Our Favorite Holiday's Month Is Here!

Make October AWESOME!

 

I started out with a delicious piece of toast slathered with Trader Joe's Pumpkin Butter I picked up just yesterday!   Mmmmmm!!

 

Chris and I are mulling over attending the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema's Mile High Horror Film Festival.  The Alamo offers full-service, meaning you do not have to leave your seat during the movie (unless, of course, what you need is a bathroom break!).  They serve meals & alcohol, along with pop and popcorn.  I cannot wait!  We are considering "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," the original, of course!  If not the horror festival, maybe a little "Hocus Pocus"!

 

We did a little Halloween decorating the other nite.  Mostly on the patio, but there are a few things I placed here & there inside.  It was also a great time to look through our costume & accessory totes.  I pulled out a couple things for my main costume.  If we attend more than one costume party (fingers crossed), then I will head back in there (and my regular closet) to put something together.  And I just might utilize my 30% discount at Halloween City to pick up a masquerade mask for the Exotica Erotica Ball.

 

I start my Express Kickboxing class today.  30 minutes, full-out, using 2 lb. dumbbells!  I hope we are all out of breath and full of sweat at the end! 

 

It is sunny & cool here.  A true Fall day!! 

 

I have enjoyed seeing the pumpkins and Halloween decorations around Denver as I travel to the gym and the grocery store.  Our kind of peeps!

 

This weekend, we are hoping to head into the mountains a bit to see the spectacular colors.  There has been snow this week in the High Country!  And more to come tonite!  However, the weekend is to be in the upper 70's and the sun should be brightly shining, so I am hopeful that the roads where we need to drive will be clear & dry.  I need to be up in the mountains; I need to see the fall foliage; I need to walk among the decaying leaves, with their particular smell that is indicative of autumn and the end of the harvest.

 

I bought a sweet potato soup mix at World Market last week and a box of pumpkin cornbread croutons at Trader Joe's, which we might enjoy this weekend!  I'll bump up the nutritional value of the soup by adding some chunks of baked chicken breasts.  Doesn't that sound like how fall should taste??!!

 

In addition to pumpkin butter, I snagged a Balsamic & Fig Butter at Sprouts.  That should be scrumptious on biscuits!!  Maybe even a ginger snap or gingerbread cookie!!!

 

Merry October 1st!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Our First Weekend as Denver-ites

The BIG move happened on Friday.  I will spare you the details and just say that pretty much everything resides in the Denver apartment....and we had to wait over 2 hours for the moving truck to get a jump, which took about 2 minutes!

 

Anyway...on to the good stuff!

 

We woke up Saturday morning and stretched our legs by walking two blocks south to Colfax for our first breakfast as residents.  The Denver Biscuit Company did not disappoint!  We enjoyed patio seating and self-serve coffee while waiting very briefly for our respective menu choices to arrive.  Chris got biscuits & gravy (of course) with an egg.  He was able to get a combo of the sausage gravy and the mushroom.  I am not a big fan of b&g, but I still had to taste it and it was darn delish!  I ordered the Dahlia with my biscuits French-toast style!  Uh-huh, I did!  The Dahlia has a mildly spicy sausage patty, an over easy egg and apple butter.  I got my syrup on the side and barely dunked.  All of the flavors work so harmoniously together and the portion sizes are perfect.

 

Following a quick stop at the apartment, we headed west for a leisurely walk.  A leisurely walk which took us all the way to Civic Center Park, at the east end of LoDo and 16th Street Mall.  On the return trip, we stopped at one of my favorite shops, Peppermint, where we chatted with the owner, Chris, while picking out some jewelry: "Happy Camper" bracelet for me and a necklace for Chris.  We have dubbed them our "Welcome to Living in Denver" souvenirs!

 

The afternoon was spent unpacking and beginning to make the place our own.  However, the internet transfer which was to have happened on Friday didn't, nor was it working Saturday, so we headed out that evening to relax and get connected at Tattered Cover on Colfax.  (Thanx for the coffee, Mom!!)  About 8P we realized it was after dark and the girls were probably still a bit freaked out, so we started back home via Colfax.  It was nice not having the 45-minute (or more) drive back to Longmont after enjoying Denver.  It was also pretty cool to just pop into a Greek bakery on the way and grab a couple pastries for home!!!

 

Sunday morning, we got out early to walk City Park, which is where the Denver Zoo is located.  We could hear animals as we walked around the outside of the exhibits.  Most likely, we will get a membership so that when the mood strikes, we can simply walk across the street and visit with the lions & tigers & bears!  We also wanted to see if there is a running path all the way around the Park; tho, we have yet to determine just how many miles it ends up to be.

 

Coinciding with our move, the USA Pro Cycling Challenge came through Denver right into City Park!  We actually watched from our front windows!!!  That's pretty cool, right?

 

And I know that we are true city folk b/c we grabbed our reusable shopping bags and walked the 2 blocks south and 5 blocks east to our local Sprouts grocery store!  One: to get the exercise and Two: to avoid losing our street parking spots!!!  We will be true Coloradans when we buy our first bikes!  Cruiser or mountain, it all depends on the price, but we will have them nonetheless!

 

Mondays are new beginnings (or getting back to your usual after a short "break") and I put on my workout clothes and running shoes to hit the "track" around the lake at City Park, where I put in 4-miles.  I needed the cardio burn & push.  I plan to run the whole perimeter of City Park soon, plus I am going to add pushups, tricep dips, chin-ups & some abs at the little playground in between laps!  I need to create my own workouts and I will be utilizing my at-home tools, running and the playground!!  Can't let my hard work at Fit Chick Express fall to the wayside and I have my fitness instructor image to maintain! 

 

One final tidbit, I got a call last week for a job at Halloween City!  The district manager really wanted to meet with me that day or the next (Friday...moving day), but I couldn't swing it.  He was super understanding, having moved Halloween week himself last year, so I will meet with him & the manager this Thursday morning.  I suspect I am being considered for an assistant management role and that would be awesome as management is something lacking on my resume! 

 

Just dipping my toes in lots of waters since leaving Indiana!  It's exhilarating, eye-opening and a wee-bit scary...but I am going to enjoy this ride!

 



Chocolate Cupcake Muffins

Yeah...they taste as good as they sound!!!

 

I used this recipe from Sprouts Farmers Market, but made a couple changes.  Of course!!!

 

I subbed Greek yogurt for sour cream and added a generous amount of cinnamon. 

 

These are so decadent!  But I can feel kind of good about eating them (like 2 per sitting!!!) since they have Greek yogurt protein.  Right?  Right!?!

 

Next time, I am going to use my unsweetened applesauce in place of butter and I would like to use less than the 1 cup sugar.  I believe the applesauce will add a hint of sweetness, so half a cup of sugar should suffice. 

 

I'll let you know how further tweaking pans out!

Who's Your Daddy?

Well, this morning, it was Big Daddy Bagel in the New Prospect neighborhood of Longmont!

 

After noticing them off Highway 287 on our way home from Lafayette on Friday, and then reading about them in the Yellow Scene magazine I picked up in Lafayette, we just knew that part of our weekend would include a visit. 

 

We made a quick decision this morning, Sunday, to give them a try, so we could have bagels with our eggs and Sprouts chicken sausage.

 

New Prospect is one of our favorite subdivisions, here in Longmont.  It seems to be a planned community, with unique homes that are situated rather close together, along with commercial establishments.  From summer thru fall, there is a food truck night at the open air park.  This is exactly the type of residential area we would like to live...just not in Longmont!!  We plan to hit the food trucks this year.  We also plan to take many walks to enjoy the feel of the area. 

 

Back to Big Daddy Bagels ~

Cute & casual, sort of modern feel

15 types of bagels, along with cookies, muffins, huge cinnamon rolls and sandwiches

Coffee, soft drinks

Wifi

Day Old offerings

 

We got 4 bagels, 2 each, and coffees.  While Chris was making his coffee, he mentions the chocolate chip cookie on the Day Old rack.  Only 75¢ ~ we must have one!  I get back in line!  While Chris is getting the creamer refilled, I decide to check out the Day Old and elect to buy a dozen bagels for $3!!!!  Back to pay, I go!!!  Every once in a while, we like to have a selection of frozen bagels on hand.  I picked a winning bag: 2 each of the same 6 bagels!!!  We now each have an initialed bag of bagels in the freezer!

 

Big Daddy Bagel, and New Prospect, are now at the top of my list for spending time during the week when I need to get out of the house, while Chris is at work.  I can park over there to walk around and to hang out online. 

 

The only downside: no egg bagel....

Fitness..Why Have You Forsaken Me?

I know it's ONLY been 3 weeks, but I haven't been exercising as much as I would like.  As much as I did back in Indiana, before the move.  I know, I know~ we have been busy and we are still in flux, adjusting. 

 

I have run outside, once.  It reinforced that I prefer to run inside on a treadmill.  But I did it and I am not completely against doing it again.

 

I did a small workout in our basement, once, which included about 15-20 minutes of shadow boxing.  It felt awesome to have my gloves back on!  While I didn't sweat as much as I did at LAB/UFC, it was so wonderful to perspire from exertion! 

 

I did the weight machines in the fitness area of our townhouse complex, once.

 

I did a quick warm-up style workout in the basement, once.

 

I have run on the treadmill in the fitness room...TWICE!  I ran 3 miles this morning and feel so energized! 

 

And lest I forget, we did a short hike at the gorgeous Red Rocks.  This place is amazing!  Human ingenuity using nature to carve out an outdoor amphitheatre and trails!  We cannot wait to see a concert here ~~ so many big names have played this venue.  U2 started the revolution, as a matter of fact, in the early 1980's. 

 

I guess my fitness hasn't completely been lost and I guess I just have to figure out how to put exercise into each day, no matter how intense, so that my mind stays clear and my body, healthy. 

 

We have access to fresh produce (love our new supermarkets Sprouts and Lucky's) and have been eating healthy! I even bought rolled oats, raw almonds, roasted almonds, dried cranberries and long grain rice directly from bulk bins!  We try to take snacks with us when we head out to save money and eat well!!  I started a snack bag, too, so it is handy.