Shari surprised me and Elisabeth on Friday night with our very own Lego sets. We’ve been watching Australia’s Lego Masters tv show and it has inspired all of us to build with Legos. Shari got me a Captain America set and I knew instantly she had chosen correctly. Not only I am a Marvel fan, but the two us recently finished watching Avengers End Game so Captain America’s badassery was at the top of my mind. “Avengers…assemble!” Plus, who doesn’t like Captain America? I didn’t get to finish building mine on Friday because Pippin demanded play time, but I finished it yesterday morning and am so pleased. Building was relaxing, peaceful, and fun. I will be on the lookout for other Lego sets in the future for sure. Have I found a new hobby? Maybe. It’s definitely intimidating to watch people on tv build incredible Lego pieces – I’m not close to that. But every hobby starts at the beginning and maybe my Lego hobby has started with this Captain America mecha.
After finishing my Lego piece, Shari and I hopped over to the craft store so she could purchase a few frames for some art she wanted to hang up. I also wanted to get some mattes to make some of my already framed pieces look nicer (no more cardboard backgrounds for me!) and while I didn’t end up finding the right size mattes, I did get colored scrap paper. It worked well, even if it doesn’t look as professional as I was hoping. Framing art tends to be relatively pricey. Frames can add up quickly, plus mattes, and glass is definitely expensive if you have to get it replaced. That’s when coupons, budgeting, and the occasional trip to the thrift store for slightly cheaper frames comes in handy. Framing art is definitely worth it.
We headed straight to Cherry Creek Reservoir after shopping so we could take advantage of the fantastic weather. We walked around for a bit and at one point found ourselves in a ghost forest. Recently, a fire started in the park and so we wandered around a burned, empty land for part of our travels. We couldn’t figure out what was wrong for a moment. All we knew is that something was off. There was something creepy about this place. No one was around us and the only reason we knew we hadn’t been transported to another reality was because we could still hear the POP POP POP of guns being shot at the gun range. And that’s when it hit me. “There’s no birds here, Shari,” I said, stopping suddenly. “We haven’t seen or heard any birds. Or squirrels! There’s no living creatures here.” And suddenly we knew we truly were in a ghost forest. The fire had run out all those who could move and they had yet to return. Only the trees were left to mourn the loss and they didn’t even have leaves to quake in sadness. It was eerie. And while it was spooky, it was also quite wonderful because it was a new experience and Shari and I got to live it together.
Eventually we made our way out of the ghost forest, but I’d like to think for those few small moments, nature welcomed our two living souls into its home. We helped it remember that life would return. We got to honor its quiet and one day we will also return to the ghost forest. Whether alive or dead, who can say.
After our hiking, we hunkered down on the beach of the reservoir and ate lunch and soaked in the sun and the cool breeze and it was perfect and exactly what I needed. Work has been stressful for the past few weeks (somewhat my own doing but still stressful nonetheless) and so being outside and getting some exercise was incredibly uplifting and 100% needed and required for rejuvenating my mental health. Here’s to me getting outside more often now that the weather is starting to warm. I told Shari that next winter, I’m gonna have to buy myself some snow pants and just sit in the cold and the snow so I can be outside more often.
We went home eventually because we both wanted to work on our art so I hung out at Shari’s for a bit and helped her frame and hang her really beautiful art. We ended up making a Marvel women wall in her bedroom and holy moly, it may be one of my favorite wall hangings I’ve helped with. This section of her apartment is so beautiful and inspiring. It’s full of Marvel’s amazing women and there’s also a couple of inspiring “think like a woman” pieces that may not be Marvel but definitely fit with the aesthetic. I’ll have to take a picture sometime and share it on here. I worked on my art pieces and ended up making two magnets with leftover material I had. I quite like them!
Saturday was exactly what I needed it to be and I am very pleased. Here’s to a fantastic Sunday for myself and everyone else. ❤
Just Lauren 