hidden little treasures.

Everything in life can be a hidden little treasure... you just have to look at it in a new light.  Today the fam bam & I went to downtown Aspen for their weekly farmer's market.  Is it just me or are people just happier in a mountain town?  That wasn't rhetorical & actually that wasn't even a question at all.  The answer is yes, they are happier.  Everyone here just has "YOLO" tattooed on their foreheads.  I know "YOLO" is cliche these days & widely overused, but it's just true.  Spend $36 on some heirloom tomatoes & $5 on a muffin... no problem.  Maybe "hakuna matata" is tattooed there too.

Back to those tomatoes though... they were the size of my HEAD.  I'm not joking... I know they aren't feeding their fruits steroids, but sometimes you just wonder.  Is that natural?

The farmer's market was cute though: hippie people selling their gluten free cheese biscuits, hiking bums selling homemade leather bags, & older mangy people selling (very useful) giant brass animal sculptures.  An eclectic bunch, but when you walk slowly & look at everything, you begin to see all the hidden little treasures.  Beautiful handmade jewelry made from aspen leaves & natives rocks, homemade cheeses that taste better than anything wrapped in bacon (despite what people think), handcrafted fedoras & cowboy hats, wines that taste of Aspen, & house smoked salmon that probably was caught that morning from the nearby river.  Everything feels connected to the area.

The outside of the coolest store ever.

And behind all those goods & down the road a ways is one of the coolest stores I have ever been to called, Aspen Emporium & Flying Circus.  The store is in itself a single hidden little treasure,  but everything inside is just as special &, to be honest, weird.  The outside (at this moment since it constantly changes) has two chairs made of old bicycle tires, planters made of randomly balanced pots, & tennis balls hanging from the ceiling.  You just feel happy walking by it.  But you feel even happier walking in... everything is homemade by local vendors.  Delicious balsamics, cakes & pies, coffees, & even delicately decorated dog treats that I almost wanted a taste of.  The best part is all the strange items that are recycled & transformed into something else, something awesome.  Purses made of old bags & rags, glasses made of old strainers with "antler-esque" tubes coming out the top, old wheelbarrow wheels turned into a jewelry tree, & many other nick-knacks cluttering every free surface.  The floor was even littered in leaves... simply for effect.  It all worked.

After our lazy morning, loving life, we decided to try out a new restaurant called White House.  The menu was beyond limited, but when the food came out, you guessed it, we discovered a new hidden little treasure.   My mom & I shared small plates, one of chicken meatballs, one of small cheddar drop biscuits with country ham & apple jam, & a light kale salad.  Why is food so good?  Our fam bam motto: "we are people that just like to eat!"  At least I know I am good at it.  I'm not going to be modest about my eating skills...

Hidden little treasures can come in all shapes & forms: lazy days in Aspen, long hikes through aspen trees, delicious meals at unknown places, getting lost on dirt roads with casual cows, old abandoned barns & not so one-way roads, my parents & their "crazies" & even wild flowers.  Once back from our adventure in Old Snowmass, we settled down & decided to take a trek into our backyard.  The slope was covered in wild flowers: blue bonnets, sunflowers, strange colorful plants, white poky things, & dandelions.  Doesn't it just make you smile?

It makes me smile.    

Can you see the hidden little treasure?  Hiding behind the blue bonnets.  She blends in because she is wearing blue... don't let her fool you!  She is my hidden little treasure <3

My day was perfect.  Crazies & all.  Ciao-Ciao