born in the USA

This is generally what my legs look like when we get done with mountain biking. Actually just when we are in the mountains. It's still muddy up there from the snow melt.


Pretty cute, right? Then these next photos are from the Steamboat Stampede. Obviously we don't know how to compose a proper photo what with me being completely in shadow, but you get the idea.


Every Fourth of July weekend, cowboys drive cattle down the main street of Steamboat Springs. It was pretty exciting. They were LOUD.


The baby cows were pretty cute. There were also some cows that were giant. Really, they were bigger than the horses. Unfortunately they were on the other side of the street so we didn't get a good look or a picture.

Add a rodeo, some delicious ribs, a few beers, and some nice fireworks, and that was basically our holiday weekend. Up next: a Rockies game!

rodeo dreams

Back from the holiday weekend in Steamboat Springs. The mountain biking did not go so well. But I did see a rodeo and the cattle drive through town. Now I'm dreaming of owning a horse ranch in rural Colorado. My kids could grow up to be rodeo stars. I think it's too late for me.

lovely cruiser

I want this.

We only have 7 bikes in the garage right now. I think Drew would love to have 50. You can have so many bikes that serve very different purposes. For example, I have a commuter bike that I ride to work, but I want this Gary Fisher to ride downtown when we go out at night or on weekends. Drew gets that. And feels the same way to the extreme. He wants multiple road bikes, for example.

I would name this bike Thelma II. My dad still rides his vintage Schwinn (probably wasn't "vintage" when he bought it) named Thelma. I thought about Louise, but my commuter is more of a Louise. So there you go.

Will there be a new addition in our garage this summer?

happenings

I am currently...

• making homemade chocolate ice cream
• debating when and if to chop off all of my hair (like this)
  

I already...

• made that recipe below and ate a ridiculous amount of it
• went on two mountain bike rides
• spent lots of money at Costco
• bought a fantastic dress at Patagonia [with a coupon]
  

Soon I will be...

• back at work :(
• heading to Steamboat Springs for the 4th of July
• doing more mountain biking
• eating leftover lemon pasta

But first...

• it's time for chocolate ice cream.
  

food coma

You must make this recipe immediately.

riding in crested butte

Last weekend we rented a condo in Crested Butte with some friends. Drew went on six mountain bike rides in two days. I went on two mountain bike rides in two days, and slept in and relaxed while he was out on his other rides. We drank Session beer, had the town's best lattes, ate delicious pizza, listened to Band of Horses and Phish, and generally chilled out in the mountain air.


There are some of the mountains. Big, snowy, beautiful. That orange jersey is my favorite. Those shorts are padded.


We also rode through lots of lush aspen groves. I was nervous when riding in between trees that were close together. But I didn't have to get off my bike and walk too often...


This was the first time that I started to think of mountain biking as a real life-long sport, instead of being freaked out and thinking I was going to die the whole time. It was fun. And, obviously, the scenery was incredible.

In a couple of weeks, we'll be doing the same thing up in Steamboat Springs!

music through the ages

Sarah did this a while ago and I wanted to do something similar. Here is what she said:

you know how there are some albums you have listened to so many times it is like the lyrics have imprinted themselves onto your DNA? so wherever you are, however many years later when you hear a song from that album it feels like home or something warm and hokey, like a mini episode of this is your life...? anyway I was thinking about this the other day - probably because some one snuck a Sondre Lerche CD into our player.

maybe these albums are not totally defining but they did play a big part of certain periods of my life. or at least they got played a lot. I am probably missing some but here's what comes to mind. also feel free to fill in gaps, it is likely that if you read this you have lived with me at some point. or at the very least rode in my car a lot.

Earliest music I can remember - these are pretty much all a part of my family's road trip CD collection:

• Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (this was the first, and only, CD my parents bought when they first bought a CD player. Actually, I think Pink Floyd came first and then they bought a CD player)
  
• Fine Young Cannibals - The Raw & the Cooked
• Billy Joel - Piano Man
• Traffic - John Barleycorn

Mid/late elementary school:

• New Kids on the Block (you know you loved them too)
  
• Weezer (starting my long love affair with these geeky rockers)
  
• Phil Collins - Both Sides
  
• Timbuk3 - Eden Alley (I just learned these guys started playing together in Madison!)
  

High school:

• No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom
• Fiona Apple - Tidal
• Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
  
• Indigo Girls (my Spanish teacher gave me a mixed tape of Indigo Girls songs. I think I wore that tape out in the tape deck of my Jeep Cherokee)
  
• Pearl Jam - Vs. (how many times can one person listen to "Daughter"?)
• Oasis - What's the Story (Morning Glory) (Champagne Supernova...sigh...)

College:

• Edie Brickell & New Bohemians - Ghost of a Dog (I "borrowed" the album from my parents and listed to "He Says" every night before going to sleep during my freshman year -- total comfort music, still)
• Weezer - the blue and green albums over and over and over
  
• Wilco
• The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robot
  
• Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica (after Nick handed me a copy in Physics class)
  

Ann Arbor (this is when I started following Muzzle of Bees, and my musical world expanded by a factor of, what, a gazillion?):

• Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism and Plans
  
• Postal Service
  
• Neko Case (everything she does is magic)
  
• Ryan Adams - Jacksonville City Nights
• Led Zeppelin
  
• Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
• The National
• My Morning Jacket - Z
• Dar Williams - especially Mortal City
  

Now:

• Ryan Adams - Jacksonville City Nights is a life-long favorite
  
• Neko Case
• Dolly Parton - Backwoods Barbie (yep, it's true; she even covers a Fine Young Cannibals song, bringing this list full circle)
• My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges