So, I know it's been a while since I last updated... The past week or so has absolutely flown by, but I really can't recount what I've done! Over the weekend, Danielle and I had a girl's night out, celebrating our 1 year anniversary. Yes, we're dorks, but it's been one year since we met each other and decided it would be fun to celebrate. :) We went out for dinner at D-note, a little music venue/restaurant and had some of their awesome pizza and a bottle of wine while listening to some semi-decent jazz. Afterwards, of course, we headed over to the Arvada Tavern for some beers and shuffleboard and ended up closing down the place, which seems to be a reoccuring instance for us.
The rest of the weekend, I took it easy. Brian and I went for a nice long drive on what felt like a cool, fall day up north to Loveland. And on Sunday we took another drive, though much shorter around some parts of Arvada that neither one of us knew existed. We ended the weekend with dinner at Ted's Montana Grill up by my old apartment. How I miss that neighborhood! Yes, so the weather here for the past several days has totally felt like fall. I can't wait for it to really be fall and for Halloween and Thanksgiving to roll on by. Because that only means we are that much closer to my favorite holiday, Christmas!
This week, I know, is just going to fly by. We are heading to Chicago for Labor Day weekend on Wednesday. I'm very excited to be going to Chicago and especially psyched to show Brian around and have him meet my peeps there. ;) We'll be dining on some Chicago pizza (Lou's), Portillo's, attending a Cubs game, doing some touristy things, and hanging out with my friends and parents. So, I will hopefully have some more interesting things to say next week!
Monday, August 28, 2006
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Rain, Sleet, Hail, Snow, & Sunshine
This past weekend, my parents came into town for a somewhat brief visit to attend the Cubs game while they were playing the Rockies, and of course to see me. ;)
They arrived on Friday evening, and I took them out on the town. The town of Arvada, that is... We went to dinner at Amici's, my new favorite restaurant. You just can't go wrong when a restaurant has a wine list with bottle prices betwee $8.50 and $11.50. And did I mention pretty yummy Italian food? Oh yes, I love it. After dinner, we headed over to the Arvada Tavern, the little dive bar in Olde Town Arvada, just blocks from my apartment. It's a fantastically tiny place with 2 pool tables, a killer juke box, and free shuffleboard. The beer is cheap, the people are awesomely scary, and I just love this place. We ended up closing the bar and all-in-all had a great time.
Saturday, we slept in and then prepped for the Cubbies game. After getting my mom to wear my Cubs jersey, I put on my Cubbies hat and shirt, and TRIED my best to get my dad and Brian to at least wear a Cubs hat. No luck. No worries, though, as more than half the fans there were rooting for the Cubbies. Before the game, we went to Wynkoop Brewery for some pints and dinner. The game was fun, though the Cubs lost (of course). After the game, we just came home and took it easy, as we had a full day planned for Sunday.
On Sunday, we drove down to Colorado Springs. First things first, we arrived at the train station and got our tickets for our train ride to the top of Pikes Peak. The weather wasn't terrible down in Co. Springs, but was sprinkling a bit. We get on the train and begin our ascent up the mountain, with fantastic scenery on both sides of the train. As we climb up the mountain, the rain turns into sleet, then into hail... We arrive at the summit 1.25 hours later and are rushed from the train to the building up top, because lightning was hitting the summit. At the top, we couldn't see much because of the storm. We spent about a half hour at the summit building and then had to head out to the train through the inch of snow that had fallen, all the while, dodging lightning. The descent down the mountain was uneventful, but was so neat to see the weather changing, and by the time we got down, it was sunny and precipitationless.
After leaving the train station, we drove over to Garden of the Gods and drove through the park. We took a quick walk through the park and then drove over to Old Colorado City for dinner. Brian and I had seen this Greek restaurant there the last time we were down there, so we headed straight there and luckily they were open and we had an awesome Greek feast for dinner. All of the food was excessively delicious.
