So many wonderful and fun happenings in my life recently. Shari and I went to our friends, Andy and Jarred’s new home for dinner a couple of weeks ago where Andy made delicious chili and potatoes. You know I’m always a fan of someone else making me dinner plus I wanted to see their place. We stayed until 9:30pm, which is late for me (I’m usually in bed by then), so it’s clear I really enjoy our friendship. Oh my goodness I laughed so hard that evening that I left feeling so happy. We’ve scheduled another get together for mid March which will be just as fun and I’m really looking forward to it.
Shari hosted a Galentine’s brunch for our meetup group which was a huge success. Ladies stayed for 5 hours! We had scones, macarons, quiches, tofu egg salad, anything a person would want for a brunch. I loved getting to chat with everyone. We’ve got such a great group of people in the meetup. Shari and our friend, Nicole, made the most delicious macarons I’ve ever had. I didn’t care that they weren’t vegan, I ate them.
I think I’m going to slowly ease myself into more of a plant-based diet than a vegan diet. I’ve never been fully vegan these past three years (Tokyo Premium Bakery and Pillsbury orange rolls are just too good) so why not actually own that. I’ve felt guilty in the past for not eating 100% vegan and that’s just not good for my mental health. It’s ok to do what works for me. Does this mean I’m gonna go out and buy cheese today? No. I’m not even close to being ready to do that and I’m not sure I even want to, but it means if I want to eat a macaron that my girlfriend and friend spent hours making I’m going to eat it, enjoy it, and not give myself flak for it.
After the brunch, Shari and I went to Lowe’s and ordered vinyl flooring for our condo. The flooring should be completed this Sunday and then honestly, our home is move in ready. There’s still a few things we want done but nothing that has to be completed prior to March 11th. Painting is done and while it looks different than we both expected (the gray is a blue-gray rather than a gray-gray), we’re embracing it. I mean, anything looks better than what the walls looked like when we bought the place. I’m so freaking excited. I started packing today even though I initially told myself I wasn’t going to start packing for another full week. I quickly remembered how packing can cause feelings of stress so I’ll have to be very aware the next two weeks to ensure I’m pacing myself without overtaxing my brain.
This past Saturday I met up with some of the meetup people again and we watched a movie at a library. One of the libraries around here has a mini theater that you can reserve for free. Libraries are awesome! So we met up and watched Howl’s Moving Castle. It was really fun and we’ll watch something else in April.
On Sunday, Shari and I video chatted with Kayla and Elisabeth, saw the new Antman movie, and had my two cousins, Amanda and Emily, over for dinner. That’s right, I have TWO cousins that live in the Denver area now. This is the first time in my life that I’ve ever had extended family near me and it is so awesome. I felt so incredibly happy and loved Sunday evening as we caught up with one another and got to know each other as adults. I can’t wait to hang out with them again, they’re both such lovely and kind human beings.
On Tuesday I met up with my friend Brittany at the botanic gardens where we learned how to create our own floral design. Hell yeah, I can cross another item off my #30 before 40 list. Woohoo! I enjoyed it and took notes so I can try creating more designs at home. I felt intimated at first but as Brittany reminded me, you have to try in order to be good at something, it doesn’t just happen immediately. It’s a good reminder and I pushed through and made a bouquet I’m really proud of and pleased with.
It’s so very cold here today so I hope everyone is staying warm and happy! ❤
Just Lauren 