Chalk Art 2016

The first weekend of June is Chalk Art festival in Denver.  And every year for the last 5 years, Jay and his buddy Nate hunker down on the hot streets of Denver to turn out some amazing artwork.  Its such a fun weekend to watch all these different artists come out and put down some beautiful and surprising chalk art.

For the last 3 years, Nate and Jay wear matching Kelly Kapowski (Saved by the Bell) t-shirts.  It started as a bit of a joke, but it has turned into quite a "thing"!!  People will come up to the two of them and take pictures and comment on their shirts.  This year, Nate's wife and I decided to join in on the fun and got ourselves Zach Morris tshirts!

Another great part of this year's festival was a wonderful (short) visit from my Miller-twin and her hubs!  They were in town for a wedding, from THAILAND. They've been living there for the last few years and the last time we saw each other was when they were here for our wedding.  I miss these two so much and hope that they'll be moving back to the states soon!!

Memorial Day camping

As usual, Jay and I headed up to the mountains for our annual Memorial Day camp trip!  Usually we take Friday off as well, to give us a nice loooooonnng weekend.  This year, we weren't able to do it since I started a new job and didn't have the time to take yet.

But, we went anyway.  We hadn't made reservations anywhere, but figured we'd find something!  And we did.  We camped near South Fork, CO which is southwest of Denver and about a 4 hour drive.  Worth it. TOTALLY worth it.  The campsite we found was totally empty!  On Memorial Day weekend! What??

It was chilly but beautiful and the best way to spend a long weekend!  This summer has turned out to be very busy and we haven't gone camping since!! But.. don't worry, we've got a few more trips up our sleeves.

Going backwards again - Chicago in May

Since so much has happened and I can't seem to keep up with my posts... we'll be going backwards in time so I can finally catch up with things.

After my trip to San Francisco to see Claire, Jay and I headed to Chicago for a few days!  It was a business/work trip for him, but I was lucky enough to tag along... see some friends and see my dad!

We love playing tourist in Chicago, and this trip was no different.  It was 80 degrees our first full day there, so we trekked out to the planetarium for a fun visit.

The next day, the weather turned windy and cold!!  The next few days remained that way, but it didn't stop us from playing tourist with dad and taking the architectural tour on the Chicago River.  Such a fun thing to do, even though I did it last year with Miss Eileen.

this picture makes me giggle 

All in all, a wonderful trip.  Short but sweet!

May the 4th be With you... but let me tell you about April

Time is flying this year. Too fast!  Almost a month ago I was able to get in some serious (awesome) girl time with my bestie-head bitch-confidant-couldn't live without her - Claire!!!! We hashtagged our time together as #BestiesTakeTheBayArea and it was fantastic! It was not nearly long enough, but I am glad we had the time.  We were able to be the ultimate tourists in San Francisco (Alcatraz, Fisherman's Wharf, Ghiradelli).  We got to spend some fabulous time on the beach, gorgeous foggy, rainy, cloudy day. I loved it!  Also... I took the chance to take some impromptu "engagement" pics of Claire and her man... gotta have some photographic loveliness!!!
 Here is the TINIEST snippet of the pictures I took.

went to visit J at work.. nerd alert!

visit to Alcatraz!

this is how awesome we are

beautiful Bay Bridge!

best hosts EVAH!

look how stinkin' cute they are!!?! 

this girl. Makes me happy. And keeps me sane. 

Until next time, Claire. Love you!

Here we are, starting April

...and I haven't updated in too long!  A lot has been happening. Some good, some bad. But let me see if I can recap a bit.

First, my beautiful friend Charlie turned 21! (Hush, I know it makes me seem old).  I planned a night out with a group of really fun dance ladies and Charlie.  Unfortunately, Charlie was fighting an epic cold bug, so it wasn't the craziest night ever. BUT... it was a ridiculous amount of fun anyway!

Next up, Lord of the Dance!  Charlie and I went to see the totally awesome show with Courtnay and her fam.  It was wonderful!!! And, my favorite part, when watching the show was the ability to thing to myself, "hey, I can do that!" Maybe not as pretty... but I could still do what they were doing.  SO COOL.

St. Patrick's Day was next.  This year, I danced only with the Denver and District Pipe Band.  Usually I dance with the band and the school. But this year.... band only.  That dance saga will be a whole separate post. Soon. I promise.  Anyway, as always it was a blast!! Mom tagged along as dance mom/driver/bodyguard ;).  I was able to dance with some really great people and awesome pipers and drummers.  We have a very talented group of people in the band right now, and I love listening to them.

Glitter and green was the theme for St. Pats 2016.  Until next year... :) Another post to follow with more updates, pictures and the whole dance saga.   Seriously, check back for that one. :D

The Superbowl happened

...and Denver won!  If you haven't been paying attention :)  I am a hardcore Bears fan (Chicago girl, what can I say?) but I've lived in Denver long enough to root for the Broncos when they play.  That...and my hubby would be so sad if I cheered against them.

On Superbowl Sunday, I worked at my second job in the morning.  And then... a bunch of people from there got together for the game!!! We had some good beers and some really good food!  It was a good group and so much fun to watch the game! Because we watched it at the restaurant...we also got to watch the riot police/SWAT team set up in back to quell any ruckus that might have started after the Broncos won.  Luckily, Denver managed to stay pretty classy ;)

the food spread!

Riot police are ready to go!

our fun group!

hubs and I rocking our Broncos gear

The Tuesday after the game, the city celebrated with a parade and rally.  News reports say that 1 million people showed up downtown for both!  Thats a lot of people! Luckily... working for the City has some serious perks.  We got a nearly front row seat inside the City and County building!  So very cool!!!