Ahoy, maties!
Long time no see, eh? I am still on my vacation trip, but found not only a bit of spare time, but a computer with Internets!
So here are a few pictures of my trip to Denver, Wednesday, 29 July–Saturday, 1 August. I flew out to visit the lovely BF for his birthday! I was sooo excited to go to Denver to see the boy and his family. It was a whirlwind trip, for sure, but I had fun every second of it.
(Unfortunately, I don’t have oodles of pictures–especially of my eats. I didn’t want to walk in, say, “Hi, Mr. and Mrs. BF, thanks, this dinner looks great! snap! snap! snap!” Forgive me? I won’t blame you for not reading my babble!)
On Wednesday, my flight got in late, so we all went home and had a very late dinner (chicken, roast potatoes, and corn on the cob; key lime pie for dessert). Luke and I watched some HP because I just can’t get enough… But we ended up taking it pretty easy so that we could have an action packed Thursday.
Thursday was Luke’s birthday, and we spent the day exploring Denver. Luke took me to his favorite bookstore, The Tattered Cover, where we spent almost two hours browsing the books. There were so many things that I would have liked to buy, but I forced myself to resist (most) temptation. They had a great selection of international magazines, like Vogue and Cosmopolitan in Russian! I finally purchased Wesley the Owl for myself as well as To Kill a Mockingbird and The Fortress of Solitude as presents for Luke. I’ve been telling him to read those books for years, so I finally took matters into my own hands… 😉 We also saw and could not resist Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which appears to be the original classic with a few scenes of brain-eating thrown in here and there. I am very excited to see how this rendition works! What is your favorite book??
All those books made me work up a hunger somethin’ fierce. Luke knew what to do: feed me ice cream! He took me to this awesome ice cream shop called Bonnie Brae Ice Cream, where I had a very hard time picking out the best treat. Here’s what we ended up with:
I have no shame. Mine is the huge sundae. Luke’s is the dainty one. I made a beast of a brownie sundae with Cappuccino Crunch ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream, nuts, and a cherry. It was sooo, so good. It was really, really rich, of course, and I couldn’t finish it. It was a close one, though. Luke got a scoop of caramel ice cream.
After our “snacks” we went to this really cool old theater, The Mayan, to see 500 Days of Summer. I would really highly recommend this movie. It was absolutely enjoyable, and we both walked out with such smiles on our faces. It is a love story of sorts, but the way the narrative jumps back and forth in time makes it interesting to piece together the parts to see how the relationship between the two main characters develops and falls apart. There are a lot of very funny moments (including a huge choreographed dance sequence that made me laugh so hard I cried), and an amazing soundtrack. Go see it!
Birthday dinner was home-cooked and very tasty. Luke’s dad grilled up some steaks, and his mom prepared garlic mashed potatoes, asparagus, and a gorgeous salad. We had pumpkin pie in lieu of cake. His little sister made it, and let me tell you, it was incredible! We had another quiet night at home watching Hook.
The next morning somebody had to cook me breakfast because he lost a bet (fyi Gwyneth Paltrow is in Hook!). Luke cooked me a heart attack on a plate, aka steak and eggs.
I had quite the selection of condiments to choose from, too…
I ate some cantaloupe for my health’s sake.
Drinkin’ his coffee…
We weren’t sure what all to do on Friday–drive to Boulder? See more of Denver? Go to museums? We finally settled on driving into the mountains to see the famous Red Rocks amphitheater in Morrison. It was very pretty!
There were an awful lot of cars driving around the area; Luke said there was probably a concert. The license plates were all from far-away places, so I joked that if the cars were driving that long, it had to be Phish. Turns out, it was! We drove up, but the place was full of hippies people and cars, so we just drove up and drove back down without much exploration. Instead, we stopped at Lair O’ the Bear Park.
This sign kept me on my toes. I thought I saw a puma every five minutes or so…
We walked around the park for a good long time. We think we went 2-3 miles around all the trails. It was quiet and serene, although we did meet many mountain bikers.
Cheese! We’re having fun!
Of course, all that nature made me hungry some more. We stopped at a coffee shop on our way back down to Denver where I got a small 1/2 tart mango yogurt and 1/2 peanut butter cup ice cream (couldn’t decide!)
Luke and I decided to eat out at his favorite Mexican restaurant, Blue Bonnet. It was packed with lively, fun people and events. I ordered a cinnamon iced tea, which tasted like liquid Red Hots (ew!) and the chicken and pork adovado special (spiced grilled meat in tortillas with lettuce, tomato, and pineapple salsa) with a side salad.
After dins we stopped at King Sooper’s. I have always wanted to go to this grocery store because I think the name is funny. It is, isn’t it? I bought a couple Larabars to snack on for the rest of my travels…
At home we played Scrabble into the wee hours of the night/morning before heading to bed and shipping me out to California. I sure wish I had a little more time in Colorado, but the few days I was there were amazing.
I’ll start recapping my CA adventures soon!
I’m glad you’re having a good time!! 🙂
Choosing a favorite book is absolutely impossible for me, sorry! 😉 Once I start, I can’t stop, so I think I just won’t start…
❤ ❤
LUKE! SARAH! THE WEST! I miss you guys so much, you have no idea. There are probably better places than the comment forum on Sarah’s blog to say this, but I need you back in my life for entirely selfish purposes. I want to see you before you leave. And my dad’s going to be in Russia when you’re both there and would love to see you if you are free. WHEW.
And Luke, your ice cream disappoints me. Man up!
‘Twas terribly manly ice cream. It was caramel custard, as in his last stand, as in gunsmoke and black powder.
ohhh looks like so much fun! you two are so adorable!
LOVED 500 days of summer as well, and pretty much the dance sequence (plus animated bird) made my night. yay for lots of ice cream – my favorite food!
i loved 500 days of summer! super cute. and i also love that your ice cream is the mega huge one! that is how i am. you two are super cute. love all the ice cream in this post, like holly, it is my fave food!!
YAY! Good to hear from you again, Beautiful. All your foodies look lovely, and your trip sounds very fun and relaxing.
I’m super bored here in Iowa, and I wish I could spend some time with my girl.
Kisses!
Aw. Sorry we never made it to Crowfoot. Suppose you’ll have to come back? And everyone knows Lolita is the greatest. And Adverbs. And Dead Souls. And The Thief’s Journal. And… oops. Hope your trip continues to be filled with cattle, fruit houses, and wind-up toys.
my favorite book….hmmm….probably still judy blume’s “are you there god it’s me margaret.” never gets old for me!
[…] Second of all, I got a pre-Christmas miracle when the Boy got to visit. Rumor has it, he hasn’t had two consecutive days off from work in about 4 months. And, at the last minute, he got 3 days off and a plane ticket! Yay! Especially since I haven’t seen him since August! […]