Alas, our trip in Durango has almost come to an end! We are embarking on our last week here, and although I’m so ready to see family and friends at home in Houston, I’m going to miss the gorgeous weather here in Colorado. We have a “punch list” (as Sasha calls it) of things to do before we leave on Saturday – most of which includes doing certain hikes and eating at our favorite restaurants. We made the most of the past week and plan to do the same for the next five days. I’m even taking a “blogcation” from Wednesday onwards so that I can spend every single second with my sweet family!
Speaking of family – yesterday was our second year anniversary, and we are so engulfed in the laid back mountain lifestyle that we had no idea what the date was! We figured it out when a friend posted an anniversary picture on Instagram in the evening, and I checked the date right after. We had a good laugh about it, then I walked two streets over and bought a bottle of Chandon Rose and we celebrated 730 days of marriage. I love that man to pieces.
Some of this week’s highlights included:
- Making two trips to Maria’s bookshop – I finished The Girl on the Train and We Are Called to Rise – instead of having a second reading list post, I decided that I will just update this post as I read new books! But in short: you must read both. The latter is one of my favorites ever. Sasha also read Into the Void and loved it. We read every evening on the front porch with a glass of wine (i.e. I was in heaven).
- Joining the Durango Recreation Center and spent three days playing in the splash pad and sliding down the fun slides – watch two short videos of her sliding here and here.
- Eating meals at Himalayan Kitchen, Fired Up Pizzeria and Grassburger – our top three favorite restaurants in Durango (you can read my full guide here).
- Taking morning hikes up to Fort Lewis College – the view is so gorgeous (photo here), and I will miss it so much!
- Shopping at the Durango Farmer’s Market and getting some delicious treats from local farms and restaurants. There are some great markets in Houston, but this one is definitely my favorite.
- Perfecting the “Neiiiigggghh.”
- Riding our bikes to the numerous nearby parks where we did lots and lots of swinging – Isla loves it! The Yepp bike seat is a hit around here.
- Playing soccer with a beach ball at Buckley Park – Isla was getting so into it! Belle loved it too, but she burst one of the balls we bought, which was a slight inconvenience!
- Drinking oodles of flavored water – even tried Codi of Creative Wife, Joyful Worker’s kiwi mint recipe here. You can read my healthy basil lemonade recipe here.
- Getting featured on Annie’s blog for her #theprettypursuit roundup. MontgomeryFest is one of my favorite blogs out there and you should definitely be reading!
- Updating my website – Snapshots by Ailee Petrovic – with some new photos and cannot wait to add even more after the 8 shoots I’ve got lined up when we get home. So excited about them all! Incredibly appreciative of this journey so far. I also spent time working on a client relationship management database, which is so dorky, but makes me so pleased to have things become more organized!
How was your week? I’d love to hear your highlights in the comments below!
In the spring, I had a conversation with a good friend about how the interior design industry has changed recently given the popularity of sites like 
Last Thursday, I took newborn photographs for sweet Murphey Grace, whose Mom I was introduced to by a friend, but it turned out I had already met Morgan because our husbands were in the same MBA class at The University of Texas. Not to mention she went to college with my friend, Danielle, and played volleyball in high school with my cousin, Natalia. Smallest world ever, right?
With almost three weeks passing since Isla turned one, we’ve now gotten to use many of the wonderful gifts that she received on her birthday. She is one lucky lady to have been spoiled rotten by family and friends. We got cute clothes, learning toys, plush stuffed animals and “bay-beeees.” I’ve had a few people ask me what was most useful, as they were going to be buying gifts for a one year old girl (most gifts work for boys too!) and didn’t want to get a gift that would be returned or left in a box.
