A Movie in the Park

It’s my mom’s birthday on Saturday, making this “Birthday Week!”  As in, I fully support and encourage all family and friends to celebrate their birthdays all.week.long.  I mean, it only seems natural that we do so as adults, since birthdays don’t get as much attention as they did when we were kids.  Seems like a fair trade off to me.

I’m always excited for my mom’s birthday as I’m partial to July celebrations (wonder why!…) and especially excited this year because the festivities are right up my alley and because I have some really good birthday surprises up my sleeve (Mom, are you reading this?).  And guess what?  We kicked the celebration off last night with a movie in the park.

IMG_4207I should have known it was going to be a good night when I met my family in Louisville and everyone was on time.  That never happens.  Seriously.  It gave me hope that I can put my dad and my sister back on the guest list for my future wedding (cough they are the family’s biggest punctuality offenders cough).  Also…a line of food trucks!  Be still my heart!

IMG_4205I was kind of taken aback by the amount of trucks that were there — nine I think?? — but finally settled on the street taco truck, Comida.  I have a serious taco weakness.  I kind of underestimated how small these tacos were, hence me only ordering one (chorizo!) plus a side of rice and beans, but that just means more room for sangria and ice cream, right?

IMG_4203My mom and my sister grabbed brisket sandwiches and some amazingly delicious French fries — thick cut and salty, just how I like em — at the BBQ truck and then we all camped out on our picnic blanket with some homemade sangria my mom brought with her.  P.S. Can you see my mom’s new diamond earrings?  She had one fall out of her ear earlier this year, so my dad took her for a replacement and white gold upgrade.  Way to go, Dad!  I swear he was also at the movie, despite the lack of evidence.

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IMG_4209Wine-soaked cherries and peaches, yes please!  Oh look, there’s my dad (kind of…).  Told you he was there too.  We hung out with our sangria while we waited for the sun to set and the movie to start.  They were showing Jurassic Park, which yes, I did just see in the theater, but Jeff Goldblum is so worth re-watching it.  My dad concurred that he is the best part of that movie.

IMG_4206How cool is the inflatable screen?  I had just enough to time grab a double scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough from the Sweet Cow truck to share with the girls just before the movie started…perfection.  About halfway through the movie, we started to feel a few raindrops and the wind picked up and that park cleared out so fast.  We stuck it out though.  We had to see who was going to save them all from the Velociraptors, obviously.

Seriously, a perfect night (albeit kind of chilly, especially for the end of July) with my family.  All that was missing was Joey (he was at his softball game) and maybe a second street taco 😛  The best part?  We get to do it all again on Saturday when we celebrate my mom’s actual birthday with tapas and dinner at the Med (always the Med!) and another movie in another park.

Is it Saturday yet?

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Do your birthday celebrations last longer now than they did when you were a kid?

Have you ever been to a movie in the park?

The food truck craze: yay or nay?

Weekend Things

Rockies Home Opener Weekend Things.  Joey’s Birthday Weekend Things.  Red Headed Weekend Things.  Yes, all of those things.

Happy Sunday!  Yesterday I woke up at 9 AM after going to bed at 10 PM on Friday (party girl!) and felt exhausted.  This morning I woke up at 6:50 and felt ready to take on the world!  What is that even about??  I swear, the less sleep I get, the better I feel.  Is that a thing?

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Friday was the Home Opener for the Rockies, or as our friend Bobby poetically put it, “the day I’ve been ditching work/school for for the past 6 years.”  When I was still in school, the first thing I would do when I got the course syllabus was jump to Opening Day and breathe a huge sigh of relief when there were no tests or papers due.

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We hit up Biker Jim’s for a pre-game lunch.  The Biker Jim’s “classic” comes with a dog, a side of fries and a PBR.  One of the only places where drinking PBR actually feels right.

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This picture is amazing!

I usually go with the Vegan dog, but they have a shortened menu for Opening Day — it’s super busy! — so I ended up with the Elk Cheddar dog, topped the classic Biker Jim’s way with caramelized onions and cream cheese.  Everything about these hot dogs tastes like the best of the best, down to the super fluffy bun — even if it sticks to your teeth so badly!

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The streets around the stadium were packed with beer vendors and Rockies fans, so we picked a line and grabbed some beer with Bobby and his girlfriend Becca before heading inside.  Then Opening Day festivities commenced.

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It was cloudy and pleasant for a majority of the game, but the sun came out right at the end and it was plain hot.

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We pulled out a win — always a good start to the season when that happens!

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Later on, I found myself with a mad sushi craving and the nice weather had us both wanting to get out of our apartment for a while, so we headed down the street for dinner at East Moon Grill.

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We usually gear towards the more Americanized version of sushi.  You know, the cream cheese-filled, seafood-is-cooked kind of stuff, but two of the four rolls we ordered actually had raw fish and you know what?  We didn’t mind it.  Actually, the baked, fried and cream cheese-sauced roll was our least favorite.  Or Joey’s at least — I’m still a slave to the cream cheese 🙂

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There were some cool Friday night clouds on our post-dinner stroll.

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Saturday involved running, the first Starbucks Frappuccino I’ve had in years, dying my hair red and an amazing meal at Linger (which I will totally elaborate on later this week!), to celebrate Joey’s birthday, which was this past Wednesday.

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We also somehow managed to fit in a stop at this cool little ice cream shop.

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We stood in line for what felt like forever but it was worth it.  Ice cream always is, isn’t it?

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Today — you know, the day that started at 6:50 AM — has been a lovely day of lounging/TV watching, hot yoga-ing, Chipotle quesadilla eating (another thing I haven’t had in years and was every bit as deliciously cheesy as I’d remembered) and yes, more Rockies gameage.  And we won again!

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I hooked my wristlet to my seat and casually joked about forgetting it there and then I actually forgot it there.  Luckily, a really nice usher let us back through the gates and we were able to grab it and still make it back to the car in good time.  Oopsie!

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And with that, I think I’ll leave you to go enjoy what’s left of this Sunday before the work week starts up again.

P.S.  Longest post ever?  Sorry!

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What did you do this weekend?

Are you a baseball fan?

What was the last thing — food or otherwise — that you indulged in?