Tag: RaeAnna Rekemeyer

Experiences, Travel

Fish Creek Falls

RaeAnna

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Fish Creek Falls has become an iconic destination in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

This is as close to free as you can get without it actually being free. Parking is $5 per car, so load up and head out. It’s the perfect destination for people of all hiking abilities and ages. There are several trail options. You can’t miss the first falls, which is by far the most photographed and popular option. From the parking lot it’s less than a quarter of a mile downhill – you do have to hike uphill to get back to your car, though. You can hike up the mountain to another bridge, farther up is a second falls, and passed that is Long Lake. If you plan on going to the lake, you’re in for a long day. Even going to the second falls is an afternoon excursion.

The first falls are amazing. On the way up, we pretty much bypassed them completely because there were so many people around. Most people will stop and enjoy the first falls deciding to not hike more after that. We headed straight for the bridge.

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We had quite a bit of company on the way to the bridge, but most people turned around there. Taking a small break, there were lots of friendly chipmunks and butterflies to watch. They’re very comfortable with people, so they came right up to us. It took less cajoling to get my Partner-in-Crime to head to the second falls. I didn’t lie this time about the distance because he knew it would be a jaunt.

The hike from the bridge to the second falls is definitely a bit harder. On the way to the bridge, there is usually some buffer between the trail and the cliff. To the second falls, a good bit of the trail is the cliff. It makes for great Instagram pictures, though!

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By the time we arrived at the second falls, we were hot. Luckily, there was no one there, and I had the forethought to wear bikini bottoms under my shorts and a sports bra. So I stripped and hopped into the pool at the bottom of the falls. Holy bejeezus! The water was cold. After awhile, your skin goes numb, so it’s fine. Lots and lots and lots of pictures were take. I ended up rock climbing up to another waterfall pool in nothing but my bikini and sports bra. I’m adventurous like that.

It truly is a spectacular view.

To hike all the way up and back, it took us five hours. We kept a pretty good pace, but we stopped and enjoyed the view a lot. We spent over an hour at the second falls. It is definitely worth the hike! I think my butt looked better for a day afterwards.

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Books

No One Tells You This by Glynnis MacNicol

RaeAnna

Read Yes
Length 304
Overview A fabulous memoir about a newly 40, childless, single woman in New York learning to struggle, be proud of, regret, love, question, and live the life she has.

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No One Tells You This by Glynnis MacNicol is a new release having hit bookstore shelves barely a month ago. I jumped at the opportunity to read this, and I absolutely love it.

I’m single, childless, and getting older every day. As a woman of a certain age, I hear “when are you getting married?” “when are you going to have babies?” and “you’ve still got time.” more than often. I’m not searching these things out. We live in a time where I am not forced into a one-way path of female adulthood; I can choose, support, and live almost anyway I desire. This is revolutionary even though it’s not completely unusual. There is a serious lack of variation in female role models. Every path is beautiful and fulfilling and difficult as long as we are able to choose the path we live.

Glynnis MacNicol shares her fortieth year story as she figures out if she’s happy with the life she’s accidentally, purposely chosen. No kids. Single. Her mother’s health is failing from Parkinson’s. Her friends are getting married and having babies. She hasn’t found anyone. Does she even want babies? She spends the year she turned 40 figuring out if she wants to keep going down that path.

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I don’t want to tell you too much, but the book is amazing. MacNicol is incredibly honest with the good and the bad. She taps in to her inner voice in an incredibly sincere way. She can be sad and funny in the same moment. There are incredibly touching moments, which will resonate deeply for women of all backgrounds and lives about finding happiness and being true to oneself.

The group of friends MacNicol describes is amazing. I hope to have a support group as deep, loyal, and wonderful as the one she describes. I also love how she often goes off on tangents describing her life in terms of “if my life were a rom-com.” She has no fear in tapping into the hilariously ludicrous inner voice we all have but would probably not want thousands of people knowing.        

I highly suggest you add this book to the top of your reading list. It’s perfect for any woman and should be read by men too.

Memorable Quotes
“Women alone always seemed to be seen as an advertisement: open space, please fill.”
“What cultural markers were there for women other than weddings and babies?”
“Women my age were always being accused of getting tell serious too quickly, but in my experience, men were just as guilty of it, maybe even more so.”
“People leave, but they also come back.”

