chef

happy mother’s day

Oh boy, I don’t know how that husband of mine puts up with me! I was a bit of a mess this Mother’s Day. My studios were slammed and I was getting work messages through out the day. Not to mention,one of my employees sent me a text after closing the night before QUITTING. A text at 9:30 pm on a Saturday night. Absolutely no notice and she wasn’t showing up the next day — one of our busiest days of the year. You gotta love the work ethic of some folks (insert high levels of sarcasm). I like to think that I’m a fair and reasonable boss. I work around schedules and do my best to accommodate.  I guess some people will just take advantage and for that they just suck.  I don’t really take offense but I have zero patience when people are jerks and mess with the time I get to spend with my family. 
I did manage to turn my attitude around. Life’s too short to waste it being grouchy!
B and the girls surprised me with homemade scarves and air pods. I never would have purchased those airpods for myself and I’m really excited to listen to my books with them. How cool am I? Yep, I listen to books any opportunity I get. I know, pretty hip and happenin’. 
We had lunch at The Pig and The Sprout. It’s one of our family favorites but it was a little off today…or maybe it was my attitude. Ha! It was a gorgeous day and the walk to the ballpark was lovely. The streets were packed with people. Everyone was out for the ballgame, Nuggets game, and celebrating moms. It was a great day to be out and about in the city. 
It was a bright sunny day at the stadium and our seats had no shade. We ended up standing behind the bullpens most of the game and had a blast!! The Rockies got a big win while sadly the Nuggets lost and are done for the season. 
The girls went to the gift shop and bought this for me. 🙂 
My awesome crew!
Taking a stroll through the milk market after the game. 
We stopped and checked it out. It is essentially a food court with beer and wine. It was slammed after the game, but I think it would be more enjoyable without the big crowd. 
The girls got ahold of my phone and took some lovely photos of each other. 
Thanks for an amazing Mother’s Day. I’m one lucky momma!

happy 50th mr lansing

I had an event at work this morning for Dads to paint Mother’s Day gifts with their kiddos. It was a pretty big hit and I needed to run down to Aurora to help out a bit. Gwyneth finished Harry Potter #6 yesterday and is eager to read #7 before the end of the month. If she can finish the last book, #7, (which I have no doubt she will) she will have read the entire series over the course of just one school year. Pretty darn impressive! She decided to ride around with me today to the studios and we started #7 in the car. We are already 3 hours into the final book — only about 18 more hours to go! 
We arrived home in time for lunch at La Fogata. It’s our absolute favorite Mexican restaurant near home and never disappoints. Happy Cinco De Mayo!
Gwyneth and I sat on the patio and enjoyed a little sunshine, more Harry Potter, and painted her fingernails. I tell ya, that’s a pretty great afternoon in my book. 
We grabbed the gifts straight from my kilns and headed down to the Tyler’s. Wyatt and Rhys celebrated their confirmation today: 
And Mr Lance is turning the big 5-oh!! I made him this Bronco mug and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. 
We hopped on down to the Tyler’s house for the fiesta. 
Sheila outdid herself! Everything was decorated and so festive. What a bash!
The girls found Steph’s little guy and couldn’t get enough. They sure do love babies. 
Happy, happy birthday to Mr Lansing!
I found these quirky little hooks while at IKEA last week. I had no idea what I needed them for but I thought they were too cute to pass up. I have found them all over the house. I may not have found a place for them yet, but they are keeping the kids entertained. 

After the Tyler’s party we weren’t quite ready to call it a night. It was a beautiful Colorado night – definitely perfect for smores.

cats

Many years ago I went to see CATS with my dearest friend, Diane. We both hated it. I tell the story often about how much I hated that show. My girls love to hear that story. 
First and foremost, I’m not a cat person. I guess that’s pretty important when attending a show about…well, cats. 
CATS was included in the DPAC season subscription and for some reason I really thought my family should experience this. I don’t dislike many shows but CATS (and Les Mis…in case you were curious) is practically painful. Why I felt the need to inflict this on my family…I’m not sure. I guess I have a really weird sense of humor and it tickled me. 
We had dinner at Oceanaire before the show and let me tell ya, that was the highlight of the night. 
Gwyneth is our seafood junkie. She gave oysters a try tonight and decided they are amazing. Yessss! Her tastebuds and willingness to try new foods are astonishing. 
Annabelle and her Cesar salad. The girl has an obsession and could have Cesar salad for every meal…yes, probably breakfast too! She truly loves salads and can point you to all the best in Colorado. 
Oysters, shrimp and crab. Gwyneth is quite an expensive date! That college meal plan is going to be a real surprise for her. I’m not sure we’re doing a very good job of her preparing her college life but she sure is fun to go out to eat with now.  
And then off  to the show we went…
I have to admit it wasn’t quite as bad as I remembered. Diane may be a bad infuence on me (which of course is why I absolutely adore her!). There were some memorable songs, but overall it still falls at the top of my “Thumbs Down Theater List”. (I don’t really have a list like that but I’m kinda feeling inspired to create it…)

