My trip to Colorado was a well-timed break from the busyness of LHF. The season truly transitioned from summer to fall while I was away, and I am thankful for the slower pace that we’re now in for the next month. My trip was relaxing, rejuvenating and quite eventful. All in all I traveled approximately 1,350 miles and slept in four different beds as went from place to place visiting family and friends! What follows are just some of the highlights.
I spent most of Sunday and Monday with my good friend Clarissa, who moved from Des Moines to Ft. Collins in August. It’s the first time in eight years we haven’t lived in the same town! Sunday night we cooked together once again and tried several new recipes from one of our favorite cookbooks - Quick and Easy Indian Cooking. While we chopped onions and garlic and made sure the milk didn’t boil over, we discussed my latest work happenings and the articles she was reading for her grad classes. In keeping with an unintentional tradition, we didn’t eat until about 8:30 pm. As usual, the meal was well worth the wait. I will certainly be making the dill rice with peas and the mushroom curry again!
Monday Clarissa and I went exploring. She took me on a tour of the CSU campus. Things were pretty quiet since it was Labor Day, although we did have to dodge a few runners participating in some sort of road race. Then we were off to Whole Foods, one of the most wonderful grocery stores in the world! I saw foods there that I’ve only read about in cookbooks but never been able to find in a more typical grocery store. The loaves of bread piled along the counter were baked to perfection; their tops perfectly crusted along the lines slashed into the dough before they were baked. The pastries and cakes were too beautiful to even think about eating! Unfortunately high prices accompany such delightful foods, so I would never be able to actually do much or any of my grocery shopping there, but it certainly was fun to browse!
After this we went searching for All Sweets, an international chocolate shop family friends, who also live in Ft. Collins, told us about. It is a very small shop. Chocolate bars labeled with their country of origin sat on the shelves lining the perimeter of the shop. Bright wrappers stood out against the white walls and shelves. Clarissa exclaimed when she discovered the chocolate she ate when she was in Russia, and I was happy to see the chocolate bars I ate when I traveled in Europe. We were most excited, however, by the bowls and bowls of konfyeti sitting on tables in the middle of the shop. (Imagine individually wrapped Russell Stover chocolates and you’ll get the general idea of what konfyeti is. Clarissa ate lots of konfyeti in Russia.) The owner let us try any two we wanted, so, of course, we ended up buying 2 lbs. worth of them! I was able to read English descriptions of each piece when I picked out which ones I wanted. Unfortunately, now that my konfyeti is at home, I can’t tell what anything is! I can’t read the Cyrillic on each wrapper and Clarissa isn’t here with her Russian-English dictionary to translate for me. Each one is a surprise – and very good surprises at that!
Monday evening to Thursday morning I stayed with Halley, Joey and Alivia. What a delight it was to finally meet little Alivia, who just turned four-months-old. She has an infectious smile and light fuzz for hair. She spent a good deal of time playing with her toes, which she had only recently discovered. I made her a quilt and was happy to see it fit the décor of her nursery perfectly. Livi actually pit up on it the first time she laid on it, which seemed fitting somehow. While I was there Livi sucked her thumb by itself for the first time. Being a former thumb-sucker, I said it must have been due to the quality time we had spent together and my good influence. Halley and I also had some knitting lessons while I was there. I was thankful she got the hang of it before I had to leave.
The drive to and from Colorado was a highlight as well, which I think may surprise many people. When you live in Iowa and tell people you are driving to Colorado they tend to cast you a pitying glance and make some comment about the endless miles you will be driving across Nebraska. However, when you make the drive with your mom - at least my mom - the endless miles become an open space ready for great conversations and reading good books. Although I was happy to arrive at our destinations at the end of each drive, part of me wished we had had just a little bit further to go.
Saturday I was back in Lincoln and able to celebrate my sister-in-law’s birthday with my family. This was the first time since she and my brother started dating six years ago that I have actually celebrated with her in person! Every year prior to this I was either in school or working in Des Moines. I made her a brownie cake, which turned out perfectly. It can be a tricky cake to have come out right, and I was so thankful it did for this special occasion. Dinner was followed by a trip to their house to see Peter’s latest remodel job. Last time I was there, the living room and hallway were torn apart down to the studs; everything is now restored to order. The walls are dry walled and beautifully painted. Liz now has a large hallway closet and a tiled kitchen floor. I’m glad to have such a talented guy for my brother.
Now it is back to the quiet of my apartment in Des Moines and my familiar routines. As glad as I am to be away, I am always thankful to return safely home again. Now it is time to start planning the next trip! Where should I be off to next? Hmmm…you know, Boston has always been a place I’ve wanted to visit….
