A Home To Call My Own: Denver, Colorado

Hello Darlings!

It has been absolutely ages since I’ve posted last, but if you’ve read my last blog post, or have been following me on Twitter or Instagram you might have seen that I’ve moved to Denver, Colorado! Yay!

I’ve moved over a dozen times in my twenty-four years, but I’ve never had a place that was just my own. So I’ve realized that I never really appreciated the work that goes into packing, moving, setting up, and figuring out a new place. (Kudos to my parents for moving house so many times with three young children!) I did have help- thank you Dad for driving the Penske truck across the country and moving me in, and thank you Mom for flying out and helping to set me up and the many trips to Ikea- but the whole process has been rather time consuming. With the mountains calling my name and work obligations, making my cute little apartment a home took longer than expected, but I learned a few things.

1. Invest in a box of Band-Aids, a jar of coconut oil, and hand balm before moving to the Mile High City. 

If you don’t you might end up looking like a bit of a mess with cardboard paper cuts on incredibly dry skin and surprise nosebleeds at inopportune moments. (Coconut oil has done wonders for my nosebleeds, dab a little in your nostrils and you’re good to go!)

2. Everyone in Denver loves dogs.

So, if you plan on being anywhere on time while walking a fluffy, white, polar bear-esque Samoyed, plan to leave ahead of time. This is especially true if your dog happens to love children, as lines of toddlers will form to pet her at the farmer’s market, which, by the way, is incredibly adorable.

3. Apparently my love of tea is more of an obsession.

You’ve seen how much I love Tiesta Tea in my review, but you hadn’t seen the rest of my tea collection, nor my four teapots. Four may seem like quite a few but I would like to say that two of them are passed down from a great-grandmother on one side and a grandmother on the other- they don’t count right? 

Also you hadn’t seen my rather extensive collection of teacups and mugs, and the obligatory sugar and creamer set. I hadn’t realized how large my collection of tea-related paraphernalia was until I started rationing cabinet space. Whoops.

4. Open shelving + pretty canned food = a decorator’s dream.

I love how the jars I’ve canned are displayed, and while I know that they are supposed to be in a cool, dark place, they were really just too pretty to not be seen. Plus, no direct sunlight means no-harm no –foul? *crosses fingers* 

5. Embrace the unexpected.

Whether it is the aesthetic of a world map displayed over a kitchen table, heading to a concert with friends of friends you haven’t met yet, or moving to an entirely new city, the unexpected makes life fun. I’m excited for the unknown, and can’t wait to explore a new city, forge new relationships, and create a life of my very own.

Hello Denver!

Quick Update & Tinkerbelle Turns Two!

Hello Darlings!

I have been terrible about blogging lately, but if you follow my Instagram you might have heard that I am moving to Denver- YAY! So, I have been running around like a mad women getting everything ready and packed, saying my goodbyes, and everything else that comes with the hassle of moving. While I’m getting ready and on the cross-country road trip in a truck that is stuffed to the brim with all of the items I’ve happened to collect over the last few years my posts are going to few and far between.

So to hold you over Tinkerbelle turned two yesterday! I, being the slightly obsessed dog-mom that I am baked Tink a puppy-safe cake from this recipe. Here are a few pictures:

Tink Blowing Out Her Candles

Birthday Cake Close Up

Sniffing the Homemade Treats on Top

It Looks Like 'People Cake!'

Yum!

This Is What Love Looks Like : Boston Marathon 2013

I’ve been struggling to put into words the amalgam of emotions I’ve felt coursing through my veins this last week.

The sheer terror of not knowing if those I love had been harmed by such a senseless act of violence.

Relief brought on by the distance of a single city block.

Sorrow and empathy for beautiful souls taken too soon, too young, and for those whose blood had been spilled by malice.

White. Hot. Anger.

Soul-searching confusion. I don’t believe that people can be born evil. Rather I choose to believe that those individuals that aid, mastermind, and put into action these horrible episodes of terror are victims of upbringing, of circumstance, of ill-natured indoctrination. But I was incredibly shaken by the image of a baby-faced teen who somehow was detached enough from humanity to plant seeds of destruction in crowds of innocent, jubilant human beings so full of life and promise. I felt for a moment that this war of good verses evil- of us versus them- had swayed in a dark direction. But through my tears I found clarity.

I found an all-consuming feeling of pride.

Pride in the first responders. Those in uniform, or well-worn sneakers, or ‘go team’ shirts that cast off crippling fear and fought through gruesome destruction to aid the wounded; offering pieces of themselves, belts for tourniquets, fingers to stanch bleeding, comfort, calmness, strength, and selflessness to save lives.

Pride in the self-awareness of those most deeply affected, who offered up help to law enforcement in an attempt to aid in the capture of souls gone adrift and lost in hatred.

Pride in the anonymous masses to care enough to donate their time, their money, their prayers, to wonderful people who will need all the support they can get in their uphill battles of rehabilitation and healing.

Pride in my alma mater, Boston College, for setting forth into the world some of the most caring individuals that the “good” of humanity can claim as their own. From couples, deeply in love, whose unwavering faith stays strong after loss of limbs, to young adults who took it upon themselves to inspire thousands to join in their plan to finish those last miles for those who could not, the Boston College community showed its true colors, a beacon of light among madness.

And finally, pride in the city I love. A town where I spent four of the best years of my life thus far, a town that is home to some of my dearest friends, and my second home these last few years. Bostonians proved, once again, that nothing and no one could break their spirit. The city banded together offering support, showing strength through adversity, and showing that evil that rearing its ugly head in Boston would have dire consequences.

As I walked the cobbled streets of Boston this weekend, past the devastation, I saw tokens of support everywhere. Flowers, signs, smiles between perfect strangers, and the soft, inexplicable glow of strength, of perseverance, of togetherness, and I thought to myself- this is what love looks like.

Boston Strong.

Kaitlin Welch

Boston College 2010

Meatless Monday: Blueberry-Lavender Almond Milk

Hello Darlings!

I hate cow’s milk, always have. Which really is a bit odd knowing my (more than) slight obsession with just about any cheese I can get my hands on, but never the less, I really just find milk unappetizing. Almond milk on the other hand? Fabulous. I wish that I had known about almond milk when I was younger, maybe then I wouldn’t have to constantly complain about being the short one in my family, but I digress. This week’s Meatless Monday from A-Z’s ingredient was blueberries, which I love. I very rarely use fresh berries while cooking, because they tend to go missing- the normal ‘I’ll just nibble on (insert ingredient here) while I’m cooking’ ends up more along the lines of ‘crap, I need to head back to the store for more.’ However, this week I got on top of my self-control issues and ended up with Blueberry-Lavender Almond milk.

Meatballs in Sweet Pepper Sauce

Hello Darlings!

Recently I have been trying to figure out what exactly to call my eating style. It’s true that I am an omnivore but I would say that I am much more of a vegetarian than a carnivore, so I’m a mostly-vegetarian. There really should be a word for that. That being said, I really do enjoy a great pot of meatballs when the mood strikes, and I thought that I would play around with the traditional meatballs-and-tomato-sauce combination and swap sweet peppers for the tomatoes!

5 Holistic Helpers to Stop Spring Sickness In Its Tracks

Hello Darlings!

Spring fever is not just a term to describe cabin-fevered co-eds’ enthusiasm after winter’s chill breaks. With the coming of spring, there are a number of factors that can affect your health and lead to the dreaded spring cough or spring fever in a very different sense of the word. Temperature fluctuations, rising pollen counts, and changes in everyday routines are a potent combination that can produce disastrous results. However, there are healthy, holistic ways to combat spring sickness at its onset, the very first tickle in your throat or the sneaky first sniffle.

Meatless Monday: Pestoed Mushroom-Stuffed Baked Avocados

Hello Darlings!

After a brief hiatus, darling Heather from Better With Veggies has brought back her Meatless Mondays from A-Z challenge for round two! We are back to the beginning of the alphabet and this week, A is for Avocado.

I happen to like avocados. They are full of good fats, lots of vitamins and nutrients, and are colloquially referred to as alligator pears- a pretty fabulous name if I do say so myself. However, as much as a foodie as I am, I’m quite weird about texture. Avocados are one of the foods that I love the taste of, but really hate how they feel in my mouth. Normally, I get around avocado’s texture by mashing them and adding a bit of crunch with veggies in my homemade guacamole or pairing slices of them in salads with croutons or carrots. But MMAZ was meant to draw bloggers out of their comfort zones, and so I decided to do just that, and my Pestoed Mushroom-Stuffed Baked Avocados were dreamt up. And surprisingly, baked avocado doesn’t give me a texture complex.

Tiesta Tea: Kiwi Cherry Bonanza Review

Hello Darlings!

I am a bit obsessed with tea, and by a bit, I mean to the point that I collect teapots, obsessed. I love that you can moderate your tea’s caffeine content with blending and brewing methods, I love the smell, and I especially love loose-leaf tea and the gorgeous pieces of fruit and flowers you can find in different varieties. If you’ve been following ChickadeeSays for a while you might have spotted my love affair with Tiesta Tea, a brand whose signature is deliciously blended all-natural loose-leaf tea. From inclusion in my Weekend Warrior Detox, to showcasing my slightly odd cupboard of tea mugs on Instagram and Twitter, Tiesta Tea is a constant in my everyday life.