Christmas in Boulder

Yes, I'm back in sunny CA where it should hit 78 or 80 degrees today.  Perfect weather for the Rose Parade which ruined my morning outing to the Pasadena farmers' market.  Cancelled today even though things (Parade, Game...) don't happen until Monday.  Totally unfair.
I should, however, back up and wax poetically about the white Christmas that we spent in Boulder, CO.  We arrived last Wednesday night, snow just starting to fall in the early evening.  By the time we woke up Thursday morning, about 12 inches had accumulated.  Exciting!  It was the lightest, fluffiest snow that I've ever experienced.  I tried to make a snowball to throw at a certain person, but the snow didn't even stick together.  Crazy!  We depended on the kindness of a brother-in-law to chauffeur us around town since our awesome Toyota Camry wasn't quite up to the task.  I spent most of the first few days oohing and aahing over the snow and also complaining about the cold!  Still, we did brave the elements several times with the pups who LOVE the snow:

(Gus is too busy eating snow in the second photo to pose for the camera.  As I look at these photos now, I wish that I had spent more time in the snow!  Agh - I hate those regrets.)

We seemed to celebrate Christmas for several days, a non-stop eating, drinking, and present-opening fest.  The best present that I received, hands-down, were a bunch of socks from one of my in-laws.  I realize that socks don't necessarily scream "Awesome present!", but these do!  THREE pair of awesome SmartWool socks and a pair of cycling socks with "Colorado" stitched on them - I hit the motherlode with that present, and my brother-in-law may now be my favorite family member ever.

Given the snowfall in Boulder and our aborted ski efforts in Taos, Michael and I were pretty determined to go skiing while in Boulder.  Nothing crazy, like Breckenridge or Keystone, but we figured that a nice day at Eldora, a local ski place, would be perfect.  We went up last year to Nordic ski, but we both wanted to try out our downhill legs, despite years and years away from the slopes.  So, we (and half of Boulder) geared up on Tuesday and headed up the mountain.  By 10:00 am, we'd already gotten in two runs - success on the green runs at least!

Not to sound like one of my students, but I felt like yelling "OMG! This is so FUN!".  I was really nervous about trying to downhill ski again, since my last run, on March 23, 2003 (I found the tag on my ski pants which I hadn't worn since that day) ended with a torn meniscus.  Well, we started out on the easy runs and didn't challenge ourselves with anything beyond a blue slope, but as we spent more time on skis, we both relaxed into the movement and had a spectacular time.  I think that I had forced myself to forget how much PURE fun skiing is because I thought that I'd never ski again.  Thank you again, Dr. Hatch, for my new ACL (and thanks to the cadaver who gave up his ligament).

By noon-ish, we were tired and hungry, so we settled into a relaxing lunch in the lodge.  The food was so-so, but the Bloody Marys were damn good and strong!  After that, we were pretty much toast - tired and relaxed.  So, we did two more runs before calling it a day.  It was the perfect way to end our time in Boulder!  We are also jonesing to ski again soon - maybe here in SoCal?!

Ah, the post-Bloody Mary relaxed state!

Heading back out to ski - yes, I look like an alien with the goggles on!

No trip to Boulder is complete without lots of good food and drink.  We skipped some of our standards (Snarfs, a great sandwich shop, and Lucilles, a rockin' brunch place), but discovered a few new favorites.  One place, Bitter Bar, replaced a great Asian restaurant.  We were disappointed that the Happy Noodle had closed its doors, but Bitter Bar served up good food and drinks and had an awesome happy hour!  I have also continued my love with Avery Brewery.  I almost fell OUT of love with Avery on Christmas Eve afternoon because it was closed (in fact, most bars in Boulder were closed on Saturday afternoon which was an outrage!).  However, we made it back on Monday night, and it was worth the wait.  I discovered a crazy-strong beer called "The Beast" which has 16.83% alcohol.  It is definitely a might fine sipping beer.
All-in-all, a stand-out trip to Boulder, CO and a great way to enjoy the Christmas break. Now we just need to toast both the old year and the new year, and our celebration will be complete!
Cheers!

