Blogging Again

I should start blogging again, I think... 

I will just keep it between me and the internet for a little bit to see if I can keep it up... Then I will advertise if successful.

Telluride Bluegrass 2011

My roommates and I went to Colorado to experience the Telluride Bluegrass Festival.  I had been wanting to go for a while, since I heard about it the first time I was living in Colorado.  This year, one of my favorite bands, The Decemberists, were there along with 4 days worth of incredible acts; we decided to pack up and make the trek!  

We drove from Vermont and took all the choicest toll roads along the way.  Faye wanted to amp up the epic story quotient so left her wallet on top of the car in Cleveland (we think).  We ate at roadside style restaurants in order to supplement our diet of homemade/Fayemade cookies, trail mix and gummies.  We sampled gasoline in many states.  We heard all the podcasts.  In the final stretch, we came through the high plains and started to wonder if the topography we were expecting would really be there in Telluride.

Thankfully, it was.  We celebrated our arrival with locally made ice cream then beers at what would become our bar for the long weekend.  I, of course, had a 90 Shilling.  Finally!

Our first morning, we didn't quite know what to expect, but we were excited and welcomed the day Colorado style.

Thursday's lineup featured one of Abby and Faye's favorite bands, The Head and the Heart, and they played a really nice show.  I thought it was better than when we saw them here in Burlington.  They were so good, I even survived the crazy sunshine... or maybe it was the 4 applications of sunscreen and ridiculous hat...

Ghosts, The Head and the Heart

Later that night, Abby and I were looking mischievous...

while Faye was looking more than adorable :)

On Friday, I made one of my favorite musical discoveries of the weekend: Michael Daves.  He and Chris Thile have an amazing duet act going, and it's hard to imagine anything better in the whole universe!

Chris here on the right, Michael on the left.  Awesome everywhere.

From there, I am not exactly sure how things went, because there was a lot of dust in the air that was making my eyeballs go crazy.  I went "home" to the tent to close my eyes and wish for more toughness.  At least it was a pretty walk.

So, after Friday comes Saturday, which was the BIG EXCITING LINEUP DAY!  Truly virtuosic incredibleness from every angle!!  Tim O'Brien was as fantastic as I expected and even played an electronic keyboard shirt.

This song was my favorite from the stuff that I hadn't heard before.

Then, Yonder Mountain String Band!  Later, The Decemberists!  They were so good, but I missed Jenny.  Colin had a big beard and seemed to be having a really fun time with the crowd instead of being super cool like he was in Montreal (even though I did like that set better).  We got to be up nice and close to the stage, in a press of people.  People who were kicking up dirt.  I was suffering and cried my face off through the whole show, then went to the med tent to get my eyes washed out afterward.  It was still worth it!  

I'm not so clear on how the next act, Sam Bush Band, was because I was having a pretty rough time of things, but I was recovered and the dust settled a bit for Old Crow Medicine Show.  They rocked my socks off!!  (Thankfully not really since it was COLD).

Watching Old Crow just made ya do this:

By Sunday we were really tired, and couldn't muster to get to the morning shows.  We set our sights on Punch Brothers and did other things in the meantime.  I went into town and got and amazing tea from The Steaming Bean which had become one of my favorite Telluride places over the course of the weekend.  The have unique blends of tea (I got some souvenirs) and play really good music, as well as hosting some live bands, though I didn't get to see any of that.  Plus, the baristas just seem SO COOL and they know how to make a tea latte!!  Indeed, diamonds in the rough.  I walked around town, chatted with our favorite pharmacist/local who we had met earlier at the bar, and ended up at a coffee cart that had ice cream.  Fig ricotta, very well done :)  Then, I met up with the ladies and we all rode the gondola together before buying winter hats because I had learned in my wanderings that the weather forecast included snow 0_0.

As expected, the Punch Brothers were fantastic!  All their material is delightful, and as we had experienced before, they picked the perfect songs to cover.  They gave us everything we could ever want (that is possible to give from afar).

Then it started to get COLD and rain.  We steeled ourselves in order to see Mumford and Sons, who we'd heard really good things about.  I'm happy to report that the rumors were true.  I am now a fan... even though their keyboardist looked like an overenthusiastic hair model audition attendee.

The rest of Sunday is less clear, and the next thing you know, we're waking up in the snow and driving home!

Many healthful meals were had along the way...

And now were back home in the Cocoon of Coolness, drying out our tents and finding the first tomato of the garden!

finally using all that big living room space! 

