Anticipation...

Aloha! I am sooooo super psyched, as I am leaving for Hawaii tomorrow morning. My bags are packed, actually they have been since before the weekend! More Hawaii details when I get back, but for now, I want to share with you my amazing birthday weekend!

Friday night, Danielle, Matt, Brian and I went for dinner at a little Greek restaurant where I dined on gyros and saganaki and drank roditis. After dinner, we went to the show I've been waiting years to see... Smoking Popes! It was amazing. They played at a super cool venue, a pretty small old theater called the Bluebird Theater. And they were awesome. It wasn't as packed as I thought it would have been, but that meant I got to stand up really close and it was just great. After the show we went to this awesome little dive-ish bar across the way where the ladies get a rose and everyone gets free shots. Sweet!

Saturday, my actual birhtday, was a little more low-key, with stops at Sonic, my favorite drive-in, and Baskin Robbins for some yummy birthday ice cream. Brian and I went to dinner at this great little Italian restaurant in Olde Town Arvada where I drank some Chianti and ate linguine with clam sauce. So good. Danielle met us there and we had some tiramisu. YUM!

So, one of Danielle's presents to me was a Boggle Gamefolio. It rules. It's a travel version of boggle, complete with an electronic timer, quiet plastic cover to the boggle grid so when you shake it, it does not annoy everyone in a 1 mile radius of you, and pencils/paper. So, I think most of you know my boggle addiction and my Queen of Boggle status... After dinner we came back to my apartment and the three of us prepared for a boggle-off. So, I'm kind of overly confident when it comes to boggle, since I normally beat my opponent by double the points most of the time. But I must say that playing with 3 people makes it much more difficult and both Danielle and Brian gave me a run for my money. After being in 3rd place for the first few rounds, I began working my way up in the standings, and alas I was victorious. Phew! That was really a close one. And I would have been especially upset if I would have lost on my birthday!

Sunday Matt, Brian, and I went to the Rockies game, getting there early to enjoy the half price beers at the Sandlot which apparently no longer exist because of some drunkards in Philly. I guess because there were people getting too drunk before the game, nationwide, the MLB has determined there will be no more half price beers. All I have to say is that is some major BS. Anyways, the game was fun, the Rockies won, and the highlight of my ballpark-eating was that I FINALLY got some Dippin' Dots. You know, the Ice Cream of the Future. It was quite tasty and I'm so happy I have finally experienced the ice cream of the future.

Well, I have to wrap up my work and finalize my packing and determine if I have enough to keep myself occupied for a 7 hour flight in my carry-on bag!

Weirdest Dream Ever...

Actually, I was so taken aback by who was in my dream that I don't even recall what the dream was about. So, when I was wee, I used to play with Weebles at my Memere and Grampa's house. It was this big set with a camper, car, motorcycle, and 4 weeble people. I believe it was originally one of my younger uncle's toys when they were young. I would play with this thing for hours. I even thought that the dad weeble and mom weeble looked like my parents. Here's a pic of the groovy set:



And here are 3 of the little dudes I used to play with:



Anyways, the whole point being to this background information is that in my dream, I was hanging out with the weeble on the right. No lies. I was with some other human person and the weeble boy and we were all sitting around. I don't actually remember the weeble talking or coming to life; however, he was human sized. Well, not really full human sized but definitely the size of a 5 year old. Just had to share that with you.

I also had a dream last night that I was hanging out with Jon Stewart and we were talking about Ben Folds while hanging out on a boat on the Illinois River. I remember it was the Illinois River because we jumped in (yes, me and Jon- we're buds) and I was like why the heck are we swimming in this water, it's disgusting! Where do I come up with this stuff??

Fondue and wine.

Lots of it. Wine, that is... Saturday night I had a little apartment warming party with yummy fondue, dips, and wine. Had quite a good group of people in my tiny place, but I think there was plenty of room, and I had such a good time. And I was paying for it most of the day on Sunday!

Well, it's the last week of my life that I will be 26 years old. It's a little depressing, I must say, because I always thought 27 was so old, I don't any more, but I remember being younger, like in my teens thinking, wow, 27, that's old... Plus I remember when my mom was 27 and when she was 27 she had a 7 year old, so I think that's sort of why I think it seems old... Again, I don't want to catch crap from any of my older friends and family members, so let me state again... I DO NOT think 27 is old anymore. :) But on the other hand, I think 27 is a much better number than 26. I'm babbling... Is this what happens when you get old and feeble?? Just joking.

Is there a reason Emeril always wears white socks with black pants and black shoes? Just curious. Yep, I'm watching food network. Emeril's Chefography. I love the chefography shows. It makes me want to pack up my mac and go to culinary school.

Well, I'm off to watch the last episode of "Love Monkey". It's a sad, sad day for me. No more Wayne.

Why?

Why do freeze pops take so long to freeze???

Another note, the box says the freeze pops are "giant" sized. I open up the box to see if the glorious tubes of colored, flavored sugar water have crystallized (no luck) and find the same size freeze pops I have been consuming all my life. It was quite disappointing, though when I bought the pops I was really just wanting the regular size pops and they didn't have any on the end cap, or so I thought, so I just bought the giant size. So, I guess I really got what I wanted, I'm just a little miffed that all of a sudden, the normal sized freeze pops are now being called "giant".

Does anyone else find that freeze pops make you cough? They make me cough, so you may hear me call them cough-pops. I also have cough-gum. Extra brand gum, the light blue package. It's my favorite one, but it has a tendency to make me cough.

Seat dancing.

So, tonight I get an awesome phone call. My friend Jen, who had read my previous blog earlier today, calls me and all I can hear coming from the other end of the line is Sean Paul's "Temperature" cranked. Apparently Jen does the car seat dance too; I am not alone.

This got me thinking about some amazing hip-hop songs that get my booty shaking, this is not an all-inclusive list, but more of a 'these songs are on the top of my head' list and I regularly shake my ass to these...

1. "Get Low" - Lil' Jon
2. "My Humps" - Black Eyed Peas... Okay, I might as well list the entire latest Black Eyed Peas album because pretty much every song on there rules.
3. "Hypnotize" - Notorious B.I.G
4. "...Baby One more time" - Britney Spears
5. "Stronger" - Britney Spears. Yep, Britney made it on my list two times...
6. "Bubble Pop Electric" - Gwen Stefani
7. "Put your back into it" - Ice Cube
8. "Baby Got Back" - Sir Mix A lot
9. "Big Pimpin'" - Jay-Z
10. "Put it on me" - Ja Rule
11. "Izzo" - Jay-Z. I love Jay-Z, he makes the list twice. Nope, make that 3 times....
12. "Can I Get A..." - Jay-Z
13. "B.O.B." - Outkast. That's the best Outkast one, but I also must mention "So Fresh, So Clean" and "Hey Yeah".

Flashbacks

I have been having some flashbacks this morning...

First, I was looking outside at the dump truck picking up the trash out of the dumpster and was totally fascinated by the process. It reminded me of being little and getting excited for the garbage guys to come by. Why is it that children are so enthralled by big trucks (garbage trucks, firetrucks, ambulances)? Was it just me?

Then, I busted out my TI-36 calculator to do some simple calculations this morning and it totally reminded me of being in 6th grade and getting my first scientific calculator, the TI-36, and feeling so super cool because I was in the honors math class (nerd) and got to get one of these, while others in the regular math class still were using their ghetto, non-scientific calculators. (That was one long ass run-on sentence). Sadly, I could hardly remember how to use it.

Top 5...

thoughts about music. Why? because (1) I just finished reading High Fidelity, thus the Top 5 list AND (2) simply because I've been thinking about random things like this lately.

