waiting for magic...

Today was my first lazy Saturday in my new apartment. The first day I naturally woke up to a place that was just me and felt like home. Today has been amazing and it’s only just after noon.

I’ve been acquainting myself with my city. This morning I went to Sports Authority’s SNIAGRAB (BARGAINS) and managed to drop over $600 dollars (but I walked out of the store with skis, bindings, ski poles, snowboard pants (way cooler than ski pants), goggles, and a new pair of gloves). And I managed to do all this in only 45 minutes (I had to pay a meter). I am an amazing shopper. I had a little trouble getting to the store; read: I got lost. However, it was NOT my fault. I was driving to the store, following my online directions and there were a whole bunch of road closures because of a parade. Somehow, despite my best efforts, I managed to be in the restricted zone (a police officer had to kindly show me a way out and I was still lost). Fortunately, just before I moved to Denver, my mom bought me a map of the city. I pulled over and did a little scanning before I found where I was. But all ended up well and I got to shop in a relatively quiet store.

After getting excited for winter with my new purchases, I drove around in the beautiful sunshine (65 degrees out…wonderful!) until I arrived at Whole Foods, my new favorite store. This is a natural grocery store with lots of organic and vegan foods. I’ve been vegetarian for about a week and this weekend I’m going vegan (that’s the plan at any rate). I’ve actually had some really good meals in the past few days. For lunch I had a baby greens salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and organic whole wheat pasta with tomato basil sauce and vegan meatballs (it was definitely the best pasta I’ve ever made for myself) and the vegan meatballs were yummy! And, I’ve made a new discovery. Despite the many time Kate insisted that hummus was awesome, I wasn’t really compelled to try it (I think I tasted it on a sandwich or two). OMG. Hummus is delicious! And there are all kinds of tasty flavors (spicy ones for my picky palate). I highly recommend it on crackers, bagels, or even toast. One of the nice things about limiting yourself to what you can buy in the grocery store is realizing all the tasty foods that exist that I never noticed before. I’m sure I’ll try some stuff that I don’t like, but right now I’m feeling pretty good about it (and still excited about my decision!).

Posted by Dana at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments

Yes, I haven’t posted in a while. Don’t worry, I’ve properly punished myself (what more do you want, it’s 7 am on a Saturday and I’m posting). While it was difficult to post with my parent’s slow connection, it is even more difficult to post without Internet (I’d say nigh impossible, but some people are very resourceful).

Yesterday the cable guys came and now I have cable, high speed Internet (although I don’t currently have wireless, and I’m paying for high speed Internet, but it turns out that one of the girls in my building does not password protect her Internet, so I’m borrowing it until she does), and high speed phone (which I know I won’t use unless I need to call my cell phone because I’ve lost it but it was only $6 more…)

Okay, on to bigger and better (and (potentially) more interesting) things.

Job: Good. Although the pacing of the work makes it a little stressful, and I’m really just spending a lot of time working out the processes of things, I really like what I’m doing. I work with fun, amazing people (most of whom are married), I’m challenged by what I do, and I get to work with InDesign all the time (which is my favorite software program).

Social Life: Good. I was a little hesitant about going out for a while, but I’ve been living in my new apartment for about a week now and it’s really starting to show; I’m happier and I have a lot more self-confidence. Plus my apartment is amazing. Amazing. Just you wait until I show you pictures.

This is a good weekend. Kate and Steph are visiting from Iowa and I couldn’t be happier. They got here last night and after a bit of high-pitched exclamations and group hugging we had dinner with my parents (BLTs with garden tomaters…mmmm). We left Kate’s car there and I drove them to my apartment. In good traffic, it’s a 20 minute drive. After some showering, we called a cab (so city!) and went out to the bars in the historical downtown district (literally 10 blocks from my house). We went to LoDo’s (sports bar, which was pretty empty considering the Rockies game was on, but it was a home game and the tickets are pretty inexpensive), walked to the Rio (makes the best margaritas around), and finally ended the night at the Wynkoop (a local brewery/bar). Steph didn’t feel well after just a couple drinks (although one of those was a Rio margarita) but I’m putting most of it down to the altitude. If you’re not used to it, it can really make you a cheep drunk (and you have to remember to hydrate).

Today we’re going to Whole Foods (a natural grocery) and my company picnic (I’ve promised only a couple hours of torture, but the people I work with are really cool and I don’t anticipate then hating it…but either way, I have to make an appearance). From 3-5 (read: 5:30) delivery people are coming by my apartment to deliver and put together my elliptical (yay! I figured this would be just as much as a gym membership and I could use it at all my weird Dana times without going anywhere). At 6:00 I’m having people over for a housewarming party (this is a mellow party, not really a whoo-hoo lets make a lot of noise party, because I do after all live in a house with 5 other girls). Tomorrow we’re going to Boulder to see the town and do a little hiking (Boulder is such a fun highlight on a Colorado trip).

In other news: I’ve decided to become a vegan. What? you say. Yes, that’s correct, you’re eyes are not deceiving you. I’m doing this for several reasons, but the biggest one is my health. I’m tired of the food I eat making me feel like crap. So I’m going to detox my body by eating only organic vegan (as much as possible) for at least two months. I haven’t started yet because I need a free weekend to figure out what food I need to buy so that I get enough nutrients every day (read: got to get some protein, iron, etc. most every day), but look for posts on this in a week or so. I’m not really doing it for political reasons, although that’s a minor part of it. I’m not going to give up all my leather. If I find a really yummy organic bread that has some animal product, I’m not going to torture my conscious that I ate it. This is really about eating foods that make me feel like I have control over what I eat, not my cravings controlling me (so, sadly, yes, I’m not going to eat cheese. I love it too much and I have a hard time controlling how much of it I eat). I’ve already given up caffeine (and let me tell you, the withdrawal was painful…I had a massive headache that got so bad I became nauseous) and most refined sugar (this is actually a harder thing to give up than you might think. I mean, yes it’s a difficult thing to do, but it’s even more difficult because it’s in everything. Do you know how many foods contain high fructose corn syrup (or any of it’s other nasty cousins)?) No more diet soda (sniff sniff. Whatever, aspartame is horrible for you).

I’ve already had A LOT of people tell me that this is something that they could never do, but you know, I’ve said that about a lot of things. This is something I can do because I finally have the right internal motivation, the kind that makes you stick with it. I haven’t had caffeine in two weeks and I feel so much better. It’s easier for me to get up in the morning, I don’t crash during the day, and when I get home I still have a lot of energy to work on things. My lethargy from before is disappearing. So, no matter how hard of a time you give me, I can take it. :)

Posted by Dana at 7:07 AM | Permalink | Comments