You're too much, Bode!

This sweet cutie, Bode, is the perfect little personality, I swear! Andria occasionally nannies for him and we went for a beautiful walk together, just the three of us, in Lyons last week. He talks up a storm, makes you laugh (just look at picture above), AND it is hard to believe he isn't even 2 years old yet! ...What a little smarty pants!! I just had to share these photos from my phone ....they were way too cute not to!! I hope I get the chance to hang out with Bode again before our move to Austin ....he's so full of life and puts a great big smile on my face! Love this little guy :) Andria and Bode

Posing for the camera!

Goodbye, OZ

Friday was my last day with OZ Architecture in Boulder. I had an amazing opportunity to work with the interiors group here and feel incredibly fortunate. Boy, am I going to miss this view:

....After we sold our house last summer and decided to stay in Boulder a bit longer than expected (Collin could probably explain this decision best ...right, Collin ;) before making our inevitable move to Austin, the realtor Marsh and I used, Krista Koth (http://www.kristakoth.com), was gracious enough to get my resume to one of the principals at OZ Architecture that happened to be living in our neighborhood .... just in time for their move here to the 29th Street Mall area.

Well, as things turned out, I already knew, through ASID, the talented woman who runs their interiors group, Susan Kohuth, and she was willing to hire me on to not only help with their transition, but also to get some experience as an interior designer with this reputable firm until we headed to Austin in June of this year. ....I met a ton of wonderful people and had the opportunity to work with many accomplished architects and designers .... I will never forget my experiences here ....The opportunity truly came at the perfect time and I will always be grateful for it. Goodbye, OZ ....and good luck!! ...(not that they'll need it) ..... If you ever decide to open an office in Austin, please look me up!! You can see some of this firm's inspiring work for yourselves here: http://www.ozarchitecture.com

Yee-ha, Tejas!

Okay! We've been away .....in Austin, Texas that is .....Last week we made a trip down for Marsh's college fraternity reunion at Texas A&M in College Station (great campus and fortunately not too freaky conservative ....believe me, I was worried :) ...We also had a goal to find a place to live in Austin as we've decided to wait to buy until next spring and hopefully have the opportunity to continue to watch prices fall (and then jump on our ideal place!) ....I am happy to say we had success finding a fabulous place to lease for a year!! (see happy picture I took myself of our sweaty faces below afterwards in the hotel room) .....

The community we've decided to lease in is centrally located, so we can have a nice sustainable existence without a horrible commute (yyaaaaayyyy!!!) ....It is a mixed-use development with great restaurant options and unique retail stores. But most importantly, there is a doggie park for Chance and I'm hoping he will make lots of new friends --he's just going to have to be a little more accepting and slightly less neurotic and mouthy ...I'm sure he'll adjust as we all will! Here's some photos of the new neighborhood:

Courtyards across from some of the retail space

one of the buildings with lofts in the development....love modern architecture

the doggie park.....I can hear Chance's piercing, wonderful bark already!

We had a great week and after the reunion at A&M (will be adding these photos in a slide show soon to be posted), we stayed with a colleague of Marsh's, Suresh, and his wife Brigitte. They were gracious enough to host us for a few nights and we had the chance to enjoy Brigitte's wonderful cooking. Also, we all were able to get together for dinner with another colleague of Marsh's and friends of ours, Van and Julie ....lots of laughs and excellent political topics of conversation .....there is never a lull in the conversation when Julie and I are both present :)

Me, Julie, Van, Brigitte, Suresh, and Marsh

Julie making us all laugh :)

......And I was so happy to see my old and true friend Kacia (we go waaaay back ....our fathers even went to high school together) and finally meet her little Lila (the sweetest, most easy going little gal I have ever met!) ....I am soooooooooooo happy she and her very talented musician husband Ed (part of the Heathens) are in Austin, I can't even tell you!!!