Top 5 Thoughts about Music [05.04.06]

1. I get very upset when I discover a band that I really like only to find out they broke up years ago. I recall this happening when I first listened to Failure several years ago. It was a CD like no other, I fell in love with it. Then, much to my dismay (and bewilderment- I seriously could not believe the album I was listening to was THAT old and that they were never more popular), I found out it was from 1996 and they broke up long ago.

2. The Radio. I once thought it pure evil, aside from the jazz station broadcasted from College of Dupage. Now, without a CD player in my car, I find myself listening to it ALL of the time, at least 90% of the time, when I forget to bring the ipod or my awesome mix cassette tapes that I made in High School. Anyways, I digress... I find myself liking the radio, maybe not all of the music, but it makes me feel young and more 'with it'. I know now all of the popular songs and don't feel like an idiot when people are talking about Sean Paul and I have no clue who he is. By the way, that Sean Paul song rules, I literally do a seat dance when that comes on in the car, and when I hear it on the verizon commercial... somebody better stop me.

3. Kelly Clarkson: love, Love, LOVE this album. I have to say whoever produced/wrote these songs is PURE genius. Seriously. Even my mom didn't believe me when I said I wanted this CD. At least 5 of the album's 12 songs are huge hits. That in itself is huge, and seriously, it's about 20 times more amazing since this girl came from American Idol. Okay, let's just say, I can't get enough of Kelly.

4. Something that irks me: bands that make a come-back after being relatively unpopular (and refuse to give up) for years. Example: Pearl Jam. I'm not quite sure why this bothers me so much, perhaps it's because I remember listening to Pearl Jam as a freshman in high school and I just feel like they are now has-beens. Is that wrong? Loved them in high school, hate them now. And honestly, I haven't even heard their new single yet, I am just basing this purely on feeling and not objectively on their current music.

5. Something I love: good bands that come back after being on hiatus for years. Example: can I tell you how excited I am to see the Smoking Popes in just two weeks?! I never got to see them back in the 90s, and now I get my chance.

So Sad.

So, the Nuggets lost the other night, so no more playoff games to attend. However, this will free up another evening to attempt to organize my place a bit better. I'll also be able to watch the Bulls play and hopefully win tomorrow night while I'm organizing and cleaning. Sounds like spectacular plans for a Thursday evening, eh? I have been so incredibly busy with work, that I have literally been in my office from 8am till nearly 6 each night actually working. Who would have thought??

Oh, I totally forgot to give the update on The Next Food Network Star. So, it came down to Guy, a man with more zealousness than Emeril, and Reggie, the huggable Teddy Bear baker. I was rooting for Reggie because he's just adorable and likeable and I don't think I'd get sick of him like I know I would get sick of Guy saying "off the hook" every 20 seconds. Much to my dismay, Reggie lost, and Guy will now be the next Food Network Star...

Speaking of television: I have sooo much catching up to do on my DVR it's ridiculous. I just went through and deleted a bunch of things I know I'll never have time to watch, but I gotta catch up on the critical programs like Grey's Anatomy and All My Children. ;)

Tonight we have kickball and I'm hoping that we win another game. I'd just like to point out that despite only winning one game so far this season, we are not in last place. I just looked at the standings... And we are 4th from last. Woo-hoo!

A long overdue update

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of packing, moving, cleaning, painting, and unpacking amongst other various things, which I shall try to briefly outline here. ;)

First of all, I moved into my new apartment over a week ago now. I hired movers, which helped the move go much smoother and faster than I could have ever expected. Danielle helped me unpack a ton of boxes the day of the move and I was well on my way to setting up the new apartment within just hours of the move. The rest of the weekend was spent unpacking and early on last week I actually had finished unpacking all of the boxes and am currently in the 'organization' phase now.

