Weekend Things

Wanna hear the weird thing that happened to me this weekend?  I was at the grocery store, my eye itched and when I went to rub it my contact fell out then my eye swelled up bad and fluid built up under the film of my eye.  It was crazy and looked pretty freaky, plus it didn’t feel too good.  Luckily, Hannah is in nursing school and happened to be on her way over (after I managed to drive myself home…) so she fixed me all up.

In other news, Emily was in town this weekend!  And had her co-worker and good friend Melissa with her.  I love when Colorado newbies come into town.  Denver is fun to show off 🙂

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On Friday night, there were clear blue skies, so the Linger rooftop was a given.  That hipster haven was busy and the first come first serve policy makes it hard to find a table — especially one of the coveted served tables — but after 4 tries, we finally managed to snag one.  Then we proceeded to order almost everything on the menu + two pitchers of sangria (yum!) and got to soak in the rooftop view of Denver all together.

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Afterwards, we all decided the Little Man line was longer than their ice cream is worth and ditched it for Sweet Cow.  Their flavors are better anyways.  And the line was much shorter.  Chocolate chip cookie dough in a waffle cone next to my favorite ladies is how every Friday night should end if you ask me!

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A tour of Colorado isn’t complete without a trip to Boulder so Saturday morning we all drove into the foothills for breakfast at Turley’s.  Emily might have a slight obsession with their house spice tea 😛  I’ll admit that even as a Colorado native, reaching the top of the hill on the highway and seeing Boulder down below is always breathtaking.

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Our company picnic also happened to be this weekend, so we left the New Orleans girls in Boulder to hike, explore and enjoy and headed to Elitch’s to mingle and visit with our co-workers outside of the office.  We skipped the rides this year — I think I only need to ride roller coasters once every few years — but the food, beer and raffle prizes kept us plenty occupied.

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We ended the night with a little BBQ.  I was pretty impressed that we threw the whole thing together so quickly and with very little ahead of time planning.  Spontaneity is so not my middle name.  Bean brought the burgers, Mom brought salad and appetizers, Hannah and Josh brought the beer and we supplied the corn, grill and back yard.  Plus the fire pit and the smores!  I think we might be turning into good BBQ hosts.

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Sunday morning, we were up and at em early.  The girls had a noon check out time but they had to see Red Rocks.  I was pretty excited that they were up for sacrificing their last vacation day to get up early instead of sleeping in.  In my opinion, Red Rocks is totally worth losing a little sleep.  I think we all felt slightly guilty just sitting on the benches and watching all the intense workouts going on (the group fitness class taking place on stage was extremely entertaining) but we did end up taking a little hike up to a scenic overlook so I think that counts 😛

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Last time Em was here I had her whole trip planned out, but this shorter trip was much more relaxed.  We just did what sounded good at the time and it all worked out perfectly.  After we dropped them back off at their hotel and said our goodbyes (till I’m in New Orleans for my bachelorette party in August!), we spent some much needed down time on the front porch then headed out to my niece’s birthday celebration.  That little one is such a girly girl and has got that hip pop down pat.  It’s too cute!

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Between the quality cousin time and what I’m considering the final countdown to Hannah and Josh’s wedding in less than two weeks, I think I’m going to be riding a happiness high for a while 🙂  Happy Monday!

Current Breakfast Obsession: Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie

Confession: I’m finicky about smoothies.  I love how green ones make me feel and they are great as a snack, but I hate having them in place of a meal.  Mostly because the idea of being hungry an hour after breakfast is so so annoying and that’s what usually happens if I drink a smoothie.  But now that it’s all hot and summery outside, a cold refreshing smoothie sounds so appealing in the morning, when it’s already 80 degrees in our AC-less house.

I already mentioned that I’ve been eating this regularly but I thought I’d add in another warm weather breakfast option and turns out it’s a smoothie.  And turns out it’s actually filling.  Plus there’s chocolate!  Say no more.

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The night before (I know, planning ahead isn’t as fun but hear me out), combine 1/4 cup oatmeal and 1/2 cup milk (I use almond) then stick it in the fridge overnight.  I just do this step in the blender because it means just pulling it out of the fridge and fitting it into the base in the morning.  Easy peasy!

Then, in the morning all you have to do is add 1 banana, a couple handfuls of spinach (you can’t taste it, I promise!), 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon of peanut butter (or whatever nut butter you want), 1 teaspoon of mini chocolate chips and a bit more almond milk (1 cup-ish), blend and sip.  And then you can try to avoid the breakfast-in-the-car trap that I inevitably fall into every time I make a smoothie.  It’s like a free pass to run late in the morning because “oh yeah, I can just drink this in the car on the way to work and it’ll save so much time!”  Don’t be like me.  But do make this smoothie!

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I hope you all have clear blue skies, sunshine and fun weekend plans.  My cousin Emily is in town for a few days and I’m hell bent on showing her what patio season is like in Denver.  And I’m thinking a trip to Little Man is definitely in the cards as well.

Happy Friday!