A Year of Change

That’s as long as we’ve been in Aspen yet it seems like a week! What a day. As I said, it started off with me driving to and back from Vail, ugh, can’t believe I forgot the bottle of wine I needed. Around 10:30 in the morning we all headed into town to start the day of well, food and wine.

First up was Bodega Jimmy’s, a great fresh seafood restaurant that I’m starting to do business with. We all had various things like Jagger with fresh ceviche and grilled octopus while Lori and I had the lobster salad. We joked that only in Aspen can you get away with a $54 salad. To be fair, it was worth every penny. It was a fresh lobster that was huge! Tina had crab cakes and Jeff had a crab salad like thing. Meanwhile Ty had a hamburger which he said was the best hamburger he ever had in his life! So it was a great lunch. Next up was Prada to drop some wine and pick up a couple shirts they ordered for me and then to Kemo Sabe, the chic western store that pours our wine. We’ve known them for years. Of course they were hopping with activity and had belt makers, engravers and other craftsmen on site. They also have this old time western bar upstairs behind a velvet rope for VIP’s that’s fun.

Here’s the shocker, our friends Jeff and Tina who are with us, started looking at the handmade belts. They were made from leather, crocodile and other exotic skins and all hand tooled. I walked by as I was putting Bocelli Prosecco on ice and said to the sales girl, jokingly, “oh, she needs a Bohlin buckle to go with that” (Bohlin is a famous silversmith company from Los Angeles that’s well known, old and expensive) Not thinking twice I grabbed Lori and told Jeff and Tina I needed to walk over to the Bubbles Party as I was already late. They said they’d meet us there.

We walked a few blocks to the party and soon were inside trying (not me) craft cocktails and bubbles. I made the rounds and saw lots of people I see once a year at this event from all over the Country. I also took pictures of “the bottle” I needed to go get from Vail. 30 minutes later or so Jeff and Tina showed up. I noticed she was carrying a Kemo Sabe bag and said, “what did ya get”? She looked at me and half excited, half nervous said “a $4000 belt” I almost died! Oh my God, what a splurge. Of course I could have got this for her for at least half of what she paid, (probably 25% of what she paid) but I told her, “that’s great! It’s so beautiful and you’ll always remember this day”! Later that evening we went back after a big dinner at Nobu and Jeff almost bought some overpriced boots! I told him this morning I could get him some good Lucchese’s for about a third of what they would have charged him. This morning Tina said she was having a little buyers remorse (duh) but no way she was going back as it was a pride thing, ha! I told her you only live once, you deserve it and enjoy it, and of course, it is beautiful, but $4000??? Come on.

In between the Bubbles Party and dinner we came back to hit the pool. Dinner at Nobu was over the top and great and fun. We headed home after heading back to Kemo Sabe for a night cap, (not for me or Lori). Our friend Rob who is the Master Distiller for Stranahan’s Whisky was with us for dinner and apres dinner.

So that’s about it, we have a great dinner tonight at Chef’s Club in the St. Regis Hotel with a Michelin Star chef from San Francisco who is doing a guest residency here for the summer. My buddy Marco runs the place and invited us, should be over the top. More to come, time to shower and head back into town! God Bless.

Ok, I was up at 5:20 and on the road 10 minutes later to drive back to Vail and then back to Aspen. I needed a particular bottle for a photo shoot I forgot to pack. Because of all this, I missed the blog today. More to come tomorrow on the 16th, sorry, GB

This morning, or I should say around noon, we’re off to Aspen. Our friends Jeff and Tina will arrive here around 12 and then we’ll all head out for Aspen. We need to stop at the Sheriff’s Dept. to have Lori’s picture taken to renew her concealed weapons permit (yes she has one) on our way. Then we’ll stop at Whole Foods in Basalt before pulling into Aspen around 2 or 2:30.

