Happy Birthday, Ryan!

Happy birthday to my favorite travel partner, and an awesome brother!

I love you, bro!

-Breanna

Friday Photos [4.11.14]

Here are some photos from Andy & my week:

Monday afternoon work outfit. I went to an etiquette dinner - fun!

My parents and sis are in town this weekend! I had some work to do to get mom and dad's room tidied up for them.

 I had a Tuesday patio lunch with my friend and former Regis colleague, Gerard. (Note: this is not a photo of Gerard.)

We saw Okkervil River perform at the Bluebird in Denver Tuesday night - they are so great live.

More Okkervil!

At a high school in Greeley Wednesday afternoon.

 

Andy and I went to the Wild Animal Sanctuary Thursday afternoon to see all the carnivorous animals they've rescued from horrible situations (like a wild cat living in an NYC apartment - what?!?).

 Andy with the black bear.

Ella was so super pumped (read: loud and erratic) to see all the people and bikes out on a nice spring afternoon that Andy had to carry her for part of the walk to get her to calm down!

My mom, dad, and sister are here for the weekend (yay!!) so we have a fun weekend planned to the minute :o) I love having them in town and showing them around!

Have a great weekend!

-Breanna

A Working Weekend, with a bit of fun too

Did you have a good weekend? Were you ready for Monday to roll around? I worked Saturday and Sunday (I know, boo!) so I feel a bit like I was cheated out of a weekend! Andy and I still took advantage of the non-work time I had free to enjoy each one another's company, and enjoy our city.

We had tickets Friday for a performance by Wonderbound, a dance company based out of Denver. The Friday performance was the first of their "Gone West" performances that included live music by one of Andy and my favorite bands, Ian Cooke band (maybe you remember that we saw him perform a few weeks ago at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science), and poetry by Michael J. Henry. It was such a phenomenal combination of artistic mediums, and featured such talented individuals. Andy and I were both blown away by the show! I couldn't take photos during the show, but here's a peak at one of the rehearsals, and some of the photos I snapped in the intermission:

The band played right next to the dancers. What a great set-up!

Andy and I went to the store afterwards to pick-up some snacks for the evening, and some chips "for when my family's in town". Yea, I ate all the potato chips already.

Following my Saturday morning working on campus, I took a long and awesome nap. Super exciting day, I know. Andy and I made up for it in the evening by going to Oblio's (the pizza place a few blocks from our place) for beers, pizza, and the Final Four. Our friends Lauren, Amy, Jan, and Jan's son Aidan joined us, showing varying levels of interest for the game. We were cheering, and drinking, for Wisco, and I think we all know how that turned out. But we had good company and Cards Against Humanity, so that helped :o)

Amy and Andy, aka the only ones who actually cared about watching the game.

I had a college fair with my Johnson & Wales colleague Sunday afternoon. The fair was packed! I haven't been to a college fair like that before! There were over 150 universities there to speak with students and their families, and there were SO many families there! I got stuck in traffic for 20 minutes just trying to get into a parking ramp. It was great to have so many high school students there able to talk with university reps like myself about what they want to do after graduating high school. Yea, I would have preferred to not work all weekend, it is really energizing to have great conversations with families and try to help them with this huge decision they're making.

"Hi! Do you have any questions about Johnson & Wales I can answer?"

My mom, dad, and sis are coming to Denver this week Thursday and I am so excited to see them! I can tell this week will just drag on as I'm waiting for their plane to arrive Thursday night :o)

Have a great week!

-Breanna

Friday Photos [4.4.14]

Here are some photos from Andy & my week:

Biking while eating chips is my new favorite hobby that combines two of my favorite things.

 

Sunday Segway tour in front of Coors Field!

Tuesday work outfit. Notice my new Duluth Pack bag from Duluth, MN, aka my work bag!

Ella just loves my space heater in my office. If I leave the door open during the workday, I often find a little buddy when I get back.

It SNOWED Wednesday night! Check out our neighbor's beautiful snow-covered tree. You can see the sagging branch that eventually snapped with the weight.

Andy brought me out for cocktails and appetizers Thursday night - yum!

You can't tell from this picture, but we got dressed up for our Thursday night date night :o)

We were inspired by the delicious beverages, and tried to make some of our own at home. They were not as good as when made by the pros.

-Breanna

Hanging Lake (Part Une)

This post is the first of a two part series that was supposed to be just a one part post, until Nature had her say on it.

I had a day trip to the mountains last Wednesday. I just love the beautiful Colorado scenery this new job brings me to, though I don't usually have time to explore cities since I'm in and out for work appointments, or am totally exhausted from the workday. But on Wednesday I had a bit of time between appointments and pulled off the interstate to attempt the Hanging Lake hike in Glenwood Springs.

Now, let me tell you a bit about this hike. Andy and I considered giving it a whirl years ago when we were in Glenwood. We knew nothing about it other than where to exit for the trail. We weren't quite prepared for a hike in our slip-on shoes and clothes for driving and beer tasting, but thought "Sure, why not - we're COLORADANS now". As we were walking to the trail head, we passed a Japanese family who had just finished, or at least attempted, the hike. The father turned to his family and said "I am exhausted; I NEED A CAFFEINATED WATER" and that was the end of that for Andy and me! Back to the car we went saying that we just didn't have enough time, yea that's it, we're in a hurry Ella and everything...

After a couple more years in Colorado and a few more hikes under my belt I thought I was ready for the hike. You will soon learn, that was not true. As I pulled in to the parking lot and slipped my snow boots on to complete my hiking outfit that included my work dress, cardigan, scarf, and tights, I was feeling pretty good about making time for a hike. The first 1/4 mile or so was a beautiful, uphill hike partly on a dirt trail and partly climbing on rocks.

The next 1/4 mile was on packed snow and ice covering the rocks. AKA, it was Breanna flailing and sliding around, falling to the ground, trying to please not rip her tights before her next appointment. I wish I had a video to show you all. No, I don't; I was so frustrated. I gave myself a little over an hour to complete the hike, which I thought was reasonable for a two mile hike. Yea, no. I made it to the 1/2 mile mark and had to turn around in order to make it to my appointment on time.

Clearly, despite the challenging terrain and continuous threats to the integrity of my tights, it was a stunningly beautiful hike through the canyon in Glennwood Springs.

So Hanging Lake (Part Une). Look for Hanging Lake (Part Deux) this spring. Andy and I are heading back through Glenwood the end of April, and we're going to successfully conquer the hike and see this hanging lake!

-Breanna

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