Wearing Mascara

Wandom Wednesday

by Julie on May 16, 2012

Let W{R}andom Wednesday begin! (Ha, I act like this has been an on-going series or something. Let’s just pretend that I’m uber creative and consistent and W{R}andom Wednesday has been a thing all along, K?)

Won’t you be my neighbor?

I met both Katie and Charlene at the a BvB happy hour about a month ago. We all squealed exactly two times that night. First, when we met (online soul mates) and second, when we found out that we are neighbors. As in, live on the same street or around the corner neighbors. This was refreshing because these are the types of friends I could call up when I want some wine and company with no bells or whistles.

So, last Friday, Katie invited us to her apartment and Nidhi, even though she lives in the east side, came too. The best part was the view. Katie’s balcony overlooks Lake Erie. While we talked, I fantasized about owning a boat and going off to sea. I also drank a lot of wine.

Wine + cheese + girl talk is unbeatable for a Friday night.

Fashion Week

I did not attend Cleveland Fashion Week, nor do I know really anything about it. BUT, look how fantabulous Nidhi looks? Ow ow! Head over to Cleveland Socialite to check out her recap of the experience. Also, check her out in the Plain Dealer!

Vegetables

I’ve been working hard to get my veggies in. I was so good about it last year and this year? Well, let’s just say I haven’t been a good Julie-veggie-eater. But, I’m working on it. I took this Instagram today to be totally different and unique than every other blogger out there. Look! Baby trees.

Recent favorite foods

La Croix, sparkling water, isn’t a recent favorite of mine, I’ve been loving on this stuff for a long time. I first learned about it from Meghann before it was in DC or PA. When I saw it in the grocery stores for the first time, it was love at first bubble (?). Now, I see La Croix everywhere and I’m thankful. Back in 2009, I gave up pop. I used to drink diet pop all the time but now I tend to avoid fake sugars whenever possible. La Croix makes drinking water more fun (I need the fizz). Every flavor is a good flavor! I haven’t tried the coconut yet… anyone out there try it?

I bought some 100% carrot juice at Trader Joe’s recently and love it. It’s even better in my Breckenridge Brewery glass.

When Todd and I were in Denver, we tried these potato chips on a whim. Hands down the best salt and vinegar chips I’ve ever had. Considering this is like my top 2 favorite flavor, that says a lot.

This have a permanent place in my office. The soy, the wasabi, the joy! mmmmm… Plus, they are cheap if you buy them at CVS!

As I mentioned on Twitter earlier, this cookie butter spread from Trader Joe’s is made of peanuts, goodness, and unicorns. Seriously. I tried this tonight for the first time and you NEED TO GO BUY IT AND EAT THE WHOLE JAR.

Jade and her cigar

Jade looks like she is smoking a cigar instead of chewing a bone. ‘Nuff said.

{ 7 comments }

I wanna dance with somebody

by Julie on May 15, 2012

in Deep Thoughts

Friends, friends…

It is about that time of the year when school is wrapping up. Kids are becoming more giggly and teachers are seeing an end in sight as well as preparing for next year. Sooner or later, the last day of school will come and summer will be here. You’ll see kids splashing in your local pool, crashing your lunch at a local spot, and playing with their dogs in a park.

Ice cream trucks will play their music over and over until the regular group of kiddos gathers to them. You’ll become nostalgic in watching these children and yearn for your childhood. A time when your mother said good bye to you in the the morning while you played all day only to be called in at sunset.

Summer time is coming.

My friend Rachael posted this on Facebook tonight.

Watch it. Then go hug a teacher.

{ 7 comments }

Denver part 2: Breweries and friends

by Julie on May 13, 2012

in Restaurants,Reviews,Travel

Hello!

This weekend was so much fun. Full of hiking, pizza, relaxing, and of course, Mother’s Day (Happy Mother’s Day, Mom! I <3 you!).

Anywho, I left you hanging with the rest of my Denver, CO trip… so without further ado, here is the rest of the trip!

Friday Night

After a day of hiking in the Rockie’s, Todd and I got ready for a fun night out. When we originally decided on a trip to Denver, my friend Brandi came to mind immediately. She lives in Colorado Springs and if you’re a long time reader of this blog, you would remember her showing up on numerous occasions during my time in DC. She was part of my grad school class and the memories are endless.

As soon as I walked in the restaurant, Brandi and I talked non-stop! The last time I saw her was two years ago at graduation. Lots of time has passed and it was refreshing to catch up. We decided on Wynkoop Brewing Company for dinner and drinks, which was perfect. Brandi has been a vegan for about 3 (?) years so we wanted a place to suite her needs as well as something delicious.

I ordered the hummus plate (pita, feta, hummus, olives, etc) and shared the chicken quesadilla with Todd. Brandi ordered the vegetarian chicken cacciatore. Everything was delicious and this is also home to chile beer. I wasn’t a fan because, well, I’m not a big spicy food fan. Brandi raves about it though.

Pictures of food were nonexistent because we had two years to catch up on!

After dinner, Todd and I arrived back to Hotel VQ and went straight to sleep. It turns out that our Wynkoop dinner and drinks night was just foreshadowing for what was to come the next day…

Saturday

It was my turn to drive Red and I did not protest. I loved driving in the huge jeep and felt so powerful. Maybe my next car should be something similar – I definitely felt more safe than my current {tiny} car.