Monday I had to work, as did my dad, so we stayed in that day. My mom organized my tupperware cabinet- thank goodness, it was scary. It was to the point where I was shoving stuff in there and slamming the door shut, hoping nothing else was going to fall out in the split second it took me to close the door. That night I cooked out on my awesome little (and I mean little) grill. We had some burgers and dogs, beers, potato salad, and I made strawberry shortcake for dessert. Yummy. After dinner, we met up with Rich and Dez at the Arvada Tavern for some more shuffleboard and pool. We called it a somewhat early night, as the weekend full of activities had worn us down.
Tuesday, we took it easy and sadly I had to take my parents to the airport mid-afternoon. After we said our goodbyes, I began mentally preparing myself for my kickball game that evening. Ha. It was so nice to have them out here and for them to see my new apt and to meet Lola finally! I can't believe I'm going to be in Chicago in just over a week!
They arrived on Friday evening, and I took them out on the town. The town of Arvada, that is... We went to dinner at Amici's, my new favorite restaurant. You just can't go wrong when a restaurant has a wine list with bottle prices betwee $8.50 and $11.50. And did I mention pretty yummy Italian food? Oh yes, I love it. After dinner, we headed over to the Arvada Tavern, the little dive bar in Olde Town Arvada, just blocks from my apartment. It's a fantastically tiny place with 2 pool tables, a killer juke box, and free shuffleboard. The beer is cheap, the people are awesomely scary, and I just love this place. We ended up closing the bar and all-in-all had a great time.
Saturday, we slept in and then prepped for the Cubbies game. After getting my mom to wear my Cubs jersey, I put on my Cubbies hat and shirt, and TRIED my best to get my dad and Brian to at least wear a Cubs hat. No luck. No worries, though, as more than half the fans there were rooting for the Cubbies. Before the game, we went to Wynkoop Brewery for some pints and dinner. The game was fun, though the Cubs lost (of course). After the game, we just came home and took it easy, as we had a full day planned for Sunday.
On Sunday, we drove down to Colorado Springs. First things first, we arrived at the train station and got our tickets for our train ride to the top of Pikes Peak. The weather wasn't terrible down in Co. Springs, but was sprinkling a bit. We get on the train and begin our ascent up the mountain, with fantastic scenery on both sides of the train. As we climb up the mountain, the rain turns into sleet, then into hail... We arrive at the summit 1.25 hours later and are rushed from the train to the building up top, because lightning was hitting the summit. At the top, we couldn't see much because of the storm. We spent about a half hour at the summit building and then had to head out to the train through the inch of snow that had fallen, all the while, dodging lightning. The descent down the mountain was uneventful, but was so neat to see the weather changing, and by the time we got down, it was sunny and precipitationless.
After leaving the train station, we drove over to Garden of the Gods and drove through the park. We took a quick walk through the park and then drove over to Old Colorado City for dinner. Brian and I had seen this Greek restaurant there the last time we were down there, so we headed straight there and luckily they were open and we had an awesome Greek feast for dinner. All of the food was excessively delicious.
Monday I had to work, as did my dad, so we stayed in that day. My mom organized my tupperware cabinet- thank goodness, it was scary. It was to the point where I was shoving stuff in there and slamming the door shut, hoping nothing else was going to fall out in the split second it took me to close the door. That night I cooked out on my awesome little (and I mean little) grill. We had some burgers and dogs, beers, potato salad, and I made strawberry shortcake for dessert. Yummy. After dinner, we met up with Rich and Dez at the Arvada Tavern for some more shuffleboard and pool. We called it a somewhat early night, as the weekend full of activities had worn us down.
Tuesday, we took it easy and sadly I had to take my parents to the airport mid-afternoon. After we said our goodbyes, I began mentally preparing myself for my kickball game that evening. Ha. It was so nice to have them out here and for them to see my new apt and to meet Lola finally! I can't believe I'm going to be in Chicago in just over a week!
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
BARF.
