New Mexico, Part Tres

This is King, and he was kind enough to carry me around the next morning in Red River. We went horseback riding with the funniest, most polite cowboy I have ever met, up into the mountains, and it was beautiful. I sort of remembered how to ride. A little bit. Enough that I wasn't too sore the next day, at any rate!

After lunch we left Red River and headed for Angel Fire. The town is so-named because of a crazy light phenomenon that happens sometimes at sunset, where the mountains are painted red with light. We checked into our hotel and then went on a drive to visit some local artists.

This man and his wife make pottery in a wood-fired kiln. As you can see, it's bigger than he is! When this thing gets going, they have to continuously feed the fire for 40 hours straight.

That night we had the best meal of the whole trip at a restaurant called the Roasted Clove. Exquisite food cooked up by a chef who used to be the vegetarian chef at the North Pole!

Sunday morning we had some time to ourselves before heading up to the top of the mountain on the longest chair lift in the US. Then they packed us back in the vans and heading to the Buffalo Thunder Casino Resort in Pojaque.

Finally, on Monday morning, we visited el Sanctuario de Chimayo.

This church is a pilgrimage destination because it is said to have holy, healing dirt. It's also a photographer's dream.

That night, I got to have dinner with Larry and Zana, and then flew back the next day. It was an amazing trip and an amazing experience, only cementing my love for Northern New Mexico.

New Mexico, Part Dos

We last left New Mexico on the gorgeous expanses of Ghost Ranch. In the above photo, you can see Georgia O'Keefe's beloved Peternale (the mesa).

From there, we got lost (only briefly) and then went to Tierra Wools which is a shop just outside Chama trying to keep the old traditions alive by ranching traditional Churro sheep that the Native Americans used to keep here, and then dying and weaving their wool in traditional ways. This shop keeps 25 local weavers employed full time.

That night, we were hosted at a reception by the Jicarilla Apache nation, and they sang and danced for us — and then we all joined in! It was very cool, and they were extremely friendly and willing to tell us all about their customs.

The weather was bitterly (and unseasonably) cold, so most of us hadn't packed appropriately. On the way to the train the next morning, our PR host let us stop at a Dollar General, where we cleaned them out of gloves, hats and scarves. It made us all a LOT happier on the train!

Because of the cold, we got a really unusual treat: snow and changing aspens at the same time! The ride through the mountains on the Chama railroad was absolutely breathtaking. The train stops at the top, half way, where you have your choice of turkey dinner, meatloaf dinner, or soup and salad for lunch. It was actually very, very good!

That isn't everyone who was on the trip, but all of us who rode the train. Carol (second from the left) turned 65 that day! So we celebrated with Little Debbie cupcakes I bought at the Dollar General! ;)

That night we were treated to a cowboy dinner, complete with entertainment, which was when I decided that I needed me a set of cowboy children. They were all so cute and polite and helpful… when they weren't trying to lasso one another.

That's it for now! More to come!

Northern New Mexico Trip

Last month, I had the amazing opportunity to go on a press trip to Northern New Mexico for work. It was an eight-day trip of epic proportions that I will be writing about for our annual travel issue in 2010.

We started in Santa Fe, which I'm sure many of you know, is one of my favorite cities in the world. There's something about Santa Fe that simply defies explanation: is it the light? The air? The people? The food? What makes this place so magical that even common doorways and mailboxes are photo opportunities?

I can't say that I know, but I do know that I was taking full advantage of every history walk, every restaurant stop, every moment — and full advantage of our new camera.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was a restaurant tour we took through the Santa Fe Cooking School. They take the group around town on foot, visiting four or five different fine restaurants, where you get to meet the chef and then sample some of his food, sometimes even right in the kitchen!

After Santa Fe, we trucked up to Los Alamos and Bandolier National Monument. It was a gorgeous day, if a little chilly, and our guided tour of the dwellings with the ranger was fantastic. (We also got a lecture on proper terminology. The people who lived here are no longer called Anasazi [which is the Navajo word for "strangers"], they are the Ancestral Puebloans. And, because in native beliefs, everything is always as it should be, they are not ruins, because there's nothing ruined about them! They are dwellings.)

We also got some of the history of Los Alamos when we went back to the city, which was fascinating. Because the city didn't actually "exist" during the war, the 150 children who were born there at that time all have "P.O. Box 1667, Santa Fe, NM" as their place of birth on their birth certificates. We stayed in a hotel directly across the street from Brandon's apartment, and ate at a restaurant where he and I used to eat!

