We planted everything form seed, except for two tomato plants (the tomato seeds we planted haven't come up yet, and last year, this was our most successful crop). This is also our first year with lettuce and spinach, but they are ready for picking - we'll enjoy a nice salad this week. In the below pic, you can see how tall the flowers already are in the back.

Last year, my favorite part of the garden was the squash (although, we had a TON) and the cucumbers (just for the cucumber salad. So good). I'll keep you updated on how it goes this year and hopefully have some notes to take away from what worked. Um, and what didn't.

On another note, this double rainbow was just outside our front door, beautiful Colorado sky:

And, just for fun, here is a great pic of Zoe enjoying her bone in the snow under the hot spring sun (taken in April):

That's all for now - I need to get back to obsessively watching the Phish setlist from Camden unfold.

I'm going to try to blog at least 3 times next week and see if that's the ticket. If it is, get ready for the ride of your life! Blog 2.0 (that's after the influx of spam comments) is going to be bigger, better and badder.

I actually do have a lot to write about these days, Wedding, Phish, Costa Rica, the Garden (which is filling in nicely, I might add), all capitalized because they are all uber importante (insert umlaut and acent ague).

That said, it is Friday and I do remember a short lived, really lame installment called Funny Friday. This week's video comes from a Mr. Shef-Getz (he still hasn't decided what he's going to do with his name). So here we are, face to face, a couple of silver spoons:

LET'S GO RED WINGS!

I luckily caught The Butter Shave episode of Seinfeld last night in bed, I had forgotten how funny that episode is. You can  actually watch in it's entirety online. Sorry - Hulu directs you to TBS.com and you can't embed the videos, so I don't have a good clip for you.

On another note, woah, does my blog need some serious lovin', huh? This has been my life as of late; wedding planning, work, wedding planning, the gym, Phish, the gym, work, wedding planning, honeymoon researching and a growing obsession with Akumal, Mexico (it's very cheap and looks amazing), work, and so on.

However, I have a real break in the monotony starting tomorrow - I get to moderate three interviews that I have set up between Bridget Marquardt and the bloggers that I send weekly outreach to for her show on the Travel Channel, Bridget's Sexiest Beaches.

Now, I usually don't use my personal blog for work stuff, but I thought this was worth mentioning. It will be interesting to talk with Bridget and hear how she fields their questions. When the blogs get their interviews up, I will make sure to post about them.

My fifteen minutes of fame has come! That's what they say, right? Okay - I admit it - I just googled it and did you know that Andy Warhol coined the phrase? At least that's what it says on Wikipedia.

That's all for now. Just thought I would share the exciting news.

My news is a bit late, but if you are interested and haven't heard, Phish will be offering FREE MP3s of the shows this weekend, available within 24 hours after the show. I have already 'pre ordered' mine, but my guess is I will be up until I just can't keep my eyes open anymore on Friday, just to see if they come in at a reasonable hour here in MST.

Trey said in a press release, "We really wanted to show our gratitude to all the Phish fans for their support and the overwhelming response they've had to these shows. It's going to be an amazing celebration and we only wish everybody could be there."

Nice! I have no idea what to expect, but am waiting, patiently. Have a good time to all who are going, I wish I could be there!

Now, stop with these annoying marketing tactics and announce the dates for Red Rocks already. Oh - and I wish you would have hired us to do your social media marketing. We would have had you up on YouTube and Facebook way before the end of January. I still friended you on everything, though.

I knew there was a reason why Jax is my favorite restaurant in town. Having said that, Hosea, I know you can take your $100,000 and high-tail it to NYC, Chicago or hell, even Portland where there are better (but more competitive) culinary scenes. However, I would prefer if you kept your skills right here in Boulder, I'm going to be living here for a little while and I'd like to dine at your restaurant at least a couple of times.

There actually is a good food scene in Boulder and a good number of 'foodies' to talk about it with. I'll do a post sometime about my favorite restaurants. In the meantime, let's discuss the problem with Boulder restaurants: trendiness. Everyone needs to open up that 'fusion' or 'eclectic' restaurant. I'm curious to see what Hosea decides to do and if he stays in Boulder.

