Sunday, September 12, 2010
"COLE"
This is a picture of Cole's LL Bean tote bag. He's had it since he was a baby, a gift from my mother. It is faded and a bit dirty and stained from markers and wear and tear. It is more than 10 years old, after all. This summer I saw a mom with her newborn. Over the handle of her pristine new stroller was a brand new navy and white tote bag, the exact same one, with the name "COLE" on it. I peeked in the stroller and a newborn Cole stared back at me. I thought of my Cole and my tote bag at home, and I was suddenly so aware of how relatively old my Cole was. Today he is 11. He will gradudate from primary school next spring; he has mastered many things, including reading and surfing the internet; he likes to memorize songs; he knows things about pop culture that I don't know; he has had three passports; he tells his friends secrets about girls; his face is changing but he still has a scar on his right cheek from an accident when he was 7. After 11 years, he has a personal history that includes love and loss. Seeing that brand new tote bag this summer and the baby Cole to whom it belonged reminded me of my Cole. I stopped the mom and told her briefly about my Cole and his similar tote bag. "Good luck," I said. "Enjoy every moment. It will go fast."
4 Mile Fire
Friday, August 6, 2010
Aspen, CO
I took the boys to Aspen to see my dear friends Barabara and Jonathan. Aspen is gorgeous and our accommodations at The Gant were superb. Our condo was unexpectedly upgraded, so the boys ended up with three 40" plasma tvs. The condo was remarkable. The boys begged to bring their featherbed enhanced queen beds home; I took notes on the kitchen and bathroom designs; the balcony looked out to the mountains and down to the saline pool....Aspen style. Though we were mostly there to see our friends, we got a good taste of the town. We hiked the Ute trail, biked down the Rio Grande on a scenic 8 mile path, found natural hot springs in Carbondale, and the boys hunted for snakes by the creek and even found some. Somehow we managed to leave Aspen with nothing new in our pockets. I still can't believe it!
Monday, July 26, 2010
RockyGrass Festival: Lyons, CO
We attended the RockyGrass Festival in Lyons over the weekend. We camped for three nights and listened to amazing music for three days. The festival is in Lyons, only 20 minutes from Boulder and the setting is beautiful. Though I am not a huge bluegrass fan, I thought that the music was fantastic and just one element in the total RockyGrass experience. The stage is adjacent to the St. Vrain river, where the boys floated with their tubes and mucked around all day. We brought food, but we didn't need to since a variety of vendors sell yummy food morning till night. It was much more kid friendly than I imagined. There were all sorts of activities for kids, including art and crafts, hula hoops, slacklines, etc. The boys spent most of their time in the river or in hammocks above the creek listening to music. We loved it, even the part where people play music until 5 am in your camp ground.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Eldorado Springs pool
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Saturday, July 10, 2010
And the winner is...
Grant and the boys spent the afternoon in North Boulder Park for an annual bike race around the park. There were many different races throughout the day and they got a chance to enter a fun race at the end. Carson was very pleased with his first place finish and Cole was close behind. It would have been an entirely different outcome if the red jersey guy hadn't blown out his tire.