Summer's end (Redux)

My first "Ode to the end of summer", my last post, was pretty much an ode to my slovenly side, something that really doesn't deserve too much recognition.  Also, I have tried to fully embrace this last day of summer, despite knowing that summer is expiring, sighing its final, dying breath.

So, I give you, in brief, our Summer 2011 wrap-up:

June started out with high hopes of adventure, which we put on hold while this guy dealt with a bladder stone operation:

He recovered before our whirlwind trip to the East Coast.  In two weeks, I bounced between DC, Delaware (of all places, where I learned how to manage people, at least in theory), NYC, Rhode Island and Boston!  We spent lots and lots of time with friends and family, and I suffered the loss/theft of my laptop.

Back in SoCal, we celebrated our 5th year wedding anniversary with an epic hike to "The Bridge To Nowhere".  Soon, however, we were on the road again and in Colorado where we spent time in Allens Park, Boulder and Breckenridge, visiting with more friends and family.  We also played a lot!

We collapsed upon our return to CA, before steeling ourselves for more family and friends - visiting US this time around!  And I capped off the summer with my last feat of physical endurance for a while - the Santa Barbara Triathlon.

In addition to the rather intense activity of coming and going and going and coming, I read a few good books (like this and this series).  It was, obviously, not the most intellectually engaged summer that I've had, but I feel okay about that.
I also spent way more time in the saddle than I ever had before, so I'll chalk that up to success.  My bike and I are almost friends now, although I still don't understand him/her/it!  Along the same vein, I attended many morning spinning classes, most with Rod, who is a total spinning guru.  This morning, I attended my final class given by Rod, at least for a few months, and I wanted to die.  Or to kill him.  Seriously.  How is it possible that I've worked hard all summer and I'm still a lame-ass in the saddle?!  Okay, moving on...
Michael and I also discovered a few new loves.  First of all, there is Umami Burger.  It is, quite simply, amazing.  I think that I could eat there every single week.  That did not happen, and we actually haven't been there since (GASP) July.  Must go back.

While in Boulder, we also fell in love with a few local products.  First of all, there is this granola that is pretty kick-ass:

Source

We particularly like the sweet cranberry pecan flavor.  

Thanks to our bus 'booze cruise', we discovered Avery Beer, and I am now obsessed and buy it whenever I see it in California.  "The Reverend" is one of my favorites, and it has nothing to do with the fact that I feel like a naughty school girl when I drink it!

Source

Finally, there were a few other highlights that added to our summer fun.  I'm a fan of summer sports events, but usually the non-traditionally American sort.  This summer was a bit of downer, considering that a few of my favorites lost (Rafa, the US Women's soccer team), but I *did* enjoy following the Tour, and Cadel Evans is my new boyfriend.  

On the food front, we indulged far too much in pizza and other less-than-healthy choices, but we did add to our own repertoire when we purchased a Weber charcoal grill.  It has revolutionized our cooking/grilling experience, and most of our cooking this summer seemed to involve throwing fish, chicken or an elk/bison burger on the grill.  Great fun, especially because we can look at the sky turn crazy colors as we wait for the food to cook.  Lots of oohs and aahs!

This wasn't a summer in which we explored totally new and exciting places, but familiar stomping grounds were good to visit.  Also, spending time with family and friends and bonding over beer or a Colorado 14-er (like Mt. Lincoln) enriches our lives and serves to remind me of the importance of those relationships.  Finally, Michael and I enjoyed having time together.  This is certainly a gift that we've tried to take advantage of the past few summers, knowing that his schedule may not always be so open.  

So, tonight, while there will be some panic on my part as I freak out about documents and classes and students, we will definitely celebrate summer's last evening!