Guest Post - Peridot Skys

I am obviously no mathematician because when I decided to do a guest post every Friday for the month of July, I didn't realized that there was 5 weeks in the month, not 5 Fridays.  Oops!  Well, I am happy to bring you my final guest post of the 'month', Lisa from Peridot Skys.  She has become a great blogging friend, supporter and push for me.  Please visit her blog to be fancied by arm parties, great DIY's and fashion updates that are completely on trend...

Hi my name is Lisa!  I was born and raised in Oklahoma and I moved with my boys to Kansas City 7 years ago.  We love it here! I am the mother to three wonderful sons, and Mimi to two grandsons with my third due this fall.  I can shop every day and never get bored.  I love to decorate, style and try new things.  I am a big fan of DIY too!    I started blogging January of just this year.  I knew it was something I wanted to start all last year but wanted to research before I launched!   I started blogging mainly because I truly enjoy all the blogs I follow and I am a very social person so it seemed perfect for me!  It is a place to share my personal opinions and style!  

Blogging really hasn’t changed who I am.  I stay very true to my personality and my style.  I learned following trends is costly and sometimes a personal fashion faux paus.  It may be in style, but every style isn’t for everyone!  When I post something it is a genuine reflection of my style.  If I have changed at all since blogging, it would be that I experience so much more when researching for a post that I don’t think I would ever have noticed!  And I take so many more pictures!!

Something that people generally don’t know about me is that I am very detail oriented.   I can remember such fine details to events.  I can remember what I wore, or what day of the week an event was, or even topics of conversations.  Generally it is the sort of thing people gloss over.  I am very good at faces too!  I am no Marilu Henner though!!

My Favorite food to eat really isn’t a food, but rather a food group!  I am a sweets freak.  Pastries, cookies, cakes, you name it!  I could eat cake all day if left to my own devices.  My latest obsession is French Macarons! Yum!

If I could have lunch with one person dead or alive it would be my sister Donna, she passed away seven years ago.  We would enjoy a fine bottle of Pinot Grigio and eat Brie and have a wildly conversation with no direction in mind.  Donna had a great sense of style and it would be delightful to here her perspective on the change in trends and the pop of neon and color block.  She was a Lilly Pulitzer, Jack Rogers kind of girl!

Thanks Jamie for having me!

Guest Post - A Phil's Life

This Friday's guest blogger is my friend Phil from, A Phil's Life.  Phil and I have a common love for food... specifically shady restaurants who bang out delicious delicacies from hole-in-the-wall establishments.  Phil's blog is full of witty and smart posts about the sports he loves, recipes he has made and his life from California to Colorado.  I am lucky to also have Phil around as he is more computer savvy than I ever could be; he has helped me design my blog buttons and help with the functionality of my blog over the past few months.  Please check out Phil's blog and enjoy today's post...

Who are you? I'm a relatively-new California transplant living in the wonderful state of Colorado now. I moved out here about two years ago to pursue my masters degree at the University of Denver, from where I have since graduated. Coming from a state with overwhelmingly fair weather, I had a lot of trepidation about living somewhere that had actual winters and seasons. And truth be told, the two winters I've lived through have been terrible. I may tell you otherwise in person in order to maintain my street cred, but the snow and cold are awful. Call me a California Wuss and I'd be perfectly okay with that, but who honestly enjoys walking around in 10-degree weather, slipping on black ice, scraping the ice off their windshields and dealing with severe-weather compounded traffic (apparently caused by 'all Californians/Texans who can't drive in the snow' if you ask a "Colorado native.")?

But besides the winter months of me being pretty miserable, I have absolutely embraced Denver and the active-oriented lifestyle that most of the city seems to live. I've found that most people enjoy (or at least claim to enjoy) things like running, cycling, hiking, camping, rock climbing and backpacking. But I also really like how the Denver metro area is actually relatively small! Although time-wise due to traffic it takes time to get across from where I live to downtown, it actually isn't that far as the crow flies. I quickly forgot how conditioned I was in the LA-metro area to spend 45+ minutes to go to eat at certain restaurants. Now 20 minutes to get across the city doesn't seem so bad.  

Weather complaints notwithstanding, I enjoy running, road cycling, shooting photography, tennis, cooking, keeping up with tech stuff, video games and reading. I'm gearing up for my first triathlon in a few weeks back in Santa Cruz, California, formerly Surf City USA. Running and cycling wise, I'm ready. I can do the distances and I can do them back to back. Swimming on the other hand will be an issue. I'm banking on the fact that my altitude-adjusted lungs will help me finish the swim portion of the race.

When did you start blogging and why?  I've blogged for much longer than I care to admit. I think I started my first website when I was in 8th or 9th grade, which was wow, ~17 years ago. I was a little introverted back then, so I guess blogging was my creative outlet and the easiest way for me to express myself. When I started my undergrad at UC Santa Cruz circa 2001, the era of Xanga had begun. Nearly all of my friends in school blogged on Xanga, and it became a way to keep in touch and to "show off" who we were hanging out with and what we were doing. 

