Living through carpe diem

Carpe Diem loosely translates to "seize the day" though some may argue that a more accurate translation would be "enjoy the day".  We actually like the later as we equate the outdoors with creating a memorable outdoor experience.  For many, camping is a trip that takes planning and preparation (or at least forewarning).  However when a gathering of friends one evening arrives at the idea of a group family camping trip for the upcoming weekend two days away, we say Carpe Diem!

In every one of us (some more than others), a "planner" personality exists.  For the obsessive, write everything down to the last detail personality, the idea of a spontaneous four day camping trip can lead to heart palpitations and night sweats.   In their minds, a camping trip can boarder on the biopic feat that require months of planning and carefully crafted notes.  Yet although unnerving as this may sound to that personality, others embrace the idea of trekking into the outdoors with minimal planning, leaving their experience to chance (and the unexpected rainshower creating a wet, soggy and cold trekker devoid of adequate rain gear and weather forecast knowledge). 

However, we advocate the perfect plan lies somewhere in-between.  A plan that allows for the spontaneous group decision, while also allowing for worst case planning, fitting of the more obsessive individual.

Through the next few blog post, the grasshaven team will help bridge the gap, allowing the compulsive planner a level of spontaneity while giving more detail to the ready for anything adventurer.   This is the series, Carpe Diem Camping.

So when it's T minus two days and counting until departure, what do you do?

Secure your camping location and understand fundamentals.  

Is there water? Are there personal facilities? Is there an open fire ban?  What activities are near or at the campground?  Whose coming and when will they arrive?  Are there any gaps in camping equipment (click here for a detailed Grasshaven checklist to assist your planning)?  Details like these will offer a framework for pulling off a successful camping experience last minute.  Think through the most outer parameters of your trip.  Gear packing and your ultimate success will hang in the balance. 

Do an assessment of the group's camping equipment

Think through each families' equipment contributions.  Work to eliminate duplications while being mindful of equipment gaps.  An equitable balance of equipment between families will prevent undue equipment over or under load. 

Having an understanding of the facilities where you camp will inform the camping gear you will ultimately bring to make your tip a success.  And of course have a quick checklist ready. 

Tomorrow we will discuss meal planning and preparation for the trip.  Thursday we will leave on our spontaneous camping trip and on Friday, Saturday and Sunday we will chronicle experiences.  We are motivated to help get families and friends to embrace spontaneity and enjoy family camping together.  Although at Grasshaven, we always strive to share a perspective of comfort, style, function and at least a little glamping when we get the chance. 

In other words, enjoy the day... embrace carpe diem. And, do it spontaneously with style!

Picnic Style and Tail Gating Trends for Summer 2013

Summer is here and 2013 brings great picnic and tail-gating trends to ramp up your style in the outdoors.  As featured on The Everyday Show KDVR Fox 31 and in the publication, Colorado Meeting and Events, Dawn Bitz at Grasshaven highlights five picnic trends to inspire everyone outdoors to enjoy beautiful summer days (and nights).

Personalized Picnics

Ramping up the style quotient by bringing personalization into the picnic is what this trends is all about!  Favorite colors, foods and activities only scratch the surface. A glorious picnic basket like the Seine Deluxe Picnic Tote adds neutral style to any picnic experience. Pack non-breakable red wine glasses or white wine glasses suited to your wine palette. Bring butcher or large sheets of craft paper and sidewalk chalk for go anywhere hopscotch.  Add tablecloths, placemats and table runners that are completely reversible and ready for the outdoors.  One side features beautiful patterns while the other side is customizable and personalizable with chalk (available soon on grasshavenoutdoor.com).  

Evening Picnics 

Take a cue from the movie and let twilight set the tone.  Welcome the evening outdoors. Start your outdoor experience as the evening cools and the sun begins to set.  Romance the setting sun with a beautiful picnic perfectly positioned to capture the evening glow.  Bring beautiful and stylish LED, battery powered lanterns to set the mood. Add glow in the dark bocce balls to enliven the activity outdoors.  Remember, the evening can invite flying pests so don't forget the organic bug spray and glow in the dark bug zappers  If allowable, start a fire, tell stories, make s'mores and let evening games unfold – then pack up and go home.