(Green Zebra, I'm so excited!)

Not Dead

Hi Everyone,
Good news: I am not dead.  I have just not been in the best frame of mind for blogging.  I will try to be better about it.

Happenings:
I am officially a resident of Vermont now.  Why?  My Oregon tags expired, so I thought I would finally get around to not breaking the law anymore.  For the first time in my life (which has included many license plates (MI, ID, CO, OR, VT), mine spells a word.  I am fancy now.  Vermont has really nice plates; they are plain green with white letters.  I have decided that I'm not a huge fan of the picture kind.

I have some knitting to post about, but no pictures yet.  Abby has some new handwarmers with a fancy cable.  There is almost a stuffed bear for Sean.  I am also making a simple maize and blue scarf, probably for me.

Unfortunately, I have not been taking many pictures of my cooking.  What a waste of the brilliant lighting in my kitchen, eh?  Rest assured, though, that I have been cooking a lot.  I have been really excited about the transition to winter foods.  So much soup.  So much roasting.  I am hanging tight to the last of brussels sprout season.

I'm going to be doing a bit of travel for the holiday season.  On Thursday, I will be off to Portland for a week.  Sometime between the end of classes and Christmas travels, I think there will be a girls-only trip to Montreal.  For Christmas, I will be driving back to Michigan to see everyone and do up the holiday home style.

Finally, I have some pictures.  My hip is cooperating with me a lot more now, so at long last, I have done a hike in Vermont!  Abby and I had a bit of a time getting to the trailhead, which included being locked out of the car by the dogs leading to harassment by the locals, but we eventually made our way to Mt.  Mansfield.  "But, Ashleigh," you say, "isn't that the highest peak in Vermont?"  Why, yes, it is.  We did not summit, but we had some great views and got to slip and slide around in the mud-slush in fantastic weather.  Good times were had by all.

We actually made it to the trailhead.  This was by far the thing we had the most trouble with.

Glamour shot at our turnaround point.

Clover rescuing me.

On the way down in the sunset.

Falltime

It is feeling quite fall-like around here.  Lots of changes.  The weather seems to have turned, school has started, I've moved, and I drank the season's first cup of hot chocolate.  I am even coming down with a cold.  Pretty thorough.  I am super busy now, and spending a lot of time on campus and at the house unpacking.  Check out some of my progress...

I got a new climber for the kitties.  It seems to be a hit.

I've been working on organizing.  Here, I have wound all the leftover yarn from previous projects into new center-pull balls.  Now I just have to figure out what to make out of it...

I'm also trying to teach the dog some tricks.  If that works, there will be a video, but it will likely be a long time coming.

A Long Time Coming

I wasn't sure I would ever be able to post these, but here are the Battlestar Galactica Socks!!!

Losing Track

Well, I would like to give you more detailed accounts of what I have been up to since my last posting, but I have lost track!  I have been bopping around trying to see everyone as much as possible and doing a pretty good job of it, actually.  I have been checking eateries off the list and seeing the sights.  Life is good.

I went everywhere on my first list!  And almost everywhere on my second list!  That was a lot of good eating!  Is it bad that I can't remember the days, but I can remember the eating?

Here is my battle outfit for checking things off lists

Sean and I really got down to business when it comes to checking places off:
-Pad Thai kitchen.  I got pad thai; they named this place as they did for a reason.  Mmm...  Sean got massaman curry, a standby.  Root beers all around, of course, in the classic Thai tradition.
-Rice Junkies.  I got Bibimbap, not my finest ordering.  Sean got teriyaki chicken.
-Cartopia.  We were crushed to learn that the crepe place was out of ice cream and could not make their avante guarde milkshakes, which I love.  But, the crepes were yummy :)  I got prosciutto, fig, chèvre, honey (would be good with pepper, too, I think).  Sean got something with Nutella, so bleck - I don't remember the details.
-Voodoo Doughnut.  I got the one shaped like a voodoo doll getting stabbed and a Mexican hot chocolate one, spicy!  I'm not sure what Sean got because I was overwhelmed trying to make a decision when he ordered.  Then we went on a milk scavenger hunt (sort of) involving a stolen key!  We succeeded and ate doughnuts with milk while sitting on top of a deserted parking garage and looking down on the middle-of-the-night downtown city streets.  Lovely!
-Fat Straw.  Bubble tea!  I got taro; he got banana (insane, right?).  We played chess.  I lost.  It was pathetic.
-Nick's Coney Island - Again.  We ogled pretty cars, did intensive people watching and ate burgers :)  It was just the pick me up Sean needed after unexpectedly departing from his consciousness earlier in the day.

