Tag Archives: Colorado

Rocky Mountain High

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Last week finished with a bang in addition to July 4th fireworks.  I had the pleasure of going to Denver to meet the son of one of my awesome college roommates.  He’s two and a half (the son, not the roommate, who is female), and it was high time that we met.  Plus, I wanted to hang out with his mom, and his dad is great, too.  It was just an overall win.

So trip breakdown (in chronological order):

  1. Awesome conversation with Candice–you know, the kind of conversation that is really difficult to achieve over the phone or through snail mail.
  2. Time hanging out with Matty, who is cute and fun and smart and everything a parent would hope their child would be.
  3. A good viewing of The Princess and the Frog, mixed with more great friend conversations and some playing with blocks.
  4. Dinner at David’s restaurant (husband of said college roommate, also a friend from college) to sample the awesome work he does every day as a chef.  It was delicious, so if you ever find yourself in Denver, let me recommend Lou’s Food Bar.  You can find an official review of the tastiness here: New York Times review.  And you can check out their menu here: Lou’s website.
  5. Girls’ night out at the Yves Saint Laurent exhibit at the Denver Museum of Art.  You’re going to get pictures at this point.

Friend time in front of the giant broom at the museum.

The exhibit was so powerfully displayed.  I mean, I like clothes, but I’m no expert on haute couture clothing.  I didn’t know a thing about Yves Saint Laurent’s history or how he interacted with societal issues throughout his career.  Not only did I learn things from the exhibit, I felt inspired and awed by the presentation of the clothes.  Good job, museum curators!  It was exactly what a museum exhibit should be.  Here’s a small taste of an exhibit room, compliments of the Denver Museum of Art website:

Wall-o-tuxedos, glimpse of evening gown display, and a vague idea of the awesomeness.

It was a lot better than any picture can credit, and it was followed up with some more quality friend time in downtown Denver.  Candice and I decided that the Denver Public Library has an awesome building.

Downtown Library

Candice proposed that it would be a good place for me to work.

Sales pitch!

And then it was back to the house for some sleep, another half viewing of The Princess and the Frog (I totally support Matty’s desire to watch favorite movies over and over again, since it’s something I have done a time or two myself), a visit to a fantastic bookstore and an arts festival, and a drive to the airport.  There’s no time like old friend time, so I was a happy camper on the way home to Virginia.

Vacation Goals

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I’m leaving on a jet plane on Saturday morning (can you hear John Denver in the background?), which makes me happy.  I really like airports and the whole flying process, not to mention the vacation that goes with the flying.  I even like some good, old-fashioned turbulence.

In order to get the most out of the trip, I decided to make another to do list.  Why not kill a totally unstructured week with requirements and rules, right?  Most of the Colorado goals support the main goals of relaxation and quality time with my parents, so I don’t think it’ll be too stressful.  Without further ado, here’s the current list:

  1. Go hiking.  My parents’ property doesn’t count, even if you do risk meeting mountain lions anywhere above the irrigation ditch.
  2. Eat an eclair.  There are delicious eclairs at this one bakery in town.
  3. Finish at least three books.  GoodReads tells me that I haven’t finished a book since August 14, and that’s kind of shocking.
  4. Take copious pictures of my parents’ new dog and enough pictures of their old dog to make him feel equally loved.
  5. Talk to at least one person on an airplane.  Sometimes I open up a book and dive in before my seatmate sits down.  Even though most people appreciate a quiet airplane neighbor, I occasionally think I close out nice people who want to chat.  I won’t do that this time.  At least not on every flight.
  6. Make my mom go running with me.  (Dad, want to join us?)
  7. Make a phone call from my favorite spot on my parents’ property.  I’ll take a picture to show you why it’s so great.  It was also the only spot that got cell phone reception until a few years ago.

Pre-trip goals include making a new playlist for airport entertainment purposes and getting rid of the mountain of laundry that has taken up residence in my dining room.