Themed Tailgating 

Forget the burgers and brats for your next tailgating event. How about something more exotic?  Think Moroccan, Cajun or Korean.  Recipes abound to bring this gastronomic experience to your next gathering.  But don't stop there, carry the theme through out the experience.  Find colorful décor to enhance the ambiance and match your theme.  Throw in the Seine Wine and Cheese Tote to keep those varietals cold and don't forget the portable propane grill or the fold-up portable charcoal grill to really make your next tail gating event a hit.

Bringing the Indoors Out

From tablescaping to table settings, indoor entertaining and epicurean inspirations can be taken right outside to the picnic blanket as well.  Put down the sandwich and let your culinary inspiration take hold. Bring indoor menu items out.  Pack everything into a vintage inspired basket, like the Vintage Deluxe Picnic basket for stylish transportation.  Pair great food with stylish yet functional dishes and round out your experience with foraged centerpieces made of grasses and wildflower for a truly memorable experience.

Potluck, Picnics, Playdates

Friends and family time beckons when picnics turn into social gatherings.  Find the perfect park, send our the invite for friends and family and meet up for a full day of fun.  Have everyone bring a blanket, a group game and their favorite picnic recipe.  Then let the activities commence.  Play games like Biffs, Bats and Balls or roll around an Ice Cream Making Ball. Fun will be had and everyone will be ready for memorable dreams as they head home from an eventful day.

Ring the Camp Dinner Bell

When the warm days of July beckon, it calls everyone to get outside and enjoy all that summer has to offer. And when everyone is out hiking, camping and just enjoying quality time together, appetites build.  These aren't run of the mill everyday appetites.  These are big, bold outdoor appetites.  They require a meal fitting for the great outdoors.  With that in mind, we've pulled together one of our favorite dinner menu selections.  We are even preparing the menu live and offering camp cooking tips on Denver's KDVR Fox 31 Everyday Show, July 11th 2013.  So tune in and get hungry.

This is a dinner menu that packs something for everyone.  Vegetarians and those with gluten free diets will love our superfood, power packed Apricot Nutty Quinoa Salad.  While our recipe for Rib Eye with Pecan Shallot Butter will tantalize all the meat eaters out there. Round out the after dinner dessert cravings with one of our Salted Caramel Monkey S'More and quench your thirst with a glass of our Lavender Mint Lemonade.  We think you'll sit back with the feeling your summer camping experience is now complete.

Rib Eye with Pecan Shallot Butter

Oh the open grill during an outdoor excursion makes everyone’s mouth water.  We think it’ll water even more when this dish is plated.  The rib eye, a meat lovers dream.  With is flavorful marbling; the rib eye may be perfection in a steak.  Dressed simply with olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper this flavorful cut of meat could stand absolutely on its own.  However, when it’s paired with scrumptious pecan and shallot infused butter, it becomes over-the-top, melt in your mouth good.  And the best part, when prepared at the campsite, it can be the evening highlight after an outstanding outdoors adventure.

Click here for the full recipe

Apricot Nutty Quinoa

This recipe is a great stand alone for our vegetarian and vegan friends, but has an amazing flavor melding to stand up to our meat-a-saurus rib eye as a fitting side kick.

As an emerging celebrity of the whole grain circuit, quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) is finally emerging into its rightful place as a superfood, both at the campsite and in the home.  With its mild, but nutty flavor, this power packed staple, high in protein and fiber, stands up well to just about any flavor thrown at it.  And, did we mention it’s easy to cook.  In our nutty version, we add an extra dose of protein through almonds and a little carb kick with fruit.  Yet the real zing is a little cayenne pepper for a “little get out and enjoy the outdoors” zest.  

Click here for the full recipe

Salted Caramel Monkey S'Mores

When the campsite beckons for something new on the dessert front, try the salty sweet flavor infusion of Salted Caramel Monkey S’mores.   Sometimes known as banana boats, this self-packaged treat has all the trimmings to entice excitement out of even the most intrepid explored.  Grilling the banana helps toast the natural sugars while the addition of caramel, chocolate and a graham cracker crust makes this dish finger licking fare.   A pinch of sea salt balances the sugary concoction resulting in the perfect way to end a day in the outdoors

Click here for the full recipe

Lavender Mint Lemonade

What a better way to relish the summer outdoors than by enjoying a sunshine filled glass of lemonade.  Whether picnicking, camping or just sitting in the back yard, lemonade is the perfect summertime drink.  And with the addition of mint and lavender, two other quintessential summer flavors, traditional lemonade receives a modern, epicurean update.  So go ahead and pour a glass, the combination of these flavors creates a refreshing drink that welcomes the outdoors with open arms.  

