A Visit to the Stanley Hotel (Estes Park, CO)

John and I made a trek up to Estes Park, CO - hungover and sleepy the day after our Halloween party last month. 

I'd been to the Stanley Hotel once before (probably 10+ years ago, before I moved to Colorado), but I didn't do a tour at the time, and I've always wanted to!  Especially since I saw the Ghost Hunters episode where they did an investigation there... and of course, The Shining (about a million times).

It was a pretty rad tour, and really educational!  I learned so much about the family who built it, their lifestyle, the history of the area - it was fascinating.  Oh, and of course - all of the GHOSTLY claims! 

He looks quite mischievous, doesn't he?

This is one of my favorite photos of the day - I loved the big ornate mirrors and the creepy portrait paintings in this hallway!

Close-up of us in the mirror.  I'm such a nerd. ;)

The grand staircase.  I didn't know that they filmed some of the hotel scenes from Dumb & Dumber here!  The part where Jim Carrey races the girl up the stairs - yep, that's this staircase!  I knew that when they pulled up to the hotel (in the Ferrari), and all the gift boxes fall out - that was out front of the hotel!

No, those aren't evil ghost-eyes on the right side of this picture - they're just light from an old-fashioned lamp!

John is a very scary ghost.

The infamous room 217!  This is the room where Stephen King stayed, and inspired him to write "The Shining".  Apparently he was so shocked with what happened to him while staying in this room, he pumped out the book in just a week!

According to our tour guide, a lot of activity happens on this staircase.  She said that people often lose cell reception, or their phones shut off completely.  I love this photo because of all the illuminated phones!

One of my most favorite photos of the day... I love that the people staying in the room below opened their door at just the right moment...

You may have to click on the photo above for a closer look, but it's up to you to see if I caught a ghost!!

A little prank with the doorway leading to the upstairs attic.

Going down?

Another one of my favoritest pictures of the day! :)

I LOVED this old-timey elevator handle - can you imagine this being how you got from floor to floor?

Oooooo - the basement.  Spooky!

What a gorgeous hotel, huh?  This is the main lobby.  You don't see many places this grand these days, that's for sure!  So beautiful!

What a breathtaking view!!  I can see why the built the hotel here - it's so gorgeous!

Those aren't people down there (bride & groom) - they're scarecrows in pumpkin heads gettin' married.  Ha!

Look at that!  Isn't it amazing?  I think the best word to describe it is "majestic".  Really - it's such a beautiful place.

Some elk came by to say hello to us while we were leaving!  I guess that'd be "goodbye", but whatevz.  Pretty neato! 

All-in-all I would highly recommend taking a tour.  It was such a wonderful way to spend the afternoon, and the little town of Estes Park is absolutely charming!


I'm still getting caught up on all of my other pictures, and with Thanksgiving coming up, I've been a bit preoccupied!  :)  I'm out for the holiday for a good 5 days starting tomorrow (WOOHOO!!), so I hope you all have a VERY Happy Thanksgiving!! 

XXOO

An English Breakfast

I've always loved the way that the British do breakfast.  Well, not with all the meat and blood sausages (*cringe*)!  But I love tea, scones, heavy cream, baked beans and toast - YUM!  

The other day I was at Cost Plus (World Market - whatever the heck they're calling it now), and I found this amazing scone mix!  It's from a company called Sticky Fingers, and it's DIVINE.  I'm normally a make-it-from-scratch kinda girl, but I thought I'd give this a try.  

I got the Lemon Poppyseed kind (pictured), and a Cranberry one.  I brought it up to the mountains with me over the weekend, and baked the Lemon Poppyseed scones for breakfast, and served them with Honey Noosa Yoghurt (my new favorite thing).  If you don't know about Noosa, here is their website - the stuff is amazing, rich, creamy, OH so good, and probably another reason why I'm fat right now. ;) 

You just add water to the scone mix, stir, bake, and enjoy.  They came out light and fluffy and gorgeous - not dry at all!  I am officially in love with this mix.  

I made the Cranberry mix for breakfast this morning, and luckily remembered to grab another container of the Honey Noosa.  I think next time I'll get a simpler flavoring for the scones, then try out the Strawberry-Rhubarb Noosa - it sounds amazing! 

Oh - OH!!  And how could I forget??  The limited edition Nutcracker Sweet tea from Celestial Seasonings is out again!!  I LOVE this stuff - it has such a wonderful flavor to it (black tea with vanilla & spices).  I can't get enough, and it went great with my scone this morning. :) 

 

A Post-Holiday waistline.... Pre-Holidays!?

I knew my weight was getting up on the higher end lately, but I didn't realize how much until recently...

