A Return to the Land of Enchantment: Taos, NM

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Like I said in my initial New Mexico post, I had been away from my home state for 10 whole years. As a young child/teenager, I lived in Los Alamos, yet never ventured north to Taos, which is probably by far one of the more well-known towns in the state. Since we traveled to New Mexico this time around for a wedding in Angel Fire (see future post), we hopped into the car and spent the day in Taos. 

Taos is situated in the north-central region of New Mexico in the Sangre de Christo mountains (source: this map and wikipedia). It's mostly known for its great hippie commune-type living situations and, of course, the thriving artist community. It's a small town, definitely walkable. We parked the car in front of city hall for the entire day. 

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The sunset in the Sangre De Christo Mountains is absolutely breathtaking. 

Stay tuned for the Angel Fire and Santa Fe posts.

A Return to the Land of Enchantment: Los Alamos, NM

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So much has happened since October that I haven't been able to bunker down and write this crucial post. For those of you that don't know, I was born and semi-raised in Los Alamos, NM. Yes, it's the scene of the Manhattan Project and the basis of the new WGN TV series Manhattan. (A great show.) It's a small town in Northern New Mexico, about 30 minutes away from Santa Fe, at the foothills of the Jemez Mountains. It had been 10 years since I graduated from high school and moved Philadelphia. 

We ventured throughout Northern New Mexico: Albuquerque (briefly), Los Alamos, Santa Fe, Taos, and Angel Fire. The food is naturally amazing, the scenery so beautiful, the architecture so unique, and the way of life so laid back. It's a wonder how I turned into the city slicker I now am. 

I'll break the New Mexico posts into as many manageable bites as deemed appropriate. For now, here are the Los Alamos photos. 

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Chili Works, be still my heart. This place is literally a shack, but hands down the best breakfast burrito I will ever have. For $6, you get a behemoth breakfast burrito. For every day that we spent in Los Alamos, we ventured to Chili Works for one of these bad boys. A creature of habit, I stuck to my usual (even ten years later): Bacon, Egg, Cheese, Potatoes, and 2 cups of authentic NM green chili. After this, I could leave the Los Alamos post be and let the chili speak for itself, but here's more chili and some scenery. 

The colors of New Mexico are brilliant in reds and greens. It's Christmas every day, but with so much sun.

The scenery below is from Overlook Point in Los Alamos / White Rock. That "little" river is the Rio Grande, probably at its smallest point. 

And this last picture is for my parents. That's the first house I lived in. 

Franklin Flea

Flea markets are always full of hidden treasures. When we lived in Cambridge, MA, one of my favorite places to explore was the Cambridge Antique Market. Five floors of endless possibilities! So, I was excited to hear about the outdoor Franklin Flea Market a couple weeks ago. K and I headed over in search of artwork for her office (we didn't find anything per se), but I did dream a little about mid-century modern tables and mismatched seating.