Weekend Things

Wanna hear the weird thing that happened to me this weekend?  I was at the grocery store, my eye itched and when I went to rub it my contact fell out then my eye swelled up bad and fluid built up under the film of my eye.  It was crazy and looked pretty freaky, plus it didn’t feel too good.  Luckily, Hannah is in nursing school and happened to be on her way over (after I managed to drive myself home…) so she fixed me all up.

In other news, Emily was in town this weekend!  And had her co-worker and good friend Melissa with her.  I love when Colorado newbies come into town.  Denver is fun to show off 🙂

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On Friday night, there were clear blue skies, so the Linger rooftop was a given.  That hipster haven was busy and the first come first serve policy makes it hard to find a table — especially one of the coveted served tables — but after 4 tries, we finally managed to snag one.  Then we proceeded to order almost everything on the menu + two pitchers of sangria (yum!) and got to soak in the rooftop view of Denver all together.

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Afterwards, we all decided the Little Man line was longer than their ice cream is worth and ditched it for Sweet Cow.  Their flavors are better anyways.  And the line was much shorter.  Chocolate chip cookie dough in a waffle cone next to my favorite ladies is how every Friday night should end if you ask me!

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A tour of Colorado isn’t complete without a trip to Boulder so Saturday morning we all drove into the foothills for breakfast at Turley’s.  Emily might have a slight obsession with their house spice tea 😛  I’ll admit that even as a Colorado native, reaching the top of the hill on the highway and seeing Boulder down below is always breathtaking.

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Our company picnic also happened to be this weekend, so we left the New Orleans girls in Boulder to hike, explore and enjoy and headed to Elitch’s to mingle and visit with our co-workers outside of the office.  We skipped the rides this year — I think I only need to ride roller coasters once every few years — but the food, beer and raffle prizes kept us plenty occupied.

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We ended the night with a little BBQ.  I was pretty impressed that we threw the whole thing together so quickly and with very little ahead of time planning.  Spontaneity is so not my middle name.  Bean brought the burgers, Mom brought salad and appetizers, Hannah and Josh brought the beer and we supplied the corn, grill and back yard.  Plus the fire pit and the smores!  I think we might be turning into good BBQ hosts.

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Sunday morning, we were up and at em early.  The girls had a noon check out time but they had to see Red Rocks.  I was pretty excited that they were up for sacrificing their last vacation day to get up early instead of sleeping in.  In my opinion, Red Rocks is totally worth losing a little sleep.  I think we all felt slightly guilty just sitting on the benches and watching all the intense workouts going on (the group fitness class taking place on stage was extremely entertaining) but we did end up taking a little hike up to a scenic overlook so I think that counts 😛

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Last time Em was here I had her whole trip planned out, but this shorter trip was much more relaxed.  We just did what sounded good at the time and it all worked out perfectly.  After we dropped them back off at their hotel and said our goodbyes (till I’m in New Orleans for my bachelorette party in August!), we spent some much needed down time on the front porch then headed out to my niece’s birthday celebration.  That little one is such a girly girl and has got that hip pop down pat.  It’s too cute!

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Between the quality cousin time and what I’m considering the final countdown to Hannah and Josh’s wedding in less than two weeks, I think I’m going to be riding a happiness high for a while 🙂  Happy Monday!

Weekend Things

Good news! We had our house inspection on Thursday and nothing major or deal-breaking came up. And Joey officially closed on the house he was selling on Friday. In other words, moving right along. I couldn’t be happier. In other news, this weekend has been a good one. Actually, Joey has been at the office for most of it (making up for time missed doing house stuff this week and holding two fantasy football drafts), but we’ve been making good use of our nights for fun stuff.

On Friday, my family went to Red Rocks for “1964 the Tribute,” which is a Beatles tribute show. I figure I’m never going to see the actual Beatles in concert, so this is the next best thing. We had a car picnic in the parking lot then headed into the amphitheater for the show. The band had the Beatle mannerisms down.

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Please excuse the poor quality and size of this photo. Trust me, it only gets grainier the bigger I make it.

They sang a lot of their older songs, stuff the Beatles actually would have been performing while they were touring. I’d been hoping to hear a lot more of their later stuff but now I understand it was all for authenticity’s sake. Mom even taught me some old school dance moves like “the mashed potato” and “the hitchhiker.” Hilarious!

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How cool does the moon look in this photo?

On Saturday morning I went on a 5 mile run and was so proud of myself. That’s far for me these days. I’m kinda sorta thinking about signing up for a 15K (that’s 9.3 miles) in October so I thought I’d test the waters with a run that was longer than the 2-3 mile runs I’ve been going on lately. I felt pretty good on the 5th mile (it was my fastest!) but the thought of running 4.3 more miles terrifies me. I also started packing up our apartment. Our bedroom walls are looking so bare! Then I took a break to make some zucchini mini muffins.

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They came out great! I only know this after waking up at 1:30 AM, going into the kitchen for a glass of water and deciding what the hell, might as well eat a mini muffin too. That’s a normal thing to do, right? Anyways, we decided to head into Denver for dinner on Saturday night and ended up at Ace, the sister restaurant of Steuben’s and Vesta Dipping Grill and the only one we hadn’t been to. Yelp reviews weren’t the best but I’ve decided that people who give bad Yelp reviews just didn’t have enough beer with their dinner.

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We clearly did, so we loved it. Joey thought the ambiance and outdoor bar was way cooler than the set up at either Steuben’s or Vesta. I thought the two steamed buns with choice of side for $8 was way cooler than the prices at either Steuben’s or Vesta 😛 I tried kimchi for the first time and my tastebuds were blown away! It’s like sauerkraut on steroids. My mouth was on fire but I couldn’t stop eating it. I need help.

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Afterwards, we drove by our house and our future neighbors were having a giant party in the front yard with a bouncy castle. Now we’re wondering if that’s a regular weekend occurrence. Sunday involved sleeping in for what felt like the first time in forever and pancakes. And good news, I had just enough time between pancakes and yoga to pin a billion house-related things.

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Anyways, the real highlight of Sunday was a Farm to Table Dinner at Whole Foods with my family. I know, you probably thought it was Miley Cyrus’s performance at the VMAs, but you’re wrong. They had some tables and tents set up outside and for $10 we got a huge spread of locally sourced food, including bratwurst on a pretzel bun. Guys, a PRETZEL BUN. Oh and beer (yes, more beer) from my hometown. Louisville pride!

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Plus a real life Chopped competition. These two WF team members were given Hatch green chiles, Swiss chard, chocolate, bison skirt steak, peaches and red quinoa. Honestly, both of their plates looked really tasty! My mom and I stood up near the contestants for 10 minutes and tried to come up with our own creations. Then we both decided we’d rather just follow a recipe that someone else already created.

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Before we left, I ran inside with my sister to replenish my chocolate supply and had to buy this little Venus Flytrap for my office. Plus a mini orchid, so cute! Now we are parked on the couch watching the VMAs. I am actually mortified for Miley. What was she doing?! But I know JT and Nysnc are coming up so I’m bursting with excitement. On Saturday morning I watched One Direction’s performance on the Today Show and all those crazy crying and screaming girls totally reminded me of Nsync in the 90’s. Ah, how I missed them.

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Did you watch the VMAs?

What would you have done with those “basket ingredients”?

What did you do this weekend?