Home Again, Home Again

And just one week ago about this time, I was driving the final miles to my parent’s house in Lincoln, the first stop on a short vacation that ultimately took my mom and me to Colorado to visit our respective friends. Now, one week later, I have returned from my trip, had my first days back at work, tucked my suitcase back in my closet, and restocked my refrigerator with lots of fresh veggies.

Here are a few highlights from my whirlwind trip!

Having breakfast with my brother and sister-in-law Sunday morning. I saw Brooklyn’s recently finished nursery, save for the closet door, and all the little baby things they have for her so far, including a half dozen pair of Air Jordan’s in all different sizes – my brother’s contribution to her wardrobe! She should be set for a year or two at least.

Driving too and from Colorado with my mom. At seven hours each way, one would think it a long and tedious drive, especially since the Western Nebraska landscape isn’t inherently exciting, although we did see a camel out in the panhandle, but the drive seemed to go quickly as we had lots of talking and reading to do!

Cooking with Clarissa. No sooner had I arrive Sunday night then she put me to work helping her to finish our dinner of beans and rice. Monday night we had our “official” cooking date, making rigatoni, oatmeal bread and banana cake. Yum! Good thing I brought my Wii along. We had several less than stellar games of tennis and bowling after dinner. (This is the only picture I have of my time with Clarissa; I'll have to remember my whole visit with her by our oatmeal bread.)

Visiting the Byers-Evans House in Denver with Clarissa. We were given a personal tour, because no one else was there to take the tour with us, by one of her classmates of the Italianate-style home, which was built in 1883 by William Byers, who was the editor of Denver’s first newspaper. William G. Evans, the son of a Colorado territorial governor, bought the home in 1889. The house was restored to the period between 1912 and 1924 – I loved the bold Art Nuveo wallpapers! The Evans women led very intriguing lives. For example, Josephine studied art in Paris, specializing in weaving and leather work. She also served as a nurse during WWI. Her boyfriend died during the war, and she returned to her family’s home in Denver, devoting herself to her art, never marrying. 

Reading a 1922 Larimer County Extension Report at the CSU archive. Clarissa stumbled across it as she was doing research for one of her classes and took me to see it as a surprise! Several millinery classes had been taught in the county, and the report contained several pages describing the number of hats that were made or refurbished and the number of silk and organdy flowers made by the various participants. As evidence of the participant’s success, the woman preparing the report also listed the awards several won at the county and state fair for their millinery work. My favorite anecdote was about an older woman who prior to the class wore quite “unbecoming” hats, which were from 1908. However, she made a new hat and wore it into town that day, receiving many complements on it. (Several other women also work their new creations into town that day also.)

Being with Halley. I last saw Halley and her family in September, and it was delightful to see her again. Halley and I were able to catch up on many recent happenings as we knitted and played with her daughter. Livi just recently turned one and has started walking! It was fun to see how much she has grown and how her little personality is emerging.

Colorado Vacation

It is hard to believe that just a week ago I was in Colorado, playing Dutch Blitz with my friend Halley and her husband Joey. Now I’m back in Des Moines, having just finished two days of work during which I made toilet water (Victorian perfume) with 100 local 7th graders!

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….