lay where you're laying, don't make a sound

I worked from home today, and so while I had a straight slog from 9-3 with a v. brief break to reheat some soup, it was at least more relaxed than if I had driven into the office. But as soon as three p.m. came around, I signed off - my parents are in town for the weekend, and they rolled up around 3:30. I'm v. excited to show them my house (even if half-duplexes in Iowa aren't nearly as impressive as they are in Denver), and I'm also v. excited to show them Denver in hopes that they will come visit this metropolis more often than they came to San Francisco.

So, when they arrived, I showed them the house, and then we spent some quality time out on the back patio. While it now officially feels like fall here, today was a really nice day - so the late afternoon / early evening on the patio was quite delightful. At some point I walked down the street to pick up takeout gluten free pizza from Blue Pan - they kind of screwed it up because they put the wrong toppings on the thin-crust vs. the deep-dish, but I didn't quibble because I was hungry. So we ate pizza, spent some more time on the patio, watched a bit of old Johnny Carson, and eventually ended up on the patio again (this time under the blankets that I bought at Costco, which turned out to be a v. wise investment).

And now I'm going to sleep so that we can do fun stuff in the morning at a reasonably early start time - goodnight!

hot as a fever, rattle of bones

Nothing exciting to report. I got up early and made it to the office by 8ish, where I did a bit of work and then had meetings pretty much straight from 9 to 5. I should have left immediately, but I did a bit of desultory work and ate some granola in an attempt to avoid traffic, which was kind of a fail. But I made it home around 6:45, spent some time tidying up around the house, ate some leftover soup, and then did about an hour of day job stuff. I then spent the last hour wasting time on my phone - perhaps good for decompressing, but probably not good for sleep.

And so now it's time for bed - goodnight!

my baby don't mess around

Today was the first day that totally felt like fall - it rained/drizzled/was in the 40s-50s all day. Unfortunately that meant it took an hour to get to work. But I had several free hours somehow, which was surprising, so I actually got a lot done. And I survived all my meetings and left a little after five, which was even better.

But I still spent a couple of hours talking about work - Caroline, Isaac and I went to River and Woods and had a 100% agreeable time. It was nice to hang out outside of work (with wine), and also nice to go back to one of my favorite haunts - they were quite surprised when my favorite server brought us free dessert (and she and I exchanged emails to hang out in Denver sometime).

So that was fun, but it means I didn't get home until nine. I should have worked but I have no desire to, so I'm going to bed instead. Goodnight!

or am i origami, fold it up and just pretend

Today was thoroughly unexciting. I had a bunch of meetings, surprise. But I snuck out a little after four and had a drink with Tomas - we were going to go to Boulder Depot, but it was closed for renovations, and so we ended up at Sanitas. I usually can't drink anything there since they're a brewery, but they had a hard seltzer, so I drank that. It was not very appealing. But it was great to talk to Tomas, so I guess it was #worthit.

Then I came home, with a stop for gasoline, a stop to pick up paint chips, and a stop to get half and half for tomorrow's coffee (luckily the Sherwin Williams is right next to my grocery store, so that was actually one stop). I ate leftovers, tidied up my kitchen, and then spent the last couple of hours doing some desultory day job stuff. And now, I think I'll unplug and go to bed - goodnight!

damn your wife, i'd be your mistress just to have you around

I did a lot of house stuff today, and then backslid into day job stuff at the end of it. I spent the morning doing yard work around the patio - nothing too terrible, but I pulled some ivy or other invasive vine thing off my fence (and shudder to wonder what kind of forest is growing on the other side - that neighbor seems to have a v. overgrown situation going on), and also cut off a whole bunch of possible little saplings springing up around my tree.

Then I did inside stuff - I did some laundry, moved some stuff around, put together my third barstool, and made a batch of chocolate chip chewies. Those were for my new next door neighbors, who moved in this weekend - yes, I am trying to buy their affection, but we'll see. I have no doubt my chewies can buy just about anyone's love, but whether we become friends remains to be seen. They seemed nice enough, and about my age, so I live in hope.

I also took a bubble bath for the first time since moving in, which almost turned into a nap. I talked to my parents - if all goes according to plan they'll be out here next weekend, so fingers crossed nothing jinxes them. Then I made some chicken tortilla soup - I almost didn't, but I had the ingredients and didn't want to waste them. I didn't just make one batch - I chopped up enough veggies for four batches and froze the other three, and also froze the tomatoes and some corn tortilla. Having this stuff already chopped makes future batches so much easier, even if it was more time than I wanted to spend tonight. And then, while the soup was cooking and after I ate it, I did a few hours of day job stuff - I didn't want to, but tomorrow will be way better because I did some stuff tonight.

