Biking Home (after hours)

At the beginning of the evening there's always a choice: Do I drive, or ride my bike to my destination?

Tonight I chose to ride my bike, and although it was chillier than I had thought it was going to be, I'm certainly glad I chose Option B.

You never have to find a parking space, and getting home is a breeze. I personally love the late night bike home. It's so peaceful outside. Everything is quiet, the air is cool and brisk, and it's just me and my bike. It's a beautiful time, and it usually only lasts about 5-10 minutes. Sigh, so fleeting, but truly lovely. In that short amount of time, it truly is the journey, and not the destination...

Photo Show at Cafe Europa

Last night I put up some of my photographs at a little cafe in Denver. I was disappointed that I could only hang 12 total (I had about 22 available to hang), but I could only work with what they gave me. I guess it's kind of difficult for them to figure out a way to hang things over a brick wall, so I had to make do!

Here is the artist statement I displayed with them:

I have always found something interesting about human expression and emotion. Ever since I picked up a camera back in 1997, I loved snapping photos of my friends, my family – any face or body I could capture. Although the beauty of nature is something I enjoy experiencing, I usually tend to turn my camera on my friends instead.

These are a collection of my photographs taken between 1999 and 2004. I graduated from Ohio State University with my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Photography in the spring of 2003. Since then my career has taken me down many paths other than that of photography, however my passion for the art has never dissipated. I’m hoping that by displaying these photographs again (some for the first time), I will ignite that flame and continue forward with new projects and endeavors.

All photos displayed were taken with a Minolta X-700 35mm camera. I printed each photo using traditional darkroom methods & chemicals, which are unfortunately things that are going the way of the dodo. Most of my photos are printed full-frame (some with a rustic edge where you can see the spokes of the negative), to avoid cropping as much as possible. I like to show the photo exactly the way it was snapped, so there are very few adjustments made to each print.

So if you get a chance, swing by Cafe Europa & have a look-see! And if you're really super impressed, maybe buy one? :) I could definitely use the moolah!

Deeeeelicious - Breakfast Pizza

As mentioned numerous times before, I absolutely adore the Smitten Kitchen blog! Her recipes, stories, and photographs are absolutely wonderful - and quite entertaining for anyone who loves food as much as I do.

This morning I attempted a quick version of her "Breakfast Pizza" recipe, and although mine looked NOTHING like this picture, it was still really really delicious and unique.

(photo curtosey of SmittenKitchen.com)

Here is a link to her actual recipe if you want to give it a shot: http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/03/breakfast-pizza/ And here is my adapted "quickie" personal-sized vegetarian version of her yummy breakfast pizza:

Beth's Vegetarian Breakfast Pizza
(adapted from Smittenkitchen.com recipe)

Ingredients:

- Large Tortilla (I used a 13" spinach tortilla from Whole Foods)
- fake bacon, or fake bacon bits
- 2 eggs
- goat cheese
- tomato sauce (salt-free)
- chopped chives (I just snagged some of these from our garden)
- garlic powder / salt / pepper

Directions:

Heat oven to about 350 degrees. Place tortilla on cookie sheet (be sure it's nice & flat, and has edges. My eggs ran off the sides a bit!), and evenly spread about 3 tbsp of tomato sauce on top. Carefully crack the two eggs on top, and season with garlic powder, salt & pepper (not too much salt though, as the "bacon" will be salty!). Pop the pizza into the oven.

After about 5-8 minutes the eggs will be partly cooked. Remove from oven & sprinkle with goat cheese, then return to the oven until fully cooked (about another 5-8 minutes).

Remove pizza from oven, and sprinkle with the chopped fake bacon or fake bacon bits, as well as the chives.

I folded mine in half, then cut it in half with a knife short ways so that it was easier to eat - almost more like a breakfast quesadilla really!

It wasn't too salty, but also a little bit sweet - and I loved the texture of the eggs cooked that way. It seriously took me only about 15 minutes total to make - super easy, and really really yummy. Thanks to Smitten Kitchen for the awesome recipe idea - I might just make it again tomorrow morning!

Another Beautiful Blog Discovery!

Sigh - I love finding new amazing bloggers! My favorite ones tend to lean towards biking, fashion, and food (big surprise there)....

I just randomly came across The Freelancer's Fashionblog today, and totally fell in love with her pin-up girl style, and her AMAZING photos! She's cute, stylish and fun, and I just adore the posts that I've read so far.

Here is a photo of her that I would absolutely love to recreate someday: So go check her out - here is the link: http://freelancersfashion.blogspot.com/

(photo courtesy of the Freelancer's Fashionblog)

A Perfect Morning

One of my favorite things to do in the morning (when I have time to dilly-dally) is to stand out on my modest little balcony, enjoy the warm rising sun, look out at the amazing view of the mountains, and spy on my neighbors.

