In the back of the tea shop

Found a new favorite place to study, or just pass the afternoon.

There is an open-air mall just a quick bus ride, bike, or walk away from campus with great shopping and restaurants. One of the latest editions is a little tea shop, the first two-thirds of which is full of every flavor tea and tea-related accessory imaginable, and the back third of it is a quiet little sanctuary.

Here is the row of low tables, the far right in the corner is the one I chose to study at.

This is the lovely fountain that, along with quiet classic Oriental music, perfectly accompanied my reading.

I sipped a yummy milk tea with bobas, and read The Frogs by Aristophanes (a comedy for a change in my Greek and Roman Tragedy class). I would highly recommend it to anyone, especially anyone with  prior knowledge of ancient Greek literature. It is very funny, it is especially interesting to see just how much of the humor we still appreciate today.

What a fantastic afternoon :)

Conference on World Affairs

This past week, CU has hosted the Conference on World Affairs (CWA). This event happens every year and it is always such a great week. There are roughly 100 participants each year who give hour-and-a-half talks structured as panels that are mainly lectures on a variety of topics followed by question-and-answer periods. The topics range from politics to healthcare to humor to sex and drugs. People come from across the country to attend the talks (which all take place on the CU-Boulder campus) and it's a bonus that CU students can attend them whenever they have free time. I love being able to attend a talk on something completely random and different from my classes and just learn about something new for an hour and a half. 

This year I haven't been able to attend very many talks until today. I had a calc test yesterday that ate up all of my free time before last night, but I made up for it by sitting in on two talks today: "Science Storytelling: An Apple Fell Into a Bar..." and "We the Angry People: The Tea Party and Occupy." The first was very informational about the filter scientific journals have on the information that the scientific community (and the public) is exposed to. The second was also quite informative, with a panel of two liberals and two conservatives. My parents came up for the the day as well and went to lectures with me. Although my day is pretty full tomorrow, I'm hoping to attend, "Closing the Global Income Gap" or "Are Corporations People: Would Texas Execute One?" or maybe "Vampires! They Suck!" :)

Sunny Day

Hello Colorado sunshine! And some warmth to go with it!

I've been munching on yummy summery treats like fruit slices...

...and lime sherbet with fresh blackberries.

I wore shorts for the first time this year (other than an the gym), and officially have my first tan of the season!

I hope it's sunny where you are, and if not here are some tunes to make you feel like it is...

Michael Franti & Spearhead - The Sound of Sunshine

The Beatles - Here Comes The Sun

Sunny Weekend

It has been sooooo nice to have a break from frigid temperatures here in Boulder. This weekend we had two days in the mid-60's and we have certainly enjoyed them fully. We soaked up the sun on the roof...

...and took a 4-hour hike to the see a spectacular view of Colorado.

And it only gets better from here on out, with a full week of 60's and 70's!

In the tree house...

...they serve warm deluxe honey buns and refreshing peach maté in a little room that makes you feel like you live in the world of The Lord of the Rings. Open 24 hours a day, the Yellow Deli is a lovely little escape from reality (but it fits perfectly in the "reality" of Boulder).

Perfect pizza picnic

Pizza on Friday after class has become a tradition with my boyfriend, especially since we discovered that we could get one for $6 (discount for being students). Today happened to be an even better deal since we got our pizza for free! Apparently they forgot to sticker it, so we lucked out. Chautauqua is a beautiful park (park is a bit of an understatement) near the CU Boulder campus. We picnic-ed there right beneath the Flatirons.

Colorado is so beautiful!