{local love} denver botanic garden

today we went on a surprise date to the denver botanic gardens! lovely lovely lovely: perfect weather, ancient bonsai trees, crazy floating bamboo sculptures, hot cocoa, and even a friendly little garden cat!

{holidays} happy halloween!

it's our first halloween in the new house - A and i couldn't be more excited for trick-or-treaters and a mini-halloween-housewarming with friends {and chocolate of course}... 

wishing you a safe and spooky all hallow's eve!

{local love} the pumpkin patch

today we went with some friends for a great pumpkin adventure at our local pumpkin patch. the selection was pretty slim but the company was pretty fantastic, so i'd say it was a success...plus, we all got to celebrate with apple cider and eat homemade dirt & worms!

{exciting news} we bought a house!

it's a sweet little 1935 bungalow in old town louisville with tons of charm and a peach tree in the back yard and we couldn't be happier!
here are some pics from the listing website {sorry for the poor quality; don't worry i'm sure there will be plenty more to come}!

{local love} visitors

this weekend two of our favoritest people came in town for a quick visit. we took them hiking {against their will} and had so much fun showing them all of our favorite things about louisville, boulder, and denver {most of which are food related...}. mostly it was just so nice to have such wonderful friends in town!

{three little things} running

three little things:

1. i ran a half marathon today. my first one ever. it's something i never in a million years thought i would {or could} do, even if you'd asked me a year ago.  
2. i have my running buddy nina to thank {that's her in the purple}. she pressured me into signing up for it {in the nicest most supportive way possible of course}, helped me train for it, and stayed right by my side for twelve out of 13.1 miles.
3. my husband is amazing. he ran the 10K race {even though he hates running} and then he was right there at mile 13 to cheer me on and give me that little burst of energy i needed to finish strong. then he continued to cheer me on all day long, telling me how proud he was of me {see what i mean? amazing}.

so that's it, really. i ran my longest distance ever with the support of people i adore and i survived and it was all for a good cause {homefront heroes and operation restoration}.

{local love} louisville fall festival

reason #584,231 that i heart this little town we live in so much: the louisville fall festival. live music, food and crafts, vintage car show, and my favorite thing ever, the pet parade!

{local love} the broncos at mile high stadium

A and i went to our first-ever broncos game today! okay, it was a preseason game and okay, it was a million degrees in the sun, but we did get to see peyton manning play for 14 whole minutes {and more importantly, we got to spend the day with A's parents showing them all of the wonderfulness of denver}!

{stateside} the mcdaniels go to washington

A and i just got back from a week-long road trip to washington state... we stopped in boise on the way up {such a cute little town! who knew?} and then went camping with good friends {and their precious kiddos} in mount rainier national park. some highlights: gourmet camping food, incredible hikes, stargazing, and waking up to a gentle sprinkle of raindrops on our faces one morning... 
then after a few perfect days camping in soda springs we headed back to our friends' home in southeast washington for more quality time...spent in vineyards...drinking wine...

{pinteresting} room by room: wallpaper lust

wallpaper makes everything better, don't you think?

...{thank you, pinterest!}