Meet Autumn Thompson | Quality Time Creator, RN, BA

We had the good fortune of connecting with Autumn Thompson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Autumn, what are you inspired by?
I am inspired by love, quality time and the experiences we can’t get back in life. Time is our most precious resource and I believe how we spend time with people counts. I know how challenging finding time to plan and celebrate those we love can be with our schedules and I am inspired to create real quality time for others. My young daughters inspire me to be better each day and soak up as much meaningful time with them as possible by unplugging after work until the girls are in bed, and being with them without devices enables imagination and memories to run wild. Something Blue Picnics encourages quality time, unplugging and being present by including a faraday bag, polaroid camera, games, books and music because we know time flies and memories stay and I hope to inspire others to take a breathe with those you care about.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
The company I worked for in early development research as a registered nurse became unviable and our company went under with everyone loosing their jobs. When the company was laying everyone off we were told about possible grants and I was able to receive a grant to go back to college, and I did, for business.

MSU Denver was a wonderful environment to learn and grow and was the place that gave me the knowledge to start a business someday. I was in my junior year when I found out I was pregnant and there wasn’t a crazy shift right away, but then things started happening. Part of the reason quality time and love so beautifully overwhelm me as much as they do is because I went through a huge tragedy and loss when I was pregnant and experiencing that level of grief softened me and opened my eyes to the importance of those in our lives today and spending as much present time as possible with them because you don’t know what tomorrow could bring.

This tragedy hit right before Covid and the lockdown; thankfully summer semester would transition to online because I would have a two week old baby girl and be starting my senior year and 4 summer classes. In this time I chose to switch from a hospital birth to home birth because at that time if a mom got covid the baby and her would have to be separated and I didn’t have a partner anymore, so this wasn’t an option, so I decided to have a beautiful home birth. I was determined to finish school and was blessed to have my mom come and watch her while I did school online and then once I got her down for bed I would do homework, and that is how it went until graduation, about 6 months later.

After graduation I wanted to work remotely and decided to go back into research and I started working in project management. It wasn’t until I was blessed with a love I never expected that allowed for my brain fog to subside and dreams to start developing again. Through our love and partnership we have a little family and a bit more bandwidth to peruse dreams of creating quality time through elevated picnic experiences.

I have learned everyone is carrying or going through something and kindness and love are so powerful. I hope when people choose a Something Blue Picnic they forget the things on their plate and can soak in the precious time we get with those we care about.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
-We would spend a day in Idaho Springs and ride the Georgetown loop train creating a relaxing and memorable way to see our beautiful mountains. From there get a beer at Tommy Knockers and do a bit of gold mining.
-Breckinridge day trip is on the list to check out lake Dillon, go snow tubing in town, then take the gondola to the base of the mountain, walk the town and find a bar and restaurant to enjoy.
-Hiking Hermans Gultch and then coming back to Denver to get some food.
-The Denver botanical gardens are great, peaceful and you can take a pottery class starting there in the spring. After walking the gardens, head out of the gate and walk around Cheeseman park.
-Denver- Capital and the Mint have great tours.
-An evening out laughing at the Denver Comedy club or maybe take in some music at either red rocks or the orchestra
-Spend some trippy time at Meow Wolf museum and then get some food from either punch bowl social or chubby cattle to keep the experience going
-Food and Bars I would encourage my friend to check out are:
Bars and Restaurants at the Dairy Block: https://dairyblock.com/eat-drink/
Poka Lola
Cooper Lounge https://cooperlounge.com/
Death and Co – https://www.deathandcompany.com/private-events-venue/denver/
Cart Driver (near death and co)
Golden Hour- https://goldenhoursocialclub.com
Sunday Vinyl- https://www.sundayvinyl.com

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
A big shoutout to my husband and parents for coming along side of me with encouragement, support and investing so much of their time into Something Blue Picnics.

Website: https://www.somethingbluepicnics.com/

Instagram: Something.blue.picnics