After Los Alamos we headed to Abiquiu to visit Georgia O'keefe's home. (They don't allow any photos of her home, but it was lovely: very minimalist and modern.) Then we went on to Ghost Ranch where she had a second home and where she painted much of the scenery. We took a great tour where the guide pointed out the scenery and then showed the painting of it, which was fascinating. Beautiful country, too. It's now owned by the Presbyterian church, which uses the facilities as a wellness retreat center.

That's all for now! More when I upload more photos. To see the whole set that I've uploaded so far, click here.

A Touch of the Irish

Every time I mentioned to someone that I was going to attend a whiskey-tasting dinner last week, I got one of two reactions; either people wrinkled their noses and said, "REALLY???" in an incredulous tone or they said, "You mean Scotch?"

No, actually. I mean whiskey. Irish whiskey, to be exact, and it is entirely different from Scotch.

Once a year, for St. Patrick's Day, Bushmills distillery sends their master distiller, Colm Eagan, on a tour of the states. "You do St. Patrick's Day a lot bigger over here," he told us with a playful smile. Colm was everything an Irish host ought to be: generous with his time, generous with his stories and generous with his drinks.

Our tasting dinner was held at Beatrice & Woodsley, an unusual—but beautiful—venue tucked into a nondescript space on South Broadway in Denver. We were greeted at the bar with a Blackbush and ginger ale, and I took my first taste of Bushmills whiskey: smooth, a little sweet, and more complex than I had anticipated. I had been afraid that I'd be fighting down a grimace all night if the liquor was too strong, but I needn't have worried. Turned out, I could get to like whiskey.

People have been making whiskey in the tiny village of Bushmill, Ireland since the 1100s, and the first license to distill was granted in 1608, so a lot of history goes into this drink. Colm himself told us that he was destined to be at Bushmills, especially because he met and fell in love with a beautiful girl who'd grown up there. He described his first visit to the distillery, when he paid his two pounds to take a tour, painting a picture for us of whitewashed walls and black slate roofs nestled amid the green Irish hills, shining copper stills warm with their work, and a little crystal stream running through it all. "As my nose was being drawn to the smell of the whiskey," he told us, "I was being drawn to the distillery."

Enchanted by this vision, we entered the tasting. Colm explained how they malt the barley, allowing it to just sprout before air drying it to halt the growth (and here is the biggest difference from Scotch, which is smoked to halt the growth, giving it its distinctive flavor). From there, the barley is fermented in much the same way beer is, only without the hops. After it is distilled three times (no more, no less), the alcohol is decanted into oak barrels where it ages for at least five years.

The barrels are what give the different whiskeys their different flavors. A fresh oak barrel is too strong for the fine alcohol Colm spends so long distilling, so he chooses to use barrels that have already been used by another liquor that has stripped away much of the strong oakiness. Most of the Bushmills whiskeys start in bourbon barrels, giving them their lovely color and some of their complex aromas. From there, some are finished in sherry barrels, some in the casks used to age Madeira wine.

When asked the best way to enjoy whiskey, Colm smiles. "Any way you like it," is his answer, whether you enjoy it with a mixer or without. He does, however, suggest adding a little water, which opens the whiskey up, allowing the aromas to better flow. "More aromas, more taste," he told us, tipping his glass to one side in the light so we could see the subtle mixing of the alcohol and water.

The food was delicious, the company a delight and the drinks more fascinating and enjoyable than I could have imagined. The highlight of the evening, however, came with the dessert course, when we were treated to a taste of Bushmill's 1608 whiskey. Colm created this one specifically to celebrate last year's 400th anniversary, and only a very limited quantity was produced. The whiskey, made with crystal malt, won Colm and Bushmills whiskey of the year and innovator of the year in 2008. It was a delight, with distinctive vanilla and milk chocolate notes that lingered pleasantly on the back of the tongue for a long finish. If you happen to see the 1608 on a menu any time soon, indulge yourself, because when it's gone, it's gone.

I couldn't have expected to have such a marvelous time tasting and learning about Irish whiskey, but now I plan to buy a bottle and keep it around for those occasions when I want to ensure the conversation flows freely. Because, as Colm told us in his final toast:

There are good ships,
and there are wood ships,
The ships that sail the sea.
But the best ships, are friendships,
And may they always be.