Kacia and sweet lil' Lila!
...I'll be adding a slide show of the whole trip, including pictures from the A&M reunion, soon........since this is my last week at work with OZ Architecture (I will be taking pictures for nostalgic purposes, of course) and it is a hectic one, I'll be updating sometime over the weekend when I can take a breath again ......We are, however, getting very excited and anxious about our upcoming Austin move!! It will be hot!! No, it really will .....really, really, really #$*$%* HOT!!!!
Nothing a cool body of water, real OR man-made, can't solve .....at least the summer season's temporary, right? :)

Taking Over the Hotel Boulderado

Matt, Shamane, Ash, and Andria catching up at The Corner Bar

Marsh in menu contemplation mode

We met the usual suspects last night at The Corner Bar (in the Hotel Boulderado) for some fine food and drink in addition to some late night fun: moving hide-and-seek in the haunted Hotel Boulderado. It was no surprise that Marsh and Ash were slightly reprimanded by a hotel staff member ....too funny. Shamane and I used the old-fashioned elevator in the hotel to our advantage and had the "elevator boy" helping us remain undiscovered. We all enjoyed catching a glimpse of Matt searching for us with trepidation (he was not a fan of the idea of running into one of the hotel's ghostly spirits!). This made him the perfect "it" person in my opinion :)

The crrraaaazzzzy crew!

Marsh and I in front of the Boulder Theatre on our way out of the Hotel Boulderado

......We had some good laughs before heading over to Matt and Shamane's for dessert and more crazy antics (this time it became fun with the household greenery --see shot below) ....We are a wild and crazy bunch and have way too much fun when the six of us get together ......what can I say. We are very much looking forward to Matt and Shamane's annual spring "spread" next month and the all-out-insane croquet playing ....it will be a bit melancholy this year as it will also be our going away party, but we are determined to have a blast and perhaps turn it into an all-night-long affair .....if anyone can do it, it's this group of crazy freaks!! I love 'em and we are going to miss the hell out of them.

Matt and Ash (otherwise known as Grandma and Grandpa ;)

.....what ....the ....................

He's IN!!!

Yeee-hhaaaaa's are in order, folks!! Justin, soon to be a mature 20 years old, was accepted into CU's School of Advertising!! Way to go, J-Lav!! ....Seriously, Marsh and I could not be prouder. We believe Justin has found the RIGHT balance between the parties and the studies :) ...Anyway, this is quite an accomplishment and deserving of some recognition .....Keep keepin' it real, yo J?? ....So, in the spirit of recognizing the impact of the advertising world on our lives with many a slogan ingrained in our memories, I've included a fun little Brain Candy Word Play test to see how many famous advertising slogans you remember!! Check it out and see how well (or not) you score!! Here's the place: http://www.corsinet.com/braincandy/slogans.html

Things We'll Miss About Boulder....

Marsh and I took Chance out this afternoon to our favorite walking trail: East Boulder (Valmont) trail. It's long enough a walk (hour and a half if you do the trail from the Valmont entrance to the next parking area near Arapahoe) to feel like you've gotten some exercise, but mellow enough for dogs like Chance to keep up and enjoy it as well. In addition, what's especially attractive about it is that it is still one of few open space trails in the Boulder area where Chance is allowed off leash (as he should be). I also like running this route, but these days, if it happens it's usually just me (sorry, honey ....that's the truth!). It was a breezy but comfortable afternoon and although it appeared a storm might be rolling in over the foothills, we remained dry and enjoyed watching it come in. This is a first in what may be a series of "Things We Will Miss About Boulder" blogs ...as there are many things we will miss. But, we are hanging on to property here and believe that we will return down the road!! Marsh and I have many memories on this trail, including completing a competitive foot race which, to this day, Marsh still falsely believes he won ......his tactics in doing so were shady, at best ;) ......Anyway, for those of you brisk walkers and runners out there, here is a great link for where to go in the Boulder area: http://www.boulder-running.com/wtr/ ....We took a bunch of nostalgic pictures today and I've included a slide show for your viewing pleasure above the blog archive called "Our Favorite Trail". Chance was particularly pleased with our afternoon adventure. It's sometimes difficult to get the "perfect picture" with him, but I think we came pretty darn close today (below).
Chance: a very happy boy!

Why Women Hate Sports

...okay, so I don't hate ALL sports, but this clip is funny and as Andria and I suffered yesterday while Marsh and Ash were glued to the two Final Four games, we momentarily felt like the woman in this video ....check it out :)

[Why women hate sports!] | Funny Jokes at JibJab