I spent Christmas in Denver with my daughter, Emily. We had a great time. Her apartment is so vintage punk, but that is for another post. I didn’t get to see a lot of Denver but one day we went downtown to a section with vintage shops and a shop called Sewn that sells all handmade clothing, or upcycled vintage clothing, and lots of other little trinkets and fun items. We also went to a crafts shop called Fancy Tiger Crafts. Emily had bought me a gift certificate so I chose some lovely fabric to make myself a Dottie Angel dress. I had made her one for Christmas but that is also another post since I am waiting to get a picture of her in it without her winter sweaters on top for warmth.

One night we walked down to the mint and I took pictures of it all lit up in its holiday glory. We also spent some time in lovely Boulder, Colorado, where I had raised her. I took some pictures of the downtown city hall and the lights in the surrounding area.

It was great to be back in Colorado where the mountains go on for miles. I always feel so comforted knowing they are there. I used to like to think that the mountains offered nurturing protection, as if they held me when I slept all those years as a single parent raising my daughter. It may be a ridiculous sounding romantic idea but sometimes when I had to be strong all the time, whether I was weary or not, those notions offered much needed comfort. The Flatirons were dusted with a light snow as it snowed on Christmas just a bit. I really like rocks, stone, whether in brownstones, as mountains or rocks on the beach. I am not much a of a beach gal; I prefer lakes. One of my friends was saying that even when we went to the beach I wanted to sit near the rocks. My ideal idea of a beach is where my mother took me in 2006 when we went to Italy and she wanted to go to the Viareggio beach. There were mountains in the distance. Now that is a beach view I will never forget!

We also went to this little café in Denver called Weathervane a couple of times. I really liked it; such a charming place. The sandwiches I had were yummy and the atmosphere in there is so down home, a country rustic feel to the place. I bought logo t-shirt there as well, which I thought was as charming as the café itself. They also had a small vintage shop upstairs.

Well I had a great trip. I saw a couple of my old friends, met some new folks that I really enjoyed meeting and it was wonderful to be with my daughter. I really enjoyed getting to know Denver better and look forward to seeing more of it in the future.

Happy New Year! I hope you all have a good year and hopefully I will find steady work this year! I have more ideas of creative things I want to do and share. As usual I will try to keep creating and sharing my experiences with you.

Photo by Bill Bernthal

All material written and photos taken by (except first photo in this post): © Marilyn Lavender, 2016.  All Rights Reserved.