Last Sunday we went to see Bill Maher downtown at the Paramount Theater. It was really, really funny, I thoroughly enjoyed the performance. On Wednesday, we won our first kickball game of the season. It was a game full of emotion, and not all celebratory happiness. The team we played were hmmm... how can I describe them... cheaters? jerks? evil beings? Yes, most definitely all of the above. The ump didn't help, as it seemed she had to peak at a cheat sheet of the rules each and every time ANYTHING happened in the game. But, in the end, we maintained our lead and were victorious, so I guess that's all that matters.

Thursday night I went to the Nuggets playoff game with Brian, Danielle, Kimberly, and Matt and was introduced to the joys of bam-bams. Yes, those precious inflatable tubes that you bang together to make a lovely sound. Being my first time using bam-bams, I didn't quite get it at first, but thankfully I had Danielle, an experienced bam-bam user, to instruct me on how to get the most sound out of my bam-bams. The game was a blast- so much more fun than a regular season game, since the whole arena was full and undoubtedly the bam-bams contributed to the fun-level of the evening.

Over the weekend I pretty much took it easy. I enjoyed some fantastic New Mexican food and margs at Desiree's party celebrating Bill leaving the country. Perhaps I worded that incorrectly. We were not celebrating Bill leaving, but Desiree had a party for him since he left for Amsterdam for 3 months yesterday. He will be sorely missed, especially on Wednesday nights at kickball. Also took a nice drive in the mountains up through Coal Creek Cañon and down through Nederland and Boulder, stopping by Chautauqua park on the way home.

This week I'm hoping to get my place a little bit more organized, as I'm hosting a fondue party in a couple weeks. Plus I have a ton of work to catch up on, and hopefully the Nuggets will win tonight so we can go to their next playoff game in Denver on Thursday. Earlier this morning I compiled a list of must-see/must-do in chicago for a friend who's going there in a couple weeks. Makes me miss the good food and the bars and the museums and everything there. Oh, and of course all my friends too! But, I don't think I'd trade the 75 degree sunny Denver weather and mountain views for anything!

The Easter Bunny Visits

On Friday, my parents came into town to bring me some things for my new apartment (moving in t-minus 4 days!!!) and to pick up my kayak. I had thought that my dad had just found someone to buy the kayak, but turned out my dad actually wanted it, so he bought it from me. Funny stuff. Anyways, we just took it easy Friday night and went out for dinner at Tuk Tuk, my favorite Thai place, and then out for some ice cream (coffee with chocolate jimmies- yum!).

Saturday we went on a little sightseeing trip. First, Coors Brewery, followed by Buffalo Bill's Grave, and then a little drive up to Idaho Springs for a late lunch. Later in the evening, I hosted an elegant wine and cheese party at my place complete with paper and plastic plates, moving boxes strewn all over the floor, and even my laundry sitting out. It was a vision of pure sophistication. Brian and Danielle came over and we had an evening filled with intriguing conversation regarding our favorite kind of jelly beans, pie, cookies, cake, and an especially long discussion on our favorite and least favorite cheeses. At first, I determined that there hasn't ever been a cheese I met that I disliked, until my mom brought up that evil Munster Cheese. Not that it tastes bad, but I just don't like it because of that orange crap that's around the edge of it. Thought everyone should know that little tid bit about me, so next time you bring me cheese, make sure it is NOT Munster. ;)

Sunday we went to church in the morning and then had a lovely champagne brunch at the Brown Palace Hotel downtown. It was incredibly yummy and delicious; lots of options and choices and different foods. We sat on the 2nd floor overlooking the lobby where there was a small jazz band playing and little kids dancing to the music- absolutely adorable. The rest of the day was spent napping and then my parents left to drive home that evening and to top off my Easter, the Easter Bunny brought me a basket full of yummy Frango chocolates and jelly bellies.

