JEREMIAH CUT MY HAIR OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He did pretty alright, huh??  Kelsey is going to laugh when she sees the back but no worries for now.  I had a lot of fun watching Jeremiah stress out over his "technique" and can always get the back fixed later.  He's so great! 

Package...

About a week ago, I was having the absolute worst day ever.  I was having a major freak-out moment.  A moment where I realized a person from my past no longer wishes to be a part of my life.  DRAMATIC, I know.  But!  I had a frank talk with Russ in which he snapped me out of my mopes and then moments after the tough-love talk received the sweetest package in the mail from EVA.  Best. Timing. Ever.  My day did a complete one-eighty because of the tough-love and love-love and I have you both to thank.

If you're curious about the Lucky Strikes, it's a little inside joke between Eva and Jeremiah.  Silly Smokers.

Crush...

It's time for me to crush some spirits... including my own!!  I am no longer coming back to Iowa for a week.  Ugh.  Long story short, I need to take care of some school stuff and I need to take care of my broke-ass car I didn't know was broke till yesterday.  There's really no bright side. 

But! I am extremely excited to get back to school and be done with my laze of a summer.  I'm just not productive when I don't have anything on my plate.  At this point.... I NEED SCHOOL.  And volunteering and a job and choir and more horseback riding and hiking and climbing and skiing and something, ANYTHING to get me out of the rut I've been in this summer.  With that said, here are some pictures of the much needed 15 mile hike my roommate and I took a couple weeks ago:

Mills Lake. 

Taking in the mountains.

The last few miles were extremely treacherous as we were forced to trudge through thick snow.  I fell through the slush multiple times.

Wow, that was fast. At the end of our journey.  Frozen lake.

 This is my roommate, Adam.  And my other roommate, THE BEARD.

 Being goofy.  But seriously, it was cold up there. 

 So happy but already feeling the wear on my legs.

 Adam at the top of the world.

 Snow Snow Snow Snow.

 These planks are fun.

 I have an irrational fear of mountain lions and even got in a tiff with Adam because he left me alone hiking for 30 minutes.  I COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!!!!!!  But instead I found this animal darting around the trail.

Me.

This hike was special because my brothers and I completed the hike years ago when none of us lived in Colorado yet.  The trip brought back a lot of memories but most of all, I was happy to have handled the strenuous hike much better this time.

BAM! SHOES!

I've found my favorite summer shoes at Buffalo Exchange!!  The brand on the inside says "Speed Limit 98"... whatever that means but no matter, the shoes are fab.  The fabric is canvas and I took forever to figure out what to wear with them.  I finally settled on something simple and borrowed one of Jeremiah's canvas bags to match.  YES! 

Look at all the rubble!  This is on the new deck.

The shirt is also Jeremiah's... sort of a mousy color with lots of random holes.  PEEKABOO!

Sunnies: F21  Shorts: Pimkie  Shoes: Buffalo Exchange 

Oh, and pink nail polish is my fav of the week.

 Sexy boyfriend, no makeup Sonja.

 Just to compare...

This week is an exciting one as I'll be getting school stuff settled, cleaning my house and heading back to Iowa with my mom and brother Mike.  I'll be getting my wisdom teeth out while there but will hopefully spend a few days at the pool and with friends.  IOWA!

Birthday...

Jeremiah's birthday went quite well.  I hadn't seen him for a couple days so when I pulled up to the ranch Tuesday morning, I was more than excited to see him preparing our horses for the day.  J's cousin Tinah joined the action and it felt nice to have all four horses out moving the cows.  The weather stayed cool and crisp.  Despite the dark blue clouds and flood warnings we stayed dry and enjoyed the never ending pastures which I've never seen so green.  Greenland, indeed.
We ate lunch together, took an epic nap, ate dinner together (with cake!) and then watched Jeremiah open his presents.  I bought him two Larry Brown books (one is signed!), a penguin USB flash drive, and underpants!!  He was so happy.
The ranch is so good.  I feel rejuvenated every time I go down there and J and my relationship always seems to take on a new light.  I plan to head back down on Thursday for a mellow day with J's folks and time to break in a new saddle I've been using.  So far, the "breaking in" has only led to extreme soreness and bow-legged walking but I'm determined!!

