Life Lately {vol. 61}

Hey gang! It's a big of a long post today because I've been so behind on posting. I'm doing contracting work right now, which means I'm essentially a freelance attorney while I look for a position. Parts of contracting work, I love; I love the flexibility, that I can work from where and when I want. It's kind of fun to work from home, and I've been learning a lot about myself and my work habits now that I'm essentially managing myself! 

The big downsides to contracting work are that I don't get a lot of human interaction beyond when J comes home, I miss the teamwork of working in an office, and (my biggest complaint so far) I constantly feel guilty for not working. I don't really have weekends anymore, and I honestly need the work - so it's hard to know when to let myself relax and when to push through and keep working. I'm taking a small break to work on the blog today and give you guys an update on my life!

I used the last of my LUSH bath bombs the other night when I was having a bad day. I combined my "sex bomb" bath bomb with rose and "The Great British Bake-Off," and lemme tell ya, it was a perfect combination!

On one of my last days at work, it started to storm really bad. There was a tornado warning, and lots of hail damage (though my car managed to emerge unscathed, by some miracle).

Comfy work wears!

How sweet is little Leif?!

I know these ramen noodles are terribly bad for me, but they're cheap and affordable when we're trying to save money! I added vegetable broth, seasonings, cilantro, and green onions.

Love where you live.💖

We're still working on making our "new" apartment work as a space. I love our living room/kitchen, but it does have a lot less kitchen and storage space than our last apartment.

While cleaning during our long weekend, I added frozen pineapple to my water! I usually only use pineapple in fruit smoothies or on pizzas with jalapenos since I don't really like them, but it was a really refreshing addition to my water!

Also during the long weekend, I put up a bunch of pictures above our bookshelf! I love that it makes our space seem a little quirky, but totally us. I feel like my aesthetic is like, part grandma's house, part hipster paradise, haha.

I absolutely love this picture I took of Leif in the window. Since we're on the first floor (a first for us), the cats get to see a lot of people and animals walk by, which I think has been great for them. Leif is scared of everything and James is aggressive towards everything, so I think being around so many people and animals has kind of socialized them in a way that we couldn't have on our own.

Here is Leif sleeping with his mouse toy. You're welcome.

I've been keeping up with my fitness and feeling great! My progress has definitely slowed down over the last week or so, but I'm still really proud of myself.

Mid-morning coffee with friends!

My little brother sent us this poster for our apartment! We still don't have a frame for it yet, but I can't look at it without laughing. I love "It's Always Sunny" so much!

If you clean your bedroom and you don't take a picture of it, did it ever really happen?

I truly love this little space we made for ourselves. Our living room is so dreamy at night!

It snowed at the end of May! I couldn't believe it - it had been 80 a few days before, and was a few days after. Colorado weather is so much like Iowa weather: completely unpredictable!

J joined my gym after we moved to the same neighborhood, and I've loved going to the gym with him in the evenings. He's been killing it!

Post-gym, pre-wine! I got this massive bottle of rose at Trader Joe's for $12, and I couldn't get over how huge it was!

I haven't made bread in months, so I decided to make some homemade foccacia! I only intended to make one batch, but it was my first time making it in our mixer versus by hand, and my first batch felt weird, even after proving it. So I made another batch, which definitely turned out better. Both batches tasted fine, but the latter one was definitely superior.

I found this book at Tattered Cover while I was waiting for J to get off work. I'd seen a bunch of runners I know raving about it, and I ended up buying it a few days after this.

I've been working really hard on networking, and I love that there are so many free CLEs in Colorado! "CLEs" mean "continuing legal education" classes - like doctors, lawyers have to keep up-to-date on the law!

After going to the CLE all day, I spend the next hour at my favorite local coffee shop, Weathervane Cafe. I hadn't really eaten lunch, so I got their vegan BLT with tempah bacon and a side of dill cucumbers.

I love this silly boy.

I love getting to spend time with my boys in the morning. Grab a coffee, sit on the couch, watch a relaxing, British show, and cuddle the cats? Yes, ma'am!

For Memorial Day, J and walked on a trail by our apartment, near a small river.

My handsome husband.😍

The day before my last day of work, I definitely had to make it to the gym. I had a lot of feels to work through, and there's nothing like a good sweat to help with that!

My last day of work. It was an emotional day, but I left feeling confident and prepared.

My first day out on my own! I had scheduled a hair cut that day ages ago, but the chance to relax with Layla, my stylist, was totally worth it. It was so relaxing, and she's giving me advice about growing my hair out.

I'm doing so badly at reaching my reading goal this year, but I'm working on it! Next on my list is Watership Down, one of my favorites.

Coffee and blueberry muffins: the breakfast of champions.

My second day. I spent most of the morning and afternoon at Tattered Cover, working and getting organized.

That evening, I opened up Run Fast, Eat Slow and made these Superhero Muffins! It's the only recipe I've made so far but I've made them 3-4 times. I'm totally obsessed!

Speaking of things I'm obsessed about, I'm definitely on a British show kick right now. I've made no secret about my love of "The Great British Bake-Off," but I've starting watching this British housing show about moving to the country. It's just so relaxing!

#ComeyWatch2017

My little work buddy.

I try to mix up where I work so I stay motivated; I worked at Starbucks for a whole day, and did get a lot done! It certainly felt like summer, but I had to layer in order to stay warm inside. I kind of hate that aspect of summer - just let me know how to dress! I don't want to roast outside but freeze inside, haha.

Relaxing with my boys in the evening.

A few Saturdays ago, I walked back from my eyebrow appointment in West Denver over to Washington Park, and then home. It was about 5.3 miles total, and I was totally wiped by the end! Thankfully, I remembered to buy sunscreen before I got too far.

I don't do a lot of lunch meetings, but I had one at a local restaurant and loved the experience so much!

Cats are a hoot, guys. Little weirdos, all of them.

Last week, I networked at the Arapahoe Country Bar Association Spring Dinner. It was way down south, where I've never been before, but I couldn't believe the golf course the dinner was set at. I could have started at these rocks all night, but I had to leave early to pick up my friend Erica from the airport. Don't they look like you should see a dinosaur walking by?!

Saturday, after picking Erica up the night before, we headed to our friend Erin's home before Uber-ing downtown to go to Pride 2017!

... but not before we stopped for coffee! I was totally high off life, coffee, and my friends!

Post-Pride, we were totally exhausted. Erica's more of a cat person, but don't tell the puppy that.

On Sunday, the three of us headed to Rocky Mountain National Park!

🌄🌄🌄

These ladies are a total joy.

Guys, we saw a ram! 😂 Joking obviously, but we did see three moose! We all lived in New Hampshire for three years without ever seeing one, and on Erica's second full day in Colorado, we see three! Insanity!

After driving through the mountains, the three of us headed back to my place, where we met J and played board games for the rest of the night! We ordered pizza for dinner, and it was basically a perfect day.

My friends were still around on Monday, but I headed off to Starbucks by myself on Monday morning for another meeting! Afterwards, we went to Snooze for brunch, then to the Museum of Nature and Science before Erica had to fly back.

I'm not much of a salad person, but when I crave it, I go all out! Total heart eyes over this dinner.

Wednesday was super productive! It feels so good to get things done, especially when I'm essentially working for myself.

How do you keep yourself productive when you're on your own? Do you do any freelance work? What's your favorite board game?