Confession

I garbage picked. On trash day, I was driving back to my house and saw these two awesome looking end tables (which I have no end tables) in someone's trash. More specifically, a neighbor's trash. I park my car in the driveway and decide to walk over to check them out, thinking it is just too good to be true, there must be something terribly wrong with them. I walk over, and am thinking these are some damn fine tables to be in someone's trash. They are far too nice to go to the dump. They deserve a loving home. MY home. So, I grab one of the tables and hike it back to my house. The hike to my garage being not just a couple doors down, but more like 100 feet away. I briefly look around to see if anyone is watching me... Decide that I'm moving in less than two weeks, so who the heck cares. Of course after I get the first table in the garage, I have to go back to get the 2nd table. So I repeat the walk back over the person's trash, and then the walk of shame back to my garage. I quickly close the garage door and run upstairs to look out the window to see if anyone was around that might have seen me do this. Not a person in sight; the neighborhood is dead and desolate. Sweet. I got away with it without anyone knowing. One might think I would not share this story with anyone, but I was seriously so excited about the tables (both because I actually needed them and because they are some damn fine looking tables) that I told several people merely minutes after the acquisition. Yes, it's official, I am a garbage picker.

Grilled Cheese is good.

I think if I had to choose one food to eat for lunch every day of the rest of my life, it would be grilled cheese. End of story.

V for Very good weekend.

Again, the weather this weekend was absolutely beautiful. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, hoping it continues to be this amazingly gorgeous through next weekend, as my parents are coming in town. Over the weekend, I saw V for Vendetta. Quite a good little flick despite containing some cheesy moments. On the other end of the spectrum, King Kong... Oh, where to begin. Let's just say I'm very sad I'll never get those 3 hours of my life back. Okay, it really wasn't THAT bad... Wait, it really was. Aside from movie watching, I had some delicious margs at Que Bueno, a Mexican restaurant at the Promenade that I had never tried before. With the weather being as great as it was, we ate outside and feasted on some good Mexican food and a pitcher of margs. Life just doesn't get any better than that. ;) Oh, and they even had this fantastic chip and salsa contraption. A plate fits on the bottom that holds the chips, then this thing protrudes up from one side and over the plate, holding three different salsas. That's a terrible description, but trust me, it's wicked cool.

The Next Food Network Star Update: Much to my chagrin, Carissa, the yummy chef, has made the cut again, and is continuing on in the competition. This week, Andy got cut. He definitely isn't my favorite, but I sure did like him more than Carissa. Thank goodness Reggie is still going strong.

With less than two weeks until my big move, I have been feverishly packing and painting and organizing. I feel like I already have a ton packed, but it seems like the house is still pretty full. My parents are coming out this weekend for Easter and to bring a few of my things to me, so I'm really trying to have the majority of my packing done before then. I don't have too many things planned for the weekend, but we will be having Easter brunch at the Brown Palace Hotel. I'm very excited about that, as it's a champagne brunch and there is a chocolate fountain. Well, as I'm writing this, I'm thinking about how it's already Monday night, and my guests will be arriving in 4 short days, so I must get back to work...

If you don't catch the ball, stop it!

Wise words from Bill at our first kickball game of the season last night. Despite crazily fast winds and threatening storms in the not-so-far distance, we played a good game. Lost, but it was still fun. The first inning was a little rough, but I think we got back into the swing of things, after having too many months without practice. Rich had a couple fantasticly glorious plays including a dive-catch and winning the beer chug-off before the game (in lieu of a coin toss, a member from each team chugs a beer, and whoever finishes first gets to be the home team). I even had a couple plays that contributed to outs. They should have been easy catches, but with the sun in my eyes and just being a spaz in general, I didn't get a full grasp on the ball, BUT... I did stop the balls and managed to throw them to base.

Death to Sofrito!

Yes! Finally! Evette got kicked off of The Next Food Network Star! I must say, though, that this week I had just about enough of Carissa, and when it came down to the end of the show with Carissa and Evette left, I was secretly hoping Evette might stay another week. I was thinking, perhaps Evette could teach me one additional dish that I could add sofrito to... Or maybe I wouldn't mind looking at her adorable brace-filled smile for one more episode. And I really did like her cute accent and the way she rolled her r's so elegantly... Carissa, aka "the yummy chef", really annoys me because when she's giving her demos she doesn't know what to say and just talks in circles about pointless things using adjectives that are inappropriate and little sayings that make absolutely no sense whatsoever. It truly is painful watching her do her demos. I guess I just have to hope Carissa gets sent home next week. Now, I have to say I DO actually like some of the contestants, though you might not know about that due to the amount of bitching I do about the ones I hate. First of all, Andy... He's quiet but not too quiet, a really good chef, and you can tell he's just a really good guy. Then there is Reggie. Reggie is just a big teddy bear and has such a great sense of humor. I hope he goes all the way.

More reality tv news... The Amazing Race has moved to Wednesdays. I am quite disappointed with this, as this change occurs the first week of the season for Kickball, which I also have on Wednesdays. Damn those CBS decision makers. They have ruined my weekly tv-watching plans.

The weekend

I was able to cross off quite a few things on my Colorado To-Do list this weekend and had quite a good time doing so. I finally, finally, finally got to experience all that is el chapultepec. Picture an old bar- like half-dive/half-retro, vinyl upholstered bar, eclectic mix of people, burritos and tacos being served, and a live jazz band playing, tucked away in the corner. The jazz band was quite good and was led by an old man on the drums, Gene Bass. He was absolutely adorable.

On Saturday, I went down to Colorado Springs with Brian on a tourist day. First we stopped at the Air Force Academy, but I was quite disappointed because Brian got me all psyched up because when you enter there is someone there that salutes you and I really wanted to be saluted, but we arrived at the academy and the entrance gate was empty. No salutes or salutations. :(

After the Air Force Academy, we went to Garden of the Gods- absolutely beautiful and awesome, in the true sense and meaning of the word awesome... It's incredible that this place is a free park. Before heading back home, we went to Old Colorado City, the first territorial capital of Colorado. It's a nice little downtown with little shops and restaurants and even a French bakery. So, about this bakery... Needing a little caffeine and without a starbucks in sight, we decided to get some coffee at this bakery. I try ordering a double shot of espresso with whipped cream. Much to my dismay, I was informed, rather rudely, that they didn't have whipped cream. So then I just ordered a latte. Thinking this was a fairly easy request, I was suprised by the slew of questions that proceeded, again with the rude tone. After seeing my ordering experience, I think Brian gave up on ordering anything coffee or espresso related, so he ordered a chai, thinking that was a rather easy order. But, no... mr. rude bakery worker then attacked Brian with a bunch of questions- hot/cold, latte/non latte, etc. And I thought ordering coffee at Starbucks could be a daunting task...

Sunday: mostly took it easy, did a little work, did a little sodoku and crossword puzzling. I was both happy and sad that the clocks changed. Happy because it was light out later, sad because I lost an hour....

The week in review...

Yes, this week has proved to be quite a good week in reality TV. First, on The Next Food Network Star (yes, I DO watch it and yes, I DO like it), my least favorite contestant got the boot. She was just such a... drip. That's a bad descriptor word, but really, I can not think of any other way to describe her. She lacked emotion and all she wanted to cook was 'healthy' food. What a bore. Oh, and then there's Evette... Sweatheart, seriously tone down your latin flavor... I'm all about ethnic cooking, but if I have to hear about sofrito one more time... She uses it in EVERYTHING. Even in her "Tortilla de Papa y Carne de Cerdo con Espinaca" which she made this week. What's that, you ask? Oh, apparently that's spanish for Omelet. On the other hand, Evette is adorable and everything she makes really does look good and looks pretty darn easy as well. Then, on The Amazing Race, the 'pinks' got kicked off. All I have to say about that is it was about time; I wasn't sure if I could bear another week of watching these girls with their annoying accents and all-pink clothing and their boy-crazy talk. Next week, I hope the old people arrive on the mat last.