Speaking of me again, did you like my predictions from my November 26 post about Top Chef? I cheated a bit and gave a top 6, but wouldn't you know - those top 6 happened to be just that. Stefan, Fabio, Carla, Leah, Jamie and Hosea. I kick culinary ass. I knew my years in the restaurant industry would pay off.

Also - I was just about to link the term 'Boulderite', just so those who are outside of Colorado are aware of what the rest of the state thinks of us and this is what I found in the urban dictionary:

Boulderite

1. A general class of people similar to the Hippie, who live on a diet of fruits, nuts, granola and other organic foods. Often liberal in thinking and very much into outdoor activities. They can be distinguished by their economical yet functional vehicles and their equally functional attire. Name is derived from the "all natural" town of Boulder, CO.

You see that girl in the riding shorts and hiking boots with sunglasses on her head snacking on trail mix? That is one fine Boulderite.

2. One who:
1. Trains for a marathon before work.
2. Spends more than 10 hours a week in spandex.
3. Eats out at fine establishments, wearing a fleece vest and expensive outdoor shoes.
4. Carries plastic bags for picking up dog poop.
5. Drinks 2oz. of espresso for breakfast, 2 oz. wheatgrass for lunch, and 24 oz. Microbrew with dinner.
6. Drives a Subaru Outback with some clever form of an anti-Bush bumper sticker.
7. Buys groceries on a commuter bike, or cross country skis.
8. Owns a bike rack and bike that costs more than the price of their Subaru.
9. Lives within walking distance of a yoga studio.
10. Wonders how CO can still be a Red State?!

Spandex on by 6am, Cycling through Martin Acres, mildly hung- over, and completely stoned, the Boulderite rode to Whole Foods for a Powerbar and a Latte with soy.

Too funny. Okay, it's Wednesday, off to bed. However - exciting things this weekend! We are doing out tasting at Mary's Lake Lodge on Friday night (where we are having our wedding) and have heard nothing but GREAT things about the food. Will let you know!

Oh - and by the way. I'm sorry Carla. If you had more guts, didn't want to compete with love and didn't let Casey take over your dishes, you might be thinking about opening your own restaurant right now and your husband and stepson could go to every Super Bowl. Oh, snap. Yes I did. I'm such a bitch.

For this edition of Friday fun, I thought I would share one of my sister's favorites:

Hope your Friday is great! I'm going to watch The Wire tonight - just finishing season 2 and starting season 3 - wohoo!

Anyway, I searched and searched for the SNL skit with Chris Farley, Phil Hartman, David Spade in which Chris Farley is an ice skater and Spade and Hartman are commentators, but to no avail. I did find a GREAT replacement though. My favorite part 'I'm a girl, you know.'

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Just in case I do, here's the first video, sent in by long time reader, first time caller Lisa -

- make sure to watch in HQ (after you hit play, hover on the bottom right icon - the HQ icon will pop up, choose that) or you won't see the whole video (it cuts). If you get stalled scenes, just watch all the way through and hit replay. I know, I know, it's a lot, but it's funny.

On another note, wedding planning is going along really well, but I can see that it would be easy to lose sight of the real purpose - to have fun. Plain and simple. Not about spending our lives together and that everlasting love crap. blah, blah, blah.

I would like to state that I wish during my walk down the aisle, that the groom will be dancing at the 'alter' and that our wedding 'officiant' will be doing the same exact arm dancing featured in this video (I might even just walk down to this song):

Thanks, Audio!

- The day that embodies the imminent change. Many of us have contemplated this change and what it means to us, a day like today inspires soul searching and conjures images of both past and future. Today, on the most historic of days, I'm sure that you, like me, will remember the moment for the rest of your lives when you realized that the post you are currently reading was written on a MacBook. That's right - this is my first post on my new, snazzy machine. After many, many years on a PC, I have converted. I'm no longer the area woman that knows all of the shortcut keys, but with sound body and mind, I embrace this challenge as I prepare to write a new chapter in my life. Yes I Can. We'll see how this plays out, but right now, I'm feeling four years strong. I also just got an iPhone. Soon I'll be blogging from the road, so goodbye 4 posts a month and hello 7! Wow.

- The day I realized that at some point in my life, I will live on an island in the Caribbean (view recent pics to Aruba). Even if I only get to experience it for 4 months, I'm going to do it. Jamaica, Aruba, Nassau, Half Moon Cay - wherever.