Tonight we have the Kickoff Dinner and then tomorrow a lunch and two parties along with dinner at Nobu. On Saturday we have dinner at The Chefs Club in The St. Regis Hotel at their Grand Opening featuring a guest chef from SPQR in San Francisco. It’s been a Michelin Star restaurant for about 10 years in a row so it should be a great evening. My buddy just took over and invited us yesterday. We can’t wait.

The weather will be a bit cooler but we’re ok with that. It’s 70 in Denver right now but there’s a chill in the air up here. It ended up being 86 yesterday though so we’re not worried. Both pups are going to daycare for the next few days.

We have lots to do so I’d better get moving. Lori is already in the shower. She now has every other Wednesday off which is great news! The half days just were not working. That’s it, have a good day, GB.

Yesterday when I took the boys to basketball, the haze from smoke from the many fires around the west was so thick you could barely see a few miles. Unless you’ve been in it, it’s hard to describe. Thankfully by noon when I was headed back from Eagle, most of it had blown out of the valley. There was a new fire in Frisco above Lowes that started around noon that had people evacuating their homes. Hope they get that one under control asap.

The basketball games last night were rough. We had only 7 guys while the other two teams had close to 30 each! For the second game we had 5 as one had to leave and Ty hurt his leg. It wasn’t pretty. Both boys ended up playing ball for about 10 hours in a row when you throw in camp. Today is the last day of camp and they need to be there at 8:15. I’m sure they both are ready for a break.

Harley just busted through the gate and headed down to jump on Jagger. She sits on his head trying to get as close to him as possible. It’s pretty funny. Lori is off to workout and I’ll get the boys moving soon as we need to leave in 90 minutes.

It’s sunny and clear this morning which is nice. Have a great day, GB.

Last night the boys sure were tired. They played basketball from about 8 until 6 yesterday. Today we have more of the same with the camp going from 9 until 3 and then they need to be back at 5:20 for a 6 pm game against Lake County which is basically kids from Leadville. After the game I told them I’d get them Nuduro for dinner which is their favorite ramen noodle place in town.

On my way back from Denver yesterday, Vail Pass was closed due to a semi that caught fire so I had to go through Leadville and then cut down Hwy. 24 to home. This added at least 40 minutes to the trip and was no fun. It’s hazy up here from the fires. It looks like a bad summer with so many fires so early in the June.

Mojo needs to be at the groomer by 8 am for a clean up. Harley will go to daycare to play with her friend Penelope for the day. Lori has a 7 am meeting and I have a 10:30 conference call. Then it’s off to the Sheriff’s Department to renew our concealed weapons permits. I’m also putting together a fundraiser for the police department to help raise extra money for gear and to support officers who have been injured in the line of duty. We did the same thing down in Denver and thought we’d do our small part to help out up here too. It should be fun.

It’s 6 am now so time to get everyone, dogs and boys, moving, as we’re off to Aspen in 2 days. I almost forgot, the Director of Operations resigned and the COO asked Lori if she wanted to apply for the job. She said no but I told her to at least get the job description and see what it pays so she has the inside info. Might as well know what the position entails. Jagger told her to take it, ha. Take care, God Bless.

Here we go, the boys have three days of basketball, I’m off to Big D and Lori has lots of work including a meeting tomorrow am. Harley is off to daycare and then Thursday we’re all off to Aspen. Yesterday was more basketball, cleaning, playing (for the dogs) and basketball, (for the boys).

We have a few radical changes we’re making at work which is good. Time to shake things up a bit. Attack when they least expect it, go right when they think you’re going left and keep everyone off balance. Basically do the unexpected as the status quo often keeps you in, the status quo.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures yesterday. I have lots more to post in the coming days. Time to get moving today though so have a good week. be strong and be safe, GB.

This morning after working out, I’m off to Aspen to drop wine for the Kickoff Party this coming Thursday. I could go Tuesday but I’d rather go on a Sunday as there’s little to no traffic.