First it was Bennifer. Then Brangelina. Now, Vaughniston. WTF. I thought the whole name combination thing way back, when it was Bennifer, was so freaking retarded, and the media keeps coming up with these combos thinking they are oh-so-clever. Well, only thing I have to say to these fools is: "YOU'RE NOT CLEVER, YOU SUCK!!!" What are they going to do when people couple up and their names are not suited towards this combo styling?? Seriously, you can't combine every couple's names, can you?
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
If I have to hear about the freaking heat one minute more...
Seriously, it's been incredibly hot in Denver for the past two months. Multiple days, one after another, over 100 degrees. Do we get any news coverage?? No.
It's not til the heat hits precious New York City that it seems to be the most important news story of the day, exceeding the amount of airtime the media covers on Castro, the Isreal-Lebanon crisis, and obviously other numerous stories that have GOT to be more important than a few hot days in NYC.
I'm just so sick of hearing about it and I know I'm not the only one. Jen, this one's for you, girl. ;)
It's not til the heat hits precious New York City that it seems to be the most important news story of the day, exceeding the amount of airtime the media covers on Castro, the Isreal-Lebanon crisis, and obviously other numerous stories that have GOT to be more important than a few hot days in NYC.
I'm just so sick of hearing about it and I know I'm not the only one. Jen, this one's for you, girl. ;)
the daddy of 'em all!
Oh yes, I went... I went to the daddy of 'em all. Yes, the rodeo at Cheyenne Frontier Days! It was my first time to Wyoming, my first time to Cheyenne, AND most importantly, my first ever rodeo. Brian, Matt, and I headed up to Cheyenne Saturday morning; it's just an hour and a half drive from Denver, maybe a little more depending on traffic. We arrived in Cheyenne around noon and headed over to the Frontier Days at Frontier Park. Being that this is the state capital of Wyoming and seemingly is the biggest event that happens in the state all year, I expected chaos- trouble finding parking, long lines, etc. However, we were able to park just a couple blocks from the entrance to the park and after a quick walk in the blazingly hot sun and heat, we were in.
We passed by an Indian Village (which we later visited and were disappointed to find it just a bunch of shacks full of crap for sale- the teepee's in the village that I was excited about were off-limits!), walked through a chuck-wagon cook-off, and then found the insanely long line for tickets to the rodeo.
My first Rodeo! After a long wait in the sun to get our rodeo tickets, we entered the arena and I was shocked and appalled by the cattle roping or whatever you call it. I mean, it's not that it's inhumane or anything, but it was just nothing I had ever seen before...
1. Cowboys on horseback lasso cattle.
2. Calf/Cow/Whatever it is, upon having a rope around it's neck, falls to ground.
3. Cowboy jumps off horse and ropes the cow's hind legs together.
There's nothing inhumane about that, right?? Anyways, once the shock wore off, I found this portion of the rodeo to be fairly entertaining.
The Rodeo had many events... The highlights were the bull-riding, the trick-riding (awesome boy and girl riders on horseback doing flips and whatnot in fantastically bright and shiny and sparkly outfits- the horses even had little sparkly leg warmers on too. You just can not go wrong watching horses donning leg warmers), and the wild horse race. Now, THIS was something to see. They have all these wild horses they bring out, and teams of 5 or so guys each take a horse. The team has to attain control of the horse, saddle the horse, and then some poor fellow hops aboard and TRIES to get the horse to go down the track in the correct direction. The horses are wild and crazy and the horses that escape from the teams go running in all directions on the track. This causes the other horses to follow after. Basically, one guy gets his horse to go in the right direction, some other horses follow. Meanwhile, other horses are headed in the opposite direction around the track. When they meet, chaos ensues. They all turn around and now they're ALL going in the wrong direction, except for a couple horses without riders who are headed in the right direction. Then another random horse heads towards them, and they all turn around AGAIN. Repeat. Repeat again. It was awesome. In the end, only ONE rider/horse combo actually crossed the finish line. Also, another guy got around to turn 3 and the horse stops and won't move, he never crossed the finish line before the time limit. Absolutely hilarious and the total highlight of my day at the Rodeo. I know I wrote a long time ago about the motorcycle demolition derby which was inexplicable. This was very reminiscent of that event, especially in that I just can not do it justice writing about it.
