Day 60

That's right. J and I have been officially unemployed for 60 days.

How does it feel?, you may wonder. That would be so nice., you may think.

Contrary to what I thought at Day 1, the time has not been all relaxation. Most of the time when I otherwise should have been "relaxing," I usually felt a sense of anxiety. Not at first, but gradually as the days went on, there was a definite sense that I should be doing something.

Some people are great at keeping themselves busy... One lesson this 60 days has taught me is that I am not (great at keeping myself busy). By busy, I mean productive. Sure, I finished about 7, 8, 9 seasons of various TV shows (who's counting?). Sure, I got to know our neighborhood parks, grocery stores, and thrift shops. Sure, I made delicious meals from Gwyneth's new book. Other than those tiddlywinks, I was pretty much idle.

I did find a great lamp at a thrift store... $10! The column is Dresden crystal, from West Germany. I don't think it's anything super rare or expensive, but I thought the crystal was beautiful. I can't find much information about it. We have mostly "silver"/stainless steel hardware in our house, so I'm thinking of getting a new base and "lamp kit" to match. What do you guys think? Currently, the hardware is brass. I lifted this picture off Etsy, and mine didn't come with a lampshade. Also taking suggestions on that!

So anyway - back to what I was saying. The point I was trying to get at is that two months off may sounds verrry appealing, but all in all, unless you have some major vacation planned - two months off is a LOT of time to do nothing. And starting tomorrow - my nothing time is o-v-e-r. I start my job!

I am taking the bus in - yea public transportation! I will have a full day of introductions and training and security badge pictures. A wonderful end to my last two months of nothing.

I'll remind myself to read this post when I'm about six months into it, during month- or quarter- or whatever-end close - slaving away over a sub-ledger on a Saturday at 4:00pm.

Wish me luck!

Sunday Sunday

Sundays are quickly becoming my favorite day of the week. J and I get up whenever we like, get dressed in our Sunday finest (shorts and a T-shirt), and walk two blocks to the neighborhood farmer's market.

 

This morning, we picked up broccoli, two huge ears of corn, tomatoes, onions, an Italian thin skin pepper (say wha?), three sweet peppers (I don't remember what kind), and a jalepeno... all organic and locally grown, and all for $15. J still thinks it's a little steep, but it's all I can do not to grab every colorful thing in sight.

 

We got coffee before we walked around. Then we got more coffee before we left.

 

 

We were certainly feeling self-indulgent this morning, courtesy of mild hangovers from yesterday's happy hour at the Irish Snug. Before we left, we picked up a little brunch. A cinnamon pretzel for Justin, and a Waffencheese for me.

 

I hope I'm not rubbing it in your face... Can you see why Sundays are growing on us? The farmer's market is open until October 27, so if you want to get a visit in, book your flights between 10/15 and 10/27! We're taking any and all visitors!!

In OTHER news - for our visitors - you will have an amazing couch to lounge/snooze/live on throughout your stay. J and I pulled the trigger on this beauty:

 

Crate and Barrel's Lounge Sofa. We had some gift cards from the wedding and it was on sale - 15% off. Plus our 10% off completion card, for a total of 25% off the normal price. All in all, we couldn't say no, and we've officially made our first big furniture purchase EVER, for either of us. We can't wait to get it in our living room and LOUNGE for hours. In case you didn't look it up, it's 93" long by 46" wide. Insane. We're going to be those people who have to look for a place based on whether their sofa will fit in the elevator/through the doorway/in the living room. Oh well, it will be worth it.

 

Up next on the Sunday menu is Stage 7 of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. The route runs right by our apartment, and we're looking forward to catching some of the action.

 

I start my job on Wednesday, so I'll be enjoying my last days as an unemployed bum this week... but I am so glad that's over with! More on that at a later date. Sayonara!

 

Home is where the IKEA is

From 9:14am - 1:52pm yesterday, J and I trolled IKEA ISO the perfect furniture for our new apartment. After much debate, we settled on a bed, desk, console table, and various other small apartment accoutrements.

From 4:02pm - 12:53am, J and I put together our IKEA purchases. Holy hand blister. I think their screws are made of titanium. We ruined 2.5 Phillips-head screwdrivers, and still ended up not being able to screw everything in. While we were in IKEA, J suggested purchasing a drill, to which I replied, "Psh. You can put together any of this stuff by hand." While that may be true (barely), my thumbs and forefingers are numb this morning, and we both literally have blisters in the middle of our hand from so much screwing. And not the good kind.

The glory is, now we have a fabulous new bed, stainless steel desk, and a rather industrial "console table" that looks like it belongs in a garage with windshield wiper fluid and dog food stored on its shelves. Guess who said this: "Hey, it saved us 60 bucks." It will do...

Our IKEA goodies...

 

Our bed slats, which serve in place of the boxspring. Of course we saved the most difficult piece for last, and literally could not go to sleep until these were done.

 

Our put together goodies: Drawers, storage boxes, our lovely console table, our desk, and our bed... isn't she a beaut?

