Tuesday, May 10, 2016

10 on Tuesday


10 things I'm looking forward to this summer  (in no particular order)

1 - Eating outdoors at restaurants
I love to eat, seriously, food is the best.  I LOVE summer, because you can sit outside, on the patio & enjoy your meal while people watching.  Nick and I are fortunate enough to live right in the middle of Denver's Restaurant Row... so we have TONS of great restaurants right at our fingertips!!

At our favorite local Mexican Restaurant



2- June trip to Wisconsin for my Grandpa's 90th Birthday
My Papa Joe turns 90 the 2nd weekend in June.  We are flying back to Wisconsin and making the 3 hour drive to attend his party.  Growing up I was so very lucky to have him live just across the field from us.  He is the kindest, most gentle human being I know.  He attended every sporting event I ever had and was always good for sneaking us some candy when my parents weren't looking!


Dancing at my wedding, he had taken the prop glasses from the Photo Booth & was wearing them around

3 - Flip Flop Season
Does this really need an explanation?  Flip Flops are seriously the best.
I've heard good things about Rainbow Sandals - has anyone tried them?


4 - Patio Drinking
Yes..


5 - Hiking trips in the Rockies



6 - Our trip to Chicago for Jeri & Dan's wedding
Our friends Jeri and Dan are getting married in August in Chicago.  We are planning on making a long weekend out of it.  I'm so happy and excited for them!!

With Jeri and Dan in Chicago, 2012
7 - July trip to Milwaukee for Summerfest (and to see my boyfriend Luke Bryan)
Milwaukee in the summer is like no other place I've ever been.  People come out of the woodwork to celebrate & it is the #1 thing I miss since we moved away.  Summerfest is the Worlds Largest Music Festival.  It's 10 crazy days on the Lake Michigan Lakefront.  Every night there is a headliner, but there are also a TON of free stages as well!  We have tickets to Luke Bryan as the headliner & I'm sure will check out quite a few other shows while we are in town!!








8 - Driving with the windows down
Best feeling ever - sometimes I wish I was a dog so I could stick my head out & just take it all in.

9 - Milwaukee Brewers Baseball
We are going back to Milwaukee for an entire week!!  I'm literally so excited I may wet myself!!  Between the Brewers & Summerfest & catching up with friends and family - it is going to be amazing!!





10 - Memorial Day trip to Santa Fe
Santa Fe has been on my bucket list since pretty much forever.  When we decided to move to Denver I was SO EXCITED since it's only about a 5 hour drive away.  After nearly 2 years of talking about it, we are FINALLY going over Memorial Day!






Sunday, May 1, 2016

What to do when its rainy in Denver

Usually Denver offers excellent sunny weather & I have no complaints... This weekend was not that. This weekend was cold, windy, rain/snow mix and gross.  Since Denver normally has such amazing weather, we usually spend our weekends outside; either at the park down the street, walking around and exploring the bars/restaurants in our neighborhood or being 'one with nature' in true Colorado fashion.

Friday we didn't even venture back out after getting home from work.  We turned on the fireplace - nestled under some blankets & finished the last few episodes of Season 2 of Better Call Saul.   Have you watched this show?  Both Nick and I were HUGE Breaking Bad fans.  We binge watched the first 4-5 seasons during a cold and snowy winter a few years back in MN.  Binged to the point where we were both dreaming we were drug lords.  We were obsessed with the show.



When Better Call Saul first came on the air, we tried to watch it.  Really, really tried, but I think it was just too soon after Breaking Bad (for us at least) to get into it.  Fast forward a couple of years and we started DVRing it again, turns out the show is awesome and we were hooked!  If you haven't check it out you really should!

Saturday was another dreary rainy day.  We woke up Saturday morning and watched Bering Sea Gold.  This is our new Saturday routine, Nick DVR's the episodes during the week and then we watch a couple on Saturday mornings.  Remember how when you were a kid you would wake up on Saturday mornings and watch cartoons?  Well...I guess this is the grown up version of that!


After we'd finished our shows and done some weekend cleanup around the house, we decided to venture out and do a bit of exploring.  We went to The Farmhouse at Breckenridge Brewery.  If you are in Denver, or visiting Denver, I would recommend.  The complex it self is HUGE.  They have a few different brewing operations, a restaurant, tasting room as well as a huge patio/backyard space that I'm sure is a blast in the summer!
 




 
It was pretty busy when we got there so we had about 15 minutes to kill while we waited for our table.  We sampled a few beers, looked over some items in the gift shop & before we knew it, our table was ready.  The dining area itself looks like an old farm house.  There is a huge fireplace, a bunch of old chandeliers, mis-matched dining chairs at the tables and an absolutely gorgeous interior.  On weekends they have a brunch buffet, or you can order off the menu.  We both ordered some lunch off the menu and a flight.  Everything was excellent!!


      

On our way home we made a last minute decision to stop at Big Lots.  I'm not normally Big Lots shopper, but we were looking for plastic bins to re-organize our storage unit with.  One of the downfalls of condo living, is NO space... And on of the downfalls of our condo, is lingering water issues.  First it was our dining room, then living room and then storage unit... so we decided plastic bins were necessary.  It happens that it was our lucky day.  They had these blue bins on sale for $4.95 each.  PERFECT.  We loaded up our cart and dropped $100 on bins and headed home!

Saturday night we watched the movie The Revenant.  Have you seen it?  I'm not a huge Leonardo DiCaprio fan, but DAMN he was amazing in that movie.  The beginning was a bit bloody/violent for me, but I enjoyed the movie.  I loved how they tied all the Native American history into it and really 'explained' a lot, with very little dialogue.



Sunday we were up bright and early organizing our storage unit with the new bins.  One of the problems we have is that some of our boxes hadn't been unpacked since 2010.  We've moved a few times in the past few years (including twice in 6 months back in 2014/2015) so we seemingly always have boxes full of stuff - and we're never quite sure what is where.  We were able to go through every box/bin in the storage unit, get rid of the crap we don't need, make a considerably large pile for donation & then repack/relabel everything, so we know exactly what is where!  It was quite the undertaking, but so very worth it!
Before
After
 
Sunday afternoon we ventured out to a local pizza joint Tony P's to grab some slices & beers.  They have all day happy hour on Sunday - so we figured we'd take advantage.

    

All in all - we were pretty productive, considering the terrible weather this weekend.  What did you do with your weekend?