- I need to come up with my 30 second intro story about myself for Jeopardy! in case they suddenly call on me. Will I tell about how Isis was found at America's Roast Beef Yessir, or, despite the fact that I know better, I can't differentiate between ammonia and pneumonia? What about you, what's your 30 second intro story?

- The never ending spam on my blog has changed from (Nate you would have loved some of these doozies) readers such as 'frogsex@hotmail.com', 'redlube@luber.com' and 'screwtube@hotmail.com' (really, those were the email addresses) that gave us such notable comments as 'red hot lube, eskimo kitty cat, serious sex parts and nailing buddies' to intelligent rants from 'sheetmetal@sheetmetal1.org' most known for 'professional auto parts manufacturer, experience in hot forging machine including hot forging machine.' Someone should alert them that they have grammatical errors in their spam machine. Maybe I just did - yes! You know that good deed your supposed to do a day. Yep, that was mine.

- A day in which I have two issues of SkyMall sitting up on my nightstand. Which reminds me - I better get shopping. Have you noticed the amount of advertisements for the Snuggie, both online and on TV? Damn. Blankets are okay, but they can slip and slide. I should have blogged about that ions ago.

On another note, welcome to office Mr. President Obama and Vice President JOEBIDEN. We are elated to have you, good luck on the journey. Doug asked me tonight what the first thing I would like the new administration to address, my answer was health care, based on the pure fact that I pay too much a month and get little in return.  He's 'still thinking' but leaning towards transparency in policy and legislation.

I just went on a family vacation to California:

We had an amazing time in Disneyland and were very tired afterward:

However, my post isn't about the lump of coal that I traded for a tea cozy I received at xmas, nor the amazing time I spent with my family - it's about the most recent episode of 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'  that I watched.

Is that wrong? I think so. Horribly wrong. So wrong, I feel extremely guilty writing this post. A lot happened over the holidays - I bonded with my nephews, I became an expert at Wii Tennis, I acquired two issues of SkyMall, Kim got engaged,  but I can't stop watching the 'Rock, Flag and Eagle' clip. Can you?

If you have yet to experience my favorite comedic performance (above) to it's fullest, or haven't seen It's Always Sunny yet, please do. I need to revisit my top 5 comedies and put this show on the list, for sure.

Happy New Year and a great 2009. I'm off to Aruba! For the next week I'll be laying on a beach and playing at a casino. Peace.

Does the image on the right look like a good time to you? You bet your ass it does. You know why? Because it probably is. However, I wouldn't know because I'm at home blogging, instead. I'm lame and because of early morning appointments, I have decided to skip out on going to Denver for a Drag Queen show at Hamburger Mary's with some friends. Who skips out on that? Lame 32 year-olds who live in Boulder, that's who.

But don't worry your pretty heads, because some very exciting things are happening to me right now, as I type this.

A. Rad movie on TV - check

B. Animal action - check

C. Reading material for the night - check

How's this for a shot - huh?

Mind you, we've had our subscription to HBO for more than two months, since the start of Season 5 of Entourage, but just realized last week that we actually get all of the Encore channels, as well. I have no idea how we forgot this, but let's move on. What jewel was on Encore Action tonight? That's for me to know and you to find out, but the above image is a pretty good indication.

Now onto B.....

Check it:

Exhibit A - a mighty eagle talon? Nope. It's something that I pulled out of Zoe's face. You see, Jiboo and Zoe play this little game. Really, it is a game and isn't nearly as brutal as it looks. Zoe likes to bother Jiboo and act like she's going to bite him, in which Jiboo responds by swatting at Zoe. She's gotten many claws stuck in her face, but tonight is the biggest one by far.

This is quite exciting, isn't it? I'm envisioning all of my readers just sitting on the edge of their seats, hardly breathing because the suspense is just killing them. Imagine it's 1975 and a relentless, 25-foot-long "killing machine" is on the prowl off the coast of a New England resort town, and no one in the water is safe. Wait, that's the wrong movie. Are you trying to figure out yet what C could be? Exactly what, you ask, could be more exciting on a Friday night? Let's move onto C.