Title: No One Tells You This
Author: Glynnis Macnicol
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Copyright: 2018
ISBN: 9781501163135
Travel, Travel Eats

Salt + Lime

RaeAnna

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Salt + Lime is a wonderful Mexican restaurant in downtown Steamboat Springs, Colorado. I wanted to enjoy a rooftop dining experience before leaving town, and I had heard good things about this restaurant.

The decor is really cute and modern. I had to wait a few minutes for a rooftop table to open up – worth the wait. I ordered a mocktail at the bar, which is a concrete with a black and white tile base.

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Once at the rooftop table, I enjoyed another mocktail because there were just so many yummy options. The server brought over chips and salsa. I am telling you, they are crack. Whatever seasoning they sprinkle on top, it is addictive, and I am slobbering just thinking about it. As the food connoisseur I am, chips and salsa just wasn’t enough. The chorizo fundido combined with crack chips are fabulous.

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I ordered two tacos the al pastor and the lamb. Honestly, all other tacos are trying to be this al pastor taco. So much so, I ordered another one. I just about exploded. The bison burrito: also wonderful. No one gets to go out to eat with me without sharing at least a bite. Not sorry.

I didn’t have room for dessert, but the menu looked yummy.

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I highly recommend this fun restaurant. The view is unbeatable. So grab a bite, grab a drink, and send me the recipe for the crack chips!!! I’m desperate!

Salt + Lime
628 Lincoln Avenue
Steamboat Springs, CO 80487
970.871.6277
Facebook – @SteamboatDining
Instagram – @saltandlimesteamboat
Twitter – @DineSteamboat
#suckalime

 

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Books

The Forty Rules of Love

RaeAnna

Read Yes
Length 358
Quick Review When an unhappy, Jewish mother in Massachusetts begins reading a novel by a wandering, Sufi man, she embarks on a personal journey for love, self, and truth.

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This was suggested to me by one of my followers, and I was hesitant to say the least. I am not into romance or mushy-gushy love stories. This one has love in the title. I was pleasantly surprised. The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak is not so much about romantic love as it is about being a good person and walking through the world with love in your heart.

Ella is newly 40 with a romantic daughter in college, tweenaged twins with troubles, and a dallying husband, but if she ignores it and focuses on her new job, maybe it will all go away. Ella focused on her family for many years, but now she has a new job as a reader for a literary agent. She must read Sweet Blasphemy and submit a report. The book is so drastically different from her own life, and, yet, she is drawn in to the story and the author, who she begins a correspondence with.

Sweet Blasphemy is about the friendship between Shams of Tabriz and the exalted poet Rumi. Told from many perspectives, it is a tale of friendship, love, trust, wandering, destiny, and mysticism. Shams of Tabriz is a wandering dervish, who enters Rumi’s life and Konya, Turkey changing both forever. Shams has forty rules for the religion of love. Although, I don’t necessarily agree with all of them, there are a lot of truly poignant moments and quotes.

Several people told me the ending is heartbreaking. Honestly, I thought it was the most appropriate ending. It isn’t shocking, but any other ending would be a disservice to the novel and the meaning.

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Shafak writes a novel within a novel. It’s not a new story framework, but she does it exceedingly well. Everytime the story would shift from one to the other, I would always be wondering what would happen next. Shafak has an incredibly deep belief in love and humanity as she explores prejudice and malice and blind religiosity among other things. The narrators are not always good people, but they all have a perspective that bolsters the main theme.  

Elif Shafak is a Turkish author, and her native language is Turkish. However, she writes her novels in English. As a linguist who has learned several languages, I CANNOT imagine writing novels in another language. It is incredibly hard, and she does it so well. I would have never been able to tell from reading The Forty Rules of Love that she is not a native speaker.

Memorable Quotes
“When you speak the truth, they hate you. “
“Finally I understood that whenever people heard something unusual, they called it a dream.”
“Patience does not mean to passively endure. It means to be farsighted enough to trust the end result of the process.”
“These codes of honor had less to do with the harmony God created than with the order human beings wanted to sustain.”