Either way, I loved that Jeremiah was feelin' so much love on his birthday.  He certainly deserves it.

Water! World! Yeah!

Kelsey and I went to WATER WORLD today and had quite the time.  Things we learned:
1.  Everyone and their moms are wearing Walmart swimsuits.  I saw one youngin with the same suit as me!
2.  Waiting in long lines leads to the giddys/uncontrollable laughing/dropping family sized tubes on peoples heads.
3.  The lazy river is the bombest ish!!!
4.  Aaannd bean dip is yum.

I had so much fun I plan to go back as soon as possible.

The next big thing for me is the celebration of Jeremiah's 27 years of age.  YAY!  I did a really great job with presents this year so I know he'll be thrilled.  After that I will be headed back to Iowa for a hot minute and at the end of summer get to see my oldest friend Michelle during her visit to Denver.  I have a TON of pictures to come including my long lost Europe photos.  Until then.

Orange you glad?

Denver has officially hit the 1000 degree mark so I've been inside all day with nothing to do but clean my room... which really just amounts to me playing dress up for a few hours.  Here's one result of the aforementioned "cleaning."

More experimenting with the tie front.  Keeping it somewhat formal on top with a collared shirt and "pearls."

Necklace: Monet

Yellow shoes and yellow nail polish.  YUM.

Shirt: Express  Skirt: F21  Purse: Vintage  Shoes: Zara

Lately...

First and foremost, let me tell you about the wonderful past few days.
Sylvain, Mag and Jeremiah headed out to the ranch on Tuesday but I decided to go hiking for the day with my roommate Adam.  Little did I know we would be doing the 15 mile killer hike to Frozen Lake in RMNP; the same hike I'd completed with my brothers five years ago.  In short, the hike was truly amazing; more beautiful than I remembered and somewhat less painful.  That doesn't mean I'm not still sore...
The next day was spent lazing around the ranch, talking to horses, and watching O Brother, Where Art Thou? with Jeremiah's family and a few friends.
Since I didn't do any riding the day before, Jeff and I took Samantha and Sherman out the next day to search for a missing cow in a neighboring pasture.  With a 300 steer operation, one missing cow doesn't seem like a big deal but when each cow is close to the $1000 mark, every one must be accounted for.  The ride started out sketch with ominous clouds closing in as Jeff and I prepared our horses.  A few bolts of lighting didn't scare us off as we drove the trailer away from the storm and into the pasture.  Considering Jeremiah and everyone else at the ranch had already clocked countless hours looking for the missing steer, Jeff and I had planned to spend a few hours searching.  As we approached the middle of the pasture and strolled over a hill, however, there was the steer, happy as a clam munching on the miles of green he had all to himself.  With the weather still holding off behind us, we started leading the steer in the right direction, alternating between putting pressure behind and to the sides of him.  Since all was going to plan, the weather decided to slap us in the face with the worst torrential downpour I've ever been stuck in.  About the point where every square inch of me was soaked to the bone, we lost the steer and called it a day.  The horses were spooked by the lightning, we were spooked by the horses, and it seemed a good enough time to get back to the ranch and dry off.  But oh, HOW FUN!!
No pictures today but I'll post the beauties from my epic hike and the latest and greatest from UMS when I get the chance.

Mellow yellow...

My little blog hiatus has been due to summer fun.

 Shirt: H&M  Skirt: F21  Wedges: Nine West  Sunnies:  H&M

 Loving the tie trend.

 Necklace: Vintage

HAPPY SATURDAY!!  And Happy Birthday to my brother, Michael!!  I hope to go climbing with him on Monday.

Things that are awesome...

