Fish Out of Water

Musings and observations about life from an East Coast native now living on the Left Coast in the California State Capitol since 2004. This fish has made her home in Madison, WI (7 years); Portland, OR (2 years); Las Vegas, NV (7 months); Middlebury, VT (3 summers); Marne-la-Vallee, a small town east of Paris, France (6 months); Middletown, CT (3 years); and Marshfield, MA, the fish's coastal hometown 40 miles south of Boston (17 years).

Name:
Location: Sacramento, California, United States

7.23.2010

Quick Trip to Denver

Mr. E spent last week in Fort Collins, CO, for work, so I flew out to join him for a weekend visit to Denver, the mile-high city. I'd never made it out of the airport before (love the United terminal - light and airy, some decent food options, great bulk candy store), but I've heard and read great things about Denver, especially its revitalized downtown area. We stayed at the Magnolia Hotel smack in the middle of 17th Street, just 1 block from the 16th Street Mall. The location was great, as was the hotel itself, and if the weather had been more temperate and typical, I'm sure we would have walked quite a bit or taken advantage of the BCycle bike program. However, given the 90-100 degree temperatures, we instead took advantage of Mr. E's rental Prius to get around the area.

Reflective walls of Cafe on the rooftop of the Museum of Contemporary Art - we enjoyed lunch here on Sunday afternoon after viewing the museum (many thanks to my contact at Civicore who arranged for complimentary guest passes to the museum!)

Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the Capitol before 5pm on Friday to tour the interior, so we settled for a look around the outside and a photo to add to our collection of State Capitol visits


This spire is from the Millenium Bridge, a bike and ped crossing over the River from the north end of 16th Street Mall into the Highland neighborhood (reminds me of the Zakim bridge in Boston)


View from the Museum of Contemporary Art


Painting by Vance Kirkland at the Kirkland Museum of Decorative Arts - we both liked his later paintings, especially the "dots" phase, but unfortunately only one is currently offered as a print - drat! We had hoped to purchase a print to bring home...


Another work by Vance Kirkland - Mr. E was kneeling on the chair of the Frank Lloyd Wright dining set to take this photo. The museum was AMAZING, with an incredible number of objects to admire in a wide range of styles. So glad this was a priority destination on Saturday!


View from the Museum of Contemporary Art rooftop of a pedestrian bridge


Chef at Hammond's Candys working with the raw ingredients to make candy canes


Raw ingredients on the work table - note the blue flame under the hood to keep the candy warm and malleable. Hammond's Candys makes hand-cut candy sticks, lollipops, and canes.


View from the Capitol towards the City-County Building and the mountains


Mile-high marker on Capitol step


State Capitol


Interesting architecture (Mr. E likes these compositions!)


Public art at the Convention Center - I call it "Big Blue"

7.14.2010

Team Spirit

Nice ink, huh? I got lots of comments on showing my BoSox team spirit when Mr. E and I went to the Sox vs. Giants game at the end of last month. :-)

7.13.2010

Fabulous Felines

Not that I'm biased or anything, but our kitties are just totally adorable and extremely photogenic. I think we have more feline photos in digital form than anything else! So I figured I'd share some of the recent images so that everyone can enjoy our fabulous felines.

We call this "planet beet."
Jack calls it "scary alien thing bigger than my head - HELP!"

Hmm... and what happened here? I found this crime scene one day when I got home from work. In case it's not obvious, that small lamp does NOT belong on the floor.


We finally moved the printer off its stand so the kids could have unfettered access to the office window to watch the world outside. Note that they've also taken over my yoga mat. *sigh* The sacrifices we make for our children...


Kitty bliss!


Calypso likes to drag the blanket off the back of the couch...


...and burrow into it. Kitty in a cave!


Spooning



Dreaming


Sooo tired...


Look what I brought home from the store - kitty in a bag!

7.08.2010

New Patio Set



Long time no blog... Figured I'd share photos of our new patio set, courtesy of Pier 1 (coupons are SO helpful!). So nice that the big chair cushions actually fit quite well on the little UW-Madison Terrace chairs, too.