Aside from television watching, I really have been keeping busy. I have packed up a ton of my stuff and have been trying to organize a bit so I'm ready for my move. I can't believe I'll be in my new place in just about 3 weeks. I've also been pretty busy with my work too, which I'm actually working on late tonight, in hopes that I don't have too much to do over the weekend. Well, really hoping to not have to work at all over the weekend.

In blogging news, my dear friend, Todd, has finally started a blog in which he'll be posting his rants about people who 'annoy' him. I'll post the link to his blog shortly. I eagerly await reading his tirades, as he infuses his writing with a level of hilarity I can only dream of matching... Also, a warning: this blog may not be the one for reading at work; profanities abound and are actually part of the URL.

Bubble Pop Electric

As I pack, I simply cannot resist the urge to pop the bubble wrap bubbles. It is possibly the most fun (and only fun) aspect of packing.

Mamma Mia!

Had such a great weekend. Not only was the weather amazing, but on Friday I proved my "Boggle Queen" title by beating my challenger, Brian, almost by double. That's right. I believe the final score was something around 117 (me) to 59 (Brian). I was especially proud of my score (and perhaps gloated a BIT too much) since Brian is such a smarty-pants. He may be king of triva, but I remain reigning queen of boggle.

Saturday was even more beautiful than Friday- I even got some sun- and I mean I had tan lines where my shirt was! Almost forgot to mention, I found an apartment. It's a nice two bedroom place in Arvada; close to the city, really close to Danielle. ;) I really like the location and am very excited to have a place to call my own. Saturday night I had the pleasure of seeing Mamma Mia! at the Buell Theater. Danielle, Bill, Brian, and I had a great dinner at Vesta Dipping Grill beforehand. Danielle introduced us all to Endamame, which are soy beans doused in salt- sooo yummy. Bill refused to eat them because they were covered in salt and he claimed it would make his taste buds explode; I didn't listen. I ate a bunch of them and later that night realized that some of my tastebuds had indeed exploded... For dinner, I had seared tuna that was accompanied by 3 tasty dipping sauces. I have been wanting seared tuna for so long. Last time I had it was probably over a year ago at Branmor's (which I highly recommend getting it there as well). The only thing I can suggest is order it rare- I ordered it medium-rare thanks to the suggestion of our high-as-a-kite waiter, but really had wished I just got it rare. It was still super good and tasty though. I also tried duck for the first time, which is what Danielle had- very yummy as well.

After dinner, we saw Mamma Mia, which was fantastic. It has been so long since I have been to the theater- I think the last time was in college when I saw Les Miserables. And I saw in the program that Sweet Charity is coming here next winter with Molly Ringwald starring- I have GOT to see that! It is quite odd here, though, the wide variety of clothing people darn for the theater. I saw everything from flip flops and jeans to sparkly evening dresses. Next time I go, I'm wearing my party dress.

Following Mamma Mia, we went to Corridor 44 (or is it 45?), a champagne bar in Larimer Square. It's a really cool bar and they have all of these yummy champagne cocktails. Think martini's but instead of vodka or gin as the main ingredient, substitute champagne. For example, I had one called a Raspberry Truffle that had champagne, Godiva Liqueur, and raspberry vodka- very yummy. Overall, it was a fantastic night. OH! and how could I almost forget to mention- on the way home, we took the HOV lanes on 25, (my first time) to truly make it a night I'll never forget.

Bradley on TV!

For the first time since I was in high school, Bradley University was in the NCAA Tournament! It was awesome to be able to watch my alma mater on TV and they did surprisingly well, making it into the Sweet Sixteen! Of course, the one game I go out to a bar to watch the game, in my Bradley sweatshirt, they lost, but it was still fun nonetheless. Let's hope they can pull it off again next year!