... I had a very overdue doctor's appointment, which included a visit on the scale to get my weight.  I cringed at the thought (I haven't gotten on a scale in probably a year), but stepped up, and waited for bad news. 

It wasn't just bad news.  It was the news that I've reached my highest weight so far in my 30-years of life.  Yikes.  

I've always been aware of health, and very into nutrition for healing, buying and supporting organic / local food companies, etc.  I love fruits and vegetables - LOVE them - but I also love cheese, chocolate, pizza, ice cream... the list goes on & on. 

I still jog 3x a week with Stacey, but that's just not enough considering I've probably been inhaling anywhere from 500-1,000 calories more per day than I should be!  

I know that part of the reason is because I moved in with John.  No, I don't blame him!  But I think a lot of people hit this point in life when they move in with their significant other or get married.  They kinda let themselves go a bit.  I know I sure as hell did!  I know John will love me no matter what, so why not have another helping of pasta?  Why not stuff myself silly?  

I'll tell you why.  

I don't love myself right now.  To be honest, I think it's been causing some problems in my life.  Laziness, lack of motivation, stress, tiredness - they've all been around, and I know I've been ignoring them.  I never minded a little bit of jiggle, but this has gone too far.  I don't even like catching my reflection in the mirror when I'm getting dressed.  I don't like this body. 

And no, before you say anything, it's not just about getting thin.  Yes, it would certainly be great to not have my jeans pinching, have my belts fit again, and to be able to snap my damn snowboarding pants shut.  But it's more about being healthy and vibrant, and feeling good about myself.  Feeling sexy and energetic and happy.  That comes from within, and I don't like how I feel on the inside - and I think it's been showing on the outside.

The holidays make it really difficult to eat right, and normally I just give up around this time of year, and vow to get "back on track" with my new year's resolutions (as I'm sure most people do).  But this year, I gotta start a little earlier.  There's no damn way I'm turning down pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, but I'm going to be more careful with my portions / second helpings / alcohol consumption.  It's amazing how quickly it all comes on, and how long it takes to make it go away again... 

Sigh.  Have any of you out there reached this point?  Have you ever fallen into bad habits due to a relationship change?  Any thoughts or advice? 

Pretty Pretty Pictures

Man, I'm way behind on photo editing, hence the reason why you still haven't seen my Halloween pics yet!  Work has been busy, as usual this time of year.  That's my excuse, and I'm stickin' to it! 

So I decided to post some beautiful pictures that I found on one of my favorite sites We Heart It.  

Enjoy the lovely images, and I'll be back with more to share soon! :) 

Oh - and I'm in love - LOVE - with pixie cuts right now.  Pretty face with no hair to get in the way of it - I love them!!  Ever since I started growing my hair out I've been eying cute haircut pictures like this... maybe I wasn't meant to have long hair? ;)  We'll see how long I last!

Supercut of Straight-Down shots in Movies

I had to post this video!
I just found it on a random blog, and it's probably one of the coolest things I've ever seen.  It's a mash-up of a bunch of movie scenes - but only straight down shots.  It's fun to figure out which movie each clip is from, but also really amazing how powerful those shots made that section of the film - and how they're still just as powerful out of context (and mixed up with other ones).

Check it out!  :)

Sweet Potato Tart

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to make up a recipe that actually turned out pretty darn delicious!  I just used whatever I could find in the cupboard and threw everything together.  John and I ended up eating this for dinner, but I think it'd be much better as an appetizer instead.  

Sweet Potato Tart 
Serves about 4-6 people (as an appetizer)

INGREDIENTS
2 medium-sized sweet potatoes (peeled)
1/2 a stick of butter (this can be vegan too!)
1 puff pastry sheet
Honey
Goat cheese (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Remove pastry sheet from package, and lay flat on a sheet of parchment paper (on a cookie sheet).  It helps if it's lightly floured.  With your fingers, mush the pastry from the center working in a circle until it has expanded to a slightly larger size than it used to be.  Bake according to package directions (I believe it's about 375-400 degrees for about 12 minutes).

Put a medium-sized pot of water on the stove to boil.

Meanwhile, slice up your peeled sweet potatoes about 1/4 of an inch thick, and add to the boiling water.  Boil for about 5-10 minutes, or until slightly tender. 

When you remove your puff pastry from the oven it should be just slightly browned.  Smoosh slices of butter into the pastry (it will fall a bit, but that's okay!), and layer on the drained sweet potatoes.  You may want to rinse them with cold water first since they will be hot!

Cook for about 15 minutes, then remove from the oven, and drizzle with honey.  Return to the oven for about 5 more minutes.

Remove from oven and top with crumbled goat cheese.  Slice into squares and enjoy!