Let's Gab: February 2021

Life Lately

Another month of 2021 in the books so it must be time for a gab! My sister and I have been settling into our new apartment / city / lives here in Denver, and this felt like the first month where we started to actually feel at home.

Sister began work as a nurse at an ER (her dream job!) and I’ve found some semblance of a daily routine. And that routine involves working way (way) less than I did when I lived in the Netherlands.

With a job like this – one that’s fun and rewarding and creative – I could easily work all the time. But I’ve realized I need to force myself away from it now and then to recharge. Fortunately, Colorado makes that pretty easy. This month I’ve been loving:

Rollerskating runs with my sister around Denver (she rollerskates, I run / prevent her from catapulting down hills).
Evergreen, a super cute town close to Denver where we skated on the lake and ice fished!
Skiing at Echo Mountain, one of the closer ski hills to Denver. They’re a small mountain, but the staff were so down to earth and helpful, the food and tickets were cheap, and any hill that plays reggae over the speakers is a winner in my book.
Putzing around Breckenridge. We went on a busy weekend so we didn’t manage to get ski reservations, but just walking around the town (and visiting all their breweries and wineries) was worth the drive into the mountains!

Even though we’ve been going on adventures and finding routines here in Denver, it’s still been hard. I mean, I didn’t know anybody before moving here (and moving during a pandemic certainly didn’t help). So I turned to online dating…for friends. That’s right, Bumble BFF happened. It felt weird and awkward to make friends through an app, but we’ve already met a few new friends in the city, and it’s helped Denver to start feeling more like a home.

So I don’t know whether it’s the sunshine or the skiing or the new city or a culmination of everything, but life has been pretty happy lately. And when a reader left this comment I might have definitely happy cried.

And then of course there are our Goodwill treasures of the month! Virtually our entire living room comes from thrift stores, with the TV cabinet being our recent final puzzle piece (well, with the exception of our couch, the only thing we purchased new, that continues to be backordered further and further).

In the kitchen

But it’s not all play! I’ve also been hard at work in the kitchen (which, to be honest, has felt like play lately). Being in a big city has given me access to so many fun ingredients that I’m excited about, like seitan and all sorts of mushrooms! Here are a few sneak peaks of recipes to come!