I made the trip from JoCo (Johnson County, KS) to FoCo (yes, the locals refer to Fort Collins as FoCo - wasn't even my idea) last week, making it the longest road trip I have ever driven. It was strangely manageable - I guess because I just tried not to think of how far I had come and how far I had to go. We ended up stopping at one of the places we stopped at in the charter bus on the way to Steamboat earlier this year and it made me feel a little nostalgic. We went a lot slower since I had to keep the same pace as my dad, who was pulling the trailer. We've figured out that if you take advantage of the 75 mph speed limit most of the way (bumping it up to 80), you can make the drive in about 10-10.5 hours with all the stops included.
I figured having a little over a week here before school started would allow for some relaxing downtime, but no such luck. I've been downtown once for about an hour and I have not yet had time to go hiking or even on a leisurely bike ride. We did acquire a fixie and a cruiser, though, so when you all come visit me we can ride bikes :)
We spent the entire week cleaning, buying furniture, assembling said furniture, and encountering just about every misfortune there is to encounter in the moving process. Thankfully, we had plenty of local craft beer to soothe the mood (I decided that the Chocolate Stout from Fort Collins Brewery is my new fave).
To break up this novel a little bit, here are some pictures from the new place:
The pillow situation is in the works. I bought some inserts and plan on making the couch pillows myself. There is too much cute fabric at Joann and downtown not to!
I really love the rustic modern look (think Crate & Barrel, West Elm) and was excited to have the chance to start from scratch decorating with pieces that are more my style. Most of the furniture is from Ikea or this great discount furniture mart we found not far from the condo. It was there that we discovered these awesome canvas prints of Colorado scenery that really helped bring nature into the design and get that "rustic" feel. This picture is the first thing you see when you come up the stairs from the entry. It somehow reminds me of fall fishing in the Ozarks/Springfield.
My favorite aspect of the place is the bookshelves. For a long time I have wanted to properly display all my books and have them all in one room. Though they are not all on the same bookshelf, I think the way it turned out is cooler!
I have been developing an infatuation with chevron and ikat, and I really wanted some element of chevron to be in the room. I never imagined it would be in the form of a bookshelf. So cool.
Here are some pictures of the kitchen.
Some of you may know about my obsession with red kitchen things. I don't know why or how this started, but my love for the color red begins and ends in kitchens. This is the first time I have had a collection of red things out in my kitchen, and I love it.
Missing from the above photo is my wonderful Bodum french press. I love their design in all of their presses, but especially this one because it comes in red. I tried to get a photo of my coffee setup this morning but I was struggling with the manual settings of my new camera (I sadly have forgotten a lot of what I learned in digital photo in high school outside of photoshop). I'm glad they sell local Denver coffee in bulk at Sam's.
Here are some photos of the two patios off the kitchen and living room, as well as the little nook by the stairs in the kitchen. I've got lettuce, spinach, and basil out on the back patio. I had to cut and throw out the initial round because it wilted (I assume because it was already a bit wilty - hopefully I am not a plant-killer!)
Here is the dining table - perfect for the rustic modern look :) My mom can be credited with finding it.
I love, love, love this little Swedish bowl my mom brought back from a relative. It was the first thing I got for the condo. It ties in perfectly with all the other Swedish furniture in this place :p
The guest room:
Awesome picture of Horsetooth Reservoir:
Re-purposed re-purposed table from the lake :)
This is my bathroom. It is absolutely enormous for just one person. The ridiculous thing is that I am using all of it.
Last, but not least, my room. We had one hell of a time painting the textured walls, but I am so thankful my dad stuck it out with me, because I've wanted a gray room for so long. This is the amazing desk I found in the storage room of Ikea, just when I had figured I would never find the right desk. It has a large surface that is perfect for crafting, as well as attached storage that is also perfect for crafting. And I guess I will write here, too :)
A better shot of my desk lamp. Again, love that Ikea.
When I had given up all hope of finding a comfortable and stylish desk chair, I found this one for half price! Love the way it looks with the Colorado fourteeners art on the wall.
Proof that my closet is under control.
I love seeing the bedding I made in the context I intended it for. I am still working on the canvases on the wall, as you can probably tell.
My grandma gave me these cute little twigs with crystals on them, and I found the perfect vase for them at, you guessed it, Ikea.
I am loving living in a more mature-looking bedroom. I don't think anyone could say it "looks like the Easter Bunny threw up" in here :)
I feel like this post is already long enough, so I will try to give a short version of my experience so far in Fort Collins.
1) People really appreciate locally grown, organic produce here. I've seen this reflected not only in the grocery stores, but in restaurants and even fast-food chains.
2) There are so many local places to shop and eat that are unique to Fort Collins. There also seems to be a great thrifting network that I am excited to explore soon.
3) People do bike everywhere, but not all the roads are bike-friendly, especially on my route to campus. The trail is much longer than taking the sidewalks, but the sidewalks I take are barely as wide as my tires :/ Plus, there seems to be quite a bit of traffic along the route.
4) I feel as though I am always lost. Pretty much every time I have tried to go somewhere, I end up going 90 degrees in the wrong direction, which baffles me. I feel like things are always shifting, and the mountains are never where I expect them to be. This morning, it took me 40 minutes to bike to campus because I went the wrong way, then backtracked and came upon a train that I had to wait 10 minutes for it to pass. Then I biked to Edwards Hall, which I thought was Eddy Hall (because at MO State, we nicknamed some of the buildings like that) but it was actually a dorm, and there is actually just an Eddy Hall, so I was 20 minutes late to my writing center training. Thankfully, no one was upset except me.
5) I've noticed, at least from the sampling of people I have come into contact with in my program/orientations, that people here are from pretty far-flung places -- I've met more people who are not from Colorado than people who are. Several of them have just moved from out of state like me and don't know anyone, either, so that is comforting.
6) I am dying to get out and see the trails and hike Horsetooth and test out my new camera. I wish I had more downtime before school starts on Monday. And a hiking buddy.
7) I am looking forward to the day when I don't feel like my day ends when the sun goes down. There is only so much you can go out and do by yourself at night. And if you are a girl, that basically amounts to nothing. It is completely opposite from when I was living in Springfield and felt like the day really began at 8 o'clock at night.
8) Coming into contact with a new group of writers has really made me appreciate my week at Iowa this summer and how easy it was to forge friendships with people who shared my passions and that were so immersed in the same experience as me. I loved the mornings I spent having coffee/breakfast at the coffee shop and writing or reading. I need to head downtown one of these mornings and relive that kind of experience.
9) I am very excited to begin working with the Colorado Review. It is a national publication, so it does not accept submissions from students or faculty at CSU. Sad that I won't be able to submit, but I am glad that I will be working with a serious publication. I will even have the opportunity to do some proofreading/copy editing. It will be an amazing experience and a great resume builder.
10) I am so looking forward to my visitors in a couple weeks -- Josh, Alyson, Hannah, and hopefully Lindsey! I can't wait to take them hiking at Horsetooth or Poudre Canyon and to the taproom at O'Dell's and New Belgium. And a couple weeks after that, I have more friends from the OG coming in for my birthday and The Head and the Heart concert, so September will be a busy and exciting month!
If you made it all the way to the end, I thank you for your patience :) I hope to make more frequent updates so I don't have to throw a hundred things into one!
P.S. Proof that I live here. I can't imagine I will be appearing in any pictures for awhile, so look forward to lots of pictures of Colorado scenery with no people in them! :)
- Abby
