Tag: al fresco

Weekend Things & a Summer BBQ

LaurenLeave a comment

You know when your weekend was so good that just thinking back on it has you doing a little good mood dance in your office?  No?  Yeah, me neither…

But seriously, this weekend we had a very chill Friday that involved cooking vegetables from our garden, a Saturday that started with a new coffee shop and ended with a summer BBQ with our friends and family and a Sunday that was so blissfully relaxed it almost felt wrong but mostly felt so damn right.  THE BEST!

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To say I had been looking forward to this dinner all week long would be a major understatement.  We pulled four cute little beets from our garden and used them to make this flatbread from my new cookbook and then I sauteed a HUGE bag of chard we harvested from our garden and Joey raved about it all through dinner.  I was like “it’s just some chard!” but yeah, it was actually VERY GOOD.  Also, I guess I’m just gonna quit my job and be a beet farmer now, okay?  Please tell us the difference between pizza and flatbread though!

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Everyone was coming over at 5 on Saturday and our house needed to be cleaned and burgers, sangria and broccoli salad needed to be made, but there is ALWAYS time for coffee first!  And Blue Sparrow Coffee was ADORABLE, so I’m 100% glad we made it there.  I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again, RiNo is just the coolest neighborhood in Denver!  We got our coffee and headed up to this rooftop patio and had the whole thing to ourselves.  It was so cool and peaceful and quiet up there ♥  We went full-on dorky married couple and inspected those garden beds so hard.  I loved every single second!

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Afterwards, we cleaned and prepped (hallelujah for husbands who mow and pull weeds and water lawns and put out tables, chairs and cute little drink stations so that when you come outside everything is already perfect!) and it was all so low stress that I even took a hammock nap and finished a book afterwards.  WHO AM I?!

As for the actual BBQ, I loved it SO much!  Everyone brought such delicious things and Joey grilled the burgers (x3!) to perfection and everyone was like “this water with fruit in it is so good!” and I got to see and laugh with all the people I love best in this life.  It was magical indeed.  Also, for the record, the pregnant lady outlasted everyone else and was the last person out the door at the end of the night.  Guys, Hannah and Josh are having a baby boy and it is fucking fun to talk about HIM instead of IT now.

P.S. Totally ate a brownie while cleaning up after everyone had left.

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Started Sunday with a run breakfast at Sassafras and yeah, those roasted vegetable grits with goat cheese and a side of jalapeño cornbread were as good as they look!  Afterwards, while Joey being a bike mechanic in the backyard (don’t ask…), I I re-stocked myself on granola and made some hummus with extra virgin olive oil that Lori brought back FROM GREECE!  She also got me thee most stunningly beautiful blue opal jewelry and I am actually the luckiest daughter-in-law ever.

Then…our first Sunday Rockies game of the year (how?!) and we biked and had seats in the shade and won 13-3, so I was in my happy place for real.  Afterwards, we tried to move as little as possible and keep all the lights off because summer heat is not messing around this year.  Plus we had our groceries delivered and decided to wait till Monday to do our weekly salad prep so we really had nothing we needed to do.  It was honestly SO NICE.

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For dinner, I picked our first squash and tomato of the year (!!!) and then we ate outside and I was like “I LOVE SUMMER!”  Big Brother and Game of Thrones afterward!!!!  Ummm how incredible was that episode of GoT?!  I had literal chills so many times and even Joey couldn’t stop talking about how crazy good that ending scene was.  My sister and Wayne just started watching the series and I’m simultaneously jealous that they get to watch from the beginning and disappointed that they’re JUST NOW watching from the beginning.

This week, I have book club, birthday celebrations for my sweet mama and a weekend concert to look forward to so I think I’ll be riding this summertime high for a while 🙂

Weekend Things: July is here!

Lauren2 Comments

I know I could just wait a day and post about our weekend and the actual 4th of July all at once, but what’s the fun in that?

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Joey texted me mid-afternoon on Friday (from his office, 5 steps away…) to say he could be persuaded into leaving early for a happy hour drink/snack.  It wasn’t even on my radar but as soon as he brought it up, I was like “HUDSON HILL!”  Been wanting to try that coffee/cocktail bar for weeks so we pretty much had to, ya know?

The Green Hour is the prettiest of pastel greens and even though it’s not on the HH menu, I really needed to order it.  Probably the creamiest drink in all the land!  Plus pickled okra?!  Can’t pass that up.  Joey isn’t into pickled things quite like I am, but he’s gonna come around, I just know it 🙂

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Back at home, post-hammock hang and garden admiring — I know it sounds like we do that every day, but it’s just because we do that every day! — we real quick made some Blackened Shrimp Tacos and you know when you make something and you’re like “this is good but I think I know how to make them even better next time”?  Had that moment with these tacos.  All ♥ for taco dinner in our backyard though!

P.S. Spent the rest of the night watching the Rockies and I fell asleep on the couch and didn’t even see them win.  Also, it was the second time I fell asleep on the couch during a Rockies game this week…

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Do you even know how excited I get to go to the Farmers’ Market on Saturday?!  Yes, probably you do, but thought I should tell you again.  Biked over and bought… um two mini pies.  And then, because I felt we couldn’t leave without purchasing some actual produce, we snagged some real good-looking snap peas.  Kinda ready for peach/shishito/corn season to be upon us though.

Turned Friday’s taco into Saturday’s salad when we got back home, then had the energy to run a bunch of errands: cheese shop, liquor store, beer supplies, coffee beans.

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And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for… the annual Shakespeare Festival outing!  We loved our picnic from last year so much that we did it all over again!  And honestly, is there anything better than drinking wine and eating cheese with your mom and your sister?  Answer: NO.

As for the play, I need you to know some things about The Taming of the Shrew.  #1: Shakespeare is my homeboy but this play is so freaking sexist!  It’s basically about submitting to your husband.  Only after suffering enough sleep deprivation and starvation though.  How bout no?  I’ve seen this play twice and the actors can do a lot in the way of body language and line delivery to make the plot less offensive but still.  #2: At the end, the entire cast did a dance together and afterwards, both my mom and my sister turned to me (sitting between them) and said “that was my favorite part!”  #3: 10 Things I Hate About You is still better than the original play 🙂

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Sunday started with a 5-mile run.  Not all that recommended if you went to bed past midnight the night before, but I lived.  Afterwards, we took ourselves to Thump Coffee for breakfast and I did what millenials do best, pay for the kind of toast I could make at home.  Did some adulting afterwards, aka grocery/lunch prep/house cleaning then shifted into R&R mode with the newest 5280 Magazine and a pedicure.  That color is called “Pixie” and I really love it.

To cap off Sunday, we (and the entirety of Denver) headed to City Park Jazz.  We sat further back then in past years because it was PACKED but it meant we could spread out more, plus we could still hear the live band so it was all good.  Replayed Saturday’s picnic spread + hummus and radishes from our garden.  Should have bought another mini pie for dessert but freezer cookies to the rescue!

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And now I’m off to contemplate whether I’m proud or worried that I ate cheese and sausage for dinner two nights in a row and to celebrate the 4th early, with new summer highlights in my hair, hopefully a Rockies win, some Biker Jim’s for dinner and get this, we may even stay for the fireworks tonight!  Wishing you all a happy holiday tomorrow!