Engagement Photos at Provo Canyon Utah

We photographed Jeff & Kathy's Engagement session in the evening, last week. It had to be below 30 degrees! I must say they are a very brave couple to brave the cold like that, no gloves, no hats, just jackets. Anyway they were real good sports about the weather. I even got caught in the cross-fire of their mini snow ball fight. Well Congratulations you too! We're looking forward to shooting your wedding at the beautiful Heritage Gardens in Sandy Utah and Kathy's bridals as well as the warmer weather!

Click images to enlarge

Denver Chop House: Big Big Steaks

I am on a mission to find the perfect steak house. The Denver Chop House is not it, but it was fun none-the-less. The Chop House is big with booths and tables scattered along walls, down hallways, and out in wide-open rooms. It can be boisterous and filled with corporate parties marching to one of the many private rooms in the back. We ended up sitting along this route right before Christmas when corporate parties were at their peak. Our booth was large though, which provided a modicum of distance between the revelers and us. The walls are brick and wood with a traditionally manly feel about them. You can sit by wine racks, by the imposing bar, or near the brewery tanks.

A shameless worshiper of beef, I ordered the porterhouse and a large magnum of red wine. Fortunately, I had a friend with me to share the bounty because each steak also comes with a monstrous, family-style salad, corn bread, and a mountain of white cheddar mashed potatoes. The steak was cooked to perfection and slathered in artery clogging bourbon butter. If you are going to eat a porterhouse, you might as well go all the way! Despite the immensity of the meal, we almost broke out into a fight when it came time to gnaw on the bone.

Totally committed to gluttony, it being the Christmas season after all, we also ordered dessert and splurged on a glass of Innskillin Ice Wine, which I have wanted to try. My sugar infused brain has forgotten what dessert we had but it will never forget the wine. It was delicate, tropical and crisp. At $25 for a few sips it should be. If you like dessert wines, treat yourself to this one. It will be a religious experience. My other suggestion is to drink it alone. A small quantity of elixir and steak knives do not mix.

If you enjoy people watching and a casual atmosphere, the Denver Chop House may be for you. The food is as good at more expensive Steak Houses without the pretentiousness.

Vita Restaurant: Worth the Trip

Vita is a must try. The food was fun and unique even if the atmosphere is not the greatest, which is ironic since it was their promo photo that attracted to me to it in the first place. The photo shows a nice warm booth, subdued lighting, and fun light fixtures. This is slightly misleading since there are just a few booths in the place. Still, the view of downtown from the standard tables by the window is very nice. There were also fresh flowers on the table and jazzy prints on the walls. The light features were unique but too sparse and the ceiling was another industrial painted ventilation system. The crowd of swankily dressed young’ens at the bar probably did not even notice these architectural features being far more interested in checking each other out over frosty martini glasses.

The ambiance may have been average, but the food was delish. I started with the Fall Salad, which came out as a checkerboard of red and golden beets, greens, sliced radishes and goat cheese. I don’t know what I liked more, the presentation or the distinctive blending of flavors. My companion had another unusual dish of pork bellies (uncured bacon) with potato dumplings, minced apples, and a most flavorful juice. Despite the country fair lip smacking I heard from across the table, this was not Iowa home cooking.

Our shared entrée consisted of a duck breast on a bed of slaw that included golden raisons, chunks of duck comfit, potato gnocchi, and diced apple. How many times have you seen duck l’orange on the menu? I found the subtle flavors in this dish filled with complexity. Each bite was an adventure as I mixed and matched the various ingredients together. To be fair my companion thought this dish was boring. You’ll just have to try it for yourself and report back!

So, if you want an escape from the same old, same old (industrial ceiling aside) make the trip to the Highlands. If the crowd a vita is not to your liking, you can pop next door to LoLa, which caters to similarly draped 30-somethings making love to brightly colored concoctions. Viva Vita!

