Santa Fe

For new years we joined my parents in Santa Fe. They we were coming back from a road trip to Vegas and we were wanting to get away for the weekend, so Santa Fe made perfect sense. Neither Ryan or I had been to Santa Fe, but there was one thing that has been drawing us down there for a few years and that is Bobcat Bite. The hamburger joint we have anticipated for a few years made the Kimball approved list.

Other than the good burger, Santa Fe has streets and streets of boutique shops, galleries, and adobe structures.  The smell there was so nice, I'm not sure exactly what type of wood it is, but there are a lot of wood burning fires filling the air with this wonderful sent of cedar/ Pinion?? I love the smell of pine and wood burning. We bought a couple of wood bundles to bring home with us to burn in our fire pit, I can't wait to burn them.

Mom and Dad and their long trailer. It was so funny listening to Dad tell stories of their RVing experiences so far. They were caught up in one too many conversation with people that have nothing better to do then talk your ear off, and everyone in the parks are willing to lend an extra hand. Dad said when they first pulled into one spot they had a handful of people jump on over to help them back it in, yelling from different direction, "keep it coming," "a little left," "a little right."  Mom and Dad are pretty excited for their adventures to come in the Cameo and mom already started a Cameo journal to document it all.

Lifelong Friends

An advantage to having a best friend's parents move 15 min from your house is that you get to see them more often!! Lindsay and Matt came up for the holidays, so we spent the day at their cabin, played around in the snow, and played games late into the night.  I am thankful for lifelong friends and being able to stay in touch when we live so far apart. xoxo

Terrarium Love

We recently celebrated our 4th year wedding anniversary. Ryan and I switch off every other year as to who plans the date. This year was my year. I had so much fun planning the activity, dinner, and gift. A little background on the theme for the night: Ryan and I also follow the "traditional" anniversary gift list. Fourth year is flower/ or fruit.  What to get a guy that is flower or fruit related? I struggled. And then the ideas started coming and it all came together. We visited the DenverBotanical Gardens for the activity for two reasons, one it is flower related, and two our reception was held at Red Butte Gardens.  Although it is not the same garden, it still felt sentimental.  For dinner we went to Beatrice and Woodsley. Wow, this place is magically romantic inside.  The tables are nestled in trunks of aspens, keeping right in line with my flower/ nature theme. For the gift, I gave him a Terrarium. I found the case at Crate and Barrel, and bought the succulents and cacti at our local nursery.  It was super easy to make and I just love the look on Ryan's face when he got it, he loved it! 

Mood Board: Office

I am bored with our office. I'm over it. I want "grown up" furniture. Most everything in there is from Ikea (because I have an Ikea budget) and it feels too Ikea-ish. After dinking around on my favorite furniture sites I came up with this mood board. Maybe someday when my husband lands that post-MBA job. :)

The break down:
Chair- Dwell Studio
Desk- Room and Board
Office Storage- Room and Board
Rug- West Elm
Chandelier- Urban Outfitters
Tubular Burst - Dwell Studio
Scratch Off Map- Urban Outfitters
Geometric Terrarium- Assembly New York
Clock- Design Within Reach

3 cities, 3 very different burgers

It is no secret that we like our food over here.  We are always trying to find the best of the best, burgers included. Over the holidays we tried three popular burger joints, one in California, New Mexico, and Colorado. To keep it simple I will narrow my criteria to three categories; bun, patty, and spread.


The Squeeze Inn, known for their cheese burger.
Bun- Way too dense, I took the bottom bun off and flipped it over to eat.
Patty- Good size, meat flavor was mediocre. Reminiscent of a freezer patty.
Spread- meh.
Stamp of approval- No, with multiple In-n-Outs in close proximity this burger doesn't even come close to as good.



Bobcat Bite, known for their green chili burger.
Bun- The bun was nice, lightly toasted, you have to eat this one fast because the bun got really soggy after soaking up all the meat juice.
Patty- Was HUGE. They grind their own beef here, and cooked it perfectly.
Spread- Being known for their green chili, I would say that was the worst part of this burger, they tasted straight out of the diced Hatch green chili can. Under impressed.
Stamp of approval- Yes, if you are in Santa Fe, this Burger is worth the wait. With only 6 tables or so you will definitely be waiting.


(I forgot to snap a photo of this one, via)

Drifter's, known for tasting like In-n-Out.
Bun- Toasted nicely, not to dense, just the right amount of bun here.
Patty- The meat quality was lacking, much like In-n-Out the patty was thin, which I don't mind. It just didn't taste very fresh.
Spread- The sauce didn't quite make the mark, a little too sour.
Stamp of approval- It was OK, nothing special, probably wont be back. Typical of a copy cat, leaves you wishing for the real thing.

Bid you adieu 2011

Not knowing what was instore for the upcoming year we celebrated downtown while the fireworks popped off at the stroke of midnight, little did we know 2011 would be so good to us. Here is a look back at 2011:

First picture of 2011

• Ryan hit the last stop before 30, and we celebrated his 29th birthday at Capital Grill.
• We gained not one, but two new additions to our extended family.
• We joined some good friends in Winter Park for a getaway ski trip. 

• We went on an incredible ten day trip to Spain 1,2,3, 4,5, 6, 7, 8,9,10
• We spent Memorial Day weekend in California, and visited the beautiful Yosemite Park. 

• Many summer days were spent on the lake and summer nights around the fire pit.
• We spent a couple nights in Vegas and continued on down to Lake Havasu/ River for family vacation.

• Went white water rafting for the first time.
• Visited my little sister to help her decorate her house.
• Traveled to Utah for a family reunion.

• Celebrated my birthday in LA and saw the exhibit of one of our favorite artist. 
• Ryan and I competed in the Bear Lake Brawl Triathlon. Ryan did his first ever 1/2 Iron Man, and I did my first Olympic length Tri. 
• Ryan was accepted to the Daniels School of Business at the University of Denver and has started on road to getting his MBA.

• Completed several projects around the house, mainly finishing the back yard.

• Enjoyed house guest from many different family members, here, here.
• Celebrated Christmas with the Kimballs.

• Rang in the new year in Santa Fe, New Mexico with the Meador's. We are so excited to see what is in store  for 2012.

Eat Seafood

Living in the land locked state that we do; it is a rare occurrence to find good fresh sea food.  Another one of our “must do’s” on the list while in California; eat seafood.  So we all boarded the ferry and took the 25 min ride across the bay to Sausalito, where we ate lunch at Scoma’s.   We had the perfect table right by the window; we could see the whole city stretch across the bay. For lunch we started with popcorn shrimp to share that was so delicious and fresh.  Ryan had a lobster sandwich and I had crab cakes.  After lunch we window shopped while making our way to ride the boat back to San Francisco. A perfect day in the city with family. 

Ferry Building Marketplace

When we fly home there is always a long list of “must do’s.” Top of the list: the Ferry Building.  The Ferry Building is filled with local artesian breads, cheeses, coffee, chocolate, meats, and anything imaginable that is guaranteed to taste delightful.  We walked around and filled our bags with all kinds of goodies to snack on the remainder of the week.  

I left my heart in San Francisco

We are home from Christmas with the Kimball's in California and celebrating the new year with the Meador's in Santa Fe. The holidays were wonderful and went by too quickly as usual, back to reality tomorrow.