Idling

As of today, I have officially lived in Colorado for seven weeks. I've become nice and settled in at the Wicklers, spent lots of quality time with my cousins, hunted some bucks in Morrison, dined in Golden, visited the Granquists in Evergreen, took to the slopes at Winter Park, threw one helluva Superbowl party, ate at Sexy Pizza, shoveled a deck, visited the Beauty Bar, looked at apartments in Capitol Hill, took Gordon on a muddy walk, revisited 1999 while seeing the Get Up Kids where I found out mosh pits still exist, spent a few happy hours at Tavern Uptown, saw George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic with old SK+G friends, played more than a few games of Cranium and have had a few bottles of wine in between.

It's good. I am happy. I know that moving here was the best thing I could have done for myself at 27 because although it feels like I am idling here now as I wait to land that dream job, I was really idling in Vegas.

But homesickness has finally started to set in. I cried for Vegas for the first time this week. It was during a drive home up 285, I had spent the afternoon at Linhart PR's Inside Scoop, met a new friend in Boulder for drinks and stopped to pick up Girl Scout Cookies from Hailey. And all of a sudden, it hit me. I missed home.

I think the shine of being out of work has warn off. I was the girl who was always going 90 miles a minute in Vegas. If you wanted to grab lunch, we had to plan it for two weeks in advance. I was always taking on too much at once and I longed for days where I would just lay around all day catching up with the Kardashians. Now, those days are called Mondays.

I am ready to work. Come to find out, early retirement is not for me. I'm hungry to write some releases, pitch some stories and tweet for someone other than myself. I am ready to get up every morning early enough to catch the Matt and Meredith portion of the Today Show instead of Kathy Lee and Hoda (although I have been enjoying that wacky pair). I want to put on make-up and dress pants and walk in to an office. I want to find that company I want to give another five years (plus) of my life to. I want to make friends over after work drinks.

But until that phone call comes, it'll be champagne Mondays, episodes of Ellen and days with the dogs between sending out applications and cover letters.

Oh, and a trip home.

Vegas, I'll be there March 2 - 8. I cannot wait to reunite with your people, your lights and your restaurants.

See you soon.

Game Face 2011

When I first arrived to live with The Wicklers, I told them that we should throw a Super Bowl Party. And by throw a Super Bowl Party, I meant have us, and Michael, watch the game while eating lots of snacks and maybe even incorporating a few drinking games in to the event. This, of course, was also just an excuse to wear my giant Giants jersey and draw lines on my face.

So as Game Day greeted us with another snow day, Linz and I headed across the mountain to pick up Michael and some necessary supplies. Josh was in charge of snacks and beer. We were in charge of face paint. And as expected, that ended up being the highlight of the party, as the photos show.

Josh and myself had an intense bet riding on the outcome of the game and I now owe him $3.50. The drinking games consisted of having to finish your beer if the enemy scored a touchdown, one drink for car commercials (a lot of those), two drinks for beer commercials. Guess what the commercial is about before given away, you get to order a friend to take x amount of drinks. As you can imagine, the face painting continued to get a little more creative throughout the game/night. My personal favorite ended up being Josh in the mouse ears.

The official after party consisted of more game playing with Smart Ass and Cranium on the table. And, of course, some friendly competition.

We're still enjoying the memories of Sunday as the paint was not as "washable" as the box claimed it to be so I got to go to the gym yesterday with a faint pink heart on my cheek.

The party was so much fun, we have decided to make GAME FACE a tradition. Although I can imagine that another face painting party is just around the corner....

Any design suggestions?

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What Saturdays Look Like Now

Have you guys seen my new backyard?

For the past few weeks, Cousin Andy and I have been planning on going up to ski/ride. But now that I actually get to PICK AND CHOOSE my days - I shoot for ideal (aka spring-like) conditions. The first weekend I was sick so that was a no-go, the second weekend was cold and windy so that was a definite no-go but this weekend....38 and sunny. Sign me up. We're going riding, kids.

I met eager-beaver Andy at 7 a.m. in Evergreen so we could ride together up to Winter Park. He was a peach (as always) and had picked up Einstein bagels and coffee for us and we then took one of the prettiest drives of my life up the mountain.

Come to find out, Winter Park is a little more skier friendly than it is snowboarder. Andy made the switch back to skiing last Winter and his friend had done the same, and I realize that it's easy to forget how difficult it is to go DIAGONAL across a mountain on a board rather than with skis and poles. I'd been considering making the switch myself as I skied from age 3-18 before making the trendy switch to a board and have never been as strong on a board as I was on a pair of skis. I was a mogul maniac back in the day. Now, I won't go near those things with a 10 foot pole (or board). I figure sometime this season, I'll get back on a pair of skis to see how it goes.

But I digress, after sharing my feelings of frustration with Andy, we made a few changes in our trails and I ended up having a fantastic day of riding. The sun was shining, I only ate it twice getting off the lifts, and according to Andy's watch calculations, we got over 9 miles taken care of that day. Not to mention the breathtaking views. Winter Park gets you above tree-line, providing magnificent views like this...

A little Kanye in my ears, a little Katie on a board, and a whole 'lotta mountain made for one hell of a Saturday morning.

What Mondays Look Like Now

So I am on the job hunt, I really am. But there is only so much a girl can do. So, the rest is left to entertainment.

I got a few really great going away gifts before I left Vegas. One was an oven-mit/ice scrapper hybrid from Xazmin, along with a bottle of Kate Spade perfume that is appropriately named Sparkle and reads "She had a cocktail in her hand and confetti in her hair." Another was a FABULOUS gold sparkle iPhone case from Arlene that screams a rich combination of Katie + Vegas, and one that I get compliments (really more like a "wow, that's fancy?") on all the time.

But, no gift could top what my PY, Audrey, gave to me. Along with a heartfelt note that ended with "Runaway as fast as you can....." came a tutu and ballerina slippers. If you know me, with my love of Kanye West and my belief in the ballerina comeback....you know that this gift was perfection.

Linzi happens to not have class on Mondays. So, this is what last Monday looked like...

Enjoying champagne cocktails in a tutu with pearls with a B.F.F. by my side, I am here to tell you, kids....dreams do come true.