Click here for the full recipe

Memorial Day Gratitude and Remembrance

As I sit here on Memorial Day 2013, I am overwhelmed with gratitude and remembrance.  I am grateful that Grasshaven Outdoor has met such an acceptance and community following in a short period of time.  I am grateful that our products and information can be used to get families outdoors and participating in family camping together.  I am grateful that we have a community of product suppliers who believe in Grasshaven.  I am grateful that we live in a world where a woman can create a business focused fundamentally on the family.  I am grateful that we can translate that business into a culture of empowerment and support for other women and men.

As I continue to sit and ponder all my gratitudes, I am also overcome with profound remembrance on this Memorial Day.  I think of the emotional and physical sacrifices that men and women today and in generations prior have given.  Their sacrifices have created an environment that enables gratitude.  An environment that supports freedoms.  An environment giving of liberties.

Thank you to all who have given to create this amazing country.

With gratitude and remembrance,

Dawn Bitz
Founder, Grasshaven Outdoor

Who's Your Camping Momma?

For Mother's Day, the moms at grasshavenoutdoor.com and talesofamountainmama.com thought it fun to share a little humorous look at camping and specifically camping moms.

The smell of fresh air and the warmth of campfire, sounds inviting right?  Many moms relish the camping experience to some degree or another.  A few moms vehemently do not.  At grasshavenoutdor.com, we wanted to better understand camping moms and ask the question: What’s your camping personality?  The verdicts are in.  Each mom has a different perception of the joys (or tortures) of camping.  Explore our light-hearted look at six camping mom archetypes and answer the question for yourself: “Where do I fit in?”

The Granola Camping Mom

This type of mom gives Bear Gryllis a run for his money.  Empowered, she packs light, hikes hard and escapes into the backcountry.   Journeying with the family into the far reaches of the wilderness and getting back (way back) to nature is her thing.  She brings only the essentials and looks for nature to provide the rest.   Look out wilderness this mama bear is going native.  Pack it in; pack it out…that’s her mantra.

Motto: “If Louis and Clark could do it, so can I”

What defines her:

Scoffs at cell phones, technology – there’s no technology in nature

… well, bears pee in the woods, don’t they?

Forages for bugs, beetles and other sources of protein

What she packs: Dehydrated food (or she uses her expert hunting and gathering skills); Bivy sack, the shoes on her feet and a sturdy dose of chutzpah

Where she stays:  Remote, self-created campsite after packing in five miles to climb a “fourteener”

Her sleeping arrangements: On the ground after the rocks are removed (mostly)

Secret Wish: A hot shower and fluffy bed

 The Den Camp Mother 

Calling all camp directors and den mothers (and those who wanna be).  This mama knows the ins and outs of the camp but she doesn’t have to go extremes.  She just likes to create memorable experiences with her loved ones.  Whether it’s camping at a primitive site or a campground with a few creature comforts, she just likes the time with her family and friends.   For her, camping is equivalent to quality family time like no other.

Motto: “I’m game for the outdoors: anytime, anyplace”

What defines her:

Gear is neatly packed in well organized bins and bags      Efficiency is everything; set up and break down is a snap      She’s comfortable in any outdoor situation

What she packs: Multi-functional and multi-use gear tailored to make the most out of her family’s adventures

Where she stays:  Anywhere. She just likes to be out with her most important people

Her sleeping arrangement: In an ample sized tent, on a cozy air mattress snuggled next to her family

Secret Wish: To do this again next weekend

The "Glamping" Camping Mom 

Ah the perfectly coiffed, styled and set campsite complete with coordinated stemware set against a perfectly foraged centerpiece that would make Colin Cowie envious.  This is glamorous, luxury camping at its finest.  This mama puts the Glamp into glamorous camping.  Move over Martha, there’s a new outdoor diva in town.

