Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Beer, Beer, and more Beer

There haven't been a whole lot of happening since my last post. The usual work, work, school, and work. I did go to an Art Walk in Old Town last Friday night with some friends and hit up the outlets in Loveland on Saturday. I couldn't buy anything, but it helped me form a nice birthday list. Oh and of course Easter. It was a perfect weather type of Easter Sunday. Sunny with mid-70's temperatures. Can't complain, good food, good company, and a nice nap on the hammock. Nothing too exciting in the life of me, but here are my observations for the past week and a half.

Only in Fort Collins:

- Is beer incorporated in everything. Example: they served New Belgium Beer at all the downtown art gallery showings for free. I didn't realize I was going out on the town for free on Friday.

- Another example: The 9 craft brewers in Fort Collins come together once a year in honor of American Craft Beer Week (May 14-20) and make a collaborative  beer with a 'Colorado Focus' this means local honey, hops, unmalted spelt, and even snow from the high country are included in this stuff. It will be sold at all 9 of the breweries the week of American Craft Beer Week and I can't wait to try it.

- Does a brewery own a bike that is specially designed to deliver kegs. Yes, Equinox brewery has a bike that they pedal and the keg sits in a specially made front part and that is how they deliver most kegs. of course! Why wouldn't breweries use bikes to deliver kegs!

- Can I go out for breakfast frequently and never eat at the same local breakfast place. My friend and I tried a new place off the main drag called Backporch Cafe, with a lovely cafe and the inside literally makes you feel like you just woke up and sat down at your own kitchen table. Very homey! And the food is pretty good, I wouldn't give it a 5 out of 5 for food, but for sure on atmosphere. It also doubles as a yarn/knitting store. Which is pretty awesome.

- Can I score free breakfast food everywhere. I don't know what it is, but it seems like people here are just dying to give me free breakfast food. I go to Snooze and I get a free Pineapple upside down pancake from a waitress, I go to backporch cafe, order a cinnamon roll to go for my boyfriend, and the waiter gives it to me for free. I must look like I'm starving!

Speaking of, it is dinner time.

Saturday, March 31, 2012

My Springtime Epiphany

I had an epiphany today. I went for a run and realized 2 things:

1. It is really nice to have warm weather and longer days. I got caught into a horrible routine where I would bike/run to the gym and workout there. I was reminded today how much I love to run outside. Not only does it physically make me feel good, it gives me a chance to observe, process, and think about things. Which brings me to my second realization...

2. I have not been motivated to blog these past 5 months because people have been hibernating. Just as I was hibernating in the gym, there have not been many people to watch and observe outside until these past few weeks when it has started being beautiful out.

That being said.... I have realized I need to spend a little time just for me each day. I have gotten into a horrible habit of not allowing anytime to myself and that is just not healthy. I'm hoping to get outside and have some 'me' time and in turn I will have more observations of the town and the people in it.

These past 2 weekends it has been beautiful out and I have gone hiking both weekends, which also made me realize I am a bit more out of shape than I thought. There are no excuses and it needs to stop here. I have high expectations for this summer. I have several 14ers I need to climb, camping trips to go on, not to mention one sister's graduation and another sister's wedding to attend. I need to stop using the excuse that I am too busy and find an hour a day to spend outside with myself (this does not include my bike ride to and from school and work).

So here it is, the return of my blog. I'm hoping it will keep me accountable in many ways. If you would like to help me in this process, my birthday is coming up and I really need some hiking shoes for all of my adventures. I'm accepting donations starting today.

I'm going to help myself in this process by buying more deodorant tonight since I ran out today.

To be honest, my winter months in Fort Collins were not really spent in Fort Collins. There were numerous trips back to Iowa, many ski trips to the mountains, a trip to Las Vegas, and not many observations in Fort Collins to write about.

But only in Fort Collins:

- Have I been to a winter drive-in movie thanks to my boyfriend and his creativeness.
- Do they hand out full size cinnamon rolls in the St. Patrick's Day parade
- Is there 85 degree weather in March
- Do I know it is Spring time because I am starting to see random pianos around town again
- Does every 5k or race that I run have free beer and breakfast burritos at the end.
- Will I be a bike freak and ride my bike as much as possible. Gas is too expensive right now. Think I could ride my bike back to Iowa this summer?
- Do the breweries put on caching. Not geocaching, just caching. Today while I was out running there were flocks of people caching. Literally tons of people on bikes and even more running aimlessly through town. Basically finding hidden marks that lead or point to their next spot that they have to go to. The prize at the end is free beer. Imagine that.
- Do I not dread going to work at JCPenney

Wait. I'm not sure about that last one, though it is a much nicer work environment than my previous experiences. I'm only scheduled for 4 or 5 hour shifts which makes life much more manageable and enjoyable. Exactly what a part-time job should be, a few hours for extra money. I already have a job and full time schedule at school. On that note, I'm headed there soon. Time to go shower. Happy Spring!