C. Now this may be the most exciting event of all. All the Fightin' Blue Hens in the house say 'hhhhooo....say ho-ho'. That's right, the latest issue of my UD Messenger just came in the mail. It's an exciting day for all - because it's way better then  that crap, On Wisconsin, that we get. I mean, the remainder of my Friday evening might be spent reading about Ron Dayne. puke. I give you, the cover of the latest issue:

As the UD (not to be confused with YouDee) Magazine reports: 'Joe Biden, who graduated with a double major in history and political science (my major was history, people. What does that tell you about me? Yep, you got it...now back to the important stuff), has not forgotten where he came from. "The University of Delaware has had a profound impact on the course of my life and career," he once said. "I will forever hold a very special place in my heart for the University of Delaware."

Amen, Joe Biden*, amen.

*For those of you not in the know - you cannot refer to Joe Biden as 1. Joe, 2. Senator Biden, 3. Vice President Elect Biden, or when the time has come for one ring to rule them all, 4. Mr. Vice President. It will always be Joe Biden. Said as fast as possible and in your best Delaware accent.

Now, I need to get on with my Friday night. Hope yours is well. I Am America and So Can You.

For those of you at home - G4 is having an Arrested Development marathon - enjoy!

I've decided to blog about this season because;

a. I love the show

b. Two people from Boulder are on the show, which I've already mentioned before, but will do it again; Melissa and Hosea.

My post is going to be uber short because Doug is allowing me to get Sex and The City: The Movie On Demand tonight and because I'm saving all of my energy for my real ring post that will be coming shortly.

Quickly - my predictions for the top chefs that make it to the end (anyone want to bet lunch?): 

1. Stefan - because everything he makes appears to be awesome.
   
2. Fabio - he can cook and the judges really like him.
   
3. Jamie - her love of SSOUUUPPP is going to take her far.
   
4. Carla/Leah - both silent winners. Well, Carla isn't too silent, but they are showing a lot of her for a reason.
5. Hosea - I have to say him because Jax is my favorite restaurant in town.
   

After next week's episode, I may narrow it down.

On to my Boulder restaurant reviews:

Doug and I recently partook in First Bite Boulder. We ventured to the Greenbriar Inn and I have to say, it was average. I really loved the lamb that Doug ordrered, but my steelhead trout was just, well, average. The gnocchi appetizer I ordered had great flavor, but was overcooked. I'm going to put it on my list of 'don't go out of your way, but if someone is taking you, might as well.'

We also went to Radda recently. The appetizers we ordered weren't the best, but the dinner was delicious. The cocktails were laughable. Even worse, actually. I don't care if you're a wine place, learn how to make a cocktail. No Captain in house, no type of Seagram's whiskey, so I resort to the Gin Days and order a Tom Collins with a splash of grenadine. What do I get? Half of a tumbler full of gin on the rocks with  a splash of grenadine. What, not sweet and sour mix and no soda water? Geez. Doug's Jack and water was even worse, I'm not even going to take the time to explain. All in all, I give them just a bit higher than the rating I gave the Greenbriar.

My ratings:

1. Greenbriar Inn: C+
2. Radda Trattoria: B-

Doug's ratings:

1. Greenbriar Inn: B+
2. Radda Trattoria: B-

For all of you Boulderites, I'll get a list going of my favorite restaurants in town, so you know what I'm comparing them to. 

On to the movie!

We hold a monthly Twitter contests for one of our clients, SmartyPig. If you're looking to save for something, say, a wedding, or a new TV, this is the place. I'm not plugging for them, but genuinely believe in their service.

Back to the main point. The video. Enjoy us being complete nerds (my cohorts are Jason, Cofounder of Room 214,  who is doing the sweet dancing, Wendy, also with some sweet dance moves of her own, Stepan, who is lurking in the corner and James, Cofounder of Room 214,  doing a great job filming): 

Yep, we actually posted that on their blog for all of their customers to see. With that, Happy Halloween!

My Dad is visiting this weekend and I'm looking very forward to it. We're going to the Stanley Hotel for a Ghost Tour on Saturday - SPOOKY, hopefully. I'll have some updates and pics when the weekend is over. I also have a long overdue post going out to one Miss Genevieve!

