You Snooze, You DO NOT Lose

The thing about having company is the pretty much 24/7 excuse to eat. G's parents have been here for 5 days and we've eaten breakfast at Snooze twice. No complaints here.

Snooze is only open for breakfast and brunch, so no matter when we go - regardless of the day of the week - there's usually a wait anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. We went on a Friday morning and waited about 20 minutes. We went this morning and waited almost an hour. It's worth it, but...

G's mom got the breakfast pot pie: a puff pastry crust filled with sausage and gravy, topped with eggs. The hash browns are on the side (I know it might look like a sausage patty but the hash browns are out of this world).

Today I had the Spuds Deluxe: a plate of hash browns with cheddar and colby jack cheese, topped with eggs, scallions and then your choice of toppings. I chose tomatoes, pulled pork, and avocados. Because, you know, I haven't consumed enough pork lately. (massive eye roll)

With about 55 mimosas, of course. I mean, duh.

My breakfast last week was the Steak & Eggs Breakfast Benedict. The steak was very tender (you could cut it without a knife) and it came on polenta cakes with asparagus, tomatoes, roasted poblanos, and hash browns. Kill me now it was so tasty.

The other thing about company is that when they leave, there's about a week-long fasting period during which we consume nothing but water. Hold on a couple more days, dear stomach. A couple more days.

Staycation

Hello, loves. I survived writing my last papers of the semester and am currently putting off grading student finals. They are piling up in my inbox, supposedly. I don't know because I'm dutifully ignoring my email.

G's parents are out here for a few days and we've been eating our way through the greater Denver area.

Have you heard of Berkshire? It's been featured on the Food Channel; all the dishes are designed around pork, so, you know, we hoofed it right over there. (<-- see what I did there?)

This is, hands down, the best Bloody Mary I've had in Denver. They make their own bacon-infused and pepperoncini-infused vodkas. I usually ask for mine to be super spicy and don't have any great expectations, but DANG. They do it right.

Here's a pic for scale. Yes, it was as big as my face. I drank every last drop, people.

We ordered freshly-made pork skins, chili-lime flavored. They went perfectly with the drinks!

G's dad ordered this: it's a pork burger, topped with pork belly, bacon, their own spicy cheese sauce, and pork skins. We dubbed it The Widow Maker.

Here's a pic of the inside:

Check out some of the highlights from the menu. I'm so NOT kidding when I say that all the dishes are designed around pork.

Even dessert! This is the spiced toffee bread pudding ... with bacon, of course.

That meal was a reckoning, let me tell you. All the dishes were perfectly flavored and balanced, though, and the service was great. Believe it or not, I don't eat a ton of meat, so this meal was overkill (<--- see what I did there?) but I would (WILL) go back just for the Bloody Mary's! And for the occasional bacon craving, let's be honest.

Other than eating, we've been exploring Rocky Mountain National Park. Here are a few highlights from yesterday:

Trail Ridge Pass (the road that connects the two sides of the park) is still closed due to snow, but we managed to see some moose and elk.

OK, I should put down the computer before I'm tempted to check my email and start working. More staycation pics coming soon!

TGIF, people!

Last Morning with Milton

All my papers have been written.

Visitors arrive today.

I'll give you all my King Soopers coupons if you'll come clean my house and cook for me.

That is all.

A Soup-er Great Repurposing

A coworker asked if I wanted her old soup pot and serving bowls.

I said yes.

Small Changes: B & A

So I told you that we got rid of one piece of brown furniture last week. Slowly but surely we are downsizing, "redecorating" (as it were), and adding color - and space - to the house, both inside and out.

Here's a small example: the side room.

Before

After

G's rules for plants in the house specify that they must be fake. This one looks real, though, right? I love the magic of technology. In looking around the house, as long as I've done the old lady dusting routine, you really can't tell that the plants are plastic.

The bad news is that Lucy has lost one of her main ninja bunny hiding spots (behind the brown chair). Of course, that's the good news, too.

Here's to small changes! 

All the Haps

This was yet another week of little-to-no blogging (OK, no blogging) because of the head not being above the water.

The head was quite a ways under the water. There were little, frantic air bubbles racing to the surface.

But! I gave my last presentation of the semester yesterday, and only have one big paper and a couple of small assignments left. Which is to say I may be passing this semester of grad school.

I can't speak for my students, though. I brought them donuts this week to try to calm the lil beasts (they, too, are turning in big papers and giving presentations in my classes) and it looks like if I throw in homemade cookies next week, that just might do the trick.

It's beautiful here, though.

Here are a few happenings of late:

I gave two presentations at a conference last weekend! Done and done.

Our new fence goes up today, our yard has been mowed, and the Got Junk peeps handled this on Tuesday. Notice that the back deck is gone! As well as that enormous tree trunk.

This will be another summer of back yard Before and After posts, so more info on that later, but suffice it to say that we removed layer upon layer upon layer of landscaping stones and bricks. It filled an entire truck bed!

We also got rid of one of our chairs in the side room, to make more space for a summer full of visitors (and, let's be honest, just to make more space in general). One more honkin' piece of brown furniture removed! That's progress!

It has taken Lucy a while, but she approves, in case you're wondering. She now has an extra play corner of crap until mama puts up a pretty, decorative plant and shushes her back onto the hearth with her bought friends.

I usually do all my writing and grading at the standing desk. Sometimes it's hard to concentrate.

This week marks my last one of getting up at 4:00 a.m. to finish major projects every day. I plan to do nothing but sleep this weekend.

That is all.