At intermission I asked what everyone thought of it. Gwyneth replied “well, it would sure be a lot better with dogs!”. 
B fell asleep half way through the second act. 
Annabelle’s favorite part was the Cesar salad at dinner. Ha!
Even though the show was a bit of a bust we all laughed so hard together. It was a night we will never forget. 

happy easter

It has been years since we woke up on Easter morning at our own home. We’ve had a tradition of going to a hotel to swim. The girls wanted to attend a swimming party with friends last night so we switched up the plans and stayed home for the night. I sure do love a tradition, but it was nice to see these girls so happy and to sleep in our own beds. 
After going through Easter baskets and finding eggs at home we met up with Meyers for brunch. We met downtown at The Pig and Sprout which is one of our family favorites. 
These kids sure are growing up fast. 
The girls didn’t have school on Monday so we spent the night at Great Wolf Lodge. By the time we arrived most of the crowd was heading home. It was a pretty quiet night and we had the place mostly to ourselves. 
My fabulously, goofy girls
I booked the hotel through Hotels.com instead of through the Great Wolf Lodge website. We got a better deal, but the view was a little less than desirable.  At least we had a patio to enjoy all this beauty… HA!

rockies game

It was a beautiful night for a baseball game! 

April weather in Colorado can be a bit manic. Lucky for us tonight was gorgeous. It was the perfect night to sit outside and watch a game. This was our first Rockies game of the season and it didn’t disappoint. We had incredible seats and enjoyed dinner on the club level patio overlooking Blake Street.

B introduced Gwyneth to scorecards and they busied themselves keeping up with each play. How cute are they?

We sure seem to get our money out of our tickets lately. The games we attend go in to overtime/extra innngs! Tonight the Rockies won it in the 12th with a homerun by Blackmon.

avalanche playoffs

We jumped at the chance to attend an Avalanche playoff game. It was a first for the girls and me. The only seats available by the time we got around to buying ours were WAAAAY up in the rafters. We didn’t care though – we were just happy to be there for the action!

It wasn’t looking good for the Avs. The flames had them outscored until the final period. The Avs managed to tie it up and then win in overtime. The stadium went wild. The noise was unbelievable. It was so fun to be part of the excitement.

I’m so glad our gals didn’t have school the next day because we didn’t roll in until midnight! It was well worth the late night. What a game!

disenchanted

The girls stayed with a sitter this afternoon so B and I could go to show. I went to see Disenchanted with friends a few years ago and thought it was so funny. When I saw it was coming back I had to take B. The girls were envious but this show is not at all kid-friendly.

We had a great afternoon and enjoyed the show…although I have to admit it wasn’t as funny as I remembered. I’m not sure if it’s because it lost the surprise factor or because I was with a bunch of moms the last time who could probably relate a little more to vulgar princesses. It’s never a complaint when you get an afternoon away though!

avs vs coyotes

Our week was jam-packed and we were thrilled when Friday finally rolled around and we could have a little fun together. We got some last minute tickets to the Avalanche game and oh boy, that was a blast! The Avs tied up the game in the last few minutes and won it in a shoot out. It was awesome! The crowd was so loud and we had a blast cheering for our home team.

That Annabelle is going through an anti-picture phase. I told her I don’t care if she smiles or not, I’m still taking picture of her and I’m still going to post them on here. She gives me some very silly faces and honestly, they crack me up and I love it. (I’m fairly certain she is just trying to get my goat by being sassy in pictures, so it will be sad for her when she realizes that I actually like it… ha!)

gala

The girls’ school hosted a scholarship gala and we were pleased to donate to the event. B provided the food and we both provided items for the silent auction. I’m not much of a gala kind of gal but I sure do love their school. Annabelle is a student ambassador and along with her friends she helped serve the meal while Gwyneth and her friends played their violins. It was a fabulous night and all the better because we could all be together to support this wonderful school. 
I didn’t take any pictures, but managed to snag a few from the school’s website. 

pixar in concert

We finally tried out The Med in Boulder for dinner this evening. Oh my goodness, how could we have waited so long??? It was so, so good. Annabelle enjoyed her signature Cesar salad, Gwyneth got pasta, and B and I shared tapas. We are already planning our next visit – it was that good. 
We headed to the Boulder Philharmonic to see Pixar in Concert. It was a great show! We all really enjoyed ourselves and had such a wonderful evening together. I love when our little family goes out for these little adventures. We make such beautiful memories.