After the rodeo, we roamed around the carnival area. Oh, and I forgot to mention the awesome carnival food we ate during the rodeo. Now, I did not eat all of the following personally, but this is a sample of what the three of us consumed (note: everything was deep-fried. Well, except the drinks): spiral spud potato chips, corn dog, french fries, funnel cake, fresh-squeezed lemonade, beer. Also, I must add for breakfast on the drive up to Cheyenne, we had donuts (also deep fried). Matt kept with the theme and when we went to dinner that night, he got chicken-fried steak. I can only imagine the pain he was in the next day.
After dinner at a local brewery in Cheyenne, where we met up with our friends Rich and Des, we headed back home, bellies full of grease and beer. You just can't beat a day like that.
We passed by an Indian Village (which we later visited and were disappointed to find it just a bunch of shacks full of crap for sale- the teepee's in the village that I was excited about were off-limits!), walked through a chuck-wagon cook-off, and then found the insanely long line for tickets to the rodeo.
My first Rodeo! After a long wait in the sun to get our rodeo tickets, we entered the arena and I was shocked and appalled by the cattle roping or whatever you call it. I mean, it's not that it's inhumane or anything, but it was just nothing I had ever seen before...
1. Cowboys on horseback lasso cattle.
2. Calf/Cow/Whatever it is, upon having a rope around it's neck, falls to ground.
3. Cowboy jumps off horse and ropes the cow's hind legs together.
There's nothing inhumane about that, right?? Anyways, once the shock wore off, I found this portion of the rodeo to be fairly entertaining.
The Rodeo had many events... The highlights were the bull-riding, the trick-riding (awesome boy and girl riders on horseback doing flips and whatnot in fantastically bright and shiny and sparkly outfits- the horses even had little sparkly leg warmers on too. You just can not go wrong watching horses donning leg warmers), and the wild horse race. Now, THIS was something to see. They have all these wild horses they bring out, and teams of 5 or so guys each take a horse. The team has to attain control of the horse, saddle the horse, and then some poor fellow hops aboard and TRIES to get the horse to go down the track in the correct direction. The horses are wild and crazy and the horses that escape from the teams go running in all directions on the track. This causes the other horses to follow after. Basically, one guy gets his horse to go in the right direction, some other horses follow. Meanwhile, other horses are headed in the opposite direction around the track. When they meet, chaos ensues. They all turn around and now they're ALL going in the wrong direction, except for a couple horses without riders who are headed in the right direction. Then another random horse heads towards them, and they all turn around AGAIN. Repeat. Repeat again. It was awesome. In the end, only ONE rider/horse combo actually crossed the finish line. Also, another guy got around to turn 3 and the horse stops and won't move, he never crossed the finish line before the time limit. Absolutely hilarious and the total highlight of my day at the Rodeo. I know I wrote a long time ago about the motorcycle demolition derby which was inexplicable. This was very reminiscent of that event, especially in that I just can not do it justice writing about it.
After the rodeo, we roamed around the carnival area. Oh, and I forgot to mention the awesome carnival food we ate during the rodeo. Now, I did not eat all of the following personally, but this is a sample of what the three of us consumed (note: everything was deep-fried. Well, except the drinks): spiral spud potato chips, corn dog, french fries, funnel cake, fresh-squeezed lemonade, beer. Also, I must add for breakfast on the drive up to Cheyenne, we had donuts (also deep fried). Matt kept with the theme and when we went to dinner that night, he got chicken-fried steak. I can only imagine the pain he was in the next day.
After dinner at a local brewery in Cheyenne, where we met up with our friends Rich and Des, we headed back home, bellies full of grease and beer. You just can't beat a day like that.