And now I need to sleep, since morning will come way too soon - goodnight!

i got purple hat, cheetah print

Today was all about errands. I probably should have done more actual stuff, or spent less, but #noregrets. I inadvertently got nine hours of sleep to start things off, and then I got ready, took care of some tings online, and went to Target for a long-overdue Target run. While I was there, Katie called, and we unfortunately discovered that we had probably overlapped at that Target and not known it. Sad. But now I'm stocked up on all sorts of things - it's amazing how having a basement and actual storage space changes my buying patterns, since I can now buy stuff in bulk rather than buying whatever will fit into a handful of closets and cabinets.

After Target, I went to the mall to return a couple of things. That meant I also bought a couple of things, but I came close to breaking even. I also had lunch at the Nordstrom cafe - I ended up ordering steak frites on a whim and eating the entire thing, which felt pretty awesome since I rarely have steak (my new neighborhood is great, but there is no Des Amis here - but there's no Des Amis in San Francisco anymore either, so I guess that part of my life is over). Then I drove across the street to Crate and Barrel (I drove because I didn't want to have to carry things, which was wise), where I returned a bunch of rug samples and bought a couple of pillows.

Then I tried out a garden center and thought I'd hit pay dirt, so to speak - I bought a really pretty jade plant and another succulent, and some succulent potting soil, and generally liked the place. I stopped off at home after that to empty my car, and then I went out again - this time to another garden center, which made the first one look like a sad roadside stand by comparison. I was on a mission to find some decorative pots to put my indoor plants in, and this place had a million, which was pretty delightful. They also had a ton of plants and I wanted to buy all of them, but I refrained because I really don't know what I'm doing and should see if I can keep a few alive before I invest any further. Still, I was pleased to find both of these stores (the first is Jensen's on Wadsworth and 9th, and the second is Echter's near Wadsworth and I-70), so we'll see if I can develop a green thumb before everything dies around me.

Then I went to Home Depot to pick up a couple of other things. And then I came home and was lazy - I ate leftover palak paneer and spent a couple of hours watching HGTV while researching decor-type stuff online. And now I'm going to sleep - goodnight!

we’re finally on our own

i worked from home today, which meant I was very relaxed and probably didn’t get enough done. Usually I’m pretty productive at home, but I didn’t have any pressing deadlines, so it was very nice to get some time to think. Also, I took a break in the middle to meet with a paint contractor - Katie used her to paint a few rooms, so I asked for a quote. She walked around and measured and gave me a quote that seemed reasonable, and a tentative window for when I’m back from Berlin, which would be perfect. So now i need to pick colors, but that should be fun.

I sloughed off work around five, messed around in my living room, took a nap, and then made instant pot palak paneer using a recipe Veronica gave me. It turned out really well and was super easy - and and I added butter and cream at the end, so it was even better (albeit less healthy, since it’s mostly spinach otherwise). And then I spent the evening messing around on home decor sites and writing in my journal - yes, I’m very fun.

And now I must sleep - goodnight!

i've been here before and i deserve a little more

I got up this morning in time to do a bit of work from home, which is infinitely more pleasant than my desk at the office. I have spent no time at my desk this week - partially because I'm always in meetings, but mostly because I sit on the second floor of a wing where they're renovating the first and third floors, and while they assured us there would be no impact to us, that was assuredly a lie. So I have taken to just carrying my bag around all day (so I have my chapstick, notebook, headphones, etc) and never being at my desk if I can help it.

So I worked from home for a bit, then drove into the office, where I worked from 9:30 to 5:30. When I got home, I did a bit of house work - mostly breaking down cardboard in the garage so I could recycle it. Then I talked to Claudia for an hour, which was great. And then I messed around on my phone, ate some peanut butter toast, and was generally v lazy until I realized it was time for bed. Goodnight!

coming out of my cage and i've been doing just fine

I had my usual day of intense meetings at work, and I was dragging by mid-afternoon - I really just wanted a nap, but had to pretend to pay attention in the rest of my meetings. But then I drove back to Denver and actually had fun - I reconnected with Simon, who is friends with Katrina, Adit, and several other mutuals. He's lived in Denver for about a year, but has a two-year-old, so he and his wife haven't been socializing much.

But we got together tonight and met up at a Stanford alumni networking event at Linger. We hung out on the roof there for about an hour and were even committed enough to meet a few other people who were there, so that was v. outgoing of us. And then we left and went down the street to Lola, where we split some food and talked for a couple of hours. Simon and I had never spent solo time together before, but it was really nice - he's a visual artist (and former Googler), so while visual art and writing aren't the same, we have some v. similar struggles. So now we have a tentative standing date for some creative time, which would be a really lovely thing.

And now that I'm home, I should really go to sleep - goodnight!

don't know if i can play this bar much longer

I'm lying in bed typing this on my phone, so don't expect greatness. Today started off a bit too rushed, since I didn't want to get out of bed... And then traffic was bad, and so I was ten minutes late to a meeting with my old boss (a director in the Boulder office). In that meeting I tried to resign from my position on an office-culture-related thing, since I am so swamped with other stuff and am doing other culture things anyway - but my resignation was declined. Lol. So I guess the silver lining is I can stop feeling guilty for not doing as much as I want to on that project, right?

The rest of my day was filled with many meetings, and I didn't finish until 5:40. Then I came home, chatted with Terry a bit on the way, and then took a break to make a niçoise-like salad. It took awhile only because I decided to boil some eggs, then boil some baby potatoes, then finish the potatoes in butter and garlic. So the salad wasn't very veggie - it was a couple of perfect just-barely-done boiled eggs, some potatoes, some leftover blistered green beans, and a can of tuna. But it was totally yummy and a good break.

Then I worked for two hours, and now I need to sleep - goodnight!

train sounds and thunderstorms

I woke up this morning and worked from home for an hour or so - leaving a little later does wonders for traffic, so I took advantage of it. When I got to work, I had my usual slew of meetings, and then I left at five and stopped at Costco, where I saved a lot of money on canned goods and then spent it on blankets (that makes it sound like I'm prepping for the Oregon Trail, but instead I'm prepping for making chili all winter and also having some outdoor-safe blankets for chilly autumn afternoons on my patio).

Then I came home (with a phone call to [censored] on the way), ate some v. tasty leftover pork chop and polenta, and worked for the last 2.5hrs. That's not really how I like to spend my evenings, but the stuff I got done was v. necessary, so I'll take it. And now I'm going to sleep - goodnight!

it's a quarter past midnight and the sirens are mending some hearts

I was lazier than intended today, but perhaps that wasn't a bad thing. I did some rug research and I think I settled on the one that I'm going to buy - I'm sleeping on it and then ordering tomorrow if I still agree. I also did a couple of loads of laundry, tidied up around the house, and made a really delicious (if I do say so myself) lunch - a breakfast sandwich made with some green chile sausage that I bought at Whole Foods yesterday, plus fried egg, on gluten free bread that I'd cooked texas-toast style. As you may have pieced together from the blog, I'm enjoying having a kitchen that I like cooking in, and also enjoying being here more than a few days in a row - my travel schedule in other times makes it a little tough to buy groceries and prep meals.

Unfortunately, I had to do some day job work this afternoon, so I spent about two hours on my work laptop. I probably should have spent eight, but I wasn't feeling that as a good life decision. So, I stopped a little before five and went over to Katie's - we hadn't seen each other for a month since I went to Australia and then she went to Greece, and so we were way overdue to catch up. We hung out and drank wine in the backyard while James made dinner (hero), and said dinner was really tasty. James also started a fire in their fire pit, and so after dinner we roasted marshmallows and the girls ran around with their neighbor kids. All in all it was just a really fun and lovely late-summer night, so I'm glad we live close enough to make such things happen easily.

I came home around nine and finished putting away laundry, dishes, etc....and now I need to sleep so that I can get up and do some stuff before work. Goodnight!

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!

carry on

I had a slightly annoying meeting to start my day, which was unfortunate. But lunch included guacamole, so that went a long way toward making up for it. I also left work at four to have drinks with Morganne - we went to River and Woods, which I hadn't been to since moving to Denver, but they still recognized me, and so my friend was impressed. Morganne and I discussed all sorts of fun topics over wine and poutine, which was good for my mood even if it was bad for feeling healthy.

Then I went to Sephora to get some skin products to repair the ravages of my bad decisions, and I also dropped into Anthro to see if they had anything that I couldn't live without. By the time I got home it was almost nine p.m., and I almost crawled straight into bed - but instead I sat at my desk with the intention of journaling, and didn't do that either. I think that means I really need sleep more than anything else, so I'm going to give that a try. goodnight!

don't tell me i lost a step

Today was calibration day, which, as I've said before, is a Thunderdome-style four-hour meeting twice a year where we discuss ratings for our people (my auto-correct tried to turn "ratings" into "trauma", so autocorrect knows what's up). Actually it's not really Thunderdome-style - our group was pretty thoughtful and it was good overall. But four hours of any kind of meeting is destined to throw my day out of whack.

Still, I had time to enjoy my lunch (Korean barbecue and sweet potato noodle), and I got home a little before six. Kristen came over shortly after - we work together but we're way overdue for a friend catch-up. So we drank rose on my patio until after dark, and then we went to Blue Pan to have pizza and more wine. Amusingly enough we ran into Andy, who is also on our team, so clearly Blue Pan is the place to be.

And now, after a really nice night, I should sleep - goodnight!

the army of achievers lying in this bed

I worked from home today, which means I got a couple of hours of actual work done while sitting on my patio and drinking iced coffee. There was a bit of a chill in the air - not enough to really matter, but just enough that I wore my UGGs for the first time in awhile. It's amazing what spending time outside does for my mood, even if that time is also spent on my laptop.

Things unfortunately went a bit downhill - I had a 90min meeting over lunch that I interrupted at the 60min mark to ask if we were going to discuss the topic that we were supposedly there to discuss. By the end of my last meeting, I was fried. But I took a nap and managed to rally for a networking dinner - it took all my energy to get there, but once I was there I was glad I'd gone.

But now I need to sleep - goodnight!

carry out the pictures and tell the kids that I'm okay

I should work tonight, but I need a break - so instead I got home, talked to my mom, walked down the street, downed some nachos and two margaritas (while doing some day job work, but it was brainstorming a project on paper, which almost felt like fun), and am now going to crawl into bed with a face mask and a magazine and attempt to get eight hours of sleep.

But today was fine, all in all, despite not getting enough sleep last night, and despite ending up owning yet another major project at work (I'm either doing something very right, or something incredibly wrong). And tomorrow will be even better if I get some sleep, so I'm signing off now - goodnight!

now i'm following you out to the coast

Today was a day. I knew it was going to be a bit rough because I didn't get enough sleep and had too much work to do, and I was right. It wasn't too terrible - I didn't get there until 9:30, and I left at 5:30, and I had time for lunch and a bit of work rather than just having eight hours of meetings, so it could have been worse, I guess. But it definitely could have been better.

When I got home, I cleaned up my kitchen and ate two kinds of leftover soup - I really wanted to go out for tacos and margaritas, but didn't have time, so I ate the last of some leftover chili. That wasn't enough, so I also ate some of the chicken and wild rice soup that I made last night. Then, eventually, I knuckled down and did four hours of work - it's performance review season and also time to plan for 2020 and also time to plan for next quarter, and I'm also behind from being in Australia / jetlagged / sick, so there's really no way around some of the deadlines that are facing me down.

But I got through my initial phase of performance reviews, which I honestly wasn't sure I could get done tonight (even though they were due today), so I'm taking that as a win. And now I'm going to sleep - goodnight!

i miss those days

I had a pretty good blend of #treatyoself, writing, family, cooking, and work today - maybe it's not good that I worked on a Sunday, but sometimes it has to happen (and I probably needed to do more than the three hours I did tonight). I slept in this morning, did a bit of house and financial stuff, and then walked down the street to get a massage as a post-birthday treat. The massage was really good and I liked the space; in a lot of ways my new neighborhood feels like when I lived near Union Street in SF, although I have yet to find an acceptable replacement for Tony (there is no replacement for Tony).

When I came out the farmers market was in full swing; I didn't buy anything, but I did chat up the owner of a cute vintage store that I've stopped in at a couple of times before. I may use them to create a top for the free standing butter churn that my mom's father refinished in the distant past - I think it would look great with a metal top to match the crank on the side, and then I could put a plant on top and live my best urban farmhouse life. The woman at the store seemed interested, so I need to text her some photos and see what we can do.

Then I came home, ate leftover chili, and did a whole lot of nothing for awhile. Then I wrote for a couple of hours (shocking). Then I called my parents, and then I started a vat of chicken and wild rice soup in the instant pot. I had the ingredients from when I was sick, and I didn't want them to go to waste, so I threw the soup together tonight. Even with the instant pot it's not instant, so I ate leftover Indian food while it was cooking. Then I spent the last 3-4 hrs working, with a few breaks to text [censored] and [redacted] and clean up my kitchen.

And now it's bedtime - goodnight!

gin and juice

I felt almost back to normal today... If this were the beginning of a cold I would have complained about it, but the end of a cold feels like such a gift that I was v excited. I spent most of the day doing stuff around the house - I finally tidied up my laundry room, remade my guest bed after my last guest, cleaned off my patio furniture (a tree directly above the couch is shedding, which is unfortunate), and spent several hours working on my office. I rearranged a lot of books, which may seem like a waste of time to some people, but to me is utterly vital.

But I had to stop eventually - I took a quick nap, a quick shower, and then went over to Kelly's to see her new place. It's gorgeous - we made the opposite decisions when buying since hers is very new and very modern, while mine is a bit more traditional, so I think we're both simultaneously happy in our spaces and jealous of the other one.

So we had a drink at her place, then came to place so she could get the tour here. Then we ubered to Bar Dough - I really love it, and she hadn't been, so we took our chances. We scored an immediate seat at the pizza bar, where we had a view of the kitchen, and we had a great meal. The cucumber salad is like a slightly upscale version of what my mom makes, the meatballs are great, and my gluten free pasta was as great as always. We split a bottle of wine and a really long, lovely conversation, and we ended with an espresso martini for her and a limoncello for me (which was probably a mistake, but #worthit).

And now that we've cemented our friendship and I'm safely ensconced in my house, it's time for bed - goodnight!