10 Reasons To Be Glad It’s Spring

Did you know yesterday was the first day of spring?

I did and if I had been planning ahead, I would have posted this yesterday.  Planning ahead instead of say, Googling chronic tiredness and then trying to convince everyone that I have a rare condition where I dream too much and all the energy my brain is using to create such vivid dreams is making me tired instead of allowing sleep to be restorative.  Oh dear, I’ve said too much.

Anyways.  It’s now spring!  And I don’t know if it was my trip to the sunny and eternally summer-like state of Arizona or the two days of 70 degree weather we had a couple of weeks ago, but I am ready for spring and here’s 10 reasons why.

1. The return of hiking season.

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My sister and I were just lamenting about the fact that last St. Patrick’s Day we were out on a hike in Boulder.  This year, it’s a week past St. Patrick’s Day and there’s snow in the forecast.  I’m ready to feel the pain and exhaustion of a good hike, which always feels like I’ve never exercised in my life.  I want that feeling.

2. Baseball!

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Rockies Opening Day is so soon.  They put out their new commercials yesterday and they just made me want to be friends with the whole team.  Fingers crossed for a better season than last year.

3. Spring birthdays.

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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  I love other peoples’ birthdays!  All the celebrating but none of the center of attention-ness.

4. Fresh spring flavors and meals.

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And by that I specifically mean tacos.  Oh so many tacos.  But also fresh asparagus, light salads and sweet fruit.  Warm hearty comfort foods make winter taste oh so delicious, but I’m so ready for something a little brighter.

5. Trips to the Farmers’ Market.

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And all the expensive produce that I am suddenly convinced I need when I am there.  In similar but not-exactly-related news, I really want to sign up for a spring/summer/early autumn CSA this year!  I spent some time yesterday doing some farm research and have a few picked out that I need to debate over and then that part where I convince Joey to shell out a big lump sum for vegetables.

6. Spring blossoms.

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Apart from turning leaves, is there anything more breathtaking than freshly blossoming trees?  Not to mention that sweet delicious smell they produce.  The white ones are beautiful but the pinkish purple ones?  My favorite!

7. Easter.

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And all the brunching, family bonding and Easter egg hunting that comes with it.

8. The arrival of the Bolder Boulder. 

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Actually I am terrified for “America’s Best 10K” because I feel I might die every time I’m done running 3 miles, which is in fact only half the distance of a 10K.  Thank goodness it’s a race where walking, keg-standing and slip-n-sliding is highly encouraged.

9. Our family trip to Vegas. 

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This is not a picture of Vegas.  This is a picture of alcohol, which we will consume in Vegas.  And my sister will finally be able to do this legally.  Because she’s turning 21 in April.  Yay!

10. It’s not winter! 

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And I will celebrate any season that isn’t winter.

Happy 2nd Day of Spring!

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What part of spring are you most excited about?

What’s your favorite spring meal?

Have you ever self-diagnosed yourself with a rare condition after doing too much Googling?  Still just me on that one?

Weekend Things & 5 Movies I Haven’t Seen

Hello and happy Sunday!

I hope yours is off to a good start.  I woke up early and already tackled pancakes, an outdoor run and 4 episodes of Parenthood.  Why is it that I complain about being tired all week and then the weekend comes I suddenly can’t sleep in to save my life?  C’est la vie.

As for the rest of this weekend, it was low key but satisfying.  I decided to start it a day early by going to happy hour at the Med with Hannah on Thursday evening.

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We basically ate a bunch of delicious food (hello, bacon-wrapped dates!), drank sangria and talked about all the fun we’re going to have on our Vegas trip.  We’re SO excited!

Friday night was spent at trivia, where Joey and I finished the first round with a perfect score and somehow had zero points by the end of the night.  Zero.  

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I guess our team name turned out to be true.  Who knows the exact year John Candy died anyways?!

On Saturday, I woke up early again (go figure), and spent the rest of the day reading, getting a much needed massage, getting my workout on and bypassing everyone who was waiting the full 50-60 minutes for a dinner table, by snagging two seats at the pizza bar when we headed out to dinner.

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We sat in front of the kitchen and got to see all the craziness that goes on on a busy night.  I watched a guy bend beneath the counter and stuff an entire plate of food in his mouth in about 30 seconds, then turn around and go back to work.  Is that allowed?!

Then we came home and watched a movie.

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Joey’s brother just moved and decided he didn’t want to deal with transporting his very extensive movie collection, so he took his favorites and offered the rest up to us.  Joey narrowed it down to about 100 movies last night and I’m “not allowed to saying anything, because it’s only the first cut,” so instead we just looked through them to decide what to watch that night.

Turns out there are a few “classics” I hadn’t seen in that pile.  Movies that I know are good, I know other people like and that I’ve always meant to watch, but just haven’t yet.  Movies like…

1. Saving Private Ryan

It’s not that I’m a huge war movie watcher or that I even know what the story is, but I find history really fascinating and I’ve heard that this movie is such a realistic depiction of WWII that I feel I need to see it.  Plus.  Tom Hanks.  Nuff said.

2. The Godfather

I was watching another Tom Hanks movie last weekend and he kept quoting The Godfather (name that movie!!) and I found myself wondering why I’d never seen it.  I feel like there’s so many Godfather references in other movies/shows that I should see the original source of all those references.  But then again, it just seems so boring…

3. V for Vendetta

What is this movie even about??  I think I’ve seen bits and pieces and have just thought “what is going on?!”  I must have missed out on the period in high school when everyone was into this movie.  I was probably watching more enlightening things like Anchorman.  Don’t judge me. 

4. The Indiana Jones Series

But I’ve ridden the Disneyland ride enough times to feel like I’ve seen them all.  And actually, I’ve seen the most recent one, but there were aliens so I don’t know if that movie actually counts.  It might be nice to see the others though.  How many are there again?

5. Almost Famous

But wait, this is what we ended up watching last night, so I can cross it off my list!  And why had I never seen this?  I thought it was great.  The soundtrack was awesome (how could a movie about music not be?) and I didn’t even hate Kate Hudson, even though she always looks perfect and goes by the name Penny Lane.  Plus, Rain Wilson, Jimmy Fallon and Zooey Deschanel?  If I had known, I would have seen it sooner.  Oh, and the scene where they think their plane is about to go down?  Brilliant!  

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What “classic” or popular movies haven’t you seen?

What year did John Candy die?

Do you or have you ever worked at a busy restaurant?