The Shins at Red Rocks (and it's my Anniversary!)

Woohoo! Four year wedding anniversary! I'm celebrating by cleaning, laundry, and packing! Woo-... hoo? Don't worry, we went to The Shins concert on Tuesday and we are having a "Jen and Mike's Day of Fun!" (to be said in your best Janice accent) on Saturday which will include, but is not limited to: a movie, a delicious breakfast, and much time spent at our local arcade - a nostalgia fiend's treasure trove. Plus, since my Dad and I discovered the horse racing game that I am so good at (suck it, Dad!), I've been itching to go back. This is our first Anniversary without a little mini-break (usually camping) but with my trip coming up and my local dig* starting Friday, we are planning to take the trip at the end of the summer.

On to pictures from The Shins! This was a great concert, and it was my first time at Red Rocks, arguably the most beautiful concert venue in the world. Next time, we might want to find a campground in Morrison, as the schlep back to Colorado Springs after the concert was loooooong.

I have discovered several things as my taste in music has generally shifted over the years. Most of them involve the increased pleasantness with regard to the concert-going (you know, for old people like me). Here are my top five things I like better:

5. I can hear the next day.

4. I can function the next day.

3. The bands are so nice, and they really appreciate that you showed up for them.

2. I don't have to "dress up" - I used to change from "professional Jen" to "Punk Jen" on concert nights and it just felt weird. It mostly involved black t-shirts and lots of eyeliner. Now, "student Jen" and "Indie concert-goer Jen" pretty much dress the same way.

1. No mosh pit, meaning no getting knocked down, or hit in the throat, or elbowed in the stomach. I once asked my then-roommate Josh 'what do people do at Indie concerts, just sway?' And he said something like "yeah, pretty much..."** and they do, and it is glorious. 

Well, I'm off to pack for Belize and Comic-Con because my travel schedule looks a bit like this:

I don't think putting my costume and makeup and everything together on July 10th is a feasible option so I'm doing it now!

*My professors convinced me that I should take part in the local dig for one week before going to Belize. I can learn basic techniques (what my professor referred to as "the right way" of excavating) and get additional school credit. I'm hoping it isn't completely exhausting before I fly out!


**Hope that was you, Josh, now I'm doubting myself...

A Nice Day

Have you played with your pet on some grass lately?

Have a great weekend! I'll be hanging with my Dad.

 

Wear Your PJs to the Beach - Cute, Easy, and Functional Beach Wear

I've been seeing some really fun and functional beach wear lately. I guess it's that time of year!

I spotted a creative use of floral silk PJ pants as a substitute for linen pants (which I don't like because they are wrinkly looking) in the latest Lucky Magazine. I love the idea of rolling out of bed and going straight to the beach, actually looking decent and being comfortable while doing it, and having at least one piece of beachwear that protects my uberwhite legs from the sun. Unfortunately, the pants they showcased were these, for $325. No thanks.

I have found a possible alternative in these:

I like the different patterns available in the Victoria Secret PJs, and that they come in different inseams.

Victoria's Secret also makes similar PJs in cotton, which would probably be a better alternative for travel to a hot, potentially muggy climate, especially if I plan to actually sleep in them as well (dual-duty clothing! It's a "packing light" staple!).

These also come in several different styles and colors, as well as inseam lengths. Score! I'm tempted to get ones with polka dots but lately I feel like all my clothing has polka dots on it. I might be in a rut.

I also spotted these Roxy bottoms which might do the trick and double-function as PJs. For me, I'm worried they might be too short, but they look comfortable!

Mike's graduation was yesterday (more on that later) and some very random small areas of my body that I missed with the sunscreen got burned. It got me thinking about my trip and how I am going to spend essentially an entire month outside, and I needed to invest in some extra sun protection because I'm pale and prone to burning. This got me thinking about hats. This post led me to the big floppy sun hat, particularly to this one, which is packable. I might look ridiculous (I don't often wear hats), but at least I won't be burned!

I found some other alternatives, including this one for a more safari-ish look (which would probably actually work better for my dig). It skirts the line between functional and attractive, and doesn't look too dorky. Plus there's an absolutely useless pocket! I guess you could put hair ties in it...

There is also this Roxy one which is really cute and has great reviews. 

Anyone else have any favorite beach wear?

Our Little House - Outside

We haven't visited my charming little house in a while and, let me tell you, it is looking particularly charming in the Spring. Flowers are popping up, the grass is green, the hammock is swinging, all that jazz. Plus, it gives me incentive to do some good cleaning.

I am using the blogsy app for iPad to do this post so hopefully everything comes out ok. I am trying to get used to using it for Belize and Comic-Con as I want to do some blogging while traveling. Should be fun!

Anyway, let's start with the outside of our little house, especially since we haven't done the cleaning part yet.

It's probably time to put the snow shovel away.

Our neighbors put up a wooden fence for their dogs which adds privacy for us too. It is also nice that they turned the falling-down dump next door into a really cool little house. It's much more pleasant to look at!

We were also lucky to have previous tenants who were into gardening. They planted all the flowers, herbs, and such that we have been admiring as they pop up.

We are really enjoying being outside. I felt pretty cooped up during the winter. Mike has been mowing the lawn. He loves it. I think it makes him feel manly.

 

A Delightful Weekend (and also Hi)

Woohoo! I'm emerging from my finals-induced hibernation and man, does it feel good! This weekend was an excellent one. A celebration of my lack of tests and papers and Mike's break between classes, it was the best weekend I've had in a while. The only thing I didn't get to do that I really wanted to was see The Avengers again (technically that's Marvel's The Avengers, because you wouldn't want to get it mixed up with an older movie that wasn't very good and has basically nothing in common with this movie, which was amazing).

Mike and I spent basically all day Sunday doing Dropquest 2012, the surprisingly addictive online puzzle quest for more Dropbox space. Mike and I are an excellent puzzle-solving team because we have very complementary strengths. We haven't finished yet, mostly because it took up our day on Saturday so we decided to take a little time off, but we are almost done. I highly recommend playing. The big prizes are spoken for, but you can still get some extra dropbox storage space out of it. Plus, it's totally satisfying, and it made me feel like I was doing an online scavenger hunt Ready Player One style, which was super cool.

The rest of the delightfully rainy weekend was spent reading books written for teenagers, watching The X-Files, booking hotels in Belize, and baking a pie. We spent most of our time on the couch. It was really great, considering how busy we have been. I've really enjoyed our time together and I'm not really looking forward to it ending tomorrow. Don't you just love weekends like that?

Here are the books I've been reading, if anyone is interested:

I recommend both of these if you like teen fiction adventures of wildly different kinds. If you like The Hunger Games, you will probably like Divergent. If you like beautiful, dark, poetic fantasy, you will probably like Daughter of Smoke and Bone. 

The pie I made was a Lemonade Peach pie, which sounded just too awesome to not make. It was in my new pie bible, and it was so easy that I'm a little embarrassed. I even used frozen pie crust and frozen peaches (hey, the recipe called for it!!). Yes, it actually has lemonade concentrate in the filling, plus I added a little squeeze of lemon juice on top of the fruit. It tasted fantastic.

How was your weekend/last couple of weeks?