Becoming Van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait with Straw Hat, 1887, Oil on canvas, 16 1/8 x 13 inches (41 x 33 cm); Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation).

If you live in Denver or are passing through sometime before January 20, 2013, be sure to see the "Becoming Van Gogh" exhibit at the Denver Art Museum.  The exhibit displays van Gogh's art from when he first decided to become an artist (after pursuing a number of other careers) to his more famous later works.  It is fascinating to see his evolution as an artist and to learn about how he really committed himself to his craft and was largely self-taught.  Image credit to the Denver Art Museum.

My July Stationery

I was perusing the Artisan Center in Cherry Creek recently and stumbled upon Colorado-made cards that I adore from My July.  My favorite is the Colorado Love card (which she also makes for Wyoming), but there are a number of clever designs available for sale on the My July Etsy site (hot dog and Rocky Mountain "hi" are great, too).

All images credit to My July.

Fruit Trees + the Highlands

Our new neighborhood is commonly referred to as the Highlands, which collectively refers to Highland and West Highland, neighborhoods in Northwest Denver.  Even when we lived in LoDo, I frequently ran through the Highlands, but it wasn't until we were under contract on the house that I actually paid close attention to my surroundings on these runs.

As it turns out, the neighborhood is a veritable fruit orchard!  Not only do we have a fruit-filled peach tree in our side yard (the peaches still need a few weeks but are coming along nicely), but I discovered that we have not one but three plum trees positively bursting with fruit in our front yard!  To my untrained eye, the plums appeared to be olives when we first saw our house.  I have a lot to learn.

On jaunts through the neighborhood, I've now spotted apricots, peaches that are already ripe, choke cherries, apples, crabapples, more plums, and pears.  The pears were the most surprising and exciting.... I even made Rob pull the car over so I could take a photo.  The things we do for those we love...

Between trying to unpack and organize our house, working, and training for an Ironman in September, I've found little time for cooking.  As of late last night, our kitchen is finally organized and I managed to bake not one but two things with the fruit I picked up at the farmer's market.  I promise a post with a real recipe this week!  I have put our lovely plums to use by making a Plum Crumble.  I now swear by this crumble recipe... the top is just delicious (as anything with that much butter ought to be).  You can decrease the butter if you'd like and certainly it will still be good... either way, try this recipe with whatever fruit you have available.  You will not be disappointed.

Paper-Source is Coming to Denver!

When we left Boston, I made one last trip to Paper-Source and embarrassed myself by offering my business card to the manager and asking her to please let me know if/when they finally launched a store in Denver because I wanted to work there (or at least know).  Clearly they didn't think I was cut out to be an employee (or they were terrified by my love of their store OR Rob paid them not to contact me because I would spend every paycheck before I even received it) because they didn't contact me... but I'll forgive them because Denver is getting a Paper-Source.

Yes, I know you can order Paper-Source products online, but it is just not the same thing.  I love their workshops and perusing the gorgeous paper goods, wrapping paper, and rubber stamps.  Thank you so much to J for letting me know about this.  The store will be located in Cherry Creek North and is slated to open in September.   

YSL @ the Denver Art Museum

In what is certainly a major coup for the Denver Art Museum, the museum is currently playing host to Yves Saint Laurent - The Retrospective. Through July 8th, you can view the stunning, expansive collection of clothing created by Yves Saint Laurent over the course of 40 years. The exhibit includes 2,000 haute couture garments, as well as photographs, sketches, fabric swatches, and videos about Saint Laurent. A recreation of his workspace reveals that he was immaculate and methodical in his work and provided some insight into what inspired him. I learned that not only is he responsible for feminizing "le smoking" (the tuxedo), but also for popularizing the pea coat, the tunic, and the safari look for women. I was in awe at how I still would just love to wear 95% of what was on display. Apparently his second favorite color (second only to black) was bright pink - a man after my own heart. If you plan to be in Denver before July 8th, this is a must-see!

All images but the last credit to the Denver Art Museum.