 
 

 Then I made some drunk dinner... it was delicious and easy. A "frittata" of sorts, with potatoes, spinach, onions, eggs... all topped with parmesan cheese. I was most impressed that the eggs didn't stick to our new stainless steel pan! Woohoo!!!

Annnnd, last but not least. One of the things I love about Denver so far is our proximity to fresh, local, organic produce. Every Sunday, there is a farmers' market two blocks from our apartment, and I get to load up. This is also from our local Sprouts, a "healthy, natural, and organic grocery store."

Now the challenge is to figure out the best way to use all of this!



Staying Busy and Going Stir Crazy

Well... we've made it over two weeks in Denver and all is well. We're settling into our new place. We're in the process of buying our very first piece of furniture as ADULTS! A new couch. I am so excited. We have gift cards to Crate and Barrel from the wedding and have a few favorites. The big discussion right now is whether to go with a sleeper sofa or a regular couch and an air mattress. Prices are about the same... Thoughts?!

Our "quaint" kitchen. It's been plenty of room for us, and it's MUCH easier to keep clean than Ledgewood was. In fact, the whole place is easier to keep clean, which is nice.

 

Annnd the view from our balcony. Not much to look at, I know. Those condos in the picture are much nicer than ours, and sell for arrrrround half a mil. We pat ourselves on the back for our fabulous choice in location!

So that's our place. I know three pictures don't give enough information, but you'll just have to come visit and see for yourself.

J and I made a deal that we'd try one new thing/place/bar per week, minimum. Last week, we hit up happy hour at The Goosetown Tavern. It was pretty cool, a little "rustic." (How does one describe a bar that's clearly been around a while and clearly seen its share of good times?) It was somewhat dead, but I think it was 4:00 on a Tuesday, so no shocker there. Such is life of the unemployed. Next on my Goosetown list is trivia on a Sunday. Who's comin' with me?!

We had a few beers there and moved on - which, by the way, Denver is a beer town... at every place we've been so far, there is always a beer we haven't tried on tap and chances are the beer is from a local brewery. Also, it only takes a couple beers to get a pretty good buzz going because of 1) the quality and 2) the altitude. So far, so good.

After Goosetown, we headed to happy hour at R Bar (I can't find a website, weird). We had more beer, and some beef tenderloin bruschetta. Justin was a happy man.

Saturday night, Sarah (a friend from the Carolinas) invited me to a girls night. Six of us met for cocktails, and then walked to West End Tavern. Along with some brews, I got a crab cake and french fries with basil ranch - delicious! After that, we went back to the house and I proceeded to down a sixer, attempt to learn the electric slide for the 1,000th time, and stay up til 3am. Sunday was no fun... and I still don't know how to do the electric slide.

Since this post is already too long, I'll post about this week soon. In the meantime, I am going to go drown myself in New Girl Season 2 on Hulu. Thanks, Taylors!

WE MADE IT

Can you believe it? We are officially in Denver. We made it. I am still trying to get my head around it myself.

Let me tell ya, moving halfway across America is no Sunday brunch. We quit our jobs, got rid of 2/3 of our belongings, vagabond'd it from household to household for a month (9 times, to be exact), and drove across seven states to make it here.

The Saturday prior to our departure, we loaded the remaining 1/3 of our worldly possessions in a 5'x8' U-Haul trailer. I told J that if it didn't fit into the trailer, then I didn't want it. After 4 hours, we literally could not fit another thing in there. Dad would be proud. Crammed with our life from front to back, floor to ceiling, the U-Haul was our idea of perfect packing (creating the puzzle is one of my favorite parts). We high-fived and got the hell out of that hot, God-forsaken storage facility.

After about a million goodbyes during July, we said our last at the P's house on Sunday morning. I hugged baby S the tightest. That little guy is almost enough to make me want one of my own. Almost, I said. 

When we arrived in Nashville on Sunday, I told J that the perfect destination would have outdoor seating and allow dogs, would be playing the US Men's Soccer game, and would be within walking distance to our hotel. Wouldn't you know we found a place that met all three marks, AND the bar just so happened to be one of the only dedicated soccer bars in Nashville!! Like I told J, I totally planned that. And they won. All a part of the plan.

He drove the rest of the way through KY, IL, MO, KS, CO, with a night in Blue Springs, MO to break up the drive. Look that shiz up. J is a champ. Betty II did amazing as well, and we arrived with plenty of time to sign our life away to the apartment complex. 720 sq ft of freshly painted, newly carpeted genericism. I'm not complaining, but if you know J and myself, you know we're anything but generic.

The apartment's appeal comes mainly from the fact that it's one block from the largest park in Denver. It's also one block (in two directions) from public transportation, within biking distance to downtown, and is close to a grocery store. We're pretty happy with it, and I cannot imagine moving again in 9 months, which is what we're currently scheduled to do. I think that the Sun is finally feeling a little less confused and anxious, and today we celebrated her 4th birthday.

I'll post pictures soon.