Back and Blogging

This blog has sat somewhat dormant for a while, not for a lack of things to talk about, but for a lack of words to express them.

When I got laid off, I really didn't want to talk about it. I was fighting off depression and working hard to stay positive; I didn't want to indulge in writing about being depressed, and writing about staying positive was just too much.

Then, I got caught up in a whirlwind of a new job. There are issues with blogging about work at the best of times, but I certainly didn't want to jeopardize a new job. Happily, things seemed to have evened out, and I'm now fully employed.

So hopefully, HOPEFULLY, I'll be more able and inclined to blog again. :)

I'm going to post a blog I wrote this week about a whiskey-tasting dinner I got to attend last week in honor of St. Patrick's day. What a great experience!

See you soon!

Who's that Knocking On My Front Door?

I? Have been a busy monkey.

I just wish I could say it was at a paying job.

BUT! They are all opportunities. Opportunities are knocking left right and center lately, I just have to encourage them to come on in. Here's some of what's been going on:

• First, last weekend I went to the American Library Association convention and, just by chatting with people, became an "official" blogger for Penguin's young adult imprint. That means they are going to send me books — before they come out — for me to review. For free. WOO! I also picked up about 50 free advance reading copies of other books to review, so I'm going to be a busy little blogger.
  
• Because of all that, I redesigned The Spiral Notebook so that it looks a little more professional and hipper. Cool, right?
  
• I also applied to be an "examiner" on Examiner.com, which is like a local blogger, and I got the gig! I'm now the Eco-Friendly Living Examiner for the Denver area, which means I blog about eco-friendly living (duh) in the Denver area (double duh) and — wait for it — they pay me money based on how well my articles do (how many people visit them, etc.). No idea yet if this will pay off, but we'll see.
  
• Finally, I got my first ever real live freelancing gig from a former boss. I'm writing about jewelry designers in Colorado. Right up my alley, right? :D Doesn't pay a ton, but if it were to be the first of many, that would be OK by me.
  
• Also, I'm trying to be really diligent about working on my book. I've got all this time off, I need to be putting it to good use, right? The other exciting opportunity that came out of the ALA conference last weekend is that I might have found a new critique group. Which would be awesome, because I always work better on a deadline!

So that's what's been going on. Nothing terribly promising yet on the permanent job front, but I'm applying all over the place. Guess I'll just keep using my down time to explore other opportunities while I can!

Blogging, Blogging Everywhere!

For those who are interested, here's a look at some of our designers' work on the Weaver Design Blog.

And, although we don't post much in the way of samples, you're welcome to check out the conversation at the Weaver Editorial Blog.

Photos from the State Fair of Texas!

Volunteering

Yesterday, some coworkers and I volunteered to talk to some high school kids at West High in Denver about our careers and how we got here.



More photos to follow!

Corporate Safari

If anybody's even remotely interested in what I do at my job, I just found out that there's this funny video we made a couple of years ago, starring my friend Johnny D. :D

Purple Cow

I never saw a Purple Cow; I never hope to See One; But I can Tell you, Anyhow, I'd rather See than Be One.

Well, Mr. Burgess, I have seen one. In my office. In the lobby. In fact, it scared the dickens out of me the first time I walked in and saw it. Apparently, our new tennants brought it. I have a feeling its one of those that they put on street corners and then auction off for charity.

But still. There's little more random that walking into work and staring down a purple cow.

Drumroll Please

Today, my company entered the new Dallas magazine in the Folio awards for Best Redesigned Magazine.

Keep your fingers crossed!

Red rover, red rover, let Lacy sit on the sidelines and watch.*

We just played Red Rover out in the courtyard at work.

My boss got clotheslined and broke the finger of the girl who clotheslined her.

I'm pretty sure most of you cannot say that you saw that today at work.



*I decided to watch because I think a broken wrist would hamper my ability to do my job. And it would hurt a lot.

Carpool Lane

Tomorrow starts my first week of carpool with some ladies from work. There are three of us, and we're going to rotate driving by weeks.

Even if I only end up riding in someone else's car two weeks out of the month, it will save me a considerable amount of money.

My commute is almost exactly 20 miles each way. I figured out, using the IRS' standard mileage deduction, that it's costing me more than $100 a week to commute to and from work. That's insane! Now, that's supposed to include the entire cost of operating the vehicle. If I just figure out fuel, I'm still spending nearly $25 a week just driving to and from work.