Yesterday we made it to Denver by 10:30. I dropped Lori at the salon and headed back to Mom’s to meet Tom. He has really been working hard the past few weeks. We’re making progress but it’s a big project as there are so many papers to look through. I did find some great old photos and books on both sides of the family that lay out the genealogy of the family. It’s really interesting. Someday after I get settled or retire I’ll go through all this stuff and make books or dvd’s for everyone. There are tons of clothes and it just dawned on us that they’d be perfect for our friends in Aspen! The ladies we know are the same size as Mom and wear the same style clothes. I’ll pick them up tomorrow in Denver and donate them to the rich and famous, ha. Whatever they don’t want they can give to the women’s shelter in Glenwood.

Ty was again in town at the GoPro Games. Jag stayed home with Harley. Mojo peed last night so I already mopped the floor with vinegar and water.

Check out these pictures, can you guess who they are?  For those of you that don’t know, the first one is my Great Grandma holding Mom in 1933 and the second one is Shelly! Great photos! Have a great day and God Bless.

It’s Saturday but that doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things as it’s just another work day. In about 2 hours Lori and I are off to Denver where she’ll get her hair done while I help Tom at Moms. I stopped by yesterday to look through some more papers and Tom was there too working away. There is still a ton of stuff even after Tom bagged up all of Moms clothes. I have a lot to look through and we need some sort of antique person to come out. Lori will drop me off and then come back in the afternoon after her hair is done.

Yesterday I was down and up in what seemed like a quick trip, however I left around 7:30 and was home around 4! I made all my appointments and stopped at the grocery store. Jag was home and Ty was in town for the GoPro Games. Jag was tired from basketball and actually fell asleep around dinner time. He woke up later and we made him some dinner. I had a dream about Mom last night when she was a little girl, I still miss her a bunch and think about her every single day. It’s funny but I think about her in terms of a year ago, meaning what was she doing one year ago today and how was she doing. Oh well, you do what you have to do, that’s what she always said.

We’re headed to the gym for a quick 45 minute workout before heading down the hill so time to get going. Next week is Aspen Food and Wine and basketball camp for the boys on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before we leave. Maybe tomorrow we’ll get to sleep in, we shall see. Have a fun day and God Bless.

Today the boys have basketball for an hour in the morning and I’m off to Denver. I need to hit the distributor, the lawyer, then I have a meeting in Highlands and another in Longmont, then it’s off to Mom’s. Not sure how much cleaning I’ll get done today, (Tom’s been doing a lot) but tomorrow I should be there all day.

We have the GoPro Games up here. They started yesterday and go through the weekend. The boys will hit the town with 70,000 other people which are expected to be here. I had a hard workout at 5:30 last night which was nice. I’m not sore yet but should be by tomorrow.

I have to print out some documents on the computer, take a shower, pack up some samples, get both boys moving and be out the door in 37 minutes so I’d better get moving. Weather is perfect as usual. Have a good weekend, take care, be safe and do something fun!

Well we wake up in the morning to another day, the sun is shining, the dogs are frisky and the boys are sleeping. This weekend I’m going to try to clean out the last few things from Mom’s house and at least get things in the garage. Tom has been working I think most of the week boxing up clothes and stuff. Lori is getting her hair done so she’ll drop me Saturday morning and then come back when she’s done. Tomorrow I have a few early am appointments but should be there sometime around noon or so. Maybe I’ll get over mid morning between appointments as James is supposed to show up to help.

Today Ty has a dentist appointment and Jag a workout appointment. I have a call this morning with Las Vegas and then will be doing some computer work between running kids around. Lori had a long day even though she was supposed to have a half day off. Today will be more of the same as it’s clinic.

That’s about it, lots more going on behind the scenes. I did talk with Robin yesterday and she and Robert are doing well. Good to hear. I guess it’s hot down there, like 110! We’ll stick with our 80 up here which is just fine with us. God Bless.