A Weekend of Standing

Andy and I did a lot of standing this weekend. I'm sitting at the dining room table as I type this and my legs and feet are buzzing with all the energy! With two concerts, biking (not quite standing, I know), and a 2+ hour Segway tour, lots of time on our feet! But you certainly don't hear me complaining. You all know how I love me an active jam-packed weekend!

Friday night we met our friend, Christine, at Lost Lake music venue to see a phenomenal Minneapolis musician, Jeremy Messersmith. Have you heard of him, Midwest friends? If not, you must give him a listen. I love his smooth vocals and playful lyrics on his albums, and live he is so energetic and versatile on stage. Denver was the last stop on their tour, and though the band was telling us how completely tired they were, there's no way you would have ever known that watching them perform!

Friday afternoon walk with Ella.

My apologies for the terrible quality band photos; the band would not stand still!

Afterwards we just barely made it to the liquor store before closing and were treated to our own beer tasting. We're total VIPs there.

 

Saturday was a picturesque spring day in Denver! Andy and I had a few errands to run around town and decided that errands via bike was the way to go. The main stop was our local record store, Twist & Shout so I could pick-up the tickets I WON for the Astronautalis (hip hop) concert that night. I have won so many things from T&S - concert tickets, vinyl, CDs, music packages. I feel so special every time I get the call!

Saturday morning beverages while I catch-up on my dear friend, Becky's, blog.

I won! I won!

That night we took our two free tickets to the Marquis theater in downtown Denver to see one of Andy and my favorite hip hop artists, Astronautalis perform to an excited and packed venue. Now, I'm not much of a hip hop fan in general, but when my roommate in Madison played Astronautalis's music years ago as pump-up music as we were getting ready for a night out, I was hooked. And he never disappoints with his enthusiasm and flawless performance on stage! Some kid in the audience said Saturday night was the first concert he'd attended ever and I thought to myself "Aw man, that kid is never going to top this!"

Sunday, aka Andy's best day ever. So Andy loves Segways. Andy loves Segways almost as much as I love potatoes (which is a lot a lot). Sunday I treated him to a two hour guided Segway tour downtown Denver, and it was everything Andy hoped it would be and more! The tour guide brought us past all the main tourist areas in Denver and then some. We did a Segway tour in Minneapolis with my family a few years ago (Andy's best day ever prior to Sunday) and both agree it's such a neat, though a tad dorky yes, way to see a city.

Following our Segway tour we had some friends over to our house for beer tastings and games. We tried some excellent beers both with both new ones we'd never had before and old favorites that we hadn't had in a while. Our friend, Jan, has an 11 year old son, so instead of the usual Cards against Humanity we played giant Jenga and Sorry. The Sorry game got a bit heated with a bunch of trash talk at the table, and we had to suspend the game until next time!

All that activity over the weekend has left me exhausted for my Monday! Though I wouldn't trade any of my weekend away. I hope you had a fun weekend, too!

-Breanna

Friday Photos [3.28.14]

Here are some photos from Andy & my week:

After dinner sunset walk on Monday with Andy and Ella.

It's spring! Our tulips have come up in the front yard, and we have our first blossom.

In the parking lot at a high school in Edwards, CO (that's in the mountains). Notice all the Subarus and SUVs in the parking lot!

I went on the Hidden Lake hike Glenwood Springs Wednesday. I'll post more pictures next week (spoiler alert: It was beautiful).

A view of Mount Sopris from the Colorado Mountain College campus in Glenwood. It's hard to tell in the picture, but the mountain is right in the center of the photo, and it continues on into the clouds.

At a fundraiser Wednesday evening for one of our favorite restaurants in town: Pizza Fusion. It's run by the Colorado Homeless Coalition, so most employees are people receiving assistance through the coalition. Awesome cause and awesome food.

Andy enjoying his pizza and beer at the Pizza Fusion Brewhaha fundraiser event.

My beer, my buddy Ryan's beer, and Andy's beer. Porter, Belgian Tripple, IPA.

 Our friends, Ryan & Emily, engaged four days prior (check out that ring!!) at Pizza Fusion Wednesday night. It was so great to celebrate with them.

 

Old town Fort Collins Thursday afternoon.

It was a busy week with my work travel (Wyoming, the mountains, Fort Collins in one week!), and I am so ready for the weekend! Andy and I are both dragging a bit this morning after staying up until 1:30am watching "Breaking Bad". We finished the series and it was totally worth it! We gotta liven up though; this weekend we have two concerts to see, plus I'm taking Andy on a Segway tour downtown Denver - his favorite! For real, Andy would buy a Segway if he could.

