Falling for Fall

It's officially Autumn!!

Here's my contribution to making yours just a little bit better:

Oh yes, that's right. Skip the eggs and the oil and whatever else the spice cake directions tell you to add, and just add a can of pumpkin instead. We made some cuppycakes last week, topped them with cream cheese frosting, and then ran around the house for an hour on a sugar high dancing to 70's Michael Jackson and riding around on the dog.

We've also jumped the gun a bit on decorating for Halloween. Now, I'm fully aware that it's not even the right month yet, but come on. It's Halloween.
Actually, (now that you ask) yes, there were a few years in the 90's (1993-1997ish) where I didn't celebrate Halloween because it was the oh-way-too-early "angel day" of my beloved River Phoenix. I was just so devastated by his passing, I actually boycotted October 31st for 4 years (It's true, ask my mom). However, over the years, it has creeped to the top of the list as my all time favorite holiday. I just can't deny my magnetic pull to it's haunted aura. And technically speaking, I have 4 years to make up for basically turning my back on it, so I have no problem busting out the orange and black boxes from storage a few weeks earlier than the average bear.

So far, I've about finished the bathroom:

And I'm still working on the kitchen and dining room. I did find a nice use for my crystal cake stand: the perfect center piece for the dinner table!

So since it's been raining for 3 days and the decorations are crawling their way out of dusty boxes, it's time to dig up the Concrete Blonde "Bloodletting" album (or Poe "Haunted", take your pic), turn on the fire place and watch episodes of Ghost Adventures.

Happy hauntings!

Possibly Maybe? (The Stanley Hotel)

I guess to be a blogger you need to be somewhat egotistical right? I started this blog all about my life and I expect people to be interested in tuning in and checking out what I have to say. At least, I believe this is the misconception. Honestly, I was feeling an overall general funkiness (to be clear, it was not a "She's A Brick House" funky, but like I was in a funk) in my life at the time, and writing about the positive in my life sort of helped bring me out of it. Posting pictures of my daughter, remembering stories and trying recipes put me in a happy place, not to mention it was a great way for out-of-state family to keep up with the never ending daily changes that come with raising a toddler.

So, regardless of my egotistical tendencies, it certainly wasn't the initial reason for starting this blog.

(By the way, this post is basically just a ton of rambling with absolutely no structure or point other than a personal update on how things are going...)

Anyway, a few days ago, I was re-reading some of these posts and recalling why I started this in the first place. It got me thinking about where I was in terms of an overall, happy, well adjusted, 30-something-year-old. Remember when I was talking about the Wheel of Wellness a few months back? About how in order to feel 100% you need to be up to par physically, socially, intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and even occupationally? I was lacking in a few of those.
Now, physically, I feel better than I have in a long while. I have my running on track, I've been eating healthy and taking care of myself (for the most part). Socially I'm doing fine. I get to mingle at work with people from all walks of life, I keep in touch with my friends back home in California, and lately I've even had a handful of visitors come to see me here in Fort Collins. (Which, by the way, it is so nice to be able to see a familiar face now and again.) Spiritually, I'm in tune, more so now than ever before, with what I believe. (I'll leave it at that.) Emotionally, I think I'm trucking right along, staying positive and trying not to be overwhelmed with the last few months of relocation jitters. So far, so good.

So currently, I've got 4 out of 6 down.

 66(ish)%.

Where I feel I'm lacking is my intellectual and occupational upkeep.

I'd love to go back to school and finish my bachelors degree. I have such little left to do, it would make no sense to not get that done and under my belt. The plan right now is to wait out my year for Colorado residency, and check out my choices of local universities for Fall of 2013. Ok, good good. One plan down.

Now.

Occupationally speaking, I'm nowhere near where I want to be. I spent my 20's floating through life on a sea of party after party, bartending my way through shopping trip after shopping trip, flying by the seat of my pants at all times, free spirited and unchained. Yes, well... this was all a great time and everything, but it didn't really leave much to show now that I'm in my 30's. I have an Associates degree, 10+ years bartending experience, and a handful of California bartending certifications that do me virtually no good in Colorado.
So I've spent some time thinking about what I'd really enjoy doing right now. If I could go tend bar (which really is what I ultimately love to do) any place my little heart desired where would I go?

The Stanley Hotel.

Lets think this through here.

