bits of my weekend: august 13, 2012

{taking a moment to take in the view, at isabelle lake, colorado}

It was a very ‘Colorado’ weekend, if there ever was such a thing.  With a few busy weekends of travel lined up in front of us, it was the perfect chunk of time spent in and around Boulder meeting new friends, eating new foods, and exploring new-to-us parts of this state that lie only a short drive from our front door.

We kicked the weekend off Friday by meeting some friends for fresh lime margaritas and delicious hand-crafted tacos at one of our favorite new spots downtown, T/ACO.  After finally meeting my friend Kristen’s new baby for the first time (and painting her adorable three-year-old daughter’s fingernails in sparkly pink while she sipped a virgin kiddie marg – a luxurious Mexican Mani, if you will), I stopped over for a much overdue couple of hours chit-chatting with some of the lovely ladies who I work with at Aion.  After trying to cement a date on the calendar for what felt like months, our schedules finally aligned, and it was so nice to spend some downtime with a few of the girls sans chef coat and bun (and…wearing footwear other than Danskos!).  We sipped on a few fancy cocktails at The Bitter Bar, protested the falling raindrops by refusing to move off the patio, and had a chance to laugh and catch up outside the confines of a hot kitchen.

On Saturday, the morning flew by as we prepared to attend a farm dinner hosted by Blackbelly Catering and Isabelle Farm.  I’ve got a lot to say about this fantastic evening – coming in another post – but I will say this: this evening spent eating the food lovingly prepared by a fantastic chef in a farm overlooking the Rockies was one of the best evenings we’d had in a long while.  The night went off without a hitch, and besides a stray thunderstorm that blew right over our heads (and gave an otherwise perfect evening some excitement), James and I were treated to one of the best meals and experiences we’d both had in a long while.

Our feet hit the ground long before our alarm was slated to buzz off on Sunday, as the whole family was ripe with excitement over a planned trek up for a hike near Brainard Lake, about a forty-five-minute drive West of Boulder.  We rallied our friends Steve and Lisa, and packed up the car with one Pug and one Maltese-houseguest named Chibi, along with a few sandwiches, camel backs, and extra layers, before heading off early for a day in the mountains.  The drive alone to Brainard is fun; you’re sent twisting and turning around hairpin corners and switchback turns, and you can feel an immediate rise in elevation as you cruise through the small neighboring town of Nederland.  We parked the car near the trailhead and set off on a five-hour excursion, hiking in just over two miles in to reach both Isabelle and Long Lake.  There was a noticeable chill in the air that came with the 5,000 mile increase in elevation (Boulder clocks in at around 5,300, and the lake region reaches just over 10,000), and it felt so good to feel the thinned out air tussle my hair and necessitate a long sleeve top.  The air was permeated with an earthy and rich scent, and the tops of the thick green trees shrouded each trail with a welcomed duskiness and sense of security.  The lakes were stunning; each was a dark, navy blue, and surrounded by the beginnings of craggy mountains, which afforded us gorgeous reflections and the echos of wild animals.  We lounged lakeside and enjoyed lunch, and the boys were even daring enough to take a dip — and were surprisingly followed by two overly enthusiastic small dogs (I think the four-pound Maltese regretted her decision most of all).  There were technicolor mushrooms, barking pikas, and even a sighting of a massive bull moose, with a rack of antlers perched proudly atop his stocky head.

We drove back to Boulder, happy but tired, for a barbeque at our house and a bit of last minute weekending.  We grilled up steak kabobs, and had roasted purple potatoes and a sunny salad of bright tomatoes and fresh burrata cheese on the side.  The sunny skies here are starting to carry the slightest bit chill on the back of the winds, and the daily lightning storms that seem to kick up with the mercury soars over 100F have begun to dissipate.  It’s most certainly Summertime still, but very much starting to feel as if we are on the back end of things, in the most delightful way.

{a timeout for salmon salad + vogue}

{crisp mountain air}

{morning noodle}

{hiking back up around long lake}

{some refreshment + afternoon inspiration from a bottle of honest tea}

{a cute + moppy little houseguest and winnie-wrestle-mate, for the week}

{lunch: balsamic tofu, red grapes, scallions, edamame, gorgonzola}

{a treat for dessert}

{hiking in the sunshine}

{brilliant mushrooms, which i was informed are called “angel’s of death”}

{a secret spot to chill}

{spotted: one very large moose with one very large rack}

{following the leader}

{saturday night sky out at isabelle farm}

{larkburger.}

{our kale, that is still bursting with new growth every day}

{vintage winnie, a throwback thursday find}

{fresh lime marg for a friday}

{carnitas at t/aco}

{sunday night kabobs}