Motto: Camping shouldn’t be relegated to roughing it, I © glamorous camping

What defines her:

Creature comforts abound – she’s got it all 

Isn’t everyone’s campsite ready for a Sunset magazine cover?    Serves five-course meal plated on coordinating dinnerware

What she packs: Everything luxurious and it’s all coordinated

Where she stays:  Recreational camping destinations - hello? With concierge service, of course

Sleep: Under a duvet encircled down comforter set a top a 30-foot inflatable mattress.  This princess couldn’t feel a pea even if she tried.

Secret Wish: Sherpa to haul everything back and put it away 

The Haute Wheeling Mama

Arising early at the campsite for this mom entails rolling out of her bed, turning on the overhead light and creaking open the screen door.  Call it a 5th wheel, camper, motorhome or trailer; she just calls it her outdoor home.   There’s no tent camping for this matriarch of the open road.  Tents are where the kids (and occasionally the ill-behaved spouse) sleep.  She enjoys the well-deserved comforts of her home on wheels.  She survived the terrible twos, hasn’t she sacrificed enough in her life?

Motto: “Camping, I love to camp … in the comforts of my home on wheels.”

What defines her: 

 Four walls, floor, ceiling and 2+ wheels 

Square footage that makes a New Yorker envious 

Decked out outdoor living space complete with twinkly lights

What she packs: Clothes, everything else comes standard in her transportable home

Where she stays: Preferably the RV park with hook-ups and satellite TV

Her sleeping arrangement: Bed, comforter, nightstand just like back home

Secret Wish: Sleeping in a moonlight infused tent

The Reluctant Camping Mama

After significant poking, prodding and convincing from the family, this mom reluctantly gets outdoors, albeit, maybe only 25 feet from the backdoor. She characterizes the outdoors as dirty, bug infested and generally uncomfortable but for the sake of her family she’ll venture out. This mom's not keen on camping but musters enough courage to do it for a night (or two).

Motto: If the going gets rough, this mama goes home

What defines her:

Staying close to camp or her spouse for that matter

Camping sites with appropriate facilities close by (showers, toilets, running water etc.)

If it gets too extreme she gives up and sleeps in the car

What she packs: Bug, bear and bite spray and leaves the rest of the packing to the boys

Where she stays:  In the backyard (that’s outdoors right?!?!) or at the closest campgrounds to civilization  (or at the nearest Holiday Inn worst case)

Her sleeping arrangement: Inside a claustrophobic mummy sleeping bag on a 0.001 inch self-inflating mat after having left camping details to the “boys”

Secret Wish: To become a “Den Mother” and do this again next weekend

The Motel Camping Mama

 Operator can I order room service?  What, no room service?!?! Now I’m really camping, this mom thinks to herself.  We all know her (and we might even be her).  She sneers at the idea of staying overnight without a hot shower, indoor plumbing and the immutable HVAC system.  She craves electricity to power every gadget know to man (err woman) and she shuns the thought of roughing it.  I mean, no room service…this is roughing it in her mind.  She can’t wait to get back to civilization and like Dorothy, she repeated clicks her heels together citing “there’s no place like the Spa; there’s no place like the Spa.”

Motto: “Camping?!?  Isn’t that a hotel without room service”

What defines her:

Ideal outdoor experience: sitting on the grassy knoll, poolside

Prefers air conditioning to fresh air

Only lifts a polished finger to get the cabana boy’s attention

What she packs: Everything. Cosmetics; hairdryer and curling iron.  I mean a girl’s gotta look her best

Where she stays:  With every hotel booked for the Star Wars convention, she’ll grudgingly stay in the only open vacancy room

Her sleeping arrangement: On a lumpy hotel bed, listening to a noisy elevator all night

Secret Wish: To be really be outside camping 

Whether you’re a mom who delights in the back to nature basics of camping, hiking five miles with their kids’ and husband’s in tow.  Or a mom from the other spectrum who views camping as a hotel without room service, all moms are unique and loved by their families.  Whatever the case, moms are an important part of the outdoor experience however they personally choose to experience it.  We say just get outside and enjoy it together.