labor day – Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic

Personal September 2, 2014

Week 7 in Durango

Week 7 has come and gone very quickly, with the holiday weekend and my parents arriving in Colorado. We are going back to Houston in one week from today – I am so ready to hug (i.e. squeeze to death) my friends, but so sad to leave this gorgeous weather and valuable family time.

In the past week, we hiked up to Fort Lewis College every morning, tried a new restaurant (Chimayo – amazing and will definitely be on my updated Durango Travel Guide), went to the Saturday farmer’s market (delicious hatch peppers and tasty wheat grass drinks!), made some crepe paper peonies (DIY here), baked more vegan black bean brownies as well as these amazing and healthy cookies, ate even more Cream Bean Berry, watched Isla play with her ‘Mimi’ and ‘Papa’, dominated my parents in Taboo, and practiced playing bean bag toss (I’m awful). The only low point of the week was getting stung by a wasp twice (in my hand and leg) – totally unprovoked on my end! Not fun.

Lastly, I recently set up a Facebook page and Instagram account for Snapshots & My Thoughts. I would love if you were to follow along so I can follow you too! Thanks for reading. xoxo

Read about our time in Durango here: Week 1 | Week 2 and 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6

Food August 25, 2014

Sweet Summery Guacamole Recipe

I am an avocado fanatic – I could eat them all day long, so naturally, I love guacamole. The local grocery store in Durango recently had a sale on avocados – 10 for $10, which is a steal. We bought 10 and then realized they would go bad before we managed to eat them all, as we’ve been adventuring to different restaurants for dinner in the evening. I decided to make my signature guacamole dish, which is sweet and salty, given that I use Robert’s Reserve Roasted Red Pepper and Onion Dip and sea salt. This dip is very summery, given it’s slight sweetness. Depending on whom I am making the guacamole for, I’ll add cilantro to the top or jalapeños – enjoy with Stacy’s pita chips (Sasha’s favorite), or celery and carrots if you’re being healthy like I am right now!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of Robert’s Reserve Roasted Red Pepper and Onion Dip
3 ripe avocados
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1/8 cup of red onions
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1 jalapeño pepper (optional garnish)
Handful of chopped cilantro (optional garnish)

Steps

Finely chop 2 garlic cloves and 1/8 cup of red onions and add to mixing bowl
Add 2 tablesppons of the roasted pepper and onion dip (in most grocery stores in a stand alone section near the deli)
Add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice to the bowl and mix
Add 1 teaspoon of sea salt to the bowl – keep out in case you want to add more later
Pit and add three avocados to the bowl – ideal to use a mortar and pestle (I love this Le Creuset one!)
Mix well and add additional salt if desired

Baby August 19, 2014

Week 5 in Durango

Week five has come and gone, and ohmygosh, I am not ready to go back to the ‘real world’ (i.e. Texas). However, I do miss everyone like crazy, and cannot wait to hug all of my family and friends. This past week flew by in anticipation of one of my best friends, Kirby, arriving on Thursday. I managed to run every day this past week, clock between 13,000-20,000 steps every day, enjoy short hikes to the top of a nearby mountain in the mornings, continue my Illustrator 101 and Floral Arranging 101 classes, work on the blog (some fun giveaways coming up soon!), and spend lots of time with Sasha, Belle (our dog) and sweet Isla. We also hiked the 6 mi. trail of the Animas Mountain together for the first time – Sasha and I did it last Labor Day when we were visiting (see photos here).

As you can tell from the thousands of photos below, I love taking pictures of Isla’s cute face, because I know I won’t have as much time to once we are back in Houston (and because she cannot yet tell me to stop).

In case you want to keep track of our Colorado sabbatical, you can also read about Week 1, Weeks 2 and 3, and Week 4.

Isla being sassy in her Carter’s Romper (similar here) – that last face kills me – her personality is shining through

Pretty in pink (and white!)

Cheesin’ it up

Hot pink is my absolute favorite (similar bodysuit here)

Someone was none-too-pleased with us taking photos before she got to eat ‘lunch’

Bows on bows on bows (buy dress here) – and Sophie the Giraffe making an appearance (and Isla loves her hands if you can’t tell!)

I swear this isn’t a hunger cue, Isla just adores her hands (praying this is ‘self soothing’!)

Kisses from her ‘Tata’ and (the much dreaded) tummy time (similar outfit here)

Saturday mornings are for PJs and superman time with dad

Her hair is seriously out of control, but I love it

Isla’s little Gap peplum top and leggings

This was taken after five minutes in her new heaven – i.e. the Skip Hop Treetop Friends Activity Gym… she’s enamored (this is a GREAT baby shower gift)

Loving the views from the top of the Animas Mountain – Isla loves the view from over my shoulder (her favorite holding position)

Vegan ice cream at Cream Bean Berry – my one true weakness!

Isla LOVES (eating) this lovie!

A sneak preview of my first homework assignment from Floral Arranging 101 (more to come tomorrow!)

Three weeks left! Have a great day. xo