So I’m back in upstate New York right now, and life has been hectic and totally laid back at the same time here … is that possible? I’m here for two weddings, to celebrate my mom’s 60th birthday and to get some stuff done for my sister’s upcoming bridal shower in August, so all of that is definitely hectic. But when I’m not busy running around, I’m pretty much hanging on the back porch as much as I possible can.
Here’s what I’ve been up to lately:
^^ A gorgeous Union Station the day before I left Denver.
^^ And an even more gorgeous Grand Central Station the day I arrived back in New York!
^^ Views from Mom’s porch.
^^ My mom and I had to make a pit stop into Newburgh Vintage Emporium for some stuff, and can I just tell you how much I’m loving this place? If you happen to be in the Hudson Valley, and you like vintage goods, this place is a must-see.
^^ More Vintage Emporium prettiness.
^^ Saturday’s wedding took place on a rooftop overlooking the Albany skyline. Not too shabby for a fireworks view, eh?
^^ Me and sissy.
^^ My sister and her fiancé — these two.
^^ With the gorgeous bride.
^^ Meeting my cousin’s baby for the first time was definitely a highlight of this trip, as well.
^^ Soon-to-be bro-in-law made me a delicious butternut squash risotto for dinner one night … yum!
Still left to do? A couple bridal shower errands, mom’s 60th birthday excursion (I’ll blog about that later) and another wedding in Tarrytown on Saturday.
So I just dropped Lisa off at the airport. Gosh golly I hate good-byes! We had a ton of fun while she was here, though, and I’m eternally grateful for that. I actually ended up doing a whole bunch of new stuff while she was in town, as well, which I wasn’t expecting, and that was a nice little added bonus.
I figure I’ll break her visit up into two posts, since we did so much, and I’ll cover things that were new to me more in depth than those things I’ve already talked about here.
So buckle up, friends — you’re in for quite the ride.
Lisa arrived late on Thursday, so we basically chilled for most of the afternoon, and then headed to Rio for dinner that night. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — if you’re in Denver and you like Mexican, Rio is a must-hit.
Friday: On Friday we headed to Red Rocks in the morning (which is always an amazing time), and then drove the short distance from Red Rocks to Golden, a small, cute little Colorado town where the Coors Factory lives. They give free tours there during the day, but the wait was about an hour and we thought our time would be better used by exploring the town a bit via car, which turned out to be pretty stinkin’ cute. I’ll come back for ya, Coors tour! We ate lunch at the Old Capitol Grill, too, and the waitress assuaged our fears of the tornadoes that were touching down in towns all around both Golden and Denver. (They ended up heading out East, so both Golden and Denver were spared.)
We had Slice Works pizza and garlic knots for dinnerthat night, which is always a hit.
Saturday: Saturday turned out to be a day filled with new adventures. Lisa had discovered that one of her favorite brunch places from Louisville, Kentucky— Wild Eggs — also has a restaurant in Denver, so we hit that up for breakfast, and then while driving Lisa through the Capital Hill neighborhood and Cheesman Park, we drove right by the Botanic Gardens and decided to just stop on in. It was a gorgeous day, and Chris and I had never been to the Gardens before, but it turns out this little piece of heaven is quite the quiet sanctuary, and I think it’s safe to say I’ll be back.
^^ My Bennies Gone Wild with wild mushrooms and a side of biscuits. Yum.
^^ We celebrated combined missed birthdays with beer and birthday hats at Wynkoop. There’s nothing even remotely silly about this photo, right?
^^ Our paintings came out pretty darn good, if I do say so myself …
^^ For our cheese plate at The Truffle Table we ordered Avalanche Goat Cheddar from Basalt, Colorado; Brillat Savarin from Normandy France (a cow’s milk cheese); Tete du Moine from Switzerland (another cow’s milk cheese); Cana de Oveja from Spain (a sheep’s milk cheese); and Quatizo Gouda (a water buffalo and mixed milk cheese). Of course we had no idea what any of these cheese meant, but our waitress was fantastically knowledgeable and we were all extremely happy with what she thought we might like.
And that, my friends, is where I’m going to leave you regarding this visit, for now. I’ll be back later this week with our shenanigans for Monday and Tuesday, Lisa’s final days in Denver.
