We had friends in town last weekend. These are those kind of friends that you just don’t make in a day, but the years of relationship just put them right in your heart like they’re your family. Plus, they have a coffee shop and roastery and they always show up with bags of freshly roasted coffee beans, so you can’t help but invite them in and point out where your coffee grinder and maker are.

So after a couple of days of enjoying the company and drinking coffee, we made the short trip to Pearl Street in Boulder on a Sunday. We popped in at my all-time favorite gardening shop: The West End Gardener (which, by the way, does not have a website unfortunately, so I can’t even plug them!). Inside, we found some very cool artwork that I hope to duplicate (I love love love the store, but it is a boutique and pricey).

And these beads, which would look just lovely hanging somewhere in my house, though I’m not quite sure where.

Check out this funky birdhouse.

And when I finally pried myself away and out of there, I realized that Hank had been patiently waiting in an $800 lime green Adirondack chair and had saved the store from a grabby toddler.

We hadn’t even gone a half-block before I grabbed Holden by the hand and ducked into another favorite haunt: Two Hands Paperie. You can make anything out of paper there.

Everywhere we looked, there was art, just waiting. Breathing. Begging to be touched and manipulated and … purchased. We escaped quickly and without buying a thing. Oh it was hard.

Our next stop was popping in at University Bicycles, which is like Heaven for Hank. He pored over new crossbikes and cruisers and single speeds and saddles, while my eye went directly here. My cruiser bike will be going on Craigslist soon in hopes of that Masi purchase complete with a basket and carrier bags so that I can sherpa Ewan around in style, baby.

And speaking of style, baby. We followed the sounds of some punk bluegrass music and stuck to the sidewalk here for a while. Barefoot Surrender, they’re called. They were just passing through, and my, were we glad that they stopped for a while. They were amazing.

Kelly, in particular, was glued for a while.

And this guy started playing that banjo all fast and furious and we could not WAIT to clap our appreciation. It was intensely beautiful.

It made us happy.

By this time of the afternoon and after a stop at the Ben & Jerry’s shop, we figured it was time to head home and do all of the things that we do toward the end of the day. Dinner, baths, teeth brushing, and bedtimes. Because we had listened and talked and laughed and chased and pooped out and enjoyed every minute. Yep. All of it.

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