Road Trip!!!

Jay and I have had a successful vacation (meaning no broken bones!). We took a road trip! We left Colorado super duper early on Thursday morning... and headed up to Montana!

Colorado sunrise

 Along the way we stopped to soak up some history at the Little Big Horn National Monument

gated entrance to where the fallen soldiers gravestones are

the Native American portion of the monument

We made it up into Montana in record time! We were lucky enough to have Jay's aunt and uncle up there to stay with. They were the best hosts, and had a beautiful place with a gorgeous view.

view from our "suite"

 We even had some furry visitors right after dinner! So cute, and so very close to the house.

visitors!

Friday, we got up early, had homemade biscuits and gravy with Jay's aunt and uncle, and headed off to spend the day at Yellowstone National Park. Neither Jay or I had been there before... so it was quite the adventure! The drive there took us over the beautiful Beartooth Pass.

We stopped a bunch of times on the drive up because the scenery was so breathtaking and gorgeous. We joked that we would never make it to Yellowstone, but we did... never fear! But not after we stopped... just a few more times along the way....

like for this awesome waterfall!

Jay wanted it to be a water slide

 When we made it to Yellowstone, we crammed in as much as we possibly could....

out picnic spot

 We covered most of the Northern part of the park... and even then we could have spent a few days there!

Yellowstone River

 We got to see some wildlife...

this big guy was just chilling by the road

 And check out some spectacular views...

looking down the Upper Falls

 I even got to take a picture of the Lower Falls... which is incredibly similar to one my dad took many years ago!

Lower Falls

 We went on hikes...

stinky sulfur, but pretty scenery

 And drove through some gorgeous parts of the park...

It was a jam-packed day. But totally worth the time. I only wish we could have been there longer. Maybe next time an overnight camping trip will be planned.

Saturday was a bit of a lazy day (we were on vacation) so Jay and I got to have another home cooked breakfast with his aunt and uncle (crepes!) and chilled for a while before heading to Custer National Forest for a picnic lunch.

view from our picnic spot

lunch! in the most perfect location

We made it back to his aunt and uncle's place with plenty of time for Jay to take a nap, and for me to catch up on my reading. While Jay was sleeping we had some visitors in the yard...

TURKEYS!

A dinner out with Jay's aunt and uncle was the cherry on top of the vacation. We headed to bed early that night so we could be up and out early the next morning. It was a short vacation, but great to get away. And... it was good to know that after nearly 4 days in the car together, Jay and I didn't want to kill each other. Looking forward to more vacations....

sunrise leaving Montana

A few little things

Its been a while since I have written, I know this. I am a slacker. What are you going to do?

But... this is a little post with a few random things before I lay a whopper of a post on you from my most recent vacation.
First... I tried my hand at making pizza about 2 weeks ago. I have never made pizza, short of taking it out of the freezer and throwing it in the oven. So... when I saw a recipe for BBQ chicken pizza... I just knew I had to try it. And of course, Jay would be my unknowing guinea pig. :)


tasty pizza!

 Another small (and yet, so VERY large) is that Jay and I have decided to take that huge next step and move in together. Gah! So... now we are faced with the daunting task of combining two houses. And choosing art, pictures, etc. Luckily, we have similar tastes in décor... so when we came across this little poster, we both decided we liked it and it would be a great first "together" piece to hang in the living room.

Its a bad picture, I know... but I will take a better one once its on the wall. Promise!!

I also convinced Jay that we desperately needed fresh herbs. Since he has a beautiful balcony... we bought herbs for a little planter! Hopefully one of us will discover we have a green thumb. Otherwise my brilliant fresh herbs idea will die. Literally.

More to come in the joining of places... it will be an adventure for sure!!

Making up for lost time?

My boot has been off for a whole month now. So... I feel as though now that I can move around without that monstrosity, I have been taking advantage of the Colorado summer!
This past weekend, we kicked everything off with a little family picnic/BBQ at my aunt's house. My cousin was in town for a visit... and its always great to see him!
On Saturday... Jay and I headed out the Bandimere Speedway for the 2011 Mile-High Nationals. For those of you not in Colorado... Bandimere is a drag racing track set in the foothills near Redrocks outside of Denver. It lends to some beautiful scenery! It was a hot, hot, hot, scorching day. But Jay and I slathered on a ton of sunscreen, grabbed our earplugs and hunkered down to watch some fast, not-so-fast, and ridiculously fast cars. We even got to meet up with some friends!

standing behind the starting line

old school racers

Jay and I... feelin' hot hot hot!

the LOUD racers

never heard a crowd cheer for clouds before

friends! Sam and Mary-Margaret!

