I can’t say this weekend was one for the books, or this blog. And be forewarned, if you aren’t into complaints, you should skip to the second paragraph, because I had a string of bad luck. I won’t go into detail but it includes Winston the pup, and Monte, my car. And with Jevan now living in Oregon and me without a car or a husband, I was a little overwhelmed. Add in house showing (and not selling) madness, ridiculous comments like, baby grand won’t fit, um duh, and I just wanted to crawl in a hole. So Saturday night, Winston and I sat on the sofa, and I ate coconut ice cream with blueberries and watched 4 hours of DVR’ed Gossip Girl and felt sorry for myself. Pitiful, I know and yes, dramatic too now that I look back on the chain of events.

So Sunday I started over. I went to yoga, came home and made bacon. Bacon cures everything, right? And Alice Q has taught me how to perfect my bacon cooking. Thanks Alice! Then I rode my bike with Winston (you can’t keep us locked up for long) to my friend Cody’s house for a BBQ where I was able to show off the first tomatoes from my garden. Soon after, we took the party to City Park Jazz. A perfect way to end a weekend.

Despite the drama, the weekend ended well and I also had time to update my portfolio. It’s still a work in progress, but a start. If you are interested, you can click on the links to the top right under Projects to see some of my work. I’m trying to add more photos for each project but I’m not as savvy as a lot of you. So if anyone knows WordPress and is familiar with adding pages, I would love a couple of tips. Essentially, I want to click on an image within each category and go to a new page where thumbnails of additional project photos are available. Drop me a line if you have some tips. casey@thekidcollective.com

And, since the house selling isn’t going exactly as planned, I’ve put the house up for rent. If you know of anyone interested in a 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath, 1908 Denver Square near City Park, email me. I know just the place. casey@thekidcollective.com

Photos: Alice Q. Foodie

Wells finishing the Leadville 50.

Averie Grace – 2 weeks

The weekend was pretty spectacular despite the heat. While I can’t legitimately complain because Colorado’s temperatures never compare to the heat and the humidity in the South, I think it’s all in what you are accustomed too. And let me tell you, I’m not comfortable with this heat. Let me rephrase. I’m not good in the heat. It drains me and has a tendency to make me slow and, dare I say crabby? So to beat the heat, I tried to keep myself entertained in the shade and out of the city as much as possible. Friday night, I feasted on Mexican and giant margs with a bunch of girlfriends and then moved to the Forest Room 5 for iced beverages on their patio.

Saturday AM I headed up to Leadville (2 mile high city) with my girlfriend Karlin and our pups, Winston and Max. We tried our best to be the sag wagon for Wells, Kar’s husband, during his grueling 50 mile mountain bike race in Leadville. Yes, you heard that right, 50 miles on a mountain bike. Wells did stellar and finished quicker than his previous times, Karlin packed a fun little picnic for us and I escaped 98 degree heat in the city. Plus we got to stare at guys, and girls, in impeccable shape. Now that’s inspiring. It was a win win kind of day.

Sunday morning, I joined my girlfriend Jenna for a hike. I don’t know about you, but I’m not much of a hiker. I get bored and would rather just go for a run to get some exercise. With that in mind, Jenna convinced me to hike Chautauqua with her. She said it’s fast, shady and an intense workout. She was right, it was a one hour climb up stone steps to the top and then back down again. I won’t lie, I’m a little stiff this morning.

After the hike, I stopped by to meet the newest addition to the world, little Averie Grace. Check out that blond fuzzy hair. So cute. Last night ended with a BBQ over at Beau and Meggan’s place. BBQ was complete with Bacon Blue Cheese Sliders and Curry Turkey Sliders with Granny Smith apple chunks, sprouts, cream cheese and jalapeno jam and roasted potatoes. Yum. I made this Gingered Carrot Chilled Soup with Avocado and Karlin made a delish chopped salad. It was the perfect way to end a weekend.

It was a whirlwind trip but I’m back in Colorado. Portland was amazing, as always. Can the summers there get any better? Seriously? There was a BBQ at this amazing joint, meeting up with Colorado friends at Mt. Hood, World Cup watching and a bike ride that started in the morning and lasted until dark. Unfortunately I took all of 7 photos once I got to Portland. And as usual I’m doing a little catch up early this week but should be settled back into a routine in a day or two. How was your weekend? Was it blazing hot or cold and rainy? It seems like the weather has been a little off everywhere.

PS. If you’re liking these snapshots, you can always see more like this over on twitter. Just sayin’.

In my book, getting away is completely under rated. You don’t realize you need or even like getting away until you do it. Then you wonder why you don’t do it more often. Jevan and I try to get away as often as possible and often forget the best medicine is just a few hours drive from home.

