{bucket list} birth of the bucket list

this afternoon, A decided that we should write a bucket list. we started with a colorado bucket list, since we are so much closer to all sorts of new fun places now, and after three months here we've barely even scratched the surface!
naturally that led to a life bucket list - things we want to do and places we want to go {mostly places we want to go...}.
some are a little more of a reach than others {helicopter to space?}, some are admittedly misspelled {i'll blame A for that}, and i'm sure some will be added or amended along the way, but we're excited to start crossing things off our bucket lists - after all, that's the best part of list-making!

{local love} night flowers

"all great and beautiful work has come of first

gazing without shrinking into the darkness."

- john ruskin          

{local love} boulder fall fest

last night the mister and i didn't know what to do, but the weather was fantastic and we wanted to be outside, so we headed to boulder to wander around the pearl street mall. when we got there, we discovered boulder fall fest: live music, local booze, and yummy food! hello, happy accident!

{20 items or less} an autumn-inspired living room

in honor of the first day of fall {and because i've fallen hopelessly in love with this anthropologie rug}, i decided to design an autumn-inspired living room for myself {and A of course}... now, if only i could afford to redecorate every season...


some style notes:

• fall is my favorite season...
• i want to include some of our favorite pieces {our coffee table, travel photos, poufs & pillows, vintage treasures, and our comfy armchair}
• i hate our couch. and i'm a little in love with the pretty green one that my friend H has {i'm sure she won't mind if i steal it!}
• like i said, that rug. i die.

so below, in 20 items or less, my fall dream living room:

1.corona sofa, $699; 2.orange leopard pillow, $50; 

3.let's make out pillow, $89; 4.suzani pillow {our own};

5.personal travel photos in frames, $18 each;

6.vintage library signs {our own}; 7.vintage globe {our own};

8.aluminum side table, $149; 9.1.5-seat armchair, $649;

10.peace/love pillow, $98; 11.pom pom pillow, $25; 12.coffee table, $280;

13.vintage duck, $32 {we have a thing about ducks...};

14.inlaid flower tray, $199; 15.vintage suitcase, $39; 16.rug, $898;

17.poufs, $30 each; 18.tripod floor lamp, $298;

19.paint color: rhino by behr

p.s. i could also definitely get down with this lovely lady of a couch {$1299}...

{memory lane} dusty

today we lost a beloved friend, dusty.
she's been a part of my husband's life as long as i've known him {longer actually}...i think i only got to stick around because i passed the dusty test eight years ago. 
she was one of the sweetest, smartest puppies i've ever had the privilege of knowing. she had such a good long life that she shared with such a good loving family. we were blessed to have had so much time with her, but it doesn't mean that we don't ache right now and it doesn't mean that she won't be terribly missed.

{we love you, little stardust}

{20 items or less} 63rd annual emmy awards

being a one-television household, we spent last night flipping back and forth between the emmys and sunday night football. while my fantasy football team was busy winning its second game, i was busy checking out all of the pretty dresses and killer musical numbers...


first, the fashion that made me happy:

ladies in red: 

1.sofia vergara; 2.lea michele; 3.sarah hyland; 4.kerry washington

black and white:

5.aimee teegarden; 6.kaley cuoco; 7.christina hendricks; 8.jennifer carpenter

jewel box:

9.elizabeth mcgovern; 10.emily blount; 11.jane lynch; 12.heather morris

the menfolk:

13.john krasinski; 14.nolan gould; 15.rico rodriguez; 16.adam scott

next, the moments i adored:

17.the opening number 

18.the michael bolton 3-way mashup

and lastly, a couple of things i could've done without:

19.the "emmy tones"; 10.awkward charlie sheen moment

{local love} thumb-wrestling & 3D movies

once a month we {try to} take each other on a surprise date.
the rules: 
       1. it must be a surprise {duh}
       2. it must cost $40 or less
       3. well, that's pretty much it.


on saturday, A took me on a surprise date:
we walked to our local movie theater {because we can and because it was beautiful outside} to see a showing of the re-release of the lion king in 3D!
we got there early to check out the arcade games and ended up getting some sweet matching thumb-wrestler-heads. i killed him in a couple of thumb wrestling matches {as per usual} and then it was time for the movie! 


i still remember when the lion king came out the first time. i remember seeing the preview standing in the disney store with my mom and i'm pretty sure we both cried {before immediately purchasing a stuffed simba doll of course}. i remember crying in the movie when mufasa died and watching the movie about a zillion times because naturally we bought it the second it came out on tape. not to mention the lion king soundtrack was like the only thing i listened to on my walkman for at least two years. 
so, yes, i have a little bit of an emotional attachment to this movie. which is why i cried like a baby through almost the whole thing. and why i had to exercise some serious self-control in order to not belt out every word of every song in the film. and why it was the most perfect surprise date ever for me.

