Denver Day 2: The calm before the storm

Another good day. Began the day with Caribou and the newspaper again, then back to the hotel for a bit of work until the first of my two roommates arrived. Another bit of Caribou inspiration:

She got in much later than originally scheduled, so it wasn't very long before she needed to head out again for her short course in the afternoon. After she left, I headed out to 16th Street. I was on a mission to find a scarf (because really. How do you come to a place like Denver and forget to bring any scarves?!) and lunch.

I got my scarf. It's crocheted, green, and very cozy. :) On my way to the store, I had spied a food trailer selling crepes, which I thought would make for a wonderful lunch. Sadly, I got back to the trailer just in time to watch it pull away..... location change, I guess? So I looked around a bit, and wandered into this place:

BLT with tillamook cheddar and a side of truffle-parmesan fries? Not a shabby second at all. Took all of it back to our room to eat and work more on my slides.

In the evening I met up with my advisor and lab mate to register at the conference, load up my presentation, and have dinner. After dinner, I convinced them to walk over to The Market for coffee (a cambric for me!) and pie, where we went over my presentation.

My talk is tomorrow! Then after that, let the fun begin. :)

Denver Day 1: This place is all sorts of magical.

It really is! I had a wonderful first day here, and eventhough work was still involved for big parts of the day, it is incredible how refreshed I feel.

The day started with some hard knocking on my room's door at 8 am, jarring me awake. I hurried to open it, thinking that perhaps I had locked out one of my coming roommates by accident. I opened the door, groggy and hair completely askew, and instead of a roommate, a member of the cleaning staff looked back expectantly at me. She asks, "Are you ready [for me to tidy your room]?" I was so confused. Why was this happening now?? I mumbled that I wasn't ready, and she told me to put the "Do Not Disturb" sign on my door next time so she would know not to wake me up, then left.

Weird, right? Oh well. I was inwardly thankful that something had gotten me UP at a decent time! I wasn't about to sleep my free day in Denver away.

First things first: Coffee. Caribou Coffee, to be exact. I can't describe how excited I am to have one a short walk away from my hotel! Spent a little time here sipping on coffee and reading beside a fireplace. How long has it been since I've done that?!

Coffee was followed by a little exploring and shopping. I got a bento box to-go for lunch, and headed back to the hotel to catch a webinar about arsenic in groundwater in Vietnam (TMI? My name is Stephanie and I am a groundwater dork.), and spend some time working on my GSA talk. Around 7:30 pm I made my way to this place for some dinner:

The Market at Larimer Square. What a beautiful, classic spot; full of decadent cakes, delicious coffee and tea, and muffins as big as your head. I had 1/2 a sandwich and soup, thinking I would save room for one of their ginormous pieces of cake...... nope. The cake didn't happen. Probably in part due to the split pea soup I had - it was as thick as I remembered split pea soup could be back home in The North! Haha.

With an after-dinner tea in hand, I ventured back outside to explore Larimer Square. The lights and golden aspens. Be still my heart!

There were mostly eateries open at this time.... most shops had already closed for the day. But then I came upon an old-time-y hat shop complete with live music..... I could have stayed there for an hour listening to them! 

A lovely first day in Denver! Excited for tomorrow.

A trip to Colorado

After much rushing around, cramming in every last bit of work possible, way too many meetings for a week like this, and just a little sleep; the end of today finds me in Denver, Colorado. I am here for the annual national GSA (Geological Society of America) meeting..... basically an opportunity for us geode-loving-feldspar-jockeys as a general whole to descend on a city, share ideas, network, see old friends, meet new ones, and imbibe many many gallons of "Baylor-unapproved beverages" (I'm just being honest here..... it's pretty much a basic quality of a geologist, whether I myself am an active participant or not). ;)

I was supposed to go on a field trip tomorrow and Saturday, but plans got changed and I'm not doing that anymore...... but it was too late to change my plane flight. Sooooo I came early anyway. It was more than a little frustrating to still have all the stresses of a compressed time table to prepare for a trip, and no longer have the prize at the end of it. I was juuuust a bit bitter.

BUT. THEN.

I landed here. And it's AUTUMN for reals - with chilly crisp weather and fall foliage and everything! There is something about being WEST and NORTH and close to the mountains and AUTUMN that makes my heart inexplicably happy. Maybe because I am that much closer to Home? Or maybe it is just the thrill of travelling and being somewhere different? Who knows. 

But then I realized that all the stresses of these past couple of weeks have been worth it: I am here early with no commitments for the first couple of days, and my hotel is conveniently located in the heart of Denver. So I started researching and plotting and planning. Yes, there will be work. But there will absolutely be rest and fun too.

Who's ready for a Denver adventure? This girl.

Things I just don't get......

#321549633:

Why am I NEVER EVER more productive than during hours when any other person should and would be sleeping??

Bella.

I am thinking of her tonight. This darling, energetic, mischevious, beautiful, capable girl........ her smile can light up the world, don't you think?

She's definitely getting me through this paper tonight. :)

I Peter 5:7

This verse is resonating in my heart tonight. What a beautiful truth it is, that there is One with whom filters are not needed!

A list

1) I am in Charlotte NC (more on this later).
2) It's honest-to-goodness AUTUMN here!! :)
3) I am so in love with this city
4) We are here for a conference. It got into full swing today. And hence,
5) I keep forgetting that it's Sunday.