Leadville Weekend: Part 3: Leadville Hostel

View from parking lot of the Leadville Hostel
I want to take a moment to talk about the place we stayed in Leadville. I am not normally the hostel type. I like gourmet food, cushy feather pillows, and fawning service. Still I liked this place enough to book it for the last weekend in July. It was comfortable, homey, and perfect for a group outing. There are private rooms and bunkrooms with varying sleeping capacities.

There are multiple common rooms as well. The basement contains a roaring stove with couches galore and a pool table. Close to the stove, heat was intense so if you are a delicate summer flower or hothouse succulent, you will feel right at home. Upstairs is another living room with wrap around couches surrounding a large screen TV. Behind this is a comfy couch ensconced in a picture window with views of the mountains. It is much cooler there of course, which would make it the perfect respite for my mother, whom I call “Judy of the Tundra” because of her whacked out thermostat. I was not about to ask, but it seemed like several hot flash mamas were enjoying it as well. Wool blankets abound, however, if you want to enjoy the sun and view without drastically lowering your body temperature.

The owners, Wild Bill & Kathy, hail from the Delta region of Mississippi where straightforward hospitality combine with the passionate vocalizations and rhythmic guitars of Blues. Wild Bill came to Leadville to ski but his soul is still in South. The hostel is covered in Blues festival regalia and the strains of Snooky Pryor resound from the large kitchen. Given the chance he will talk your ear off with the history of both his homes. He had us all watch a video on the history of the 10th Mountain Division, which trained for WWII at nearby Camp Hale. His unconsciousness ease in a room full of strangers makes him the perfect hostel host. Cathy is quieter but equally pleasant.

There is bottomless tea and coffee (for a small donation) in the kitchen. You can bring your own food and store it neatly in a named box in the fridge or pay $10 for dinner and $5 for breakfast. We opted for the latter, which was great. We had pasta and salad one night and pork loin the next. After a hard days snowshoeing, it is pleasant to hang around a large table and feed with friends.


Just to be fair, not all was perfect. Our room was in the basement and it was profoundly noisy. A 20-person church group came in at 1:30 in the morning dragging god knows what down the wooden stairs. The kids were screaming and doors were slamming. They were up again at 6 am to go skiing. The noise was thunderous and the 3-person communal bathroom filled with dripping teenagers. The adults were apologetic later once they learned they were not the only people in the 40+ occupancy basement, but this quickly evaporated the next day when the departed at 6am dragging what sounded like coffins up and down the floor and up the stairs. Later I saw that they had been dragging large, industrial sized boxes up the stairs. Most of our party stayed in the bunkrooms on the main floor, which not only had their own bathroom, but were also insulated from the cacophony below. If you are a light sleeper, stay in one of those rooms.

If you like people, are on a budget, or are just in the mood for something different, give the Leadville Hostel a try.

IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Its Critics

Although I find it always desirable to hear two or more opinions on a matter, It is very strange to read or hear the global warming skeptics preach their doubt. Of course some estimations can be inaccurate or exaggerated in some cases, but to doubt the whole phenomenon is a willful ignorance for some other motives than search for truth.

Some skeptics would be quick to imply that what the doubt is about is actually a causal connection between human activity and global warming. Although this sounds like a less irrational type of skepticism, it is still extremely problematic for many reasons. As is widely known, the findings of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on global warming state that probability that changes in the climate system are a result of man made increases in atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHG) concentrations is "very likely larger than 90%". It is to this claim the eco-skeptics object, many of them claiming this probability is less than 50%.

Now, of course governments and scientists can be wrong. But even without going into the scientific details of the debate, which convince a vast majority of experts in the world that the influence of human element in global warming is beyond reasonable doubt, let me state some reasons for trusting the IPCC from three "lay" perspectives.

First is a very strong degree of agreement. The report was revised line-by-line, scrutinized by 600 authors, 620 expert reviewers and 113 governments and their teams. Studied by the finest minds in the world, it was approved by hundreds of countries, irrespective of their political ideology, cultural norms or economic development. The report is a definitive review of all the available evidence. So, the scope of the consensus is in this case a good argument by itself.