{local love} oktoberfest

friday was the most gorgeous day ever, so we decided that that evening was going to require a drink on a patio somewhere. we picked lucky pie in old downtown louisville, because {a}it had a patio, and {b}we'd heard from several people that it was incredible. but before we even had a chance to order a pizza we spotted a poster for our favorite of inappropriately-named september celebrations: oktoberfest!
we paid our check and headed down the street to the very first annual louisville oktoberfest. it was a little bit smaller than what we're used to, which involves rides and games and giant food pavilions and live music, but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. some friends met us there for locally-brewed beer, yummy food, and yes, even some live music.

{the one with the jalapenos and spicy mustard? that's mine}

{20 items or less} a missoni-inspired bedroom

well, friends, did you make it to target in time to snag any fabulous missoni goodies yesterday? i know i didn't! so in order to soothe my aching heart, i decided to design a missoni-inspired bedroom for my friend carolyn, using the incredible chevron bedspread that she already has as a jumping-off point...

1.diy headboard+otomi fabric, $295;

2.chevron duvet cover+shams, $147;

3.knotted felt pillow cover, $39; 4.vintage alarm clock, $30;

5.pendant lamps, $30 each; 6.mirrored side tables, $90 each; 7.gramercy sofa, $659; 8.flokati pillow, $30; 9.suzani pillow, $108;

10.silver chevron pillow, $42; 11.suzani rug, $1899;

12.lucite coffee table, $249; 13.streak-dye bowl, $6;

14.missoni for target pentagonal pouf, $100;

15.dressing table, $129; 16.missoni for target ceramic vases, out of stock {boo!}; 

17.vintage mirror, $79; 18.chevron curtains, $168 each;

19.paint color: beluga by behr

{history maker} 9.11

2001 was a year of pronounced change for me. i graduated from high school. lost a precious friend. went to my first funeral {and then two more that same year}. started college. watched with the rest of the world as the twin towers fell.
i lost so much that year - my innocence, my sense of immortality, my faith in a lot of things. but i learned so much too, about life and love and hope and despair.
i learned that there are no guarantees in this life - that it is short and should not be wasted worrying too much {or doing anything too much, for that matter}. that it should be spent loving and living and giving as much as possible. that anger and judgment were not worth the energy. that amazing beauty can come from catastrophic loss. i learned which things truly mattered and which were stifling trivialities.
i like to think that i carry these lessons with me as strongly as i did that year, but the truth is i'm constantly having to remind myself. one thing's for sure: i'll never forget the year my world was changed forever.

{local love} denver

we spent our saturday in the mile high city!

we watched college football at a bar in lodo 

before going to coors field for the rockies game

{root root root for the home team}...

lunch at a "haunted" pub {we didn't see any ghosts}...

wandering around downtown...

larimer square for dinner...

 d&f clock tower...

 "keys to the city" pianos on the 16th street mall...

horse and carriage {and puppy dog}...

 god bless america!

{weekender} labor day weekend in pitkin

another long weekend, another excuse to head up to the mountains... pitkin was a little quieter and a little cooler than we're used to, but just as magical as always!

we got there at lunchtime on friday and went for a two-hour walk around town and up to the nearby campground. throwing stones into the water, we caught a glimpse of a little baby beaver running along the river bank into his dam {so stinkin' cute!}. when we got hungry/thirsty/tired, we headed back to the log cabin and got cleaned up for supper {i think i only say "supper" when i'm in pitkin...}.

after dinner we went outside to look at the stars. i wish everyone could see what the night sky is supposed to look like - it was so clear and the stars were so many and so unbelievably bright and twinkly. they seemed close enough to touch. shooting stars whizzed across the sky every five minutes or so. as we looked over toward cumberland pass there were mysterious flashes of white light that we couldn't identify - they were too random to be man-made, and the sky was too clear for lightning. A is convinced that it was the northern lights; i'm not so sure, but i don't really know what else it could have been...aliens?

* * * *

the next day we slept in. when we finally got up and running, we made the thirty minute trip into gunnison for some garage-saling and shopping on main street. that afternoon we met A's dad at western state college to go to a football game {the mountaineers didn't win, but the view was spectacular and the tickets were cheap!}.

when we were good and sunburned, we headed back to pitkin, stopping on the way to pick up some groceries for the cook-out dinner we were planning. after hot dogs, grilled corn, and banana pudding, we went up the street to our friends' house and stayed up late playing cards and boardgames.

* * * *

on sunday morning, A's dad treated us to breakfast at the pitkin pancake breakfast. afterward, the menfolk chopped wood while i napped. then A and i went for a walk to the edge of town, explored some sort of junkyard, and wandered up to the pitkin cemetery {lovely during the day, but not a place i would particularly like to visit at night}.

that evening we had another delicious dinner {and more delicious banana pudding} and then campfire-lit s'mores and star-watching with our friends down the street. just another magical weekend in pitkin...