1.  I just saw the last Harry Potter movie with my little brother, Jeremiah, Sylvain and Mag.  IT WAS EPIC.  I mean, sorta.  I was just emotional throughout the entire movie because it was the last source of HP entertainment I'll be seeing in a while, maybe forever.  TEARS!!!
2.  Sylvain and Mag.  Guess what!?  You know that French kid Jeremiah met a year ago by sharing a cigarette outside the hidive??  Well, him and his girlfriend hosted us during our EUROTRIP and now we get to return the favor by hosting them for three whole weeks!  It's like having new roomies but better because they are excited about everything we do in America!  ("The bathrooms are clean here!  The cars are huge!  16th St. Mall!  Baseball games!  Pink nail polish!  Short shorts!")
3.  Speaking of new roomies.  Our new roommate Adam is totally the shit.  He keeps things clean.  Gets along with everyone.  Knows how to party.  And is the Funnest person to mess with!  Like yesterday, when I stacked each and every one of his plastic hangers precariously a top his head while he was trying to do-work-son on the computer.  PRICELESS.  I cackled for a solid 10 minutes.  (Just trust me on this one, REALLY funny!)
4.  Cleanliness.  Did I mention my house is clean now??  It's insane and I love it and everyone (including moi) is doing a much better job at keeping the house pretty.  PRETTY!!!
5.  My bf.  Dudebro y yo are having such a splendid time together at the moment.  YAY. 
6.  My schedule for the next week:
Saturday: Rockies game
Sunday: Breckenridge
Monday: Pool with Kelsey
Tues-Wed: Ranchin'
Thurs-Sun: UMS!!!

Hooray for fun and happy times.

Mustache...

THE SHIRT I'M ABOUT TO SHOW YOU IS THE BEST SHIRT EVER!!!!!!!

In other news, last night was the most fun I've had in a long time.  You know those shows that are equal parts awesome for the talented musicians you see and for the sheer mass of friends you get to talk to??  Welp, that's how the Hindershot and Achille Lauro show was last night at Three Kings.

I got to mingle with these fine folks: Tommy!, Carl, Jenn, Kyle, Casey, Spencer, Diana, John Paul, Stuart, Roopy, Ashley, Aaron, Lucas, Emily, Chris, Hot Johnny (I wonder if he knows people call him that?), Erica, Kathy, the girl that humped Spencer, new friend Leah, and Katie among many others.  Sorry for the list, but if I don't write it down it's like it never happened!

OH, and Hindershot and Achille Lauro kicked the crap outta that show.  Look 'em up if you haven't yet.

One highlight of the night that really had nothing to do with me but practically made me cry with joy (single tear style) was when Casey and Emily bought shots for a bunch of people and then had a special cherry coke shot made for Jeremiah.  For those who don't know Jeremiah, he doesn't drink anymore and often feels out of the loop/left out at shows and parties.  It may not be much, but no one has ever gotten him a virgin shot before and I think it meant a lot.  GAH!  I told you!  Single tear.

Moving right along, here's that shirt I was telling you about:

YOU HAD ME AT MUSTACHE!!!!!

I bought this in Iowa City at the new RAYGUN store which is based out of Des Moines where my rad ex-bf used to work.  Meredith and I went to one of his art openings at the Des Moines store one day and became embarrassingly stinko in front of his family--Not a good look but truly hilarious to look back on!!  No harm, no foul.

 Shoes from Old Navy; Shirt from RAYGUN; Shorts from F21 and Sunnies from H&M.

 And here's the mustache in real life.  When he shaves the scruff it's truly magical.

Thinking...

I've been thinking of a few close friends and the difficult times they are currently going through and although a public forum isn't the place to discuss, I wanted to let L, M, S and J know I have a heavy but hopeful heart for the hard times past and coming up ahead.  Love and whatever good vibe/praying power I have is coming your way everyday.

Sonja

The Fourth...

Fourth of July weekend was quite pleasant... quite pleasant, indeed!  Thinman with Spencer/Casey/Ashley/etc., Fireworks with my honey, bocce ball in the park, and a splendid grill out were among the many activities.  I also found a SUPER tacky fourth of July swimsuit at Walmart for $8 and could not nor would not say no. 

I didn't wear this outfit for anything except to lounge in the backyard...or, side-yard in this picture.  Amongst the rubble.

 I found this Old Navy shirt at a thriftstore in IC called Revival.  The ties on the sleeves are the best.

 The pants are some of Jeremiah's I dug out of the basement of our first apartment. 

 Shirt: Old Navy thrifted  Jeans: Levi's thrifted  Purse: Zara  Shoes: Nine West

And these were the first shoes I ever fell in love with... they're so old by now!

Hope everyone had a happy Fourth!