 A very happy discovery on the list was Jade in Sellwood.  I went there with Miles and it was AMAZING.  I was filled with joy at the food (and being in Sellwood).  We had a very hard time choosing what to order because everything sounded fantastic.

I had green papaya salad with shrimp and a young coconut to drink/eat as appetizer/dessert.  

 He had poached chicken with ginger dipping sauce.

Kyle and I also checked a bunch of places off the list - even leaving time to stop and smell the roses. 

-The Blue Nile Cafe.  We shared a vegetarian combo and a regular combo.  Sooo delicious.  I think combo/sampler style eating may be my favorite method.  

-Tao of Tea.  We went to the tea shop portion and I got some new things to try: matcha and rose tuocha.

-Tea Chai Té.  We made it here *just* before closing in the midst of a full Saturday.  I got a white tea with chrysanthemum and rose.  Kyle got a rather spicy chai masala.

Bonus items: Staccato Gelato!  Saburos! Thai Derm!  Noodles and Co (I know it's fast food, but I love it anyway)!  ShaSha at McCormick's!

Okay, now for some pics of us playing in Portland on Saturday!

 

This busker was taking song topic requests and writing on the fly.  I asked for honeybees.  One of the verses was about environmental indicators.  Dead on, eh!?

 The snap peas were bigger in Oregon!

Why is this bench so low to the ground?  It fascinated me.

(It got higher at the other end, but still!)

Yarn graffiti bike rack!  I approve.

Mingling PNW

Two more days of mingling in the pacific northwest!  What a delightful Monday and Tuesday pairing.

Monday, I thought it might be a good idea to get some work done, so I made the short trip to Ava's in Beaverton.  Ava's is remarkable because it is open 24 hours, which is especially rare in Portland.  I, however, was there for your standard sort of timeframe, including lunch.  I had a yummy mozzarella sandwich with pesto and veggies and a cup of jasmine pearls tea.  Check it out!

and that pickle was better than it looks

After a few hours at Ava's it was time to say hello to my good pal Jubal!  At Hopworks!  Neither of them disappointed.  Jubal still gives some of the best hugs, makes me laugh, gives lots of mischievous looks, and has a badical accent.  Hopworks still has really good food and beer.  I had a burger with blue cheese and some fries plus a pint of a beer whose name I can't remember.  All was delicious, AND that checks one more restaurant off my list of places to visit!

Post-dinner, Kyle and I went to the waterfront and walked the Eastbank Esplanade across the river to downtown and Backspace, where I looked at locally made art and got a delicious Tao of Tea black mango iced tea.

sunsety, bridgy, Portland

When we got back to the apartment, we watched a well-made, interesting, not-too-depressing documentary: Beer Wars.  It tells the classic tale of the struggle of the little guy (small-scale local or regional brewers) versus the big guy(s).  Plus beer history and wacky beer personalities!

On Tuesday, Kyle and I took the MAX downtown to go have lunch at Bunk, a sandwich shop that I have been wanting to try for over a year since I read about it in the NYT.

MAXin' and relaxin' 

(You can see in my eyes how I feel about public transit - excited yet terrified.)

So, Bunk may be one of the most awesome places in the known universe.  I mean, look at it!

makin' sandwiches

   

the menu and the people who are about to have an incredible sandwich

See the line wrapping around the front?

I fell in love with Bunk before I even saw my food.  The atmosphere really spoke to my heart and soul and thoughts about what a really good sandwich joint should feel like.  Big chalkboard, black and white tile floor, hustle and bustle, kinda hole-in-the-wall-y and confident.  I ordered a smothered pork shoulder with green tomatoes sandwich, apple coleslaw and a birch beer.  

omg

It was so fantastic that I don't even know what to say, other than the obvious, "I need a teleportation device."

                   

That was a lot of delicious. 

After lunch, I got some great news from Vermont.  My lovely roommates-to-be found the perfect apartment for us, which they describe as "the best apartment in Burlington."  I am so excited!!  

Kyle and I finished off Tuesday by meeting up with Miles, Rachel, Harrison and Shannon to play D&D.  They all decided that it was about time that I see what this whole thing is about.  I was overwhelmed by the everything, but I think I got it pretty well, and I got a really big stamp on my nerd passport.