As I was reading my email today, I was so excited to see there is a fun vintage party in Monument, Colorado (only a three hour drive from here).  The flyer for it is above.  Surely, you will join me in this fun event.  Perhaps we could enter the vintage swimsuit contest together.  I searched online, and found my ensemble on Polyvore (the blog below). As for the cars that will be there, I went to my first car show this year, and it was delightful.  I fell in love with an aqua blue truck .  Isn't it perfect for errands?  Anyways, friends, I hope to see you at this fun party in Monument.  Join me, won't you?

Where's Rosie When I Need Her

Did you ever see the adorable photos of Rosie The Riveter?  I wish she was my neighbor.  Let alone the fact that I would constantly be borrowing her red head scarf, she would be my mechanical helper.  (I would wash said head scarf of its "Riveter Dirt" in reypayment for her mechanical deeds.  Today, after work, all I wanted to do was mow the lawn.  The &(&%&^% thing wouldn't start.  We just got a new battery, and have only used it once since then.  Hubby came home and said it would start in 20 minutes since the engine was flooded.   Wrong!  I still can't start it, and all I want to do is mow.  I wish Rosie were here.

Denver History

This week, I helped my husband chaperone some students to the great city of Denver, Colorado for State History Day.  We had a wonderful day in a beautiful downtown.  I loved the cool historic buildings on the 16^th street mall.  We took the kids to the Museum of Nature and Science, and there were so many beautiful old homes on Colorado Boulevard.  It reminded me of a book I read by native Denver author Sandra Dallas.  The book titled Colorado Homes, had so many beautiful photos of historic homes in Colorado.  Sadly, some of them are no longer in existence.  Being in such a beautiful city among these great old buildings made me wonder what it was like back in the day.  So I did some research, and found some terribly interesting facts about the capital of our great state. 

 In the summer of 1858, a small group of prospectors from Georgia found gold at the base of the Rocky Mountains, which caused people from all over to come to Colorado.  This was during the Homestead Act, so people could just lay claim to land.  General Larimer claimed a lot of land, layed out a city, and named it Denver City.  A year later Denver City was almost deserted when gold was found in the mountain town of Central city.  However, people came back when they realized how horrid the winter weather was. 

The Colorado Territory was created on February 28, 1861, and then in 1865, Denver City became the Territorial Capital. The name was then shortened to Denver. On August 1, 1876, Denver became the State Capital when Colorado was admitted to the Union.

 The capital had some hard times in the mid 1800’s.  In 1863,  almost all of Denver’s business district was burned in a huge fire.  Then, a year later, there was a huge flash flood  which killed twenty people and damaged the city horribly.  There was a food shortage after that due to the cutoff of supply lines due to the Indian war.  Between 1880-1895 the city experienced a huge rise in city corruption, as crime bosses, like Jefferson Randolph “Soapy” Smith who worked  with both elected officials and the police to control the elections, gambling, and the bunko gangs.

However, these people who came out to Colorado were strong and determined.  They raised $300,000 to build a railroad which met the Union Pacific in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  Silver was discovered, and that lead to Denver being a big deal.  Religious leaders formed the precursor to United Way in 1887 to help the poor.  I’m so grateful to these people for making Denver what it is, and I don’t envy their hard lives in the least.  Although, I can dream of spending a day in old time Denver.  If you know any other fun facts about Denver, please write them in the comments.  I would love to know more about this magical city.

A Date With Our New Car

I'm bringing home a special someone on Saturday.  It is our family's new car.  Technically, it is my hubby's, as he traded in his old truck, but I am already head over heels in lust with it.  I even picked out an outfit to wear home in it.  I'm so excited for the size, and how many groceries, plants, ect. I can bring home in it on weekends when I go shopping.  Out here in the sticks, my usual grocery store is 20 some miles away, so I purchase large amounts when I head into town.  Also, with this new mom style car, I  feel like my grown up transformation is complete.  Perhaps I should now get the official mom haircut and highlights.  Just kidding, I am too much of a penny pincher.  Anyways, it is gold, so it should match the outfit I chose, which is pictured below in a dramitization from Polyvore.  Tell me about when you first felt like an official adult in the comments section.  Once again, if you have troubles, it is always easy to post as anonymous.  I love to hear from you!

Heebie Jeebies

This is a horrible surprise I hope none of you find.  Yesterday, when I grabbed a bowl out of the cupboard, there was a huge brown spider in it.  Now, every time I grab a dish, I have the heeby jeebies.  I hope the spider doesn't have any relatives left in the cupboard.  Who knows what dishes it touched.  What if you were to reach your hand into the cupboard, and one came down all sinister on its web?  Although the horrible surprise with the spider totally gave me the heebie jeebies, I would like to know if you have any gross spider stories.  Please comment (if you use anonymous it is extra easy) with your gross spider stories.

Spring Fever

The Spring Fever has taken hold.  I have my little “nursery” of baby plants I started indoors a couple weeks ago.  It was a little later than usual, but they should still be mature in time.  I have been scouring the Burpee and Gurney’s catalogs as well as` my new favorite catalog,  David Austin Roses.  There are such beautiful roses.  In all these catalogs, I have a wish list  total of about $1000 or more.  There are so many cool things, including royal purple potatoes, multicolored carrots, flowering trees, mini greenhouses, rain barrels, compost containers, raised beds, ect.  My ambition is always so big at the beginning of the season.  Then, I go on one out of town summer trip, and come back to weeds and kind of let things slip. This year, however, the weeds will not win.  I hope to give my garden tender, loving care all summer .

  So far, there are baby tomatoes and peppers in a rainbow of colors, herbs of all kinds, and some pretty Dahlia’s and Impatiens.  They are all growing adorably in my little indoor mini greenhouses.  I have seeds out the wazoo that can be planted directly outdoors as well.  There are several kinds of lettuces as well as fruits and veggies.  Hopefully, there will be room for everything.  The new life in the spring gives me little goose bumps of excitement.   The colorful spring flowers have provided the perfect appetizer for what I hope to be my garden’s best year.      

I am always jealous of “green thumbs” and wish my thumb were greener, but, as it stands, I believe a “green thumb” is developed over time, with experience and studying plants.  So, when I am an old lady,  I hope to have a fully-developed green thumb.  I want one of those cute English gardens with flowers everywhere the eye can look.  I want my fruits and veggies to always be plentiful, so anyone can walk out and have a taste straight off the plant.  That isn’t too lofty a goal, right?

Famous Coleslaw

I sometimes dream of coleslaw.  There are certain resturaunt recipes that make you crave them.  KFC Coleslaw does that to me.  It is one of four recipes that does that to me (P.F. Chang’s lettuce wraps, Girl Scout Samoas, and Olive Garden salad are the other three) .  Summertime is a perfect time for coleslaw, and since it is just around the corner, there are plenty of warm days for a picnic.   I know I am not the only person who loves KFC Coleslaw.  So here is a delicious coleslaw recipe, that almost rivals, if it does not surpass KFC’s coleslaw.  Enjoy!

½ cup Mayo

1/3 cup Sugar

¼ cup Milk

¼  cup Buttermilk

2 tbsp Lemon juice

2 tbsp Vinegar

Dash of Salt and pepper

8 cups finely shredded Cabbage

¼ cup diced Carrot

2-1/2 tbsp minced Onion

Cut cabbage, carrot and onion into tiny pieces, and mix together.  Mix rest of ingredients in bowl with whisk, then add to cabbage mix.  Mix well and refrigerate overnight.  So yummy!