Even if I only ride two weeks out of the month, that will save us $50 in gas!

I'm quite excited about the whole thing.

notes on a life

• Zucchini plant has its first blossom opening! Lettuce ready to harvest. Green onions coming along well. Tomatoes going gangbusters on the front porch in late-afternoon sun. Strawberries died. :( BUT! You-Pick-Em berry farm discovered in Brighton, offering strawberries and rhubarb this month! Expedition imminent.
  
  
• The Guide at work goes to press tomorrow evening. I get the final color proofs tomorrow and plan to spend the day scrutinizing them for any last-minute changes, typos, etc.
  
  Oh, and did I mention that we still don't have a decision from the Bureau on a cover? That bit is giving me a bit of an ulcer. Three days 'til we go to press and they sent a photographer to the zoo because they didn't like any of the photos the zoo photographer sent us to use. (Remind me to tell the "attacking elephant" story someday.) Also, damn your run-off elections; we're holding a page back so that we can slip in the names of the city council after the city decides who they're going to be.
  
  
• Business trip to Dallas is planned for next weekend, except that we don't know what hotel we're staying at yet. I kind of hate traveling by the seat of my pants like this. On the plus side, I'm getting to do several things I've always wanted to do in Dallas: the Women's Museum, the Sixth Floor Museum, and Shakespeare in the Park. And on Friday? I get to spend the whole day shopping. For research. God, I love my job.
  
  
• Met with a new writing group last night. All children's authors, several published with small presses. All considerably older than me; when I said that I had been writing since childhood, they said, "And that was what? Ten years ago?" I kind of hate it when older people judge me because I'm young. I'm not even THAT young any more, for goodness' sake. They all shut up when I mentioned that I edit a travel magazine for my day job.

Looking forward to a calm weekend of berry picking and pie making before the crazy sets in.

close encounters of the marmot kind

OK, so I realize that it's been roughly 17 million years since I updated this blog (OK, less than a month), and while some things have been going on, none of them have seemed important enough or pressing enough to blog about.

Then I remembered, this is a blog; it's supposed to be about my cat and what I ate for dinner. Right?

Onward with the self-indulgent navel gazing!

Overall, we are very happy and well. The Husband has started his new job with CU medical center and has dubbed himself "Lord High Vampire of A Thousand Mice," mainly because his job entails the exsanguination of a whole lot of mice. (Not TOTAL exsanguination, just some each week.) He seems extremely happy to finally be back in a lab.

I myself am still loving my job all to pieces. Sometimes, I find my good fortune at just stumbling into this position baffling. I'll be traveling to Dallas on my very first business trip ever on June 20th and I'm very excited about it. LOTS to do between now and then, including booking travel if we ever figure out how to get the new reservations system to work.

Also, I get a corporate American Express. I feel like such a grown up.

~*~

We've also been trying to take advantage of the fine weather and get out and do a few things. On Sunday, the Mister and I decided to take one of Colorado's scenic byways, the Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park, which is the highest paved road in the country. We stopped at the visitor's center at the very top, and found out that the tundra wildflowers, which only have a six-week growing season, had started blooming, so on the way down, I asked the Mister to pull over so we could have a look.

As we pulled off onto a pullout, I saw a marmot not ten feet from the side of the road. Excitedly, I pulled out the camera and rolled down the window. The marmot hurried right up to the side of the car! I started squeaking and snapping pictures as he stood right up on his hind feet, not a foot from my window. (Pictures to follow.) Another car pulled up behind us, probably seeing the antics of the marmot.

Then, he got down and walked under the car.

We weren't really sure what to do at that point. We sat in the car for a few minutes, trying to look out all the windows to see if he'd emerged on the other side, but to no avail. Then, the car behind us pulled up alongside, and a very nice Australian couple told us that he had gone under, near the back, and was now trying to climb UP into the wheel well, or on top of the exhaust.

At this point, we REALLY didn't know what to do. We both got out of the car, and started trying to make loud noises, though we didn't want to scare him out into traffic! We were both wary that any moment, a Ranger would drive by and stop us for molesting a marmot.

Alas, a ranger did not drive by, though we began to wish for one. The marmot moved out of the rear wheel well toward the front of the car, and then proceeded to try to climb up into the engine bay! I found a stick on the side of the road, and we started hitting the ground and the side of the car, still trying to tell the marmot that this was not a good place to be.

