A lot of great people were born in April. Like, a lot. My older brother’s was on Monday. Last night my friends and I celebrated two great Katies (W & P) with some cocktails and snacks at Second Home Kitchen + Bar. My grandma is turning 90 (90!!!) on Monday. My birthday is the week after and there are a few more people to celebrate sprinkled throughout the rest of the month and into early May.

It’s ridiculous in all the best ways and makes me thankful for all the wonderful people in my life (whether or not their birthday is in April).

In between birthday celebrations, I’ll continue to read things on the Internet, like these:

• Lemon desserts:blueberry lemon curd pop tarts, lemon crumb muffins with lemon glaze, lemon bars, and blueberry lemon cookies with lemon cream cheese frosting
• Coffee cake donuts, two ways:coffee cake donuts with vanilla glaze & chocolate coffee cake donuts
• These crafts with globes are fantastic and make me want to go on a trip.
• Keeping a gratitude journal can help lead you to success. Feeling grateful is a skill. Let’s practice it.
• Something else to practice: being more self-aware.

Feeling gratitude and being more self-aware are definitely topics that I have been thinking/listening/reading about a lot lately. I’ve been trying to practice more of these things over the last few weeks and can definitely sense a change in my mood and attitude.

Or maybe it’s just the beautiful spring weather here in Denver?

Whatever the reason, I like it all and hope that all of those things continue.

Have the best day.

xoxojd

We had a guest at our office this week: Todd, the pig! She’s the cutest. I’m obsessed. I want one. Its name would be Earl.

Daydreams.

In the meantime I’ll keep reading things on the internets.

• The recipes I’m drooling over this week: charred asparagus pest pasta with blackened lemon chicken, crispy slow cooker carnitas, savory cheesecake with roasted vegetables.
• These hand painted macarons are so, so beautiful.
• After reading this, I need to add Myanmar to the travel bucket list.
• Clear the clutter and simplify your life.
• “Just relax and enjoy the silence.”

Have a fantastic Thursday!!

~jenna

Weather is weird. On Tuesday it was a beautiful spring 70-degree day in Denver. People were outside running and walking in shorts and t-shirts and looked really happy about it. Yesterday Denver woke up to whiteout blizzard conditions. Snow up to mid-calf on the sidewalks and approximately 15 feet of visibility. I think we ended up with about 18 inches of heavy wet snow. Today there are beautiful blue skies, (I’m assuming) ice on the roads, and a projected high of 50 degrees.

It’s just so crazy. But I kind of like how sporadic it is. I kind of like these things too:

• All these Easter brunch options:Eggs in purgatory, Crispy hashbrown haystacks, Whipped cream cheese stuffed french toast with raspberries, Spring vegetable egg casserole, Croissant french toast, Orange flannel hash, and Burrata breakfast pizza
• And all these rolls:Carrot cake cinnamon rolls with mascarpone icing, Cinnamon bun cake with almond paste and vanilla custard (AKA butterkaka), Orange-almond sweet rolls with basil glaze
• The worst type of airline passengers. Reading it still makes me want to get on a plane and go somewhere.
• The Cooked Netflix series. I watched them all last night and loved It makes me want to attempt making sourdough bread, go to a legit BBQ, and buy really, really good cheese.
• This article on experiencing positive emotions and so I’m going to add The Lively Show into my podcast rotations.

Hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend spent with family, close friends, and/or people you really, really like!

xoxojd

A few friends and I made the 1-hour drive down to Colorado Springs on Sunday morning to check out Garden of the Gods. Oh my goodness, it was so amazing! The park is full of gorgeous sandstone rock formations with a view of Pikes Peak and pretty blue skies. Sometimes I still can’t believe that I live in a place where I can visit such beautiful things so easily.

After Garden of the Gods I spent the rest of the afternoon playing volleyball outside in the park – not a bad Sunday!

Now it’s Thursday and I am…

• Drooling all over this coconut carrot cake cheesecake and gluten-free carrot cake with cinnamon cream cheese frosting. I want both.
• Craving really good homemade pizza. Come over and we’ll make some.
• In the middle of reading Me Before You. Soon to be a movie!
• Working on how to get up early to smash a workout. It definitely helps to have an awesome morning workout buddy!
• Oohing and ahhing over this fresh flower wall. Can I plan an occasion specifically to do this?

As a side note, I’ll be posting workouts and recipes bi-weekly (every other week, not twice a week) over on Minneapolis Running. If you’re unfamiliar with the site, it’s a great resource for runners and is full of articles about running, training, recovery, races, and lots of other fun stuff (like workouts and recipes). I highly recommend it! Yesterday I posted this full body dumbbell workout, so make sure to check it out.

And here are some more Garden of the Gods pictures.

Happy Thursday!

I think I’m in love with skiing. It actually really surprises me. My first few times down the mountain in December were frightening. Why did I buy a pass? Why did I buy skis?! This is so scary! But now after having gone 6 more times and realizing that I can ski just fine (rocking those blues all day!) it’s more like Oh my goodness, this is the most amazing thing ever! Plus, the ski atmosphere is just so fun: so many chill people, beer and/or bloody mary breaks, and the scenery. THE SCENERY! It’s all just so incredible. I went to Keystone by myself yesterday and it was awesome.

These things are awesome too:

• Let them eat cake! These cakes: whiskey and beer cupcakes, naked salted caramel layer cake, chocolate cake in a mug, caramel macchiato cupcakes, funfetti cupcakes, sno-ball cake, and marble cake.
• This song is pretty catchy and I kind of like it.
• Please read this article Lena Dunham wrote about Kesha.
• Love these pretty twist hairstyles.
• 30 things to do before turning 30. How many have you done (even if you’re over 30)?

Come to Denver and ski with me, pleassseeeeeee 🙂

-jenna

Last night I went to my first ever book club meeting! It was pretty fun. We discussed Rising Strong by Brene Brown. I don’t normally read this type of book, so it was good to have a reason to pick it up. The book talks about how to get back up after you fall and how to own your disappointments, failures, and heartbreaks so that you can move forward. It was a good read and I enjoyed discussing it with the group. And with any successful book club, wine and delicious snacks were also involved.

I also enjoyed these things this week:

• Some tasty shrimp recipes: yum woon sen with shrimp, shrimp in thai coconut sauce, grapefruit + avocado bowls with shrimp, shrimp carbonara, and shrimp tacos with green chile adobo.
• I gasped out loud when I came across these homemade animal crackers. They look so cute and delicious!
• Replace “I can’t” with “I can”.
• Read this love letter to your body and remember to love it.
• These diy plywood frames with glass are awesome.

Have a great Thursday!

xxxxjd