The last time I posted I had just gotten into the spirit of the summer, and now, as I type this, there is snow on the roofs of buildings and unmoved cars. The ground is, as yet, bare; and even the snow that lay on the grass yesterday after the showers is gone. Only leaves, pale orange and gold mingled with green and brown, remain. They are scattered perfectly over the sidewalks and yards and their muted colors are the lone clue that we aren't on the East Coast.
Colorado hasn't fully relinquished the summer or fully committed to the winter. Tomorrow it may be 70 degrees, but today I had to don a fleece vest under my winter coat just to walk to the coffee shop. The autumn is my favorite season but I've felt shortchanged of it in the last few years. This weather, while I prefer it to the 90-plus-degree temperatures I encountered last week in Texas during my vacation, feels wrong. Where are the cool, crisp sunny October days I remember from my childhood in Dallas? Or the brilliant leaves I found in Virginia? I want to walk through the trees and crunch dead leaves underfoot, damn it. Or throw open my windows to let in the brisk air while I bake an apple pie from perfectly ripe seasonal fruit. WHERE are my Granny Smith apples?
I should perhaps explain that, at the moment, I'm suffering from a particularly nasty cold, which I suspect I caught on the packed plane ride to Austin but which didn't strike me down until the day before my vacation ended. So I missed two days of work and I've been out of my pajamas for approximately five hours in the last four and a half days.
It may be affecting my mood.
But here's what I've been up to since the last post. Work, work, work, a few dates (more on that later, perhaps, though I should probably be circumspect given that this is a public site), spending too much money, eating and drinking too much - all business as usual.
And several memorable trips.
The first was to Los Angeles over Labor Day weekend. My older brother got married on September 5th and I was there as a groomsmaid. I worked my tail off to make sure I had everything in the office taken care of before I flew out on Friday the 4th, and then I got up around 4 a.m. to catch the shuttle to DIA. By the time I got to LAX, I was exhausted both mentally (my fear of flying tends to make any air travel An Event) and physically (see the 4 a.m. wakeup time). I had to cab it to the hotel, since my mother's checked luggage had been lost the day before and my brother's fiancee was supposed to be taking her out to shop for new clothes. After a grumpy exchange with the cab driver, who thought I should know the address of the El Segundo Courtyard Marriott (I didn't), I wound up in the right place and found that my mother's clothes had arrived late the night before. Half an hour later I was whisked away by the bride to join her and her sisters and a couple of friends for lunch and mani/pedi treatments - all very nice, since it was her treat. All I wanted to do, however, was lay on the hotel bed and veg out in front of the TV. As a result I was quieter and somewhat snappier than usual.
Sitting in a massage chair with coastal breezes blowing through the door of the nail salon, however, revived me to an extent. I didn't talk to anyone for an hour or so, and it was wonderful. After that we headed back to Kevin and Sarah's to set up for the rehearsal dinner. As people started to arrive I perked up some more - they were mostly folks I had only met a couple of times, but everyone was congenial and excited about the following day. We practiced the rehearsal and Sarah teared up as she pretended to take her vows (which of course made me teary in sympathy). After that we had a casual backyard dinner with tasty sandwiches, chips, fruit, salad, and beer. I fell into bed rather late and the next thing I knew it was Saturday.
Around 8 a.m. on the wedding day, Sarah and her bridesmaid Erin picked us up and drove us to the salon in Moorpark, Euodia Salon, so we could get prettified. I had a very chatty and vaguely familiar-seeming stylist named Rebecca who gathered my hair into a crazy mass of curls pinned back to look like a cascading updo, and applied about three pounds of makeup (false lashes and all) to my face afterwards. I recoiled a bit at first, since I'm as low maintenance as you can get, but I got used to the beauty pageant look after awhile and upon seeing the rest of the girls I was glad I looked just as made up. We went to Sarah's parents' house in Moorpark for lunch and to get dressed, and eventually we got out to the wedding site at Rancho de las Flores. It was beautiful - despite the inland fires, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and all the views were gorgeous. I was reminded of the Santa Barbara wine country. The afternoon went by in a blur of photos, and eventually it was time for the ceremony.
