Tag: lunch date

Weekend Things: St. Patrick’s Day & Other Fun

Lauren1 Comment

I need to begin by telling you I caught a cold last week, so when Friday rolled around we decided to stay in, heat up leftover Shepherd’s Pie for dinner and watch a movie.  I’m not actually sure those two things are related but it sounded like a good excuse for our boringness.  Fridays are weird because we are home by 5:30 and if we don’t have plans, I’m like “what are we supposed to do till it’s acceptable couch and pajama time??”  Feels extra weird now that the sun is out later and being hunkered down for the night while it’s still fully bright outside seems WRONG.

Help, what do you do after work on a Friday?! 😛

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Right when we got home, we went outside and peeped the very beginning of tulip season in our very own backyard!  I don’t know why, but I was skeptical that they’d actually bloom so I was very excited to be wrong.  Anyway, dinner was delicious and Coco was so so good!  Not only is the animation straight breathtaking (ALL THOSE COLORS!) but the story and the display of Mexican culture is so lovely.  We really loved it and I think I sang “Remember Me” for the rest of the weekend.

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I had a semi-early Saturday facial to get to so I ate breakfast, picked up an iced coffee and headed into Louisville.  Felt so good to reset even if traffic heading back into Denver is always THE WORST.  Why??

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Back at home, I found Joey in the backyard reading and we made a spontaneous decision to go grab lunch before forcing ourselves to go to the grocery.  We got caught in St. Patrick’s Day Parade traffic (ugh!) but eventually made it to Call, where we had perfect patio weather and really good (albeit sort of pricey) food.  Ginger-turmeric tonic and mushroom tartine for me, chopped salad to share and a chicken salad sandwich and beer for Joey.  I think we were both in our happy place.

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We were having dinner at my parents’ later on and decided to do like we did last year and stop at Four Noses beforehand.  I got a hybrid IPA and I have no idea what that means, I just know it was damn good!  Mom killed it as usual with the corned beef and cabbage and then she served us Green Velvet cupcakes and I was full like whoa but it was so worth it.

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Sunday started with Joey making me lemon poppyseed pancakes and he somehow timed it perfect with coffee, so everything was ready at the same time.  So I guess what I’m saying is, I give up my weekend pancake-making duties forever.  Oh and we totally went on an outdoor run both Saturday AND Sunday!  I used to work out on back to back (to back to back) days all the time, but I sort of stopped at some point and it’s been just fine.  This is all to say both ways can be okay depending on what feels right for you right now  🙂

The rest of the day was spent making lunch salads, baking a quiche (why don’t I do this more often?!) and finishing Lily and the Octopus.  I was full on crying at the end while Joey was sitting next to me eating chips and salsa, completely unaware of the emotional moment I was having, ha!  We ended Sunday with pizza, family birthdays and SNOW!  What??  How??  Must be spring in Colorado!

How was your weekend?

Weekend Things: When it’s summer in winter

Lauren2 Comments

It’s officially the first day of spring, but it was 80° in Colorado this weekend!  We had all the fans on and all the windows open, but it was straight up HOT.  Felt like we completely skipped over spring and went straight to summer.  It’s cooling back down (slightly) this week, but I didn’t mind that little summer vacation one bit.

Last night, as we were putting away the dishes and getting ready for bed, I asked Joey what his favorite part of the weekend was.  He couldn’t pick.  And honestly, neither could I.  If I were to share it with you in word form it would look something like: patio beers at a new-to-us brewery, traditional St. Patrick’s Day corned beef & cabbage (PLUS GREEN VELVET CAKE!) with my family, a kombucha field trip with my sissy, pizza lunch date, LOTS of reading outside in the sun, an evening run, Beauty and the Beast, the most incredible Sunday brunch, exploring the Stanley Marketplace, “Sunday stuff” (aka being an adult), an evening stroll and capping it all off with a perfectly springy salmon dinner.

And in picture form, it would look like this…

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Joey suggested we hit up 4 Noses Brewing after work on Friday and it did not disappoint.  That place is doing everything (from their website to their beer to their taproom atmosphere) right!  

P.S. Remind me to drink more saisons.

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PSA: My mom is the best.  I declare this the best corned beef she’s ever made (so perfectly salty!) plus I mentioned to her earlier in the week that I was dying to try Irish Soda Bread and she surprised me with a loaf.  Red GREEN velvet cake for dessert because, as I said, my mom is the best.

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Our tree babies bloomed!!!!!  I actually squealed in delight when we pulled up to the house on Friday night and I saw the little blossoms.  Joey texted me this picture Saturday morning when he left to pick us up some iced coffee and those little flowers are so perfect.

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I made Joy’s whole grain waffles and they were seedy, but in a good way.  I kind of loved them!

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At noon, my sister and Wayne came over and then we all headed to American Cultures, which is, GET THIS, a kombucha taproom!  I got a taster — ginger peach was the best! — and Joey got a kombucha float so he was just as happy.  I asked Joey to take the picture at an angle that would make me look just as tall as my sister but I see he failed completely.  

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After my sister and Wayne headed back home, Joey and I walked over to Denver Deep Dish where I had a salad + slice lunch and it was so satisfying.  Post lunch, we hung out in the backyard, went on that evening run, watched the animated version of Beauty and the Beast (HOW’S IT SO GOOD, THOUGH??) and then I fell asleep on the couch at the like 10 PM.  

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Sunday morning at the new Stanley Marketplace.  People have been talking it up and I was like “yeah, yeah, but how’s it any better than The Source?” Turns out it’s way bigger, has way more restaurants and shops and is just… uh yeah, better.  

We ate at Annette and I was so totally smitten with the experience.  They do a daily biscuit (apricot & ginger) and it was huge and buttery and I think Joey loved it more than he loves me.  We both ordered the pork shank hash and it was INCREDIBLE.  Those crispy potatoes, that fall-apart tender pork, those perfectly poached eggs and PICKLED mustard seeds.  Help, I’m head over heels.   

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Post-brunch, it was grocery, laundry, lunch salad prep, slow-cooker beef (for burritos this week!), reading, being delighted by Joey finishing a bunch of house projects, I actually cleaned the bathroom (instead of just talking about needing to) and then we went on a little end-of-the-day stroll before dinner.

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I made us this Dijon-Herb Crusted Salmon with Creamy Dill Sauce + Warm Buttered Radish & Edamame Salad and it tasted like straight up spring deliciousness.  Joey was blown away and I take that as the highest of compliments.

I give this weekend an A+ and gosh, I’m so happy it’s spring today!  What did you do this weekend?!