Tag: let’s ride bikes

4th of July Weekend Things

Lauren5 Comments

So here’s the thing.  I am ALL FOR a three-day holiday weekend and seeing as it’s days before my birthday, I should be all about the 4th of July but year after year, I just find it kind of disappointing (and why does it always seem to be rainy??).  Plus how can you possibly beat last year’s festivities?  This is all to say that this year I set my expectations much lower and it ended up being a perfect, albeit low key, holiday weekend.  I didn’t want it to end!

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We kicked things off on Thursday night, by grabbing beer and dinner with my family at a new-to-us brewery in Westminster.  We had time to enjoy our drinks and super sloppy burgers in the sunshine before a rainstorm swept in and started doing fun things like overturning tables on the patio.  We scooted out of there pretty quick!

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Friday’s day off started with a lazy morning run and breakfast on the front porch and ended with us throwing another BBQ!  The first BBQ is a lot of work but the second BBQ is such a breeze.  The house is already clean, the supplies are already stocked and you’ve realized that drinking a pitcher of sangria is a bad idea.  Joey was all excited that he had a festive shirt to wear till I pointed out we were matching again.

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Oh right and the BBQ occasion was July birthdays!  I turn 26 on Thursday and Tyler, the other July birthday-er was in town so I didn’t have to throw a party for just myself.  Clearly, we have both perfected the stand-awkwardly-while-people-sing-“Happy Birthday”-to-you stance.  There was double cobbler and ice cream with CHUNKS OF PEANUT BUTTER AND CHOCOLATE.  I was all “oh that’s a lot of ice cream, I’ll share with Joey” then ate it all.

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4th of July celebratory breakfast!  I felt weird going to Illegal Pete’s when I have pledged lifelong allegiance to Chipotle but I also really wanted a breakfast burrito and a Bloody Mary on the patio sooooo.  The burrito was ♥♥♥ but the Bloody was way meh.  I was also like “this burrito is big, I’ll never finish it” then ate the whole thing.  I guess that was the theme of the weekend.  Anyway, I’d totally go back to Illegal Pete’s for a dinner burrito and probably a margarita.  Full bar, for the win!

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As we finished breakfast, we realized “uhh we have NOTHING to do today.”  Weird!  Once home and lounging in the hammock, we devised a plan to bike to Littleton and go putt putt golfing.  So we sunscreened up, packed our backpack with snacks and water and headed out.  I mean it was hot, we got lost and never made it to putt putt and I saw three cars submerged IN THE Platte River but I had so much fun.  I’m not sure it counts as going on a bike ride together because I was always half a mile behind Joey but whatever.  And just like that, another Summer Bucket List item checked off!

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Evening plans included that grilled vegan pizza — you should’ve seen my face when Joey asked me if it had cheese — and an outdoor movie!!!!  Oh sorry, just a little excited.  I put the idea in Joey’s mind that we should set our guest room TV up outside and watch a movie from the hammock.  Ask and you shall receive!  So while I got our pizza all grilled up, Joey got the TV and DVD player all set up.  We brought out the blankets, pillows and pajamas and watched 500 Days of Summer.  Um could that movie be any more perfect?!  Oh and the neighbor kids were setting off fireworks so I’m pretending we had a private show.  BEST NIGHT EVER!

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Can I be honest?  I am SO BAD at taking Sunday pictures.  Unless I do something out of the ordinary, Sunday is usually comprised of laundry and me watching TV with the lights off, to avoid creating extra heat.  So really, you probably don’t want to see any pictures.  I did take this super sunny picture of the toast I had for breakfast which is totally on different bread that’s too thick to even constitute as toast and it’s a total downgrade for my favorite coffee shop.  Who do I speak to about this??

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Also, I decided restocking myself on granola (because I was getting sick of crumbling frosted wheat cereal over things and pretending it was granola) was worth turning on the oven.  A little sweat mustache in the middle of the day never hurt anyone, right?  Then I ordered myself a magnetic knife holder online, finished my book (it was kind of depressing), watched more TV and decided drinking coffee on a Sunday was a terrible idea.

What did you do this 4th of July weekend?