Colorado hasn't fully relinquished the summer or fully committed to the winter. Tomorrow it may be 70 degrees, but today I had to don a fleece vest under my winter coat just to walk to the coffee shop. The autumn is my favorite season but I've felt shortchanged of it in the last few years. This weather, while I prefer it to the 90-plus-degree temperatures I encountered last week in Texas during my vacation, feels wrong. Where are the cool, crisp sunny October days I remember from my childhood in Dallas? Or the brilliant leaves I found in Virginia? I want to walk through the trees and crunch dead leaves underfoot, damn it. Or throw open my windows to let in the brisk air while I bake an apple pie from perfectly ripe seasonal fruit. WHERE are my Granny Smith apples?
I should perhaps explain that, at the moment, I'm suffering from a particularly nasty cold, which I suspect I caught on the packed plane ride to Austin but which didn't strike me down until the day before my vacation ended. So I missed two days of work and I've been out of my pajamas for approximately five hours in the last four and a half days.
It may be affecting my mood.
But here's what I've been up to since the last post. Work, work, work, a few dates (more on that later, perhaps, though I should probably be circumspect given that this is a public site), spending too much money, eating and drinking too much - all business as usual.
And several memorable trips.
The first was to Los Angeles over Labor Day weekend. My older brother got married on September 5th and I was there as a groomsmaid. I worked my tail off to make sure I had everything in the office taken care of before I flew out on Friday the 4th, and then I got up around 4 a.m. to catch the shuttle to DIA. By the time I got to LAX, I was exhausted both mentally (my fear of flying tends to make any air travel An Event) and physically (see the 4 a.m. wakeup time). I had to cab it to the hotel, since my mother's checked luggage had been lost the day before and my brother's fiancee was supposed to be taking her out to shop for new clothes. After a grumpy exchange with the cab driver, who thought I should know the address of the El Segundo Courtyard Marriott (I didn't), I wound up in the right place and found that my mother's clothes had arrived late the night before. Half an hour later I was whisked away by the bride to join her and her sisters and a couple of friends for lunch and mani/pedi treatments - all very nice, since it was her treat. All I wanted to do, however, was lay on the hotel bed and veg out in front of the TV. As a result I was quieter and somewhat snappier than usual.
Sitting in a massage chair with coastal breezes blowing through the door of the nail salon, however, revived me to an extent. I didn't talk to anyone for an hour or so, and it was wonderful. After that we headed back to Kevin and Sarah's to set up for the rehearsal dinner. As people started to arrive I perked up some more - they were mostly folks I had only met a couple of times, but everyone was congenial and excited about the following day. We practiced the rehearsal and Sarah teared up as she pretended to take her vows (which of course made me teary in sympathy). After that we had a casual backyard dinner with tasty sandwiches, chips, fruit, salad, and beer. I fell into bed rather late and the next thing I knew it was Saturday.
Around 8 a.m. on the wedding day, Sarah and her bridesmaid Erin picked us up and drove us to the salon in Moorpark, Euodia Salon, so we could get prettified. I had a very chatty and vaguely familiar-seeming stylist named Rebecca who gathered my hair into a crazy mass of curls pinned back to look like a cascading updo, and applied about three pounds of makeup (false lashes and all) to my face afterwards. I recoiled a bit at first, since I'm as low maintenance as you can get, but I got used to the beauty pageant look after awhile and upon seeing the rest of the girls I was glad I looked just as made up. We went to Sarah's parents' house in Moorpark for lunch and to get dressed, and eventually we got out to the wedding site at Rancho de las Flores. It was beautiful - despite the inland fires, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and all the views were gorgeous. I was reminded of the Santa Barbara wine country. The afternoon went by in a blur of photos, and eventually it was time for the ceremony.
The wedding ceremony was short, sweet, and absolutely unique - really fitting to everyone involved in it. It included a quote from A Farewell to Arms, a personal story by the officiant (an old friend of the bride and groom's), and even some audience participation. All of it took place under an open-air arched walkway covered with flowers. I never completely stopped crying until we went back into the bridal dressing room to sign the papers (Sarah's sister Ana and I were the witnesses).