TTFN

TWO chefs from Boulder, CO made it onto the show. One, a man named Hosea, who is (would it be - was?) the executive chef at Jax Fish House. For those of you who don't know - Jax is my favorite restaurant in Boulder - my favorite meaning it's usually my birthday dinner spot. Yeah - that kind of favorite. That said, I can't wait to see what he's going to cook up on this season.

As for the second chef, I'm not as impressed. She's the sous chef at Centro, which I don't think is that great. It used to be a place called Rhumba that served really bad jerk chicken, in my opinion. However, Jax and Centro (as was Rhumba) are owned by the same company. Which reminds me, one of my other favorite restaurants in Boulder is owned by the big red f restaurant group, too - Zolo. About a year ago, they changed their fish tacos and now, the dish is not nearly as good, but still worth going for. As for the guacamole, out of this world - best guac in town.

Back to Top Chef - the other chef is Melissa. I'm basing the fact that she will be good; not on her experience at Centro, but because she's from Maryland and knows about the amazing Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs.

What I wouldn't give to have one now....

It's really me, isn't it? I know - I think so too. It's a pink-purple center diamond set in platinum and rose gold. Total carat weight of 3.43. I've heard the saying that it's not really love unless it's 2 carats and I couldn't agree more. The person who came up with that saying is a friggin genius. Pure geniusy. I now know that he loves me 3.43 much. That's a lot.

How much, you say? Well, I'm not sure I really should reveal that, but, oh, fine, make me. A measly $259,999.99 from Costco, if you want to go out and get yourself one of these beauties. However, mine is one of a kind, so good luck finding it. It looks even better in person without the photo-shopped sparkles.

Honestly - if one is going to spend $259,999.99 do you think they're buying it at Costco? Is it really necessary to make you think you're getting a deal by placing the $0.99 on the end? Actually, I can answer my own question: yes - if it were $260,000.00, there is no way in hell you'd catch me wearing that thing.

Now onto the good stuff. Doug proposed to me on my birthday after a great dinner and FABULOUS dessert, I might add (It was a towering bowl of whipped cream, marshmellowy substance of some kind and a bunch of berries. I'm getting hyper and double vision just thinking about it. Um, okay, I shouldn't really think about that again. In fact, I should probably wear a button of some kind that says "Do not feed sugar." Then I could bust out the line "as evidenced by this button").

Back to the good stuff - he proposed to me in our neighborhood park while we were walking Zoe. Here comes the warm fuzzy stuff - it was perfect. Even though it wasn't really a surprise (I was told he was going to do it just hours before), I had butterflies in my stomach and can't remember one word of the wonderful stuff he said while he was down on one knee. Notta one. I think that might mean I love him more than 3.43 much.

Done with my lunch now, so must get back to work. I've done something idiotic and joined a coed soccer league that plays on Wednesday nights. Last game I pulled both of my quad muscles and hobbled around for the next two days on my 'wounded stumps' (Doug's sweet reference to my legs). I'll blog later and let you know what kind of pain I'm in as a result of tonight's game (for your information - I didn't play more than 2 minutes of the game last week - I pulled them before the game even started).

I couldn't have asked for a better culmination to my summer travels than the beautiful state of Oregon. For my readers: WARNING - I still think I work for the Oregon Tourism Board. Even though I actually haven't, I tout Oregon as the best place on earth. I heart Oregon the most of all. Browse my pics of Oregon, as well as a few from Jess and Dan's wedding. If there is one thing I've learned over the years - professional photographers take much better pictures than I do, so I don't even try.

My summer travels have seen me in Austin, Texas, back 'home' in Delaware (YEAH JOE BIDEN), New Jersey, Los Angeles, Portland, Oregon (twice), Taos/Angel Fire, New Mexico, Crested Butte and all over Wisconsin. Yep - it's been a busy one. I never did get around to that pop culture contest, did I? Okay - I promise it's coming in September. I'll have a lot more time this month. Who would have thunk that Dolph Lundgren would be such a popular topic...

Back to Oregon. Ah, Oregon. Do I miss thee. I would move back to Portland in a heartbeat and I don't think I speak only for myself. I'm pretty sure that most of the close friends that I met there would move back, too. You see, the thing about Portland is that no one knows just how great of a place it is. When I was moving to Colorado, I used to get so annoyed, and still get annoyed when people say 'Oh, Colorado, Beautiful!' You know, it is gorgeous and there are a lot of things that I enjoy about my life here. However, it's not even close to how much I enjoyed Portland. Not even a tiny bit. I could go on forever, but I'll spare you.