For Memorial weekend Jevan and I along with 7 other friends and 5 dogs went to Crested Butte. We mountain biked, trail ran, hiked, ate, drank and stared at this view for three straight days. It was pretty incredible. What are you up to this weekend? Me? After being out of town for 3 straight weekends, we’re having a yard sale and painting a wall in the living room, maybe I’ll play some tennis too. It’s finally nice around here.

Photos: the K.I.D Collective

Tonight we are heading to the Larimer Lounge to see Local Natives. Getting up early for my super secret mission tomorrow AM is going to be hard but totally worth it. I can’t wait to share. In the mean time, you can see some more Local Native business here. Or watch/listen below.

Photo: Local Natives

I don’t really know where to begin. I actually started and erased three times because whatever I typed wasn’t appropriately summing up this incredible weekend. Texas was incredible this past weekend, did I say that already? It deserves saying twice. There was BBQ, tacos, dancing into the wee hours on roof top patios, toasting, laughing, torrential downpours, and the best pool party I’ve been to in ages. It was topped off with a sunny and warm wedding day, a stunning bride and handsome groom. Congrats Jess and Cody, I wish you a lifetime of happiness.

Photos: the K.I.D Collective. You can see more photos over on my flickr page.

It’s not even 10PM and I feel like crawling in bed. I’m pooped. Meetings most of the day have me a little behind my regular schedule too. Sorry for that. We made it back from Portland and are still recovering from all the fun. You know, one of those weekends when you need a weekend to recover from your weekend? Or at least a slow Monday. And that didn’t happen.

Portland highlights in no particular order include lots of walking, one night at the Ace (see above), a night cap of Old Fashions and shared desserts at Clyde Common, a Cuban breakfast with the in-laws, dinner at the Maiden (have you been there? If not, ask Jared to make you a Trunk Monkey), a bottle of wine shared with Jenny at Cafe Nell (a seriously great happy hour and even friendlier service), empanadas, sangria and Blazers at Sam and Meghan’s and last but not least, a bet for all you can eat oyster shooters. Yes, I realize, a little disgusting to think about eating dozens of oyster shooters. I’m not much of a gambler but I am really competitive. Only I’m a tad gun shy after losing in my first ever game of credit card roulette a few weeks ago. So the all you can eat oyster shooters bet seemed reasonable. At least it wouldn’t leave me broke, because you really can’t eat more than 2 of those suckers. As luck would have it, I’m the winner of all you can eat oyster shooters. Yay for me, right?

After getting back in town Saturday evening we saw Yeasayer at the Bluebird, ate macaroni and cheese fries, took pictures in a photo booth, and drank out of festive mugs at Lost Lake Lounge. The weekend ended with Sunday Supper Club 3.0 over at Johnny and Paige’s place. The theme this month was deconstructed dinner. Or build it yourself. Either way, it was a success. Looking forward to 4.0.

Yeasayer: Ambling Alp
Listen here:

Paige making the pizza pie crust.

All the toppings.

Photos: the K.I.D Collective

What happens when a gal from Texas and a guy from Alaska decide to tie the knot? Their friends plan a backyard BBQ, Texas style of course, to celebrate the love between the two biggest states. Saturday night we put on our boots, our plaid and our cowboy hats to drink Lone Star and eat brisket into the wee hours of the night.

A party is incomplete without a pinata and yellow roses. In case you were wondering.

The BBQ master, another Texan. That’s 15 lbs of brisket and 2 beer can chickens. Look away veggies.

The brisket. Yes, that’s wonder bread in the background. Don’t judge.

Friday evening Jevan and I made Moules Provençale. This is going to be my new go to dish. Mussels are inexpensive and when paired with Jevan’s home made bread and a bottle of dry white wine I’m on cloud nine. We tried this recipe. Minus the celery and basil.

Photos: the K.I.D Collective

The best and probably most unusual Easter Basket arrived at the house yesterday. Instead of chocolates or decorated eggs, a box of Hass avocados from the In-laws arrived packaged up like Easter Eggs. Thank you, thank you, thank you! How cute and creative?

Jevan’s family lives on the west coast and each time we visit Southern California we end up leaving with a grocery bag stuffed full of avocados and juicing oranges. Strange, I realize, especially when navigating through airport security with an overflowing bag of perishables, but completely worth the effort. I can’t explain to you how much I would love to walk out the backdoor and pick an avocado or orange and immediately eat it. You don’t know what I would give for just one citrus tree. Sadly, that won’t happen here in Colorado. That’s why this little package was so perfect! I’m off to brunch so have yourself a wonderful Easter.

This weekend went down in the books my friends. Not only did I get in two end of March powder days (1 day with all girls – all snowy and gray and another day with all guys – not a cloud in the sky) Jevan and I also took a fun little hike with our pups (we dog-sat Riley this weekend) on the trails outside our friend’s, E&P’s, house, had the most delicious dinner at Karlin and Wells’ place and got in a little basketball watching, sorry Tennessee. I hope your weekend was filled with fun. I’ll try to get to some more design-y type things later today. Definitely tomorrow.