Monday, April 28, 2014

Our Annoying Dog

Our dog, Ella, is a dream pet, especially for first-time dog owners. She's super mellow around the house laying in her bed all day, can be at home alone more than 12 hours without a problem, and stays sleeping as long as we do (even until 11:00am on the weekends!).

But as soon as she gets her leash on, she goes BONKERS!! Our friends, Shelly and Kevin aka Ella's BFFs, have been watching her for us since Thursday while we're in the mountains. They've commented to us that it's like two different dogs with Ella: Ella in the house and Ella on a walk. And it's totally true! 

We have a hard time getting people who've never walked Ella to believe this phenomenon, so we took this video of her a week ago. You'll need to have your sound up to get the full experience.


So, who wants to walk Ella for us while we're on vacation this summer??

-Breanna

Friday, April 25, 2014

Friday Photos [4.25.14]

Here are some photos from Andy & my week:

Reading outside the high school between presentations on Tuesday in Granby, CO.

Lake Granby in Granby, CO. While it was close to 60 degrees outside, the lake was still mostly ice.

Jose James performing at Dazzle Jazz in Denver Wednesday night.

I loved how the guitarist seemed enthralled by the drummer's solo.
We tried to be a little fancy for the show Wednesday :o)

Whoever owns this wins.

Enjoying some wine at the Plum Creek Winery in Palisade, CO.

So we accidentally bought a lot of meade at the meadery in the Palisades! Oops.

Senior countdown at Central High School in Grand Junction - only seven days left!

Taken just minutes ago as we're working at CafeSol downtown GJ.

We are west of the mountains right now in Grand Junction, CO on the western slope. I had work meetings the end of the week out here, and have a conference in Vail starting on Sunday, so Andy came along for the fun. We're spending the next couple days in Glenwood Springs on a mini working vacation before heading over to Vail til Tuesday. Yea, the views from my "office" are rough ;)

-Breanna

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

A Weekend of Ups and Downs

Friday I had a lovely - ahem, four hour - lunch with my friend Shelly. Yay for a day off work! We went to the local jazz club to enjoy music, food, and drinks. After post-lunch beers at a new brewery in Denver, we decided to keep the fun rolling and Shelly and her husband Kevin came to Andy and my place for the evening. Now, something about Shelly and Kevin: They love Ella. And Ella loves them. Like, Ella whimpers while nuzzling her head into them (which she has never done for anyone else) and practically flips somersaults when they walk in. So it was a night of drinks, good friends, Cards Against Humanity, and Ella reuniting with her favorite humans.

Clearly the feeling is mutual between Kevin and Ella.




Saturday. Well Saturday was super boring, guys. Ok, if I'm being honest, I'll be honest: I pretty much sat around on Facebook and Buzzfeed. All. Day.

I exaggerate a bit. I made Andy breakfast (I tried out this recipe but with potatoes instead of mushrooms - yum!) and we made popcorn for dinner and watched some movies. But in between, Facebook and Buzzfeed City.


























I'm always a bit sad on holidays to be so far away from family and all our special traditions. So as my family of adult cousins were fighting each other in the family Easter egg hunt, Andy and I biked to our local cafe, Krameria, for our own Easter brunch. 

It was supposed to rain Sunday afternoon, so we made plans to go to the local independent film center to see "Mistaken for Strangers", a documentary about the band The National. The sun ended up holding out - hooray! - so we still kept our plans, but hopped on our bikes for the two or so mile ride there. It was still nice enough when we left the theater to bike to a patio bar for some beers to talk about the movie (gotta love Denver weather!).




I have a busy week ahead of me! I've already been to the mountains once for work, and am heading back with Andy late this week through the weekend and early next week. Have a great week!

By the way, when I say that I'm going to the mountains, that's a 2-4 hour drive, so not a small trip!

-Breanna

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, friends! What are you doing to celebrate the day? Back home, my family is going to my aunt Kelly and uncle Joe's place for a family Easter brunch and Easter egg hunt - so much fun!

Here are some photos I snapped at the Wild Animal Sanctuary the other week. Enjoy these little cuties :o)





I'm going to go eat some Easter candy now.

-Breanna

Friday, April 18, 2014

Friday Photos [4.18.14]

Here are some photos from Andy & my week:

Tuesday evening reading outside with my beer. Spring is pretty lovely, isn't it?

Peek-a-boo. Do you see the snow-capped Rocky peeking out at you?

A Wednesday afternoon lunch hike in Lyons, CO.

Yup. I saw Sir Mix-A-Lot perform Wednesday night!

He brought 10 women on stage during 'Baby Got Back' to, back it up, I guess? Don't worry, Mom - I stayed off the stage!

A gang of New Belgium cruisers locked up at Odell brewery in Fort Collins Thursday. I love how the breweries support one another.

Andy biking to Station 26 brewery in our neighborhood. We met our friends, Lauren and Amy, for happy hour Thursday.

Happy hour continues at home with the growler I picked-up at Odell. We enjoyed it in front of "The Princess Bride".

Picture on the wall at the massage studio Friday afternoon.

Shelly looking lovingly on as my drink is poured at lunch on Friday.

It was a great week! Knowing I had Friday off was really motivating and exciting for me throughout the week as I scheduled my day off (yes, I schedule my day off and have a to do list, what about it?) to help me appreciate the free day and energize me for the upcoming week. 

I hope you had a great week, too! And now, it's time for the weekend :o)

-Breanna

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Family Fun Weekend in Denver

My mom, dad, and sis came to Denver for an extended weekend to spend time with Andy and me. I love having them come visit. The three of them stay with Andy and me at our place, so we have lots of time together! And we always get out and about in Colorado as much as possible (some, ahem Dad, may say too much?).

They came in late Thursday night, and we stayed up far too late enjoying wine and one another's company. We had to leave pretty early Friday morning for a three hour drive into the mountains, and my morning alarm sounded way too early Friday! I had a recruiting event in Glenwood Springs, so the fam joined for the ride and were treated to a beautiful drive through mountains and canyons.

The snow bank was taller than Meg!

Dad and our sodas at lunch in Glenwood. The blackberry one was my favorite.

Beautiful lobby at the Hotel Colorado in Glenwood.




















Friday evening Andy and my dad had a cigars (brought from Minnesota by my dad) and whiskey night. We sat out by the fire - a perfect night for a fire - while Ella cowered inside every time the fire would pop. When the fire started to die down and the cigars were long gone, we headed inside for Cards Against Humanity. Now, this could be an awkward game to play with parents, I know. But my parents are awesome, so it's so much fun!





So Saturday morning came too early (did you read about the whiskey?). We didn't have anything scheduled too early, so I took advantage of the time to sleep in. After a quick brunch we headed to Stranahan's distillery for a tour of their facilities. Since dad and Andy had consumed a bit of Stranahan's whiskey the night before, they were old pros. Meg even tried a sip at the tasting following the tour! (She did not love it.)


Our tour guide.


Saturday night mom and dad took Andy and I out to a very nice dinner for an early birthday celebration. We had a lovely evening full of delicious drinks, food, and desserts at Tables in our neighborhood. We all got dressed up nice, and I felt like such a fancy lady!

Hi Meg!

Mom is the expert wine taster! She gave this one two thumbs up.

Andy Fancy Socks Pekoll.

Birthday dessert!

Reading Meg's very sweet birthday card to me.


Sunday, as well as a bit on Saturday afternoon, we visited old buildings around Denver that were part of the annual Doors Open Denver event. Every April, dozens of beautiful buildings around town open their doors for people to come visit their space, take tours, and enjoy the architecture. All for free! The highlight for Meg was the Paramount Theater downtown where she was able to see backstage, and sit in the dressing rooms! She was just like a star.

Zang Mansion in Cap Hill.

Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art.





The weather was pretty crappy on Sunday with a rain/snow mix and COLD so we stayed indoors most of the day with Doors Open Denver, lunch at Oblio's Cap Hill (our family fav!), and glow-in-the-dark mini-golf. Turns out, mini-golf makes most everyone angry and lose their patience, so we went to grab a post game-cocktail at Williams & Graham in LoHi - that's the place Andy and I went a few weeks ago for a fancy cocktail date. We didn't tell them it was a speakeasy, so their confusion upon walking into a bar but instead being met by a small bookstore (wink, wink) was perfect and added to the charm of the place.




Meg left a note for the W&G server. They take these notes and hang them up in one of the bathrooms.

The family left Monday and while it's nice to get back to my normal, slower pace, I miss them! Come back soon, ok??

-Breanna