By the way, he was HUGE. Easily once and a half the size of our cat — probably 10–15 pounds of marmot.

Finally, the Husband popped the hood of the car, which startled the marmot enough that he got down onto the ground, and I yelled for the Mister to roll forward, slowly. He did, and Mr. Marmot was left blinking at me in the sunlight. We stared at each other for a moment. I said, "Shoo!" He continued to stare. I moved around to the left, trying to go around him, and suddenly, he bolted, racing back onto the tundra from whence he came.

I got back in the car (after photographing the wildflowers, as they were the original reason we stopped) and we drove for almost half a mile before realizing that the hood was still open.

It was more of an adventure than either of us had counted on.

Announcement

An auspicious day for auspicious news.

I wanted to wait until it was all completely final before announcing this, so not to jinx it, but starting today I am officially a copy editor with the publisher of official visitor's guides for dozens of cities and states across North America.

I started with this company a little over six weeks ago as a contract proofreader through my placement agency. The company, managing editor and I clicked, and several weeks ago, they started talking very generally about whether or not I would like to come on full time as a regular employee. Naturally, I was thrilled –– not only because, hey, employment, but also because I really like the company and the work I've been doing here.

So, on my birthday (when I am now closer to 30 than 20, as my husband so kindly pointed out), I have a real job and a first step towards a real career that I'm actually excited about. I am a salaried employee for the first time in my life. I have benefits and a 401(k) –– also for the first time in my life.

I attended my first editorial department staff meeting this morning and had orientation this afternoon where they went over all our benefits (BENEFITS!) and company policies. I have an employee handbook, I ordered desk supplies, I get an email address. Then we went on a tour of the office which was good, because I hadn't actually been around to meet everybody yet, but also a little awkward as I was doing the orientation with three new advertising sales people from New York, Boston and San Jose (as we introduced ourselves, as they said, "Hi I'm Christine from New York," I would say, "And I'm Lacy from downstairs."), and also more than a little silly when we toured the editorial department where I live and work.

And did I mention the benefits? Health, dental, AND vision? Just checking.

Needless to say, I'm really excited about this. Although my title is copy editor, I'll also be assisting on the visitor guides for several markets and writing whenever anybody needs some help, and there's huge potential for growth. My managing editor has already started talking about grooming me to take over my own market as editor.

I swore when I started this job search four months ago that I would not take a full time job if I couldn't picture myself at that company for at least the next five years. It's a little scary (and very grown up) to say, but I really think I could be happy here for at least that long, and it could be a wonderful stepping stone to whatever comes after that.

Also? I'm writing. For a living. Yeah, baby. :D

The Cubicle Life For Me

So, the thing about going back to work after a month and a half of not working? You kind of forget what it's all about. The sitting still for eight hours a day, the constant staring at a computer screen, the realities of cube life, packing lunch and eating it at your desk.

On Tuesday (the first day of my new temp job), I wrenched a muscle in my neck while toweling my hair dry. It hurt like the dickens. I mean, really really bad. I couldn't turn my head to the left, which made merging on the freeway more exciting than usual. So, after a day of sitting in front of a computer in constant pain, I couldn't *believe* how tired I was.

Thankfully, the neck has gotten progressively better and the job, while kind of boring (proofreading) isn't bad and is going to last for at least another week. I have an interview for another job on Monday, but I'm not sure I want it; less money, longer commute, same task (proofreading), but we'll see.

~*~

Week number six in Colorado, and week number six of snow. But! Today, the snow is big, gorgeous flakes. It's so beautiful. I went out to collect the paper this morning, and stood there for a good five minutes just catching snowflakes and staring at them. They actually looked like the way you draw snowflakes! It was kind of amazing. Beautiful stuff, even if we are getting a little sick of it.

whistle while you work

Today was one of the more fun days at work.

We got about 2 dozen samples of jewelry from Robert Wander in, and we needed to photograph it and upload it to the website for the editors at Elite Traveler. They will look at all the pictures and decide which pieces they want to request for a photo shoot next week.

So! Alex, Mara and I spent the morning photographing each piece of jewelry (and trying things on, of course). Then, Alex tweaked all the photos in Photoshop while I put together a website template. Now I'm just waiting for the photos so I can fit each one into the template and voila! Instant virtual "look book."