Haha! Okay, I don't really spy on them, but I do have a look-see if they're out in the yards, or walking their dogs. Nothing creepy with binoculars or anything.

I'm in love with this white & green mug too. I have an issue with buying mugs - I love finding them at the thrift store (where I found this one), and collecting them. This one is the perfect size, for drinks or soup, and something about the bright green interior makes me happy.

Don't tell my landlord, but I think I'm paying WAY less than I should for a beautiful view like this. Golly, I love living in Denver!

Thai Dinner with Daddy

My dad had a little break in his busy schedule this evening to take me out to dinner at a Thai restaurant called "Spicy Basil" on South Broadway. It has always been one of my favorite places for it's delicious Thai Fusion menu, and it's ridiculously large portion sizes (that usually get me 2 meals for the price of one)!

I usually get the Tofu Pineapple Curry as it's drowning in that wonderful coconutty sauce, but tonight I dared to get the Sesame Scallops. They were an awesome bet, and absolutely scrumptious.

I filled my daddy-o in on my derby stuff, and he filled me in on his work stuff. The usual father/daughter conversation! :)

Oh, my aching backside...

Last night we had another "Derby Days" session, as tryouts for the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls are a mere 3 weeks away.

It was one of our most challenging training sessions yet, as we focused a lot on form (crossovers around the track), falling correctly (single knee falls, double knee falls, full body falls), and plow stops (where you slide your legs out in a V-shape and press your skates out to stop). We also really tried to keep in the low squat position, as that's the basic stance that we'll be in during a game.

I borrowed this photo from galieshinie's photostream on Flickr, as it illustrates the crouched stance pretty darn well.

And since I'm a lazy butt and have only been using these Derby Days as my workouts - I am seriously hurtin' today! I'm happy that I'm sore in all the right places (the back of my legs, and my butt), as I would certainly love to tone up that area. Only problem is I'm walking like I just got off a horse, and every time I go to the bathroom I wince when I have to get up! Eh, it'll be worth the temporary pain....eventually....

... I'd better start doing squats more regularly!

Book Club Brunch at Root Down

This morning we had our monthly book club meeting at a wonderful restaurant called "Root Down" in the Highlands (just North West of Denver). We usually do a potluck, where everyone brings a dish to share - but this time we did something a little different & went out! No dishes to clean, eh?

Root Down is a sustainable restaurant - they are 100% wind powered, they have a rooftop garden where they grow their own herbs & vegetables, um.... and a bunch of other stuff that you can read about on their website: http://www.rootdowndenver.com/

Oh, and you know what? The food was DELICIOUS!

The book we read was "The Unit" by Ninni Holmqvist - a Swedish author. It was a very interesting critique on what is important in life, and I liked it a lot. The story follows Dorritt - a 40-something year-old woman who hasn't had any children, and therefore gets placed into The Unit - a place where people are used as human test subjects, experimented on, and where they donate their organs to people on the outside. They get free gourmet meals, workout facilities, an indoor garden, everything they could ever want - but as her friend appropriately puts it, it's still a "luxury slaughterhouse". We had some really interesting discussions about it!

The next book we'll be reading is "UnSweetined" - by the girl who was in Full House (Jody Sweetin), and her overcoming her drug addictions. It should be interesting - it's certainly a topic we haven't tackled before!

As far as brunch goes, I had the Root Down Benedict (as did my mom), and it was amazingly delicious. I can't remember the last time I had a properly poached egg - and these were done perfectly. We had butter biscuits too, with real butter and fig spread. They were melt-in-your mouth good... and the coffee was perfectly brewed, rich, and yummy.

It was a wonderful way to start the weekend!

Jump-Roping Crazy Awesome

This has to be one of the coolest videos I've seen in a while! What an awesome way to boost confidence in young girls. And to stay pretty darn FIT too! Wowza!

Enjoy the video - it's totally worth watching the whole way through. I love the guys' reactions too (it was performed at halftime at a Army VS Navy basketball game)!

"Best Compliments Ever"

After the silly boy thing that happened last night, I decided that I needed a bit of a pick-me-up for my soul - so I turned to my trusty "Best Compliments Ever" sheet.

I started copy & pasting nice things that my friends and/or random people said about me into a Word document about a year ago. It may sound egotistical, but I've found that I only open it up when I am in desperate need to be reminded that I'm a pretty rad chick, and that I am surrounded by love every day.

You should totally start one of your own! Everyone needs a lift to their spirits ever now and then, and this silly little Word document always manages to warm my heart.

Special thanks to Wes, Nathaniel, Nikki P, Nicole, Helen R, Leigh G, Grimes, my mom, Deb, and Phil O - whose compliments all made the list. Thank you guys.