a beautiful day

my amazing friend tara, has done it again. check these beautiful photos of my mom, sister and me and hop on over to tara's blog to see more.

love you t, thanks for this.
xoxo ashleycolean

friend love

a few weeks ago my amazing, spectacularly talented friend, tara took some photos of me while we roamed around five points.

i'm gracing her blog today-so pop on over and check the rest of them out.

follow her blog for beautiful updates in a much more regular fashion than me!!
also, like her out on facebook, here!

thanks again t for the fun photos!
xoxo ashleycolean

lo siento

sorry for not having my blogging' sh*t together...things have been an insane whirlwind lately.
luckily, i have tara, doin all the work for me! :)

check out a fun recent weekend with new friends here. and join t's blog! she's pretty much my favorite. :)

{cred}

here's to doing it all again this weekend.
xoxo ashleycolean

how to make it work...

{cred}

my oldest friend, of all time, is getting married early next year to his beautiful fiance, in hawaii. we've been friends for nearly 20 years. twenty! and i am so incredibly happy for him that he's found the perfect girl for him! so happy!!

hawaii will be beautiful, amazing, and unfortunately, not cheap.

i would be so sad if i missed this wedding adventure, and regret not seeing such a dear friend begin the next chapter of his life.

in order to try and make this work, i decided that maybe a travel credit card (capital one venture card) would be a good idea. for the next eight months i could put all my purchase, from rent, to groceries, to expenses for work on that card and pay it off each month. i would assume in 8 months i would have enough points built up to make a serious dent in the flight if not pay for it in its entirety.

that's step one.

step two...well, i'm workin' through this one thing at a time.

here's to hawaii.
xoxo ashleycolean

in a weekend

some weekends are so great you wish they'd never end. last weekend was one of those.

{trampolining: woodchuck under the trees: snuggle w the pup
bbq: lovebug: bcf brunch @jill's
jam sesh: homebrew: donuthut}

i wish i could stay in a slightly tipsy, sunny, friend and family filled three day weekend forever.

hope yours was a blast, too.
xoxo ashleycolean

to be thankful

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thanksgiving is just around the corner-and i always like to do a little life evaluation this time of year. take a second, and think about all the wonderful things i have in my life. look at the past year-the chaos we've endured-and find the happy again. remind yourself of all the good.
it's a little cheesy-the whole 'what are you thankful for,' but it is so important-not just on thanksgiving, but all the time to take a second and acknowledge all that's good. i don't do it enough. it always fills my heart to the top when i think about it-so maybe i should do it every morning when i wake up...that would be a killer way to start the day!

just a few things i am thankful for this year...
~my family. easy, obvious, but so true. i am not sure everyone has a supportive, amazing, loving, kind family, and i am so incredibly happy to have the people i know will always be there.

~my sisters health. after too long of a struggle and too much pain, my sister is on the mend and i can't tell you how happy that make me. everyday.
~my beautiful, kind and loving cousin. she is the best friend a girl could have and its an added bonus that we are related. her baby, j and man, t aren't bad either! so nice to have someone that knows everything about me and can shed some light on things from an outside perspective. her advise, and encouragement is worth more than i could ever tell her. it's common when i am around jb that i have an overwhelming sense of happiness and peace. what a wonderful ability to be able to give that feeling to the people around you. truly, a light in my life.
~bbe, wendi and her awesome hubby D. they are quite possibly the best family away from family a girl could ask for and i feel blessed daily to have them! to feel so cared for by her is such an added bonus to my days. i only hope one day i can pay them back for all they've done for me.

~new friends. when i moved to colorado i was a loaner-and now sometimes i look around me, surrounded with love, laughter and a packed planner- and think back about those times i didn't have anyone around-now, surrounded by amazing people...it makes for a happy heart.

~moving! getting into a little quieter space with a little less homelessness, a lot less commute and a new amazing roommate is pretty fantastic.

~my dedication to paying off my debt. i am so proud of myself, and feel so happy to see my hard work paying off in diminishing outstanding loan statements. whoohoo!

~growing up and getting on with it. i have let a lot go this year. lightening my emotional load...it feels great. we are all moving through endless waves of transformation...and i feel like my transformation over the past year has been almost completely a positive one. i'm growing up, chilling out and spending more time in the present.

