here's the story of a lovely lady

I had a fairly lazy day, but it was overall quite lovely. I spent more time in bed this morning than planned, but I did get up and journal while drinking coffee on my patio - the patio is one of the best things about my house, so I'm glad that I invested in outdoor furniture early so that I could enjoy the summer/fall there. I also took care of some random house stuff, some random vanity stuff (trimming my bangs was becoming a necessity, not just a preference), etc.

I did, however, eventually leave the house - there's an architecture-themed weekend in Denver, and I signed up for a walking tour of Capitol Hill mansions. I never go down to the capitol area, so it was nice to see it - although the walking tour was a bit depressing because many of the stops were to show us a parking lot where some grand mansion used to be. In the 1880s the richest people lived around the capitol, but that changed in the early 1900s - as people got access to cars, they moved away (but then, I guess, also needed parking). Also, it's crazy how young Denver really is - the 1880s were the blink of an eye ago. Still, the tour was fun and worth doing - and it was nice to just walk around and look at stuff, which I haven't done nearly enough of recently.

After that I went to Whole Foods, where I spent way too much time and money (and changed tonight's dinner menu on a whim). Then I came home, put away my groceries, put some porkchops in a brine solution, and talked to Veronica for awhile. We hadn't caught up in ages, so we figured out how to videocall each other, and it was so lovely to talk to her. If only a handful of my SF friends would move to Denver, I would be a v. happy person.

When we hung up, I made dinner - I usually don't cook three different dishes for myself, but the porkchop seemed to necessitate polenta, and then I wanted something green to balance out the pork and corn. So, I made polenta with parmesan, blistered green beans, and a v. tasty sauteed pork chop with a bit of a sauce made from onion, herbs, red wine, etc. It was a delightful meal, all in all, and surprisingly easy despite the different cook times, temperatures, and other factors.

And now, I really need to sleep - goodnight!