Another thing I know - I have an amazing set of friends. I'm sure all people say that, but I really do. I'm still close with the guys and gals from high school, most people I met while in college, and those I've met in Portland and Colorado. Driving through the Columbia River Gorge in the morning, only to catch sunset over the Rockies led me to realize how lucky I am. I'm lucky to have lived in and traveled to such gorgeous places, and am really lucky to have the friends I do. I wish that the contingents of people that I know on the east coast, west coast and the fly over states could all just move to one central place. That would be the life. Anywho...I should stop now before I start crying balling like I did during my speech at the wedding this weekend.

Summer of travels '08 is now over.

Oh, and to top it all off, Burnie (no, it's BURN-IE - that's some pop culture trivia for you, right there) not only pet sat for us once again, but I came home to an autographed copy of Mike Gordon's new CD that he got from the Fox show. Pretty sweet gift and he owes me nothing, nada, zero. I owe him a lot more, believe you me. See - good friends, I tell you.

If you want to watch more - here are videos on YouTube.

I have also realized that I'm completely addicted to the Summer Olympics. Gotta go watch...

I really do. Every part of our trip to Wisconsin I enjoyed immensely; fishing with Doug and his father on a 15,000 acre lake in the north woods, having absolutely scrumptious meals cooked by his mother everyday, seeing good friends in Madison (my first visit to Madison) and celebrating at Mike and Becky's wedding. 

Oh, and not to mention The Terrace. I loved the University of Delaware and wouldn't trade my college days for anything. However, I have to admit, this is slightly better than the Deer Park Tavern (although the history is amazing) or The East End. Madison is a good place. Here's a pic of Doug on the Terrace overlooking Lake Mendota:

Check out some pics of the Turtle Flambeau Flowage (the lake where Doug's parent's cabin is), Madison, friends, the wedding and various other fun stuff. 

That said, I think my top 5 comedies that were/on TV are:

1. Seinfeld
2. Arrested Development
3. Curb Your Enthusiasm
4. The Office
5. Flight of the Conchords (although, 4 and 5 haven't really been on long enough to be able to determine that - but that's the list as of now).
   

We're off to the north woods, John Candy style for the weekend/week. Then we'll hit Mad-town, home of Camp Randall stadium, the stadium with the most envy of the Big House in all the land. Wow - it's almost college football season. Not sure how good the Victors will be this year, that makes me sad. You Badgers fans were hoping for a different kind of wow, weren't you?

Anyway, I've come to learn that my readers need to brush up on their pop culture trivia so I've decided that in August, I'm going to run a little contest - this time, for a prize. Like extreme sports band-aids, a squash from our garden or a Portland Beavers bobblehead from '94. No, I kid, I kid. I think it'll be for a cooler prize than that, like a signed autograph 8x10 glossy, Dolph Lundgren style.

So, for the last week of July, I go away, to the land of no internet and no cell phone reception. I hope to come back a more enlightened being, which will be impossible not to accomplish. Perhaps I'll learn how to levitate.

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye - adieu, adieu, to yieu and yieu and yieu. Brush up on your pc trivia while I'm gone, will you?!

Oh, and watch this clip:

If you haven't yet done this hike - I highly recommend it. To get to Brainard Lake from Boulder, take Lee Hill Drive just off North Broadway (LOTS and LOTS of road bikers, so be prepared to be the pedestrian) to Old Stage Road. Old Stage will dead end - take a left onto Left Hand Canyon into Ward. Once through Ward, take a right onto Highway 72 (Peak to Peak) and then an immediate left into Brainard Lake Rec. Area. The drive from Boulder is about a 1/2 hour.

If you want to take a more scenic drive and have a little extra time, you can just follow Canyon Road into Nederland and then follow the signs to Highway 72. Go north on Highway 72 and Brainard Lake will be on your left just past Ward. Takes a little longer - about 45-50 minutes.

Now - back to those bikers. I think the road bikers in Boulder are insane. Boulder has three major roads that swerve through the Canyons into the Indian Peaks Wilderness area.

These 'major' roads are two lane roads that curve and bend in every direction up, up and up. AND UP - without much of a shoulder, at all. At any given time, on any given day, you are bound to see massive amounts of bikers, old and young, making their way up. When I catch a glimpse of any number of the climber's faces - they look like they are in serious pain. I mean what I imagine to be giving birth pain. Their bikes are in the lowest gear possible, their calves look like they are going to pop out of their skin and explode and their faces are as red as possible from the oxygen deprivation that their body has been experiencing the past 20 miles.

Mind you, the way down is no exception. I'm not sure I need to be doing 45mph on my bike while flying around hair pin turns and passing cars all the way. Nope. Not for me. Now, I love a nice bike ride and a great work out, but this is the EXTREME. I guess it is Boulder. I once had someone ask me what three extreme sports I partake in - "you know, if you live in Boulder you've got to be serious about 3 extreme sports." There really is no joke to that. We even have 'extreme sports' band-aids at the grocery store. They made out of town guests of mine pee their pants they were laughing so hard.

Back to the biking. I'd love to know how it feels, so maybe one day I'll do it. But, I do like my life, so I think I'll skip riding up Baseline, Canyon or Lee Hill on my shitty bike. If you're reading this and you're a biker - enlighten me about why you might do this, because just to get a good work out, or get out on a Saturday morning doesn't do it for me.

I've updated Flickr for all of you voyeurs out there. Well, and for me as I need an alternative to relying on my pos cpu to actually not crash and save pics.

Now for the real news: Doug and I have a community garden plot a block away from our house. We planted everything from seeds a little over a month ago and now have a good amount of produce growing (disclaimer: by using the term 'growing' I actually mean that there is green stuff in our garden that makes it look pretty. Not many plants have fruit on them, yet). We planted yellow squash, green peppers, cucumbers, onions (both yellow and chives), tomatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe and a handful of flowers. Tonight, we enjoyed our first meal with our fresh produce - a yellow squash. Below is a pic of our garden (just the first plot is ours) and our yummy dinner tonight.

We had a huge yellow squash to work with! So, I cut it up...

Threw it in a pan with some zucchini, garlic, onions, fresh oregano and fresh rosemary from the herbs on our porch, salt & pepper and a dash of Maggi...

Made some angel hair pasta and heated up some diced tomatoes, threw it all in a bowl and tossed it with a little bit of EVOO and topped with grated romano cheese.

I have to admit, it was the best dinner that I have made and eaten in a while. Now, for those of you that don't know, Doug has quite an interesting palette. When I'm away or 'eating light' he enjoys his favorite bachelor dinner of Kraft Mac & Cheese mixed with tuna. Mind you, Doug was a chef for some time and if he wants to cook well, he can do it. However, that doesn't stop him from eating all sorts of boxed and frozen shit. He LOVES having nutty bars (yes, the Little Debbie ones) for dessert.

Now, while we were eating I asked him if it was better than his frozen dinners. He replied "um....[long pause]...yeah, I guess, in some ways."  HUH? In some ways?

"It doesn't have any meat."

Ouch.

Bird's Eye Voila! Chicken Alfredo - 1, Getzan - 0.

Better luck next time.

In the meantime, I'm going to run a blog experiement and see if anyone catches on to it (Burnie - you can't participate). Just to give you a hint - this is the first one. I think I'll do it for the month of July - good luck all.

My travel is slowing down - at least for a few weeks. In the last two months, I've been to Austin, Texas, Southern California (LA area), Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey (all in the same trip, of course, but it sounds a lot cooler to say all three states than the mid-Atlantic) and Portland, Oregon. Next up: Wisconsin and then back to the love of my life, Portland, Oregon. It's a full summer ya'll.

For your reading enjoyment - Nate has returned to the blogging world - http://www.bumpersmash.blogspot.com/  His blog is sure to be full of some very entertaining crap. Much more entertaining than my crap. For instance, he has a conversation going about mustachioed baseball players as you're wasting time reading this. Very hip. Get over there.

Speaking of entertaining - we (at work) are doing some work with the Travel Channel and got our hands on a sneak peek video of the 2nd half of Anthony Bourdain's 4th season of No Reservations which premiered last night with an episode in Laos. It's a great video: