aaah, summer

All of my senses get a workout in the summer.  Every morning, I wake with glee ready to see the what new flower is in my garden from the 100s of seeds I planted in the spring.  Finally I am reaping the visual rewards of all the weeding and watering.  Daily, I walk out barefoot on the soft, cool green grass to peek at my gardens.  For a while, it was just lush green, but now at least one new flower opens every day.  The colors of nature are so vivid, and the butterfly visitors make it feel so ethereal.  Yesterday, I harvested my Chamomile flowers to make tea.  They smell so enchanting, and the tea will taste so good come fall.  

Another thing about summer that I love is hanging clothes on the line to dry.  Who knew it could be so fun.  First of all, it makes me feel like a vintage housewife.  I smell the lavender fabric softner on every towel or garment as I hang it (Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Lavender has edged out my old favorite Downy Lavender Vanilla).  The sound of birds singing, bees buzzing, and the distant lawnmower float in and out of my ears as I hang.  All the senses are so delighted in summer, I am so sad to see it come to an end.

Girl's Weekend Part Deux

The first evening ended in cocktails and debauchery at our temporary pad.  The next morning, we were feeling a little worse for wear, but we cooked a delicious breakfast, and headed out for an unscripted adventure in Estes Park.  This adventure included taking old tyme photos, shopping, seeing the famous Stanley Hotel via The Ghost Tour, and going on a wine tasting at a little independent winery.  I was grumpy and ready for a nap by the time we went to the winery, but I guess it acted as hair of the dog, because after the tasting, I was fresh and new.     Two of our friends took a little nap, and Erica and I soaked our feet in the jacuzzi tub, drank champagne, and chatted.  She told me the funniest stories and had me laughing so hard.  The crazy thing is, this was close to my favorite part of the trip, and yet we could have done this at one of our homes for free.  After our homemade pedicures and the other gals naps, we dolled ourselves up for a night on the town.  During our shopping excursion, one of the salesclerks told us about the beach party at an Irish Pub called Lonnigans.  Erica had already been itching to go there, so after much debate we decided we would end our day with that.  However, we had to eat first.  There is a cute little resturaunt hotel called Nicky's.  It had the cutest seventies lounge vibe and the yummiest salad bar.  Samantha and I bought a bottle of wine we could all decorate.  Then they hang the bottles of wine from the ceiling.  There are very old decorated bottles up there.  Perhaps we can go back one day and see ours.  Next stop, Lonnigans.  We had a cute little table at the beach party, talked, laughed, ect.  Then I won $25 in a dance contest.  I enjoyed limbo, and we saw a guy's knee get dislocated.  We left before the night was over, and we got a good nights sleep before heading home.  It was a gloriously fun weekend, and it rejuvenated my girl time battery(although I already want to see them again).