2015 Summer Bucket List

Lauren3 Comments

Last week I had to put my chapstick in the fridge because it was too melty to use.  The combination of showering and blow drying my hair in the morning makes me grow an instant sweat mustache.  And I’m thinking of advertising our house as a bikram yoga studio.  It’s official.  This is life without air conditioning summer!  And this is this year’s “Bucket List.”

P.S. Isn’t it weird that I’ve lived in Denver for a year and a half already?  Like when did that happen?  And why have I still not done so many of the things that Denver has to offer?  Hence a lot of the things on this list taking place in Denver.

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#1 Attend City Park Jazz (check!)

When I told Joey about this he was like “yeah, we knew about that already.”  WE DID?  I must not have been paying attention because when I read that jazz bands play live music every Sunday in City Park, complete with FOOD TRUCKS and free entry, I freaked.  Sign. Me. Up.

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#2 Host a “Kick-Off to Summer” BBQ (check and check and check!)

This one was actually Joey’s idea, but hey, I’m so down!  In fact, we already sent out the Facebook invite for the end of this month and I am like “wait, does that mean my front yard can’t be a mud pit when people show up?”  The good news is that our newest beer — a hefeweizen! — will be kegged and ready!

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#3 Bike the Platte River Trail (check!)

A few months ago, Hannah and Josh were telling us about how they took a walk on this trail and I was like “wait doesn’t that go right near our house too??”  And it was then that we realized we only lived a bike ride away from each other.  We could even meet at a brewery somewhere in between!

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#4 Go to a Denver Movie in the Park (check!)

I said I was gonna do this two years ago.  Then I said I was gonna do it last year.  I still haven’t done it.  Also, I’ve been using this same picture every year…

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#5 Cold brew some iced coffee (check and check!)

Because buying it from a coffee shop every morning would probably get expensive.  I actually bought a fresh bag of beans this week so I’m hoping to get the grounds soaking this weekend.  Side Note: The bag of coffee beans smells SO good.  I kept huffing them in our kitchen, until Joey told me I was being weird.

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#6 Run 10 miles

I’m kinda cheating because we’re running a fall half marathon, which mean summer training, which means I’d be running 10 miles whether it was on this bucket list or not.  I should probably be terrified, seeing as my normal weekly runs are 3 milers and 10 is a lot more than 3, but I’m kind of excited instead.

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#7 Go to My Brother’s Bar (check!)

It’s supposedly Denver’s oldest bar and I saw it on a list of 29 things you have to do in Denver.  Joey’s down because they (also) supposedly have a really great burger.

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#8 Finish our front yard

I guess I never tire of adding house/yardwork-related items to my summer bucket lists.  I actually feel like this one is doable, though!  We’ve made a ton of progress already and we’re having SIX TONS of rock delivered on Saturday.  Talk about exciting weekend plans 🙂

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#9 Go to Yoga on the Rocks (check!)

I already roped Jenn into going with me.  Though, to be fair, it didn’t really take much more convincing than me saying I wanted to go this year.  She’s perfect like that.

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#10 Go to The Big Wonderful

I’m always delighted by how many fun and cool things there are to do in Denver and a weekly outdoor market that’s part flea, part food festival and part concert is one of those fun and cool things.  There’s even a beer garden!  And it supports local vendors!  But most of all, you say food trucks, I say I’m there.

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#11 Make fudgsicles

Because I had a huge hankering for one the other night when we made the stupid decision to brew beer and use the oven at the same time and it was legitimately 85° in our house.  And yeah, that’s not a photo of Joey eating a fudgsicle, but it’s also a cold delicious dessert so that’s as close I’m getting picture-wise.

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#12 Start that mother-daughter book club (check!)

You know, the one where the only members are my mom and I.  We’re both finishing up other books, but I think our first pick is going to be Flowers for Algernon.  I’m a shitty English degree holder and don’t even know what that book is, but I’m still excited to read it.

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#13 Plant flowers (check!)

I don’t even really know what I mean when I say that.  That’s how clueless I am!  I’m thinking something along the lines of a flower planter box/pot/tire? (

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#14 Take a weekend trip to Fort Collins

In addition to being awesome and getting us Denver Passports, Hannah and Josh were also awesome and got us Boulder and Fort Collins Passports, so I think a weekend trip is in order.  I haven’t been to Fort Collins in YEARS.  Plus the year I lived there, I was not of age so the drinking scene will be totally new to me.

What’s on your summer bucket list?!