For me, I believe this is my ultimate dream job. They offer me amazing benefits, opportunity in career advancement, and one of the most jaw dropping panoramic views in Colorado. Their never ending shortage of high-end weddings will keep the bar and catering department busy year round. Employment at a hotel, especially a hotel chain like The Stanley's parent company Grand Heritage Hotel Group, gets you discounts, which means I could travel and stay at some pretty awesome locations whenever we vacationed.
And most importantly, it's The Stanley Hotel! One of America's most mysteriously haunted destinations visited by tourists from all around the world. The place crawls with famous guests and richy tippers. It's known for its inspirational role in Steven King's book "The Shining," and has been on every ghost-hunting, paranormal-watching television show out there. And for me, that sort of thing is directly up my creepy little alley. Not to mention the historical preservation that has gone into this monstrosity of a hotel fascinates the crap out of me.

I am in love with this building.

And I want to be a part of it.

So...

I've applied.

I've applied and now I sit and wait. From what I hear, it's not the easiest place to get on board, but it can't hurt to try, right? I faxed my resume and pumped myself up as much as I possibly could. Please keep my occupational wellness in your prayers or thoughts or wherever you choose to send your higher requests. I truly believe this could be a great opportunity for my little family. Getting my foot in the door of a place I could potentially hold a career while I finish school is exciting stuff. I'm really hoping this works out the way it is romantically falling into place in my head!

(You've seen this building plenty of times on my blog previously, I'm sure. Staying the night here is on my Colorado bucket list, and every time we visit Estes Park, I have to do a run-through and ogle at the beauty of it. In fact, last week when my BFF Livia visited, we took our little girls over there to run up and down the 4th floor and scream at all the ghosties!)

Wish me luck!

Ice Cream

I was inside these towers a few short days before it happened.

I sat and ate ice cream at the Ben and Jerry's on the first floor while marveling at the enormity of these steel giants.  

Today I'll get my Ben and Jerry's, watch tributes on TV with tears in my eyes just as I do every September 11th anniversary.

I went back a few years ago to check out the progress.

 Subways are being rebuilt

Offices are being refaced

Walls are being put back up.

But around the world, we all still hurt.

Even the ones that only sort of understand.

.

A La Luna Ida Y Vuelta

I have a long distance romance with the Moon.

He constantly tells me he needs his space... (!)

And so I just admire from afar.

There is something very romantic about the witching hour to me. That time after midnight when the Moon is truly in its element, is when I really fall head over heals. The Moon's cultural impact and influence on our calendars, our language, our art, the tides and even women's cycles is enough to make a girl faint. Talk about power...

So, although the Moon may not come down for New Years to give me kisses at midnight, take me out to dinner on my birthday, or wine and dine me on anniversaries, I have an understanding that we've got the kind of energy which creates love. Call me a lunatic, but love does crazy things to people's brains sometimes.

The moon has a way of explaining things to me that nobody else ever has. This month he taught me that sometimes in life, the stars align a certain way, the universe tilts just so, and paths cross in just the perfect timing. It doesn't happen often, and I'm a firm believer that it doesn't happen to everyone, but when it does, it's like catching lightening in a bottle. Like "magic", so I was once told. There are certain circumstances in life and unexplainable connections that happen, that are so completely undeniable. Inconvenient or not.

Kurt Vonnegut once said: "We are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different."

This is a false statement.

 You cannot snuff out your lightening and replace it with a fart hoping none to be the wiser. Earth is not for farting around. Earth is for farting a straight and specific path directly to your lightening, like it or not.

 I don't believe you can just go back to regularly scheduled programming once you've had a taste of that magic.

I do believe, however, that by trying to pretend it didn't happen, you're under the assumption that you're tricking the universe.

And you're not that smart. So stop it.

I'm getting off track here...

A blue moon, at least in the modern day sense, is whenever we're lucky enough to get 2 full moons in one month. The usual lunar cycle is 29.5(ish) days, which turns out to be an average of 12 full moons per year. (Even the word month derives from the word moon) But our solar calendar years have around 11 more days than our lunar. Those days accumulate every 2 to 3 years or so, and we get an extra. A bonus. A here-you-go-thanks-for-all-the-admiration-have-a-reward. Sort of like when a really great band puts on a free concert for their fans out of appreciation. At least that's what I like to think.

The moon really never turns blue during these magnificent encore showings, in fact the only time the moon really appears to turn a different hue is when there is a ton of smoke or ash in the atmosphere like after a giant volcano or enormous forest fire. Even then, actual visual blue moons have only been recorded in history a handful of times.

Anyway, we celebrated at our house last night with a couple of brewskies (shocker, I know) and I gave the moon a high five and said yes to its marriage proposal.

"Hold on to your divine blush, your innate rosy magic, or end up brown.
Once you're brown, you'll find out you're blue. As blue as indigo.
And you know what that means.
Indigo.
Indigoing.
Indigone."
~ Tom Robbins