~all of the happiness i see my friends having. this has been a big year...jb having that baby, chelli with her amazing daughter, birdie, lara moving here and making her own space in a new place, jamie falling in love with a great guy and moving in, byrd and ang finding loves in far away places and making moves to make that happen, tara finding the courage to make her dreams come true, e marrying the love of her life, and stephen asking sarah to be his wife. my cup runneth over! so many good things for so many good people..and i couldn't be happier to be a witness, and a part of it all.

with so many wonderful things to be thankful for, how could you spend even one minute dwelling on the ugly stuff. life's too much fun.

happy thanksgiving to you and yours,
xoxo ashleycolean

wedded bliss

morning kiddos. remember that wedding i was telling you about?? my best friend's wedding in kansas city. well the amazing photographer, tracy routh, posted on her blog (here) a few shots from the wedding. check it out!!

i love you erin and tyler-and was so honored to be a part of your big day, and your future lives together.

love always
xoxo ashleycolean

frizziday

longest.week.ever??!!! i'm sure it wasn't just me! wowzers, i thought friday would never get here this week! probably because i'm so flippin' excited to see my friends, matt and amanda!

they are getting to town today and here until tuesday! super pumped about it. and i can also guarantee some cheap 20 under $25's to come out of the weekend! i've got all kinds of fun things planned for them while they are here. i hope they don't tire easily.

we'll see how 3 adults in a 550 square ft apartment goes. luckily, i like them enough not to care!
they don't know this yet, but i have the day planned for them today while i am at work. they are going to a little walking tour (directed (on paper) by me) of denver, stopping for lunch and beer, then a bit of the touristy 16th st mall (see how i'm getting that out of the way when i don't have to participate) and then ending at a rooftop bar in lodo for a free concert. of course, they know nothing of any of this so hopefully they aren't sitting at the airport reading this before they board. if you are, surprise!!!!!

we'll also be hitting the highlands, probably gold hill for some 'rusticness,' hiking, the pool, and the rockies game. overall i wish i could just plan people's long weekend in denver as a second job. i would be rock star at that! like down on the knees, flying v strumming, rock star!
i hope everyone has an equally fun, yet relaxing, and hopefully inexpensive weekend planned.
here's to the weekend.
xoxo ashleycolean

3 things

my three things this week are simple pleasures, good company, and a great online find~

a picnic lunch with my great friend annie

the sun finally showed it's beautiful face again over boulder

my new glasses from warby parker

happy weekend comrades.

xoxo ashleycolean

9 pound hammer or a woman like you

when i made the awesome, and scary, and wild move west after college i had a panic attack on the drive.

i had no friends.

zero.

what would i do?

no one would ever be able to talk to me like chelsey, or kill me with her wit like york. know me like my sister. i had some pretty rad friends, and now, here i was, cruising down i70 excited, nervous, and freaked out about making this new journey without anyone by my side.

the next few months were rough. no job. no one to sit with me for endless hours drinking on various patios around the city. i was a sad sack. a weeping mess that acted like everything was amazing if anyone would call. 

but then, something happened.

the friends came.

and now, i am so lucky.

these are just a few of the amazing women i now get to call friends.

angela at glbt gala, denver 2011

amy, katie and jenn in arizona for the half marathon that nearly killed me

 


marathon number one morning with amy



kendall fall 2010

my gracepotter partner in crime-emily

leah in ft collins at the tour de fat costume bike race

ft collins crew summer 2010

brooke at hapa with some handsome fellas



my first friend-stephanie. boulder st pattys day 2011





the gorgeous and talented tara of tarapolly.com



my cobf annie-feel like i have known her my whole life

i used to get a lot of sleep when i was moping around alone. now i'm pooped, over extended, my planner is a total disaster, and i'm so happy my heart could explode.

you all are a part of the life i made, the life i chose, the life i put together, and i am one lucky girl.

xoxo ashleycolean

fly away-d.c.

so dc was a trip. what a gorgeous family amanda has made! with baby boy gavin - a dream child, amazing and kind hearted husband and getting more gorgeous by the day i felt in awe of her all weekend.


thursdays travels were a trip-they probably deserve their own post but here were the highlights:
~free whiskey rocks x 3 to start the weekend out with a bang from my travel friends tyler and blake on the plane. these nice fellas did something with underground piping and got off in st louis-boo.
~stl was a 90 minute layover which turned in to 2 twenty ounce beers with a 'bachelor' look alike...'brad, is that you?!'
~stl to baltimore i sat next to two gentlemen from the marines. they had terrible attitudes but as soon as i called them on it they were great fun and ready for cocktailing, so naturally i was too. they proceeded to give me relationship advice-loudly...it was all in fun, but after the flight we got several comments, 'most entertaining flight i've ever taken,' 'he didn't deserve you," and my personal favorite 'you'll find someone one day, sweetheart.' so humiliating.