So we just bid adieu to my Mom and stepdad who were here visiting for the past couple of days. Despite weather that begged us to just stay inside and hibernate (and cancelled our baseball game — thanks freakin’ springtime snow!), we managed to fit in quite a bit of activity.
Here’s a bit of what we did …
^^ Friday night night after they arrived we hit up Jagged Mountain Brewery across the street and had dinner at the food truck that was parked outside that night, Scratch Comfort Food.
^^ When cold, rain and snow forced us to change our (outdoor) plans for Saturday, we headed to the Molly Brown House Museum first, and then …
^^ … to Rio Grande for some delish Mexican and marguerites, yo! ^^ Our baseball game was cancelled on Saturday night, so we decided to go see The Avengers at the United Artists Denver Pavillions Stadium 15, and holy crap guys, they have leather seats that electronically recline allllll the way back so you’re basically laying down in the comfort of a leather chair watching a movie. Amazing! Almost amazing enough to make up for the fact that the power blacked out 15 minutes before the movie ended and we had to wait 20 minutes for it to come back on. Oh well, you know what they say, when it rains it …
^^ Snows! Only in Denver could a freak snowstorm occur in the middle of May. Well okay, probably not only in Denver, but on Saturday night it sure felt that way!
^^ After the movie we hit up 5280 Burger Bar, which, I imagine, would be a meat-lovers dream come true … ^^ See what I mean? Blech! (This was Chris’s, by the way, obviously not mine!)
^^ The ice cream sundaes, however, I can definitely get on board with!
^^ Things were looking up on Sunday, which was Mother’s Day.
^^ I took the rents for a stroll to Union Station so they could check it out, and we of course had to grab some ice cream from the Milkbox Ice Creamery, which serves Little Man ice cream. ^^ That night we headed to the Green Russell for drinks before dinner at Osteria Marco in Larimer Square. This time we all chatted with the bar tender about our drink likes and dislikes, and had him custom-make some concoctions for us, which did not disappoint! ^^ Finally, finally, the sun came out on Monday! So we took advantage and hopped in the car and headed out to Red Rocks.
^^ I think it’s safe to say they liked it here 😉
^^ Monday afternoon I had booked us for the high tea service at The Brown Palace Hotel, which is the oldest (and by far the fanciest!) hotel in Denver. This was so much fun, friends. We got all dressed up and there was a live piano player. We each ordered one type of tea (mine Chai, of course), and were served in our own little pots. The service came with two types of scones (regular and chocolate chip) served with Devonshire butter and jam, as well as three different types of finger sandwiches and four different mini-desserts. I’ve never felt so fancy!
^^ How adorable are these desserts!?
^^ Even though our baseball game was cancelled I still got to walk my parents by the stadium, and Robert even went back and took a tour the day they left. It was $10 and he said it was definitely worth it. They walked the field, saw where the players get ready, sat in the dugout … seems like a dream for baseball fans!
^^ Me & Mom outside Union Station.
^^ On Tuesday we were back in the car and headed to South Pearl Street in Boulder to check out the shops.
And that was about it, my friends. They left on Wednesday after checking out Chris’s office and having lunch at Backcountry Deli. Not too shabby for a quick five-day trip, huh?
This weekend we’re heading to A-Basin for some springtime snowboarding, and then next weekend, my friends, we’re heading out to Moab, Utah, to go camping with our friends. This, my dear friends, is why I was so excited to move out here in the first place. Our first real road trip! Wish us luck …
^^ A gorgeous Union Station the day before I left Denver.
^^ And an even more gorgeous Grand Central Station the day I arrived back in New York!
^^ Views from Mom’s porch.
^^ My mom and I had to make a pit stop into Newburgh Vintage Emporium for some stuff, and can I just tell you how much I’m loving this place? If you happen to be in the Hudson Valley, and you like vintage goods, this place is a must-see.
^^ More Vintage Emporium prettiness.
^^ Saturday’s wedding took place on a rooftop overlooking the Albany skyline. Not too shabby for a fireworks view, eh?
^^ Me and sissy.
^^ My sister and her fiancé — these two.
^^ With the gorgeous bride.
^^ Meeting my cousin’s baby for the first time was definitely a highlight of this trip, as well.
^^ Soon-to-be bro-in-law made me a delicious butternut squash risotto for dinner one night … yum!
^^ Lobster and crab roll at The River Grill in Newburgh.
^^ The Newburgh Waterfront, aka the glorious Hudson River.
