Tag: girl time

Weekend Things

Lauren4 Comments

I got some questions for ya.

When did Lafayette get so hip?

Why didn’t anyone tell me how incredible Manchester by the Sea was?

How do you cheer up a broken-hearted Cowboys fan?

Why didn’t I sign up for that dang Women’s March?

Why does the weekend always end too soon?

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After exchanging Christmas gifts and watching that very informative video — child Josh had the moves! — the four of us set out for dinner at Community in Lafayette and oh my gosh, it was so good.  From the decor, to the service, to the food, it was all a knockout.  It reminded us all of Work & Class, what with all those small share plates of meat and sides that were so hard to choose from.

Remember when Brussels sprouts were just that gross mini-cabbage your mom always made on Thanksgiving and now they are the It Girl at every restaurant?  And remember when Lafayette was just a little town where your best friend lived and now it’s got trendy restaurant and packed breweries?  After dinner, we hit up Odd13 and though my Cultural Chameleon — a South African-hopped IPA — was interesting, I’m still all about that Codename: Superfan.

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On the Saturday side of things, PEPPERMINT MOCHAS & PANCAKES!  But actually it was peppermint mochas in thee cutest mugs from Hannah and Josh and Greek yogurt pancakes with thee fluffiest results from this recipe.  I was pretty delighted by all of it.  And by having the entire morning to lounge and watch The Kitchen on Food Network until 11:30 when I headed out for yoga at an urban winery?!

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Okay, so Jenn, Samantha and I — plus a million other people — went to a yoga class at Infinite Monkey Theorem and it was so fun (but also cold!) and afterwards we hit the wine bar then walked ourselves over to the Denver Central Market for lunch.  And this is the part where I tell you I spent four hours with the girls and took ONE PICTURE… OF MY LUNCH SALAD.  What is even wrong with me?  Fail.  But from a non-photography standpoint, the day was a huge success.  Ain’t nothing like yoga, wine and high school reunion talk with your girlfriends.

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Later that night, Joey and I made pizza then took ourselves to see a movie.  The theater we went to has complimentary popcorn and soft drinks and when I told Joey that, his eyes almost bulged out of his head.  He was just a tad excited.  All popcorn excitement aside, what I really want to tell you is GO SEE MANCHESTER BY THE SEA!  We thought it was incredible.  I heard it was “good, but really depressing” when actually, it was “depressing, but really good.”  I really liked La La Land but you know what?  I liked Manchester by the Sea even more.  Don’t hate me!  Go see it, then report back 🙂

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We started Sunday with breakfast at Jelly.  Specifically, we started with a small order of donuts and then I realized I am powerless to chilaquiles and will order it anytime it’s on a menu.  Mostly, I think this place is overrated, but we had to try it out one more time before we made that call.  The service exceeded the food, but I guess that’s not a bad complaint to have.

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After breakfast, we went home and Joey worked on his current house project — fixing all the cracks in our house, which mostly involves a lot of drywall dust EVERYWHERE — while I tackled salads for lunch this week, roasting red peppers for dinner and making dessert.  Then we headed to Joey’s dad’s to watch the Cowboys game, which did not go as planned.  1) Because they lost 😦 and 2) Because I thought if there was another Cowboys fan in the house, Joey would leave me alone when they scored… wrong.

So what I thought was going to be celebratory soup and dessert ended up being consolatory soup and dessert, but I still thought both were fantastic.  We hadn’t made that Chicken Sausage, Roasted Pepper and Whole Wheat Orzo Soup in far too long and though it was my first time making those Salted Peanut Butter and Jelly Blondies, I think they’re a keeper!  I tried to convince Joey to give up football by telling him I’d NEVER felt sad on a Sunday because of a sports team but he didn’t listen and went to bed at 8:30 instead.

Just realized it was a real good eating weekend — can’t be mad about that!

Weekend Things: So Long, July!

Lauren5 Comments

It’s Monday, it’s August and it feels like the freshest of starts!  I’m welcoming August with open arms, because after all the celebrations of July, this feels like the month to slow down and be more mindful about what we really want to fit in during this last full month of summer.

Before July ended, it gave us one last jam-packed weekend and though I never felt like I was in one place for long enough, I kind of liked seeing so much of Colorado — from Boulder, to the mountains, and back to Denver again — in such a short amount of time.  I adore this beautiful state of mine.

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We ditched work early on Friday and headed to The Med for my mom’s birthday dinner.  My love-hate relationship with Boulder is a complicated one, but my relationship with The Med is all love.  Sangria for Mom and I, plus a smattering of tapas for the whole table.  I think my favorites were the shrimp and bacon-wrapped dates.

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After dinner, we strolled the Pearl Street Mall, indulged our inner child at Into the Wind (it’s a toy-store, for those of you who didn’t spend most your childhood in Boulder) and caught sight of this lovely evening sky.  Later in the night, the most incredible cloud manifested and I saw no less than five pictures of it on the internet.

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We had a two and a half hour drive into the mountains on Saturday morning, but first things first: BREAKFAST BURRITOS!  No joke, I rode my bike to our favorite little place, filled my basket with burritos, then rode back home.  Joey thought this was the funniest thing ever, but it seemed legit to me.  Also, Adam called this “the best breakfast burrito he’s ever had” and I felt like my life goals were accomplished.

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Joey’s family has a cabin in Hartsel, Colorado and I didn’t even know that was a place but I was excited nonetheless.  Here’s the thing about cabins in the mountains… they are PERFECT!  It was so dead quiet up there, in a way that appealed to my introvertedness so hard.  I love that it feels so right to just relax, sit in silence, read a book, sip a beer, take a nap.  Which is what everyone did!  Oh, plus Frisbee golf and a 2,000-piece puzzle that we came nowhere near finishing.

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We celebrated July birthdays — I know, I know, I’m as ready to put my birthday to rest as you all probably are — and I introduced my family-in-law to the Whole Foods Chantilly cake.  I think it was a life-changing experience for everyone 🙂  Also, the most incredible sunset views!  Ugh, I just can’t even get over the beauty that is Colorado.  The drive home was mostly about listening to Third Eye Blind, Music from The O.C. and… Click Five.  Don’t ask…

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Sunday morning, I half-heartedly joined Joey for a run (he’s training for the RnR half) then ditched out to pick us up iced coffee.  Later that afternoon, I joined my mom and niece for a “girls’ day!”  We took her back-to-school clothes shopping and it was like re-living my childhood all over again.  Meaning, my mom did that thing where she’d leave the dressing room to exchange sizes, then return with five new things ♥♥♥  We also took her school supply shopping and I kinda wanted to buy some for myself.  Anyway, above is Belle’s favorite outfit from our shopping trip.  She COULD HARDLY WAIT to get back to my parents’ to put it on.  Too cute!

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Back at home, I was greeted by these backyard string lights that Joey started hanging while I was gone.  I proceeded to fall in love with them and obsessively take pictures at different points of darkness.  We’ve got one more strand to hang, but I’m SO EXCITED about how they look.  Also, please note our flourishing garden boxes in that first picture.  Our back yard is my favorite right now!

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We made these Seared Cod with Potato and Chorizo Hobo Packs (is that PC??) for dinner and though I was insanely excited to try the recipe and we spent $7 and way too much time locating that chorizo, they didn’t turn out the best.  As in the potato skins were a little crispy and the chorizo was straight char.  I know, because I put a piece in my mouth then had to get up and spit it out in our yard…  The cod also completely fell apart but all was not lost because the Pumpkin-Seed Lime Butter we put on top was DELICIOUS!

So long, July and HELLO, August!