Exploring Denver: South Pearl Street Farmers' Market

Between applying and interviewing for jobs, I am enjoying exploring Denver. This morning, Preston and I headed over to the South Pearl Street Farmers' Market to get some local produce and check out what this market had to offer. I grew up going to the Davis Farmers' Market every single Saturday morning and every Wednesday evening in the summers, so I was delighted to find such a great market right in our neighborhood! 

I naturally had to sample their chicken tamale offerings, which I found to be quite the tasty brunch. We also went home with ripe red tomatoes, a huge head of lettuce, kale, an onion, and a mystery pepper. Oh the joys of the market! Below are a few photos I snapped while strolling along under the big blue Denver sky.

Food trucks at the market

My tamal colombiano

More market views

I am going to explore more Farmers' Markets in the Denver area, and found this site to be especially helpful!

Hello, again

A week-long California vacation plus a week without Internet equals no good opportunity to blog. Oops! 

A week after the big move, I spent a week in California with my parents while Preston ventured off to Yellowstone to hike and have bro time. It was wonderful to see family and friends, relax by the pool, and visit my favorite restaurants and spots in my hometown. Below are a couple pictures from my trip:

A chicken tamale, apple juice, and a latte are my staple selections from the Davis Farmer's Market. I'm telling you - there is nothing else in the world like these tamales! I had one every Saturday for brunch growing up. 

A view of the market signs.

Favorite coffee stand

My mom and I made Eggs Benedict for Father's Day breakfast! Complete with side of bacon. 

As mentioned before, I flew back from California to Denver to find the Internet in my apartment was no longer functioning. Now, I am back from my little Internet hiatus and am marveling at all I accomplished sans Internet for one week: I interviewed at two companies, read a book, spent time with friends, BBQed, bicycled, swam, and explored Denver. I'm so happy to have the Internet back on, but I have to say that going without the world wide web is entirely feasible and tests my ability to entertain myself without Netflix, Facebook, Pinterest, and reading blogs. 

Tomorrow I'm looking forward to an interview and then to enjoying the weekend. Pictures of Denver adventures soon to come!

Almost Settled

I've been in Denver since last Tuesday and it was only Saturday when I finally started to feel settled. The week of moving, AKA making Costco, Target, Goodwill, and Home Depot runs every day for 5 consecutive days, is finally (mostly) over. Preston left yesterday for a 10 day camping trip in Yellowstone with friends and I'm looking forward to visiting family in California for a week starting tomorrow. 

Yep, we are the crazy people that move to a new state and take off less than a week later. 

I'm still on the job hunt and am hopeful something will work out soon. At the same time, I am loving all this free time I have to run errands during off hours, catch up on a good book, watch Orange is the New Black (I maybe need to cool it a bit with the Netflix binging), find the perfect spot for remaining odds and ends, and learn the new city! 

Each day, I'm feeling stronger and more able to walk longer distances. I'm so happy to be a month ahead of schedule on my recovery and have my fingers crossed that I'll be running again come July!

Things seem to work out and fall into place, and I am feeling utterly grateful for the wonderful people in my life. 

Sleepless

I found this post that I never finished from last week, so I figured I would include what was on my mind a week ago and what is going on now. 

Tuesday, May 27

I am sleepless in Tacoma, which is near Seattle, but my state of sleeplessness is nowhere near romance or glamour. This week I cannot stop thinking about all that needs to get done; work, moving, selling my car, renting a car, cleaning, etc. I'm pretty sure the list just about never ends because I have spent the last few nights awake and thinking about it all. 

Unfortunately, I find I have a very low stress tolerance. The smallest thing will see off my anxiety and, poof! I'm a stressed out mess. It's been a long time since I've actually lost this much sleep, so I literally cannot wait to be in Denver and have the big stuff out of the way! 

Thursday, June 5

I am sitting on my couch in Denver, Colorado. It has been a whirlwind of a move, and I cannot believe this will already be night three in our new apartment! This new place is certainly an upgrade in just about every way: washer/dryer in unit, walk-in closet, updated appliances, gym, awesome location in the city... the list goes on and on. 

Let's be clear though - moving is very difficult and takes a lot of time and even more money. We have been getting by with very limited furniture and an even more limited food supply. I forgot how long it takes to have a fully stocked kitchen! I went to make the most simple of meals - a quesadilla - and found I only had very basic ingredients (tortilla ad cheese), missing some of my favorite add-ons (onions, avocado, spinach, bell peppers, etc.). 

I feel like so many things are unsettled right now and I just want to be all unpacked and done with it all. We still have a huge pile of random items with nowhere to put it due to the lack of furniture (bookshelf, coffee table, end tables, etc.) and not a single photo is on the wall. 

These things take time, and I know that soon the apartment will look less like a mess and more like a home. Photos will come once the home part is achieved!

For now, the sleeplessness will continue, but each night gets better and better.