 

this is the empty shell body of a car. It popped right off during the race!

carrying the body off the track

A little sunburn, some definite exhaustion... but a fantastic day out in the sun! We followed it up with food... and happened upon some TRIVIA! Jay and I love playing trivia. Team Strange Brew was lurking in the middle the whole game... and at the end...

Second place!! (photo courtesy of geekswhodrink.com)

We totally swooped in to Second place! Missing 1st by 2 points. An exciting way to end our long, hot day!
Sunday was definitely more of a lazy day for us. The only thing on the agenda? HARRY POTTER!

HP is awesome

Jay and I just couldn't wait to see the final installment of HP. After part 1 came out, Jay was intrigued to know what happened next... so I gave him the whole series to read. And he did. Now he's an official Harry Potter fan/addict. The movie was fantabulous. Go. See. It.

To round out the summer weekend (although it really was a work day) Monday night we headed out to Redrocks for Film on the Rocks.  They show a different movie (new or old) out at the amphitheater every week. Monday night's movie? The Goonies!!!!!!

a little pre-movie entertainment

Jay and I are ready for the movie

GOONIES!!!

All in all... I would say we've packed in a lot of things. And we still have a month of summer to go!!!

'Twas a scorcher

But that didn't stop Jay and I from having a jam-packed weekend. It rained a lot last week... and that carried into Friday night as well. But, the best part about rain in Colorado? It tends to look like this when its raining:

Which is alright by me!

Friday night, Jay and I headed out for a sushi dinner and then out to listen to some live jazz and have a few drinks. The sushi, as always, was delicious!  The jazz... was actually very good. We went because a friend of Jay's is the drummer. A few drinks, some good jazz music ended up being a great night out!


The Green Notes

On Saturday it was MISS HEATHER'S BIRTHDAY!!! Too bad she is gallivanting around Europe and so we didn't get to take the fun birthday trip I had planned. But whatever. :) Instead, I celebrated another friend's birthday. At none other, than WaterWorld!!! (No, not the terrible Kevin Costner movie)


racing slides!

It was a fun day...although by the end we were all a bit red, and hot, and tired of the crowds.

Sunday was a bit more lazy. Jay and I headed over to his friend's house to watch the final of the Women's World Cup. Stressful game that is was...it was disappointing to see the U.S. Women lose. They are a great team... Although, it was nice to see Japan win with all the hopes of their nation resting on their shoulders.

Not the craziest of weekends, but busy and fun. Looking forward to a break from this heat (sometime? anytime? Buehler? Buehler?)...

Summer fun!

I have been a bit slow to post... but better late than never, right?? Right.... Well first, this last Tuesday, a friend I haven't seen in years came into town for a visit. Miss Miranda!! Hooray! Miranda left Colorado for the rainy city of Seattle. Its been a few years since she's been gone, but it felt like it hadn't been long at all. After the catch-up on each other's lives... it was like we'd never been apart! I miss you!!

The rest of the week was pretty unexciting, except for the massive amount of rain we've been having here. Normally, by this time in the summer, Denver and the rest of Colorado is dry. Like, everything is brown. DRY. But, for some reason... its been rainy. And humid. And rainy. And did I mention humid? So very strange for Colorado.

post-afternoon shower. Still sunny.

This weekend, Jay and I headed down to the Renaissance Festival!  I haven't been in a few years... and it was just as much fun (if not more so) than I remembered!  

There are always great, funny shows. Fantastically yummy food.  Interesting and skilled vendors.  And the people watching, is the BEST EVER.  Since Jay and I got to the festival right as they opened, we were able to wander around for an hour or so before dealing with a lot of crowds.  Right about the time the crowds started taking over... we headed over to the first show. Which is always, by far, my favorite. The show was the Washing Well Wenches.  The show is about 2 women, washing women, who use the crowd as part of their show. Mainly, the men in the crowd. Its pretty funny... but the best part about this show?  The fact that Jay got dragged up on stage in order to win me a prize. Seriously.

Jay and the other poor volunteers

Jay and 2 other men were pulled up on stage. In order to win the prize, they were each tasked with something to do in order to win their prize. The first gent? (Man on the far right) He had to run to the back of the audience (which is the middle of the road with all the vendors) and then beat on his chest (caveman style) and yell, "I AM AN ANIMAL!" and then run back down to the stage. The man in the middle had to chase after one of the wenches, screaming, "I want you, I need you, I love you!"  Can you see where this is going? So... Jay's task? Take a giant pair of tighty whities, run to the back of the audience, put on the undies and yell, "IN MY MAN PANTS, I CAN DO ANYTHING!" Yes, really. It was awesome.

