Disclaimer: A lot of this information is
repeated, though in more general terms, but definitely still repeated. Nearly
every day of the beginning of July, as most of you know, I updated the whole
web-universe about my trek, smiles, and troubles of moving to Colorado.
Another disclaimer: I usually write in my
journal every single day…but I have two and a half days of empty pages…which is
really depressing. It’s the first time this has ever happened. I guess that
just proves how pooped I was at the end of every day…I guess…
4th of July
The 4th of July this year was
about the best it could possibly be. I ran the 20th annual Lake
Forest Firecracker 5k with my dad and brother, beat my fastest 5k time by over
a minute, saw a bunch of high school friends after my race, AND met a couple of
Doug’s closest friends from Long Island who now live in (or happened to be
visiting) New Port Beach, CA. We watched some of the World Cup game, consumed
mimosas, and played soccer, football, and Frisbee on a huge field all day. It
was the most exhausting and entertaining day.
World Cup Soccer
Since Doug flew into San Diego on the day of
the US vs. Germany game (July 1st), I made a whole day out of it. I
went down to SD again and bugged (my forever #plusone) Emma. Emma, her
roommates, and I all headed to the Pacific Beach Bar and Grill to watch the
heartbreaking yet very exciting US vs. Germany game. For those of you who
didn’t watch this game...essentially USA was on the verge of losing 2-0 (which
was more or less expected) when all of a sudden we got a goal. Time, of course,
ran out…but that glimmer of hope…that chance they could tie it up and go into
extra time nearly had my heart jumping out of my chest. Great game.
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| Emma and me in America gear after the USA vs. Germany game. |
One of my and Doug’s first days in Denver, we
made (what we now consider) a huge mistake in taking a break from productivity
to watch the Germany vs. Brazil game. A game that ends in 7-1 is NOT a fun game
to watch…especially when you’re rooting for the underdog, the way way WAY
underdog in this instance…
For the final Germany vs. Argentina game,
Doug and I bolted over to Tennyson’s Tap, the dive bar on the corner,
immediately after throwing all of our belongings into our newly rented house.
Because I apparently struggle with translating time zones, Doug and I showed up
to the bar an entire hour before the game even started (oopsies). Lucky for us,
the two owners were there and were happily welcoming us to the neighborhood
with Irish coffees, local beer and whiskey tasters, and a mouthful of their
“Green Fairy”—their new Absinth drink. We chose (wrong again) to root for the
underdog. The game was impeccable though…and it’s hard to be upset with such a
gorgeous German goal that close to the end. Watching the game in Tennyson’s Tap
was certainly my best decision since moving here.
The Long Drive to Colorado…
…was gorgeous and intermittently terrifying.
The first day of the trek, we were in the middle of a summer storm for about 4
of the 12 driving hours. But when it cleared up, man oh man, everything was
breath-taking. Below are some pictures from the drive out. I’ll spare the small
details of the trip since they can be seen in earlier posts, but if you haven’t
read them yet, there were a few funny stories to be told.
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| The storm we couldn't avoid driving into... |
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| The unavoidable storm, mid-experience. |
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| The gorgeous sunset in Grand Junction, CO. |
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| A big ol' rock. |
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| View from San Rafael Swell in Utah. |
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| Doug and I at another view point in Colorado |
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| View point panorama. |
Let the Interviews Begin
Back in May when Doug, Alex, and I more
legitimately decided to make Denver a reality, I began applying for “marketing
jobs” here. I heard back from nearly all of them (exciting!) but of course
wasn’t able to set up their in-person only interviews until I arrived in the
area. I reconnected with all of the companies and 4/5 of them were still hiring
and offered to give me an interview. I finally had the chance to put on my
fancy pants (in this case—a professional dress) and practice my interview
skills. As many of you may have remembered from the post, Today’s Epiphany,
these interviews really did only serve the purpose of practice. The three
companies I interviewed with before my little epiphany all advanced me to the
second of their three round interview process (which I proceeded to cancel because
I knew I’d be wasting their time)…and the fourth company was the company that
(I feel) I totally embarrassed myself at. Luckily, though, if it weren’t for
that last interview and the advice that came along with it, I would probably
still be jobless, bored, spending too much money on coffee, and sending in a
dozen resumes a day. When I told the interviewer what I wanted (after I
apologized for wasting both of our time), he told me to get a job in the
service industry, network with the customers, volunteer, and THEN see if you
can get an in in the nonprofit world. So far, the first three are a part of my
life…let’s hope the last comes true soon, too!
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| A (double) rainbow on one of the many Denver to Fort Collins commutes. |
Here’s a cool story. Two days after my
epiphany and awkward interview, I decided to play to my strengths. As some of
you know, I was the marketing intern at the relatively new coffee shop in my
college town, San Luis Obispo, called Coastal Peaks Coffee. I had the pleasure
of working with Dean Mignola of Mignola Marketing and soaked up tons of small
coffee business marketing knowledge. With this knowledge, I found a local
coffee shop that I thought would benefit most from some social media marketing.
