Change

This blog is going to become something new. I don't know exactly what that is yet, but it will be different. Focused. Intelligent. (Yes, that would be new.) Oh, and soon it will be on my Web site which is currently under construction, but coming along nicely. I'll be sure to let you know when it's finished so you can see it and let me know what you think. Yes, all four of you.

I'm currently working on a project with producer and stylist Molly Sinnett for 100 Ideas Under $100 magazine. I'm excited to see it come to life when shooting begins next week. The project is quick, easy ideas for a family/living room to change the look with each new season. We have some really fun ideas.

Check out my first feature in Denver Life magazine here.

Keep reading, you never know when something really exciting will show up here. Thanks.

The weather again?

I'm not sure why it is that I'm always commenting on the weather. I'm like a bad case of small talk. But I can't resist the urge to tell the world—all four of you—how giddy I am today. I. Love. This. Weather. We've accumulated more than 14 inches of snow! It's amazing and beautiful. Jeremy and I broke out the snowshoes this morning to get to the coffee shop. It's a good day. I feel like I haven't been having many of those lately, so this one is much welcomed. Hot cocoa, anyone?

Back In My Favorite Office

I'm enjoying a relaxing morning working in my "other" office—The Laughing Goat coffeehouse in Boulder. I've spent a couple of long days scouting, interviewing and meeting with clients.

Thursday I had a beautiful drive out to Copper Mountain to visit a new home development called Slopeside at Copper. It's a collection of 13 homes designed by a master of material melding, David Nassar. The homes consist of stunning finishes of gargantuan wooden beams, steelwork that is artwork in its own right, and hefty natural stonework throughout. It was a treat to meet David and his wife, Tracy, and tour the awe-inspiring retreats.

I had dinner with the publisher and editor of Denver Life magazine, Shawn and Kristin Miller. They have big plans for their publication, and our meeting was productive and inspiring. I am thrilled to be working with such a dynamic duo.

This afternoon I head home—happy to see my family again, but sad to leave my home. If that makes sense.

Thinking outloud.

Preface: The beginning of this post is just rambling. There is no point, and it doesn't make much sense. I'm just thinking.

Every writer knows the agonizing and sometimes terrifying process that goes into creating a body of work that doesn't suck. Sometimes that's all the higher I can set the bar. I want to strive for creative, witty perfection all of the time, but after so many beat-downs (self-inflicted), simply not sucking sounds pretty damn good. This is the struggle of a writer and we all know it.

Lately, however, I am struggling with another kind of block in my creative process. I process copy in my head while I am doing other things—like biking or driving—and then when I come up with something brilliant (har-har) it is lost because I can't remember it later when it's convenient to write it down. My friend Cindy comes up will all kinds of fabulous ideas (sometimes for books) while she is walking her dog, and she remembers them. She also has a strange knack for finding money. So even if she forgets her brilliant best seller idea, she'll still strike it rich with her found cash.

End of the rambling.

I'm having a Web site built finally. I'm pretty excited about it. I've seen a few of the logo concepts so far and they are looking really good. I can't wait to have a functional and attractive place for editors to see my work.

I'm getting ready to head to Colorado this week for more scouting, and to work on my first feature for Denver Life magazine. I'm pretty excited about that. It is a piece on owning a second home in a ski town. I'll be visiting the builder and designer of a new home in Copper Mountain. I'm sure it will be stunning, and I can't wait to see it. I'll post some photos when I return.

Here I go, crossing my fingers I don't hit a snow storm like they had last week!

Have I ever mentioned that I hate rain?

Well, my dear friend Kelly knows how much I hate it. Every time it rains I probably email her no less that 20 times to tell her how much I hate it. Well, today she gets a reprieve. Today I don't hate the rain. It's chilly and dreary, and my class was canceled today because the instructor got sick from getting a flu shot—don't even get me started on the flu shot. Anyway, I'm now cruising into four days of freedom. Not freedom in the sense that I have nothing to do and can read and nap all day. But freedom in the sense that I can focus—uninterrupted—on the work I need to do. And with weather like this, there's nothing to do but concentrate on work. That is like a vacation to me. Who needs sun and sand, right?

On loving the weather....

I feel a bit weird about wanting to leave Des Moines considering the beautiful weather we've been having. I spent the first half of the summer in Colorado and expected to come back to hideous heat, but it was mildly warm when I came back. Then I geared up for the inevitable heat that historically comes with the Iowa State Fair. It never came. I'm always surprised when it's not 95 degrees with 80-percent humidity.

Now we are experiencing an extended autumn. It's starting early, anyway. I hope it hangs around for awhile. I love the crisp morning air and the slowly scattering leaves. But like many others, this turn of seasons always makes my thoughts turn to the holidays. For the past few years my husband and I have been working really hard to get our kids to understand the concept of true gift-giving in the spirit of giving something from the heart because you've made it especially for the person, or because the item really spoke to you as something meaningful to the person it's intended for. Even more difficult than that, we've been trying to get grandparents and other family to cut back on their giving of "stuff" to our kids just for the sake of having lots of presents. We believe that experiences and time spent together are so much more worthwhile than toys and trinkets that ultimately end up at the back of the closet of stuffed between books on the bookshelf.

In that vein, my mother-in-law gave my kids the gift of a vacation with her to Florida to swim with dolphins. They were so happy to spend the time with her, and it will always be one of their most cherished memories. I couldn't be happier for them. As we continue our quest to live with less stuff and more experiences in our life, I hope we can keep up our end of the bargain by offering those we love the opportunities to experience more meaning in their lives. And as my thoughts turn to the holidays, I'm considering picking up a tradition I gave up a couple of years ago—hosting a large Christmas party for all of our family and friends. I think it will do our hearts some good to share the laughter and friendship we've been missing since I canceled the nine-year tradition. It's a huge undertaking, but I'm giving it some thought.

We'll see how this fabulous fall weather treats me.

Close Encounter

Of the bear kind.

So, after two whirlwind days of scouting, I peeled out of Denver around 4:30pm for Boulder. I was craving a good hike. What I got was WAY more than I bargained for.

Heading up the trail I was bewildered to learn that acclimation—or something resembling it that I had after five weeks here—is not something you get and then just pull it out whenever you need it. How quickly it goes away. I huffed and puffed, although I must say not as much as I did at the beginning of summer when I first hiked that trail.

So, as I lumped along I saw a couple coming down the trail, and the woman was pregnant. I scolded myself more for likely struggling more than this woman with a basketball for a belly. The couple stopped me to tell me they had just seen a bear about 100 yards up the trail coming down out of a tree. I was giddy. But they were heading down, and I was alone. I couldn't decide what to do. I wanted to see it so badly, but I was scared to death. Just then another hiker came along. She and I decided to forge ahead making noise, but hoping to get a glimpse of it.

Well, it was only a close encounter, not an actual encounter. So, we never saw the bear (damn it!), but we did get to know each other a little bit, and it turns out that she and her male companion are big into off-road motorcycle riding. What a coincidence. I think we'll stay in touch and maybe get to do some riding together one day.

Now, I'm back in my Boulder "office." The Laughing Goat coffeehouse. Love it here.