anything special?

Vacation!

Guess what? Vacation! Matt and I are taking the weekend off, leaving this afternoon towards the mountains of Southern Colorado and I am so excited! Finally a break from everything! Just my man, my puppy, my yarn and me in the mountains of Southern Colorado.

This is a view from where we'll be :)

I'll have current photos when I get back, I promise!

Moss

While on our walk that I mentioned yesterday with these dew drops, we were exploring a cabin nearby and look at this little treasure spot (pun appreciated) I found.

Moss. Growing in only one of the three holes! I thought it was so cool, utterly peaceful and very cute. Now, I know terrariums are all the rage these days. And rightfully so, too. I have often found myself meandering through pages and pages of the Etsy Terrariums. They are so calming and intriguing. Here are a few I fell in love with while browsing this morning:

As I sit here sipping my tea, this terrarium embodies all that is a calm morning. green tea with lichen from weegreenspot

I have always been an animal lover and while I could not find a terrarium with an elephant in it (niche warning!) I did find this one, African Daydream from Slackarities

And for those of us who cannot seem to keep anything alive, this Plush Terrarium from WeirdBugLady would do the trick :)

Dew Drops

One of the mornings we were on vacation, we decided to go for a walk and see the cabin that is behind the one we stayed at. It was still early and had rained the night before so the dew was still on the plants. It was so pretty and peaceful, here are some raw, unedited pictures of the dew drops we saw:

Poo Paper

My parents recently went up and spent some time in Denver and Boulder, Colorado where they picked up random, appropriate knick knacks for their kids.

My older brother got a bumper sticker that said "Puppy Whipped" because, well, he is.

My younger brother got one that said "Spay and Neuter Your Teenagers" which, I'm told, he still hasn't noticed is on the back of his car.

And I got Poo Paper. Yup. Paper made out of poo. And why is this appropriate for me? Because it is made out of ELEPHANT poo! And I may have a slightly unhealthy appreciation (my boyfriend calls it an obsession) with elephants. If you follow my blog, you already know this. If you don't, well, you were informed the hard way.

Farmer's Market

On our last day in Denver last weekend we visited the Farmer's Market that takes place every Sunday starting at 10 am. There were so many awesome vendors there! The Farmer's Market in the little town where I live cannot compare, however a few of the vendors were large companies which almost detracted from the experience, but the fresh produce and baked breads along with all kinds of fruits, flowers, plants, sauces, jewelers and everyone's dog, the market was fantabulous.

Matt and I picked up lettuce, red pepper, carrots, garlic, cherries, a loaf of rosemary bread, asparagus, tomatoes, green beans and pretty much everything that is in our fridge right now :)

Speaking of plants and such, I have had my eye on this shop for quite a while and her unique mini-fruit trees. I'd love to grow my own lime tree right in my kitchen! Wouldn't you?
SevenAcreWoods offers a variety of organic seeds as well as some fiber for spinning, crocheted items and even some soap!

Hamster Hammock

Remember the Hamster Hammock I first talked about in this post? Well I have finally added a listing to my shop so that you can get your own :)

You are able to completely personalize it to your needs and desires, color, size, pocket size and location (or if you even want one to begin with), your pet will feel oh-so-spoiled!

In other news, Matt and I have driven up to Denver for the weekend and are planning on getting a moped tomorrow! Yay! I sold my car earlier this week and can't wait to finally have my own moped.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend and watch fireworks and relax with your loved ones :)

Piggy Bank

Ok, ok, so if you are a regular reader of my blog you already know about my ultimate ambition to own my own yarn store slash tea/coffee bar in Southern Colorado someday.

I have already started saving up for it, aren't you proud?

This is my piggy bank and I painted it myself ... 4 or 5 ish years ago? I think? And let me tell you, it is H.E.A.V.Y. My plan is to let it get as heavy as it can stand (or I can carry) and then take it to the bank, start up a savings account and put all the money from the little pig into the account.

This, along with whatever other earnings I come up with and set aside will hopefully help me to acquire my dream! Yes, it will take a while. Yes, it will be a lot of work. Yes, it will be hard to save up enough to start it. BUT. I can do it. I know I can. And I will.

What dreams do you have? What do you hope to long someday? How are you going about achieving them?

Denver!

So I am on my vacation of the summer, two weeks out of Socorro! First we (Matt and I) went to Los Alamos to watch my little brother graduate from High School, then we came up to Denver to spend the next week and a half with his friends and family.

So far it has been so awesome! We went up to Boulder yesterday and piddled about the town, it was their annual Bolder Boulder run and some of his friends had been in it so we hung out with them, dodged (although not always successfully) the rain that has followed us for the past 6 days and ate some delicious foods.

Snowboarding Trip

Last week Dominic and I and some of our friends went up to Pagosa Springs, CO and Durango, CO to enjoy the slopes of Wolf Creek and Purgatory respectively. Needless to say, we had a blast! The snow was good, although having some fresher snow would've been even better, the mountains weren't overly crowded (I suppose going in the middle of the week doesn't hurt), and the company was exceptional!

While we were piddling about the small town of Pagosa Springs we wandered into an antique shop we'd been in on a previous trip. We had found some cool vinyls and wanted to know if there were any new ones that we absolutely have to have even though, at the moment, we have no way to listen to them....Anyways, we found a really cool old tin with a picture of peacocks on it and the label of "California Dreams".

At the end of May Dominic graduates and our dream is to find jobs and move to Cali, so far so good, he is getting some offers from out that way. I decided to return to the shop the next day while he and everyone else was snowboarding Wolf Creek and buy the tin as a surprise. We will fill the tin with any extra bills we have in hopes of being able to use it to put a down payment on a house when we get out there, so it really is our tin of California Dreams.

Did you go on any cool trips for the holidays?