Care to be bathed in ethereal melodies??
So, I'm working on a program bookley for a client of mine. They have a conference coming up in a couple weeks and as I'm working on this program, I can't help but notice some awesome workshops they are having and I just have to share with you all...
Sacred Sound Circle with Tibetan Bowls
Patricia begins by toning with the bowl and then invites others to join in. Participants may then choose to take turns sitting in the center of the circle to be the focus of the sound and vibrations created by the group. All are bathed in ethereal melodies and leave feeling renewed in body, mind and spirit.
Make a Journey Necklace
Make your own Journey Necklace. This is a stone and bead arrangement on a leather cord that is designed using the concept that our lives are a series of beginnings and endings. A pendant is chosen to represent where you are in your journey now, or a vision you wish to achieve. Beads are added to mark the seasons, according to the Native American medicine wheel philosophy.
Jail Inmates Return to the Body Soul
Committing crime frequently involves a physical act that is disrespectful to the integrity of the body. Dance therapy allows female inmates to feel, express and communicate their body experience. Work using the IFS model as a guide will be examined and explored.
The Multiplicity of Gender
Is it a boy or a girl? In response to society’s rigid constructions around gender, many of us carry burdens that are attached to gender identity. Using the IFS model, the complexities and sensitivity to the nuances and multiplicities of gender will be explored.
Earth Surrendering
This workshop will facilitate participants’ experience of guides. A phenomenon in the IFS model, guides may appear on their own or may come when called into a session. Earth Surrendering is a transpersonal experience for receiving guidance from the Earth.
The Meaning of Mother
This workshop will examine the archetype of Mother: how it shapes our parts and how it continues to affect the capacity to care for ourselves and others. Transforming this power into wisdom, love and healing will be explored.
Self-led Divorce
A Self-led divorce creates the opportunity for healing the re-structured family. Whether in therapy or mediation, couples are offered a new paradigm for parenting that transcends the typical adversarial process.
Sacred Sound Circle with Tibetan Bowls
Patricia begins by toning with the bowl and then invites others to join in. Participants may then choose to take turns sitting in the center of the circle to be the focus of the sound and vibrations created by the group. All are bathed in ethereal melodies and leave feeling renewed in body, mind and spirit.
Make a Journey Necklace
Make your own Journey Necklace. This is a stone and bead arrangement on a leather cord that is designed using the concept that our lives are a series of beginnings and endings. A pendant is chosen to represent where you are in your journey now, or a vision you wish to achieve. Beads are added to mark the seasons, according to the Native American medicine wheel philosophy.
Jail Inmates Return to the Body Soul
Committing crime frequently involves a physical act that is disrespectful to the integrity of the body. Dance therapy allows female inmates to feel, express and communicate their body experience. Work using the IFS model as a guide will be examined and explored.
The Multiplicity of Gender
Is it a boy or a girl? In response to society’s rigid constructions around gender, many of us carry burdens that are attached to gender identity. Using the IFS model, the complexities and sensitivity to the nuances and multiplicities of gender will be explored.
Earth Surrendering
This workshop will facilitate participants’ experience of guides. A phenomenon in the IFS model, guides may appear on their own or may come when called into a session. Earth Surrendering is a transpersonal experience for receiving guidance from the Earth.
The Meaning of Mother
This workshop will examine the archetype of Mother: how it shapes our parts and how it continues to affect the capacity to care for ourselves and others. Transforming this power into wisdom, love and healing will be explored.
Self-led Divorce
A Self-led divorce creates the opportunity for healing the re-structured family. Whether in therapy or mediation, couples are offered a new paradigm for parenting that transcends the typical adversarial process.
I'm a sap.
Has anyone seen the alzeimer's association commercial that basically recounts a person's life with "Memories" playing in the background? No? Oh, anyways... I just saw it and I'm pathetic and got a little teary-eyed. I think it's because I'm overtired. Yes, that's it. I'm overtired, and thus over-emotional. Memories.......
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