Title: The Forty Rules of Love
Author: Elif Shafak
Publisher: Penguin Books
Copyright: 2010
ISBN: 9780241972939
Bookstores

Off the Beaten Path

RaeAnna

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I love independent bookstores. I try to shop at and support them as much as I possibly can. When I travel to new places, I’m trying to visit as many local bookstores as I can. I think they’re a unique look into the towns they inhabit. Off the Beaten Path is Steamboat Springs’ local bookshop, which has been open since 1990. I have been stopping in every time I’m in town my whole life.  

Walking into Off the Beaten Path is a fun experience. There are huge windows letting tons of natural light into the store, which would be very dark otherwise due to the wood. There is nature inspired art everywhere. Large multi-colored leaves hang from the ceiling. A New Release room is at the front of the store with other sections scattered throughout the store. An upstairs area has new and used books with extra seating for reading, working, or people watching. They have cute items too. I almost bought a fox shaped mug. I did buy a small bag with the words goal digger written on the front.

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They have a beautiful selection of books ranging from best sellers, to indie, to children’s, and more. I always love seeing what local bookstores choose to include in their inventory, and Off the Beaten Path does not disappoint. I could have bought more than I did, but I have a huge stack waiting for me at home.  

I have several books I absolutely adore. I love finding different editions. Off the Beaten Path had some hard to find versions of the classics. I caved and bought a leather bound edition of Edith Wharton’s Age of Innocence because it’s one of my favorites.

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In the middle of the store, there is seating around a full cafe supplying baked goods and quirky drink options. They have great Seven Layer Bars. Their coffees are named after famous books and iconic characters. I tried several, and they were all yummy. The baristas were really lovely and competent. They do serve alcoholic beverages, but I’m sober.

I have a hard time working places outside my own home environment. I was so comfortable in Off the Beaten Path I was actually able to sit down and get work done not once but twice.

Off the Beaten Path
68 9th Street
Steamboat Springs, CO 80487
970.879.6830
Instagram – @steamboat_books
Facebook – @offthebeatenpathbookstore

Books

I Must Say; My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend

RaeAnna

Read Yes
Length 336
Quick Review Martin Short is a comedy legend. I grew up watching his hilarious antics. His book is an emotional rollercoaster.

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I grew up in a cool house. We laughed a lot. I remember watching SNL, and I don’t mean the new stuff. We’re talking Steve Martin, Gilda Radner, Eddie Murphy, and Martin Short era SNL. I Must Say; My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend by Martin Short has been on my reading list for a little while. I finally used vacation to read a little of the fun stuff.

Martin Short is funny. He has an enchanting quality about him that keeps you watching and, in this case, reading. Starting at the beginning of his life, the Short household was a happy, odd house in Hamilton, Canada. He was the youngest of several and always had a penchant for singing and entertaining. As a young Canadian, entertaining did not seem like a realistic or even possible career choice, but, luckily for us, he found his way to it. His book is full of huge name drops. Not because he means to, but because he genuinely grew into adulthood with a crowd of insanely talented people ie: Gilda Radner, Eugene Levy, Paul Schaffer, John Candy, Steve Martin, Tom Hanks, Nora Ephron, and many, many more.

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There were some intensely laugh out loud moments. For the most part, it was a genuine retelling of the fundamental moments and people which helped him grow into the humble comedy legend he is today. Throughout the book there are pictures of him, his family, and his friends. He sprinkles some of his most iconic characters throughout the book allowing them to have their moments in their own voices. Short comes off as a fantastically self-aware flawed man. He knows he’s not perfect, but he has dedicated his life to the arts, his friends, and most importantly his family. He comes across as the man I thought he was as a kid: a good and funny man with a bawdy sense of humor. So in other words, the perfect comedian in my eyes.

I don’t cry often. Books rarely, if ever make me cry. I did here. I Must Say may be his story, but his story is not complete without his wife, Nancy. It isn’t just a memoir, it is a love letter to his wife. From the moment he mentions her, it is evident he is still head-over-heels for her. The last chapter had me in tears.  

Memorable Quotes
“Kim Kardashian. Not so bright. She thinks “soy milk” is Spanish for “I am milk.”

Title: I Must Say; My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend
Author: Martin Short
Publisher: HarperCollins
Copyright: 2014
ISBN: 9780062309525

 

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