I hope you had a great week, and have a fun weekend to look forward to!

-Breanna

A Good Weekend for Movies

The weekend already seems like it was days ago! Funny how time works sometimes. Please don't let that mean this week will drag on and on...

After a late (and fun!) night Thursday, both Andy and I were more than happy stream "Gravity" on Amazon and plant ourselves on the couch all Friday night. Have you seen "Gravity"? What did you think of it? I'm still formulating my opinion on it, other than feelings of pure terror for Sandra Bullock's character's situation! Eek!

I finally made the falafel recipe I mentioned a few weeks ago, and it was totally worth the wait - delicious! Like with gnocchi, I was so disappointed to find out falafel typically has gluten in it! So I was thrilled to find a recipe that works to make the falafel sans gluten.

Frying up the falafel.

We woke to a cold and dreary Saturday morning that turned to a snowy Saturday afternoon. Remember that welcome to spring last week? Yea, not so much. Andy loves knowing the weather forecast (like, really loves it), so we anticipated less than desirable Saturday weather and planned to see "The Lego Movie" matinee. It was such a cute, fun movie! And great for anyone who's played with Legos. Sidenote: Is anyone else surprised to find out the actors who do the voices for animated movies? I didn't care about that as a kid, but now I find it fascinating! Andy's great at placing the voices whereas I have no clue.

That afternoon we bought Ella her birthday gift: A remote controlled mouse, which she promptly destroyed in 30 seconds. She kept trying to eat it! Andy and I each pried it out of her mouth multiple times before the thing just stopped working. So, that didn't really work out as we'd hoped. Saturday night was much like Friday night: Movie night! We gave "Lord of the Rings" another whirl since I fell asleep last time. But this time, both of us fell asleep! Third time's a charm, yea?

Movie theater door handles. It's a film reel; get it?

Andy was not excited I made him take this picture in the theater.

I, on the other hand, was super pumped to hold hands with Emmet the Lego character (he loves holding hands).

Ella trying to figure out what the heck that mouse is doing in her house.

Ella's humans teasing her with the mouse could be why she kept trying to eat her new toy.

His & Hers beers. Andy picked us up a growler from Station 26 while I did an evening yoga class.

Remember all that snow we got on Saturday? Yea, the Sunday sun took care of melting that all away by mid-afternoon. Have I mentioned how awesome Denver can be? And Denver was extra awesome Sunday since one of my best pals from college, Kara (K1), was in town from Minneapolis! A couple of us gals got together at a friend's place to have mimosas and catch-up with K1. I wish we could do it every weekend. My plan to get all my favorite people to move to Denver isn't really panning out in reality like it has in my head.

After biking home from my Kara time, there was still sunlight for Andy and me to play two games of giant Jenga in the backyard together (the wind lost one game, I lost the other). Following Jenga, we chatted with my folks on Skype for a couple hours. I love Skype dates with the four of us, though it's so easy to ramble on and on and on over Skype! Does anyone else have that problem, or is it just me? Or maybe it's the bottomless glass of beer I bring on my Skype dates...

A lazy Sunday, indeed.

Me & my dear friend, Kara.

 

Whoever wins Jenga gets to graffiti a Jenga piece. My friend Nick, an awesome artist, drew this when he was visiting from Madison last year.

 

Skyping with my folks! This picture kinda creeps me out with my reflection merging with my dad's picture.

This week is a busy one with a lot of work travel for me - I was in Wyoming today, out in the mountains for a day trip Wednesday, and up in Fort Collins Thursday. Yowzas! 

Cheers to Monday!

-Breanna

Friday Photos [3.21.14]

Here are some photos from Andy & my week:

On the road in western Colorado...

Seen in Kremmling, CO: PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH OR FEED ME (may come alive and eat you) - Igor the Russian Bear. I did not test his threats.

Sitting down at the cafe for dinner Monday in Meeker, CO.

Quite the view from Meeker High School, isn't it?

At the hot springs in Steamboat Springs, CO.

Hot springs.

The mountains were pretty great, but nothing can beat this view :o)

Wonderful local musician, Ian Cooke, performing at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science Thursday night.

This cutie pie seal statue was my buddy at the museum.

My former co-worker from the coffee shop in Madison, Quinn, came to Denver Thursday night!

I don't have any plans yet for this weekend, which is nice given the busy week with traveling for work and having Quinn and her friends come to town on a whim and crash with us Thursday night (we stayed up past 2:00am!). Though I'm not complaining; it was a great week!

Enjoy your weekend, and all the sun and warmth coming with the welcome of spring this week :o)

-Breanna