But as Friendster, MySpace, Facebook and Twitter all increased in popularity, Xanga and other blogs began to see a simultaneous decrease in popularity. My theory is that the rise in micro-blogging directly led to the fall of personal blogging. If someone can convey his/her feelings in a status update, why bother spending all that time and coherent creating an engaging, coherent blog? 

I still enjoy blogging as a creative outlet when I'm not feeling lazy, so I continue to stand with Jaime and a handful of other friends that still blog, the vanguards of the bastions that refuse to completely succumb to the instant gratification of microblogging.

How has blogging changed who you are?  Or has it?  Once I started blogging more seriously in college, it changed my approach to how I would approach destinations, places and events. Taking on a "blogger" mindset requires thinking critically about the places you've gone, remembering crucial details that you want to relate to readers and doing additional research to provide background for your readers. On the photographic side, you need to think about taking important pictures that convey emotion and help provide a visual-aid to your story. Hopefully no professional journalists reading this will be offended by this comparison, but the way I see it, blogging is a similar approach as a journalist's mindset. 

What is something most people don't know about you?  Hmmm...that's a tough one. To be honest, I'm pretty open about myself on my website/blog, social media and in person. I don't really hide anything from anyone, which is probably an actual character trait that I should work on. Example: I should probably not bring up Battlestar: Galactica on a first date again.

So I guess here's a fun fact? I've owed Jaime this blog post for quite a while now, so out of guilt, I've stopped blogging on my own site until I finally send this one out to her. Oops... 

As you know, I love food so what is your favorite thing to eat?  Another toughie! Like Jaime, I also enjoy experiencing different types of cuisine, whether it be high-end haute cuisine or eating from a shady-looking street cart. For my graduation, my parents took me to Kelly Liken (on Jaime's recommendation!) for a 3-course prix fixe dinner + wine pairings; just the other day, I grabbed some tacos from a restaurant on Federal Ave., whose sanitary conditions would surely cause Gordon Ramsey (Kitchen Nightmares) or Robert Irvine (Dinner: Impossible) to have an immediate aneurysm. I can unequivocally say I enjoyed those meals equally.

But my favorite thing to eat? I guess I'd have to go with fried potatoes: french fries, steak fries, curly fries, skinny fries, potato wedges, fat fries and tater tots; I don't think I could live without them. They're the perfect accompaniment to a burger, steak or sandwich but they can also stand on their own if you add some chili and cheese. And I'm assuming most of Jaime's readers aren't familiar with carne asada fries, which seem to be a Southern California regional "speciality." It's french fries covered with beans (optional), guacamole, salsa picante, onion, cheese, sour cream and of course carne asada (or another choice of meat, pollo asada and lengua are both good options too.) Delightful. Absolutely delightful.

Guest Post - Hakuna Matata

This week's guest post is from Beth at Hakuna Matata.  Beth's blog is full of touching stories, inspiring recipes, pictures that make me smile every time I read her blog and a candid look into her life.  I actually started my blog because of Beth and for that, I am always going to be grateful. 

Guest Post - Cardigan Junkie

Hello!  I'm Haley of the blog Cardigan Junkie, and I'm thrilled to be filling in for Jaime today.  I think she's got so much talent, and I can't wait to see her blog grow as more people discover what I've already noticed.  Here's a little bit about me:

Who are you?  I live just outside Dallas with my husband and 2 dogs.  My day job is at a marketing agency, and my creative outlet since early 2010 has been Cardigan Junkie, my blog about attainable fashion and whatever else I deem worthy of sharing on the internets.  I love playing stylist, reading books, and meeting new people online - let's be friends!

When did you start blogging and why?  I started blogging in February of 2010 at the suggestion of a local news reported who interviewed me for a story on bargain shopping.  At the time, I was disillusioned by the lack of style inspiration for women with average budgets (I call us the $40 skirt people) who cannot drop a 3-digit sum of money like it's no big deal but don't want to buy poorly made things either.  At the time, I was mostly aiming to entertain friends, but the blog has grown pretty organically in the past 2.5 years.

How has blogging changed who you are?  Or has it?  Blogging has definitely changed me for the better.  I'm much braver with my outfits, thanks to lots of time spent pondering new combinations and how to get the most wear out of a single item.  Back in 2010, I wore minimalist jewelry and was hesitant to try new things - my how times have changed!  26 year old me could have never done this:

Outfits for Annie 1 by cardiganjunkie featuring blue jackets

What is something most people don't know about you?  People who get in my car are always shocked to hear country music on the radio.  Although my iPod is mostly full of other stuff and I don't mention it much, I love country music and grew up listening to it in the truck with my dad.  I get my fix on the way to/from work each day.   I can also sing every word of the Grundy County Auction song by John Michael Montgomery.

What is your favorite thing to eat?  I was born and raised in Texas, and I have a sweet tooth, so I have a major weakness for Blue Bell Ice Cream.  I very rarely allow myself to have it because I am incapable of moderation.  All other ice cream is a waste of calories.