on to the vacation!


friday morning we woke up and i was introduced to my new best friend, gavin. cute little nugget!

then headed out for some brunch at an adorable bistro in georgetown.

we walked to some nearby shops and grabbed coffee from the apparently infamous baked and wired. the line was too long to grab a cupcake, but maybe i can get amanda to send me one :)

 friday afternoon we headed through the hellish traffic back home to get ready for a night in chinatown. the sitters showed up and it was off for my very first metro experience-fairly painless...and made me wish we had more public transit in denver...

drinks, dinner, drinks-we decided we were too old and tired and were ready to head home on the Metro. standing at the crosswalk trying to get a picture with the chinatown arch this group of dudes approached us and we were all fast friends. we walked down the street to clydes where we had a couple more drinks with our new friends.

saturday we grabbed some bangin' lox and bagel at 'the bagel place' with the gavster looking cute as ever.

then headed to dc for a little peek at the washington monument.

we felt like luck was in our corner when two women gave us their tickets to the holocaust museum-which we headed to next. it was amazing, interesting and horrifying. i would certainly recommend it, but it is not for the faint of heart.

saturday went a bit downhill after heading back to (way too busy) georgetown on the metro and trying for that damn cupcake again. the line was 50 deep so we cabbed back to hyattsville with a not so awesome cab driver.

a little chinese and wine did the trick saturday evening with good company and a season of the office.

it was a great trip. and great reminder that there are people in your life that you can be far away from for far too long and still find your way right back to them. i feel blessed.

not bad for a vacation leaving feeling.

xoxo ashleycolean

'rado-gourmet food tour

in an effort to do something fun and different while my friend jamie was in town i bought a groupon to a denver food tour. a lovely lady, shelly, decided to start her own food tour company and do what she loved. a great way to start a gorgeous friday with a lady full of inspiration...


after the initial shock that people would wear head to toe baggy sweats to anything with the word gourmet in the title-we settled in to our 3 hour adventure.


we started out with amore gelato-this adorable shop is on the 16th street mall in lodo.

as part of the tour we got to sample just about every gelato you could dream of, and then scoop our own sweet treat behind the counter. we loved it, especially the pistachio!

next, we headed to evoos marketplace with oils and balsamics that were tasty enough to drink. i got a Peruvian lime oil and a pear vinaigrette-unfortunately, this means i will have to learn how to prepare some type of food besides popcorn. ugh. the shop was beautiful and a must stop for those fancy chefs out there.

third, we stopped in to living the sweet life in the highlands which had trays and trays of amazing sweet treats. frosted our own cupcakes (i'd go for the red velvet) and learned a bit about the southern cake.

our last stop on our trip was savory spice shop where our lively guide had us taste dozens of spices for just about anything you could imagine. the knowledgeable and fun staff were great. and in another desperate attempt to force myself to learn how to cook i bought several spices (all at a discount-another perk to the tour).


a fun day, ending with the rediscovery of one of my favorite little shops in denver i thought was lost forever-rejuvanest. it turns out she had just moved to an even better location in the highlands. i can't even step foot in there without buying something so i opted for a great new candle.


i felt very 'rado spending the day doing something new in the beautiful weather on my day off.


shelly has other tours- the denver food cart tour is next on my list.

this girl loves herself a delicious street cart hot dog.
xoxo ashleycolean

more the wine than the monuments

so in just 7 little days i am on my way to the east coast for the first time (insert gasp).  i'm off to visit the weeders and meet that little baby that i have yet to see. my dear friend amanda moved to dc about the same time i moved to this lovely little city-denver. we grew up at the same time-and by growing up, i mean moved away from what we knew in kansas city and did our 'own thing.' the only difference is she married a handsome man first, but that's neither here nor there. :)


the dear amanda and i have been friends since college-through the drama, the beer and the hair colors (mine, not amanda's lovely brown natural locks)-

 i haven't seen amanda or the hubby, matt since their wedding the summer of 2009...

and i could not be more excited to drink wine, walk around dc, and just catch up with a dear friend somewhere other than my car speaker phone...


can't wait to see you my dear.
this oughta be fun-
xoxo ashleycolean