Monday, July 5, 2010
July 4th Weekend
There were no fireworks this 4th of July in Boulder. Now, that is not entirely true, but it was raining quite heavily so we opted-out of leaving the house with 6 expectant children and 4 adults for a fifty-fifty chance of seeing fireworks under a foggy and rainy sky. Instead, we opted to stay indoors, with great friends who were visiting from DC and enjoy laughter and company and good food. I reason that I've enjoyed enough great fireworks over the years to give up one year of fireworks without a big complaint. One year, Boulder, one year.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Hiking the Flatirons
Monday, June 21, 2010
Jamestown Ride
Grant and I celebrated father's day with an amazing bike ride from central Boulder to Jamestown. It is considered one of Boulder's top rides and now I know why. The 30 mile ride along a rushing creek is not only incredibly scenic, but the gradual climb on a paved bike shoulder enabled even a novice rider like me to feel comfortable the whole way. It took us about 3 hours total and I needed a two hour nap in the afternoon to recover, but it was a memorable way to break in my new bike. Here are some of the statistics on the ride from bicycling.com:
State: | Colorado (CO) |
Distance: | 23.37 mi (Change units) |
Calories: | 2039 |
Average Speed: | 13.7 mph 0:04:23/mi |
Duration: | 1:42:29 |
Survey Elevation: | Total Gain: 3107 ft Total Loss: 3134 ft Net Change: -28 ft |
Difficulty: | 7 / 10 |
Friday, June 11, 2010
Mountain Bike Camp
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Mapleton Avenue Lemonade Stand
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Boulder Boulder Memorial Day 10K
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
My Three Sons
A wonderful artist in California just sent me these drawings of the boys. I always knew that I wanted portraits of Cole, Carson and Quinn, but I didn't have the right person until I went back to Los Angeles over spring break and ran into Nancy Julson-Rieley's work in a store in Silver Lake. Working off photographs of the boys, she deftly captured the essence of their faces. The size of each portrait is a modest 5x7 inches, but I think they are just the right size to mark this stage in their lives. Perhaps I will commission her again to do three more portraits down the road when they hit the teenage years, or go back and have her capture an earlier time.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Happy Mother's Day!
What a day! It started with a 10K race with some of my favorite Boulder buddies around the Boulder reservoir. Post run, we returned to chez Besser, where the dads were whipping up the most fabulous brunch for us. The weather, which has been mostly cool, cooperated and gave us glorious sunshine and warmth. Once I have my 4pm nap, I think this will be the best Mother's Day ever. Ever.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
My Brother-in-Law, Chef Massimo Bottura
Massimo Bottura – Evolution, not revolution!
Luciana Bianchi, March 8, 2010
Avant-garde cuisine has enabled some chefs like Ferran Adrià and Massimo Bottura to be recognised not only as chefs, but as artists both inside and outside their kitchens. In recent years, Bottura’s work has gained recognition in the international “gastro-community”, and also among artists and art lovers. His presentations in gastronomy congresses convey food with a unique artistic and philosophical expression, which could well be presented at the Tate Modern. Massimo is a man who admires art, music, history and poetry and is a perfectionist, deeply in love with his job.
The restaurant Osteria Francescana lies in the heart of the beautiful region of Emilia Romagna, in Modena. Surrounded by some of the greatest Italian food and wine producers, this region is the home of Parmigiano Reggiano, Grana Padano, Prosciutto di Parma, Sangiovese di Romagna, Colli di Rimini, Aceto Balsamico di Modena, and a long list of high quality products. The region has found in Bottura an ambassador of its flavours, but not in a conventional way. His cuisine respects and reflects tradition, but has its own free-spirit, always questioning the old and the new, pushing the boundaries, and opening doors to innovations and new cultural experiences.
His dishes have a rare combination of complex elaboration and poetic simplicity, with detailed research, reflection and passion.
The theme of the 6th Identità Golose in Milan was ‘The Luxury of Simplicity’, and had several highlights, including Carlo Petrini, from the Slow Food Movement, Franck Cerutti, and the brothers Massimiliano and Raffaele Alajmo.
Only a few days after the Madrid Fusión, the Italian Chef Congress witnessed a historical speech by chef Massimo Bottura, which still echoes on the news and food blogs around the world. To quote some of his words:
“”In a moment of great confusion, of witch hunts, cuisine is an oasis of peace.”
“…it is through comparison that identities take shape. I try to never renegade the past, but from the past I search for future development. It’s not a revolution but my search for evolution!”
“…research is closer to product and tradition than we imagine – it is a way of expressing our passions.”
At the Identità Golose, Bottura was named“chef of the year” by Paolo Marchi, and “the best Italian chef of the present and future”by Alain Ducasse.
Osteria Francescana
Via Stella, 22 / Modena – Italy
Tel.(+39) 059.210118