Jay in his man-pants

Jay claims his prize (he's taking a flower from the wench's mouth)

I was laughing so hard, I was crying. Of course, it turns out that once Jay made it back to the stage, he had put the giant man-pants on backwards. The wenches asked who claimed him. I eagerly raised my hand. While laughing. And crying.

Jay and his/my flower prize

The rest of the day was not nearly as exciting. But still a lot of fun nonetheless. Jay and I tried out the hammocks...

And I even got Jay to try on a kilt!

The weather ended up being great, and the little rain we got in the afternoon just cooled everything down. It was a fantastic time!!

Karma

Karma. The law of Karma states that, "... for every event that occurs, there will follow another event whose existence was caused by the first, and this second event will be pleasant or unpleasant according as its cause was skillful or unskillful."

I am pretty sure that I did something to warrant some bad karma my direction. Why do you ask? A series of unfortunate events.  What did I do to collect the bad karma, or bad juju, as some would call it?  Who knows!
My broken foot, while on vacation... I would say that was some pretty bad juju. A week ago yesterday I got the ok to walk, hike, bike and swim on it. No running, no dancing. No worries! Right? I mean.... beautiful friend Claire just moved to Chicago and in doing so sold me (cheaply) some of her stuff.  Including a very nice bike. Hooray! Biking to get some cardio back in my life. But... the cards were not in my favor.
Between this morning when I left my apartment (7:30ish) and this afternoon as I was leaving my apartment at the end of lunch (1:15ish) someone stole my bike. Seriously. Lock cut and all.

Unfortunate events. Bad juju. I can only think that some of the bad juju has just been transferred to whomever stole my bike. Is the thought alone enough to get more bad Karma? Hmmm.... deep thoughts.

4th of July weekend

It was a nice looong weekend. And much needed. I made sure it was a jam-packed one as well.  I started off my weekend by heading to the cute new fabric store, Fabric Bliss, on Friday after work. I had gotten a 30% off coupon in my email... and decided to splurge a little.  So, what did I do with my Friday night? Go out with friends? No. Snuggle in with my man? No. Creating a cute, new, reversible purse? Yes. Yes I did.

 I love the fabrics and couldn't choose between them. So, why choose? Now I can just turn the purse inside out whenever I want to switch. Hooray! I also decided that I would try my hand at putting in zippers. I made a little clutch with a zipper for Claire before she left. Sorry you had to get the bozo zipper clutch, Claire!



cute new clutch! Really, more of a make-up bag, but still....

Saturday, Mom and I took a jewelry making class. It was her Mother's Day gift... learn how to make a Celtic pierced pendant. Interesting...? 

sawing through the silver

Mom and I post class - wearing our jewelry!

my Celtic knot pendant - made by me!

It was a great class, and a lot of fun! I don't think I will be taking up jewelry making anytime soon, but it was great to learn how!
Saturday evening, Jay and I started our all-American eating fest. BBQ ribs, corn on the cob, potatoes and WATERMELON. We literally ate our weight in watermelon. Its officially summertime!!!
Sunday, we relaxed and lazed around for the first part of the day. It was HOT out... so instead we stayed in the coolness and worked on a puzzle. Random. I know. But apparently (after nearly 2 years of dating) Jay and I realized that we both love puzzles! So we ran out to the store last weekend and bought one. We finished it together... except for one cursed piece! Apparently we lost it. Or it was never there. Either way, I felt that it was mocking me.

can you find where the missing piece goes?

Sunday evening Jay and I headed back to my place, downtown. We planned to check out the fireworks down at Civic Center park (a quick walk from my place) so we headed down early. Mostly so I could put Jay's big muscles to work putting in my window A/C. Its too hot without it! Once the A/C was in, we headed out for dinner... and fireworks! The park itself was packed with people.  We found a spot on the hill of the capital. The Colorado Symphony Orchestra played (it was lovely) and the fireworks started around 9:30. And ended around 9:40. DISAPPOINTING!

Jay and I pre-fireworks

fireworks!

Luckily, Monday we had BBQ and fireworks plans. Otherwise this would have been one unhappy American girl. You can't have 10 minutes of fireworks. Its un-American. Or something. So, Monday evening we headed out to Arvada. Food on the grill, munchies, fruit, juice, beer, oh my!! Jay entertained himself by jumping on the kid's trampoline.

But luckily, after stuffing ourselves with food, we didn't have long to wait for dark. Dark = fireworks!
When I was a kid, the oncoming darkness also meant sparklers. But apparently the dryness of Colorado has created a new trend. Glowsticks. Cool, but totally not the same.

Shortly after the glowsticks, glow bracelets and glow necklaces we hunkered down in the grass to watch the fireworks. This time, they did not disappoint.

Happy 4th of July everyone!