I studied the business all day, made a marketing plan, a chart showing their
weaknesses in the online community, and called it a day. The next day, I walked
in there with my resume and marketing plan in hand. I told them where the holes
were, what I could do to fix them, and proceeded to have an impromptu interview
to be a barista as well. I got a call later that day welcoming me to the
Downpours Coffee family and a promise that the marketing stuff will be
implemented in the near future. Boo-yah. I’ve been there almost three weeks
now…and it rocks.
Doug’s Birthday Dinner
Doug’s lovely mother asked where we were going
for Doug’s birthday, called ahead, and took care of the bill in advance. It was
very sweet. We ended up at a place called Enzio’s, an Italian restaurant in
Fort Collins, CO, that also had gluten-free options (happy day!). We ate
delicious food, split a bottle of wine, and I ordered a gluten-free chocolate
torte for dessert. I thought I died and went to heaven. The three of us sat
there for nearly 3 hours talking about who knows what, laughing, and getting
excited for moving into our home for the next year the very next day! I love
those boys. I definitely chose some winners.
The “New” House
Our house was a fixer-upper for the landlord
and we are the first people to rent at this location since its series of
renovations. This means that the dust and crud of the contractors from the
previous 3 months had been piling up. We made a deal with our landlord that we
would clean the entire house for money off next month’s rent. This might have
been a good deal? But maybe not. All I know is that each of us spent about 6
hours a piece (at least) vacuuming the carpets and blinds, sweeping out
cupboards, dusting the floorboards, wiping down the walls, and windex-ing every
single surface…just to get the first layer of dust off.
My parents drove out to Denver only one week
after we moved into our house! They brought two beds, two dressers, two
bookshelves, a couch, coffee table, kitchen table, chairs, and a desk. They
furnished our entire home with just one U-Haul truck and they had a chance to
see where I get to spend the next 12 months of my life :)
The Gluten Escape Bakery
One of my first days in Denver, I emailed a
few 100% gluten-free business owners. I think I mentioned a few months back in
this post – [post here] – I would love to have my own gluten free bakery. Only
one business owner, Kathy from The Gluten Escape Bakery in Denver, got back to
me. I had the chance to sit down with this woman for an hour and just picked
her brain about everything. How long did it take to create the business? How
much time does she spend at the bakery? How many food allergies does she attend
to? What type of gluten free flours does she use? Etc etc etc. It was awesome.
It also is causing me to re-think my gluten-free bakery plan a bit…
The Simple Serendipities
This month more than other months, lots of
awesome stuff happened. This post is already long and I’m still leaving out a
bunch of cool stuff. Here are just a few of the incredible small details.
Oatmeal. The first night Alex, Doug, and I
were all in our house together, we laid on the floor looking up adorable videos
of teacup pigs. We decided if we get one, we will name him Oatmeal. Daww.
Voice Lessons with Shannon. I made business
cards, a Facebook page, and advertised a bit on Denver Craigslist for giving
voice lessons. I heard from someone but it turned into nothing…but the last day
of July I got a phone call from a voice lesson company for an interview. Check
out www.facebook.com/voicelessonsbyshannon
to see how that turned out…
Family Dinner. I made a delicious is gluten
free margarita pizza on the night of July 21, 2014. This was the first night
Doug, Alex, and I sat at our kitchen table at the same time and shared a meal.
It made me really happy :)
Mini Prank War. Doug smashed a Nutella
covered pancake on my face the night we made breakfast for dinner. Don’t worry;
I retaliated the very next morning. Since I had work at 7am that day and Doug
didn’t until the afternoon, I put a little bit of peanut butter on the only
inside door handle of his room. As I was walking home from work that day, I
received this text message: “You little punk…” The way he tells it, when he
woke up and opened his door, he was so disgusted he pulled his hand off without
opening it…which means he had to grip the peanut butter smeared handle twice
before even escaping his room. We called
a truce immediately—I so won.
New Friends. I have a super awesome co-worker
that took me around our little neighborhood on foot the other day. By the end
of the night, her husband, Doug, and Alex met up with us at Berkeley Untapped
and then Hops and Pie. What a wonderful evening.
Maxwell Falls Hike. Doug and I went on a
beautiful hike. It ALMOST rained on us…but somehow we got lucky and it didn’t.
Look how beautiful! :) Oh, and we made a new blog called Tour de Plank. Go us.
Team Leaders in Denver. Erin and Hazel passed
through Denver on their drive out to Milwaukee. Boy, are we in a good spot for
people to visit on road trips! Ah, it was so incredible to have company :)
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