Source: fatwallet.com via Shay on Pinterest

If you could have lunch with 1 person, dead or alive, who would it be and what would you eat?  Tough question, Jaime!  I gave this some thought, and decided that I'd dine with Queen Elizabeth I and we'd enjoy the aforementioned Blue Bell ice cream because I think she'd be quite impressed by it.  I've always been an avid reader of historical fiction and have become so enamored with her life that I've branched out into biographies and even purchased a documentary from Amazon one night after way too much wine and announced that "I really need to know more about this - it's important".

Thanks for having me, Jaime!  I had fun writing this and I hope you all will come over to Cardigan Junkie and say hi sometime!

Guest Post - The Yellow Binding

I am so excited to kickoff my Guest Posts for July with my friend Mary from, The Yellow Binding.  She might be one of the most creative, bubbly and crafty girls I know.  She has an infectious smile and makes beautiful quilts that I hope to one day have one commissioned for myself.  Please enjoy...

Who are you?  Hi, all! I'm so happy to be posting here on South on Broadway! I'm Mary and my blog is called The Yellow Binding. I'm an academic librarian who loves crafts, picnics, and my little dachshund, Oliver.

When did you start blogging and why?  I started my blog in April of 2008. I was new to grad school, new to Denver, and new to owning a cute dog, so I started a blog to share my life with my family & friends back home! I think my dad was my only reader for awhile, but a few new people have started reading since then. I love blogging as a way to keep track of my days, both the ordinary ones and the extraordinary ones. I also love sharing all the things I love with my readers.

How has blogging changed who you are?  Or has it?  I don't think it has. I've always been an avid journal keeper, so I feel like this is just an extension of that...but with a lot more pretty pictures and a lot more readers! Reading blogs has been a huge inspiration for me from cooking to crafting and everything in between.

What is something most people don't know about you?  I'm terrified of cows! I grew up on a farm, so you'd think I'd be used to them.  I was on the farm a month ago & they actually looked sweet, so maybe I'm coming around.

As you know, I love food so what is your favorite thing to eat?  Strawberries! I can't get enough of them. They are the most perfect fruit!

If you could have lunch with 1 person, dead or alive, who would it be and what would you eat?  I'd have tuna casserole with my mom, Rosemary.  It was my very favorite thing she made! I've recently started a tradition of eating her tuna casserole on the anniversary of her passing.  It's not quite the same, but it's the next best thing.

Guest Posts on South on Broadway

I am so excited to share that for the month of July, I am going to have a guest post each week from some of my favorite bloggers!  

I have been wanting to do this for a while and I am thrilled to introduce you all to 5 blogs that I love and also give you the chance to get to know them a bit better too.  Please check out their blogs, share with your friends and check back each Friday in July to see who's up next.

Hooray and thank you to each of you... I am so honored and excited to have you on South on Broadway! 

I'm Going to be a Guest Blogger

I am so excited to let everyone know that I am going to be featured as a guest blogger on Cardigan Junkie next month.  I am so honored and excited to have my first guest post on a blog that I admire and regularly follow... I just could not wait to share the news. 

My post will not be until May 14th and I will make sure to give some major props to Haley on my site that day, in addition to link the post from my page so everyone can go and check it out. 

Thank you to everyone who has been reading, following and supporting me over the past 4 months with my blog.  It means so much to me and to know that I am slowing establishing this blog with content and followers is something I am so proud to share with everyone.

Guest Post - Restaurant Review: Limelight Supper Club

A loyal follower of my blog recently had a night out in Denver to dine at Limelight Supper Club and to go see the award-winning Broadway play, Wicked.  As you can imagine, the play was amazing but what I didn't know was how approachable and chic the restaurant would be.  I have passed Limelight at least a dozen of times, yet, have never found made my way in.  One of the biggest restaurant groups in Denver, Kevin Taylor Restaurant Group is the owner of Limelight and it is no surprise that it shined with a cool vibe that attracts a wide range of people and classic steak-house Americana cuisine.

(My guest post writer moments before the play started)

She graciously offered to write a review of the restaurant and I am so excited to share her thoughts in my very first Guest Post.  So, without further adieu...

The cool lime green color used throughout the restaurant provided a relaxing and intimate atmosphere, while the large windows open to the entire Denver Center for Performing Arts Complex afforded an excellent ‘people watching’ arena – it was bustling with activity with the performances in the different venues.

The Steak Tartare with toasted bread and Parmesan dressing that we ordered to start was tasty with a delicate sauce.  The New York Strip with a Green Peppercorn Sauce and steak fries was substandard and was the biggest disappointment of our meal.  The best item of the night was the Filet with mushroom fricassee and a delicate béarnaise sauce - one of the best sauces we have ever had and the pairing with the mushrooms completed the dish. 

The service was above par, timely and efficient, but not over the top.  Overall, an excellent choice for anyone especially with its closeness to the Buell Theatre.