I took this photo a couple of years ago on the first leg of my Grand Adventure. I went on a long drive yesterday afternoon up by the ski area and the lupine looked just the same as this. I love them! They are airy and misty lavender-blue. I cannot believe how green it is in the high country right now. I was told Colorado has had ten inches of rain this spring. If it continues, it will look much like back east. But if it dries out, as it is likely to do soon, we could be in for a heck of a fire season due to the incredible amount of underbrush that has developed. We went from cool and rainy last week to 93 degrees and bone dry the last three days. It will dry out fast if that keeps up. In the meantime it was a beautiful weekend!

Look at these. Aren't they yummy looking? Now…look closer. They are stitched and beaded faux "cupcakes"…complete with little fluted plastic cups. These were created by one of the most amazing women I've ever known.

I met JO shortly after moving to the mountains when Hubby #2 joined a medical practice after residency. I was really new at the doctor's wife thing (something I'm not entirely sure I ever mastered) and that first Christmas, I was invited to an ornament exchange party. We were to make a dozen ornaments and you took a dozen different ornaments home with you. I still have a large box of beautiful, handmade treasures that I will never part with.

I saw five million people I know at Strawberry Days last night. The locals always come out on Friday night. The food is fresh, the arts & crafts aren't picked over, the band is always awesome, and…well, it's Friday and it's fun. It's THE place to see and be seen!

I hit town at about 12:30 and headed straight for SWEET COLORADOUGH​ and interviewed the owner for The Coffee House Locator blog. I asked what his best selling drink was and he said probably a "Dirty Hippy". Great! I ordered one and my barista, Val, set right to it. It's espresso, spicy chai, and mocha. It was pretty darned tasty. I also had a croissant donut with strawberry frosting. Yummmm!

The Roaring Fork Valley on the Western Slope of Colorado used to be a huge strawberry producer. Over a century ago, the luscious fruit was celebrated with the first annual Strawberry Days Festival…the longest running festival in Colorado. Actually, in those days, people were so spread out, they would celebrate anything just to have an excuse to get together. Hence, there is the Dandelion Festival, Potato Days, Burning Mountain Days, etc. Strawberry Days runs the third full weekend of June. There will be food and arts & crafts booths, live music, children's programs, a parade, free strawberries and ice cream, a Miss Strawberry Days Scholarship Pageant….you know, the quintessential small town summer festival. And, I'm going! It will be an excellent opportunity to see tons of my friends without running around all over to visit here and there. I get to visit with my brother so I'm really super excited about that. And I'll be leaving TOW-Wanda at home and staying with my "parents by choice". They stood up for me at our wedding after my mother had passed away and my father was in a nursing home. I'll take my bike with me and tool around town. It's going to be so much fun!

Last night was the first s'mores of the season for me! Such sticky goodness is reserved for hot summer nights when the kids gather around the campfire. Ok…in this case, the trusty gas grill. But the results are the same and certainly not on anyone's diet. But oh…SO good! AND…they're MARSHMALLOW RANCH marshmallows! Well, not really…they're Stay Puft, but that's kinda the same thing.

I've got it again. There's a festival in the mountains this weekend. I think I might run up there and catch some live music and a funnel cake! I'm making plans for my next big trip. I'm leaving 6/26 for a circuit of Colorado. I'm visiting family and friends, hitting a music festival in Snowmass, then heading to my friend's place overlooking Mesa Verde. We're going to discuss my book and push to get it published this year. I need to be back in Denver by the 3rd for a concert I bought tickets for two months ago. I'll be free till the kids return on the 8th from their vacation then I will have my babies for a week. The next month will fly by!

I went to a movie with my kids and grandkids on my birthday. While ordering the tickets at the window, my daughter asked for two adults, two kids, and a senior citizen. My head whipped around and she stared at me with a look that said "Uh-oh….she just realized she's old!" Instead, I broke into a HUGE smile and started clapping. "You mean I get a senior discount now??? Score!!!", pumping my fist in the air. She looked around to see if people were giving her pitiful glances because her mom was doing the Happy Dance in the theater lobby. Do I get a discount on that overpriced popcorn, too? I dunno…I forgot to ask. I was just so darned excited at all the possible discounts I can receive now. And girl, I'm gonna WORK that! lol

This was just too cute not to post it. The kids had me over last night for a birthday party. It was so much fun! Our tongues were purple! This party was after spending the afternoon with the Sisters on the Fly at a wine tasting. THAT was a hoot and a half! I love those gals! I invited a friend to join me. Our kids were best friends in third grade then she and her daughter moved to Maine. I haven't seen her since. Then she moved back to Colorado a few weeks ago. She walked in the door and we picked up the conversation like we'd seen each other yesterday. What a wonderful, wonderful birthday week I've had! Thanks again to all of you for helping me celebrate.

I've finally chosen my fabric for curtains for my little house on wheels. I want a Shabby Chic look but without all the pastels and ruffles and little birds and cutsie stuff. I want soft yet sophisticated...sort of organic to reflect my writing style.

I had an issue with one of the two small shirt closets. I hung shirts in one and hung a sweater organizer from the rod in the other to use as storage for my dainties. After a year, the organizer began to sag and every time I opened the door after driving, my dainties ended up on the floor. I needed shelves in there. Daughter #1 and I went to IKEA the other night and found these great wire baskets that connect and hang down as many as you need. My closet fit five of them and now my lingerie is neatly folded and placed inside.

The sun! It came back…outside AND inside! Just as I predicted, I was perfectly fine when I woke up yesterday even though it was still raining and grey out. But by 3:00, the sun broke through and the world was fresh and green…swept clean by the downpours of the past week.

There's always going to be a stumbling block on this path. I've spent the last eight months in West Virginia…a place Mr. Virgo visited once for a week. I've been back in Colorado a week and he's around every corner. I didn't realize how much impact that would have until I lived it. I need to change my reaction. Instead of feeling grieved when I "see" him in familiar places, I need to feel the joy in the memories. Find the happy. The rest will take care of itself.