Second: many governments act against their immediate interest when accepting this report and what is implied by it. It is a difficult task to change the policies and systems of functioning of society, on which many economies are based. Despite that, governments and their hired experts can not but accept the report of IPCC and the duties it implies.

Third: Even if the report would be wrong on any point, it still makes enormous sense to actually go for the changes in lifestyle and economies in order to lessen enormous human CO2 impact. Even if the threat would not be so immediate as it is (many think it is even too late to do something about the global warming at all), the supposed changes of lifestyle are nothing but good in the long term anyway.

So, why such a zeal for skepticism? In the next post let me state why I think the eco-skepticism is so appealing.

IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Its Critics

Although I find it always desirable to hear two or more opinions on a matter, It is very strange to read or hear the global warming skeptics preach their doubt. Of course some estimations can be inaccurate or exaggerated in some cases, but to doubt the whole phenomenon is a willful ignorance for some other motives than search for truth.

Some skeptics would be quick to imply that what the doubt is about is actually a causal connection between human activity and global warming. Although this sounds like a less irrational type of skepticism, it is still extremely problematic for many reasons. As is widely known, the findings of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on global warming state that probability that changes in the climate system are a result of man made increases in atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHG) concentrations is "very likely larger than 90%". It is to this claim the eco-skeptics object, many of them claiming this probability is less than 50%.

Now, of course governments and scientists can be wrong. But even without going into the scientific details of the debate, which convince a vast majority of experts in the world that the influence of human element in global warming is beyond reasonable doubt, let me state some reasons for trusting the IPCC from three "lay" perspectives.

First is a very strong degree of agreement. The report was revised line-by-line, scrutinized by 600 authors, 620 expert reviewers and 113 governments and their teams. Studied by the finest minds in the world, it was approved by hundreds of countries, irrespective of their political ideology, cultural norms or economic development. The report is a definitive review of all the available evidence. So, the scope of the consensus is in this case a good argument by itself.

Second: many governments act against their immediate interest when accepting this report and what is implied by it. It is a difficult task to change the policies and systems of functioning of society, on which many economies are based. Despite that, governments and their hired experts can not but accept the report of IPCC and the duties it implies.

Third: Even if the report would be wrong on any point, it still makes enormous sense to actually go for the changes in lifestyle and economies in order to lessen enormous human CO2 impact. Even if the threat would not be so immediate as it is (many think it is even too late to do something about the global warming at all), the supposed changes of lifestyle are nothing but good in the long term anyway.

So, why such a zeal for skepticism? In the next post let me state why I think the eco-skepticism is so appealing.

Not your ordinary cake...

Years ago, we lived in a house on a little street with a typical corner shop and post office which eventually closed down. It remained empty for quite a long time. We moved on to another house but each time I passed by that empty shop I thought what a nice little place it could be and imagined how lovely it would be to open "vintage style" corner shop. Some time later as I was going by, I saw that someone had taken over the shop and was doing just that, providing a corner shop with a difference. The lady who runs the shop has given it quite a makeover and has foods beautifully displayed.



She sells some of the basics which the people on the street would need on a regular basis but she also sells an amazing ecclectic variety of specialty and gourmet foods.



I have often seen beautiful cakes displayed in the window but a few weeks ago I spotted one of the most wonderful cakes I have ever seen. I said to Paul, "stop the car, pull over, I must see that cake!" but each time, we have been on our way to pick up our little girl from school and just didnt have the time to stop. Today though, we went a little early and stopped by the shop. Of course I had my camera and I took some photos to share with you. The cakes are made upstairs from the main shop by The utterly sexy cafe .



All the cakes were superb but it is the birdcage cake that really caught my eye. The beautiful colours, the roses and Wisteria styled flowers, the delicate bars of the cage and the beautiful bird, what a wonderful creation don't you think?