After all of us were presented to the guests, we joined in on the cocktail hour with wine, beer, sangria, and some amazing appetizers - deep fried artichoke hearts stuffed with goat cheese were the biggest hit, but there were also mushrooms stuffed with chicken sausage and some mini chimichangas. Dinner was a buffet consisting of grilled tri-tip steak and barbecued chicken, jalapeno mac and cheese, salad, grilled vegetables, and bread. And we followed it up with toasts given by some of the parents and siblings, dancing, and a dessert bar with a small red velvet wedding cake, mini cheesecake bites, mini creme brulees, brownies, berry cobbler with nutmeg ice cream, and homemade cookies. We were all stuffed and tired by the end of the night, and I dozed most of the way back to El Segundo.
The next morning we all met at a park near the couple's apartment and had bagels and juice, and everyone mingled until most of the guests had to head to the airport. My cousin Sarah, my friend Allen, and I went back to our hotel, swam in the pool for awhile, and then met up with the bride and groom for a delicious dinner at the newly opened El Segundo franchise of The Habit, a favorite hamburger stand of mine when I lived in Santa Barbara. I headed back to Denver the following day, tired, happy, and aside from a slight allergic reaction to something in the pounds of eye makeup I was wearing at the wedding, healthy.
My favorite memories from the weekend:
-Walking down the aisle to "Here Comes the Sun", which was played on acoustic guitars by a couple of musician friends of Kevin's (this started the tears. it was absolutely beautiful).
-A moment of silence at the ceremony for our grandmother and Sarah's grandfather, both deceased in the last several years (this kept me crying)
-My new sister-in-law telling me how glad she was that I was her new sister and that we are family
-Dancing with my nieces and doing the Twist with my dad
-Getting to see so many family members and friends in one place (I looked around several times and marveled at how surreal it was to have my dad and his mom, my sister and her kids, my mom and her brother and sister, my brother's old friends, and my new family all together)
After all of us were presented to the guests, we joined in on the cocktail hour with wine, beer, sangria, and some amazing appetizers - deep fried artichoke hearts stuffed with goat cheese were the biggest hit, but there were also mushrooms stuffed with chicken sausage and some mini chimichangas. Dinner was a buffet consisting of grilled tri-tip steak and barbecued chicken, jalapeno mac and cheese, salad, grilled vegetables, and bread. And we followed it up with toasts given by some of the parents and siblings, dancing, and a dessert bar with a small red velvet wedding cake, mini cheesecake bites, mini creme brulees, brownies, berry cobbler with nutmeg ice cream, and homemade cookies. We were all stuffed and tired by the end of the night, and I dozed most of the way back to El Segundo.
The next morning we all met at a park near the couple's apartment and had bagels and juice, and everyone mingled until most of the guests had to head to the airport. My cousin Sarah, my friend Allen, and I went back to our hotel, swam in the pool for awhile, and then met up with the bride and groom for a delicious dinner at the newly opened El Segundo franchise of The Habit, a favorite hamburger stand of mine when I lived in Santa Barbara. I headed back to Denver the following day, tired, happy, and aside from a slight allergic reaction to something in the pounds of eye makeup I was wearing at the wedding, healthy.
My favorite memories from the weekend:
-Walking down the aisle to "Here Comes the Sun", which was played on acoustic guitars by a couple of musician friends of Kevin's (this started the tears. it was absolutely beautiful).
-A moment of silence at the ceremony for our grandmother and Sarah's grandfather, both deceased in the last several years (this kept me crying)
-My new sister-in-law telling me how glad she was that I was her new sister and that we are family
-Dancing with my nieces and doing the Twist with my dad
-Getting to see so many family members and friends in one place (I looked around several times and marveled at how surreal it was to have my dad and his mom, my sister and her kids, my mom and her brother and sister, my brother's old friends, and my new family all together)
Next up: Fall Travels, Part Two: Eating My Way Through Austin.
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