To represent home, I decided to wear one of my Cleveland Clothing Company shirts for our brewery tour day, and I’m happy I did. When we pulled into the Coors Brewery parking lot, there was a really nice girl directing traffic. She told me she has the same shirt because her sister lives in Lakewood! Such a small world… she was so nice and welcoming.

It was a wonderful way to start off our tour. Once parked, we were in line for about 15 minutes waiting the bus that would take our group to the beginning of the tour. We were told that afterwards, we were welcome to leave our car in their parking lot to tour Golden, CO, if we wished. Todd and I loved the customer service – so genuine and perfect.

The self-led tour began with quick instructions on how to use our hand held device that talked to us during the tour. We loved this because we could go at our own pace and didn’t have to wait for others.

The tour offered a total of 4 samples: 1 was a small sample of either Coors or Coors Light during the tour. The other 3 were after the tour in the Coors Lounge.

Again, the lines went quickly and there were many options.

We both agreed that Batch 19 was awesome!

The glasses weren’t small either… about 12 ounces, I think. After two glasses, we decided we had enough (we needed to save room for our next tours!).

This was hilarious:

The coach says beer is good for us after a hard game, if it’s Coors beer.

After the awesome Coors tour, we were pumped for what was to come next. Breckenridge Brewery it is!

The Breckenridge Brewery tour offers a tour throughout their facility led by a very knowledgeable guide. If you take a tour, they give you a beer for free.

We arrived early and decided to share a BBQ platter (only $10) to suppress our appetite and prepare us for more beer samples. The pulled pork, beef brisket, bacon mac & cheese, and cole slaw were outstanding. Even looking at this picture, I am drooling.

First, I ordered the Summer Bright Ale – their seasonal summer beer. It was light and refreshing – exactly how a summer beer should be. I couldn’t decide what I wanted next, though. After reviewing the menu, the bartender recommended their Summer Bright Ale that was aged in a cabernet sauvignon barrel for 4-months.

Um. Is my name Julie? Is the sky blue? Obviously, I went with that and it was incredible. Look at the pretty glass it comes in too? (Todd bought the glass for me too – love it!!!!). I wish I could go back and have this again.

This was the Oatmeal Stout aged in a Stranahan‘s Whiskey barrel. Oh man… no words, my friends. No words.

The best part about Breckenridge was the people. You can tell they really appreciate their customers. The bartenders were all so knowledgeable and passionate. This brewery tour was by far the highlight of the trip!

Afterwards, I was feeling ~~quite tipsy~~ very happy. Todd saw a 7 Eleven and even though it wasn’t July 11th yet, we went for some Slurpees. They were completely necessary at this point.

Cherry Coke Slurpees coming right up!

We headed back to the hotel for a little, and eventually made it back out for more brewery fun! Our fun led us to Great Divide Brewing! Todd and I ordered a few samples each (best way to try everything). The Wild Raspberry Ale and the Colette were the highlights. Todd loved the Hoss.

Yetiiiiiiiii.

After Great Divide, we explored and found food. We tried Illegal Pete’s, based on the excellent ratings found on Yelp. It was a Chipotle knock-off and while tasty, it was nothing too memorable. Also, we weren’t the brightest crayon’s in the box by decided on a Mexican place on Cinco de Mayo… it was crowded!

Exploring continued…

After awhile, we decided on dessert. Stephanie highly recommended d Bar Desserts and we decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, Todd and I decided to walk there. We didn’t think it would be that bad? I mean, it was only about 2 miles and we were running on burritos! Not bad at all…

…right.

We got lost. A couple times. And the area of Denver we were in weren’t good with cabs (maybe because of Cinco de Mayo, but whatever). No cab would stop for us and it was frustrating. Then, it started to rain. At this point, I’m just laughing and enjoying a nice walk in the rain… then, it starts lightening and thundering… not cool.

Once we finally found d Bar, it was nice but annoying since there is very limited seating. Stephanie warned me about this, but clearly I didn’t listen. We ordered dessert to go (cake and shake), called our hotel shuttle and waited. And waited. And waited… we sat outside because of the limited seating in d Bar… that’s about the time it started to hail. About 20 minutes later, I called the hotel asking where our shuttle was. They told us they would send a cab instead because they lost touch of the shuttle driver (?!!!!). Eventually, we got a cab (and they paid for it, which was nice), but the whole experience was annoying.

Exhausted and cold, Todd and I arrived back to our room. With cake. Lots of cake.

Was it worth the crazy walking and cab/shuttle ride drama? Kinda… actually the milkshake that came with the cake was better I thought. Off to sleep we went… zzzzzz…

Sunday

We woke up from a blissful night of sleep. We started packing up our things to ready ourselves for checking out. All the sudden, I realize I have a voicemail from my friend Meredith. Meredith is another grad school friend (who also popped up on the blog!) who I roomed with throughout school. The voicemail was Meredith saying,

“Julie?! Are you in Denver? I see on Facebook that you have statuses talking about Denver! I LIVE HERE NOW, call me!”

Immediately, I called her and we were able to meet up for about 30 minutes. I haven’t seen her for about 3 years (!) and it was amazing to see her again. So nostalgic. I miss her (and Brandi).

We had brunch at Breakfast on the Edge which was across from Sloan’s Lake. Another lovely meal with fresh ingredients + friends.

After saying good bye to Mere, Todd and I walked around the lake taking in as much as Denver as we could before heading to the airport.

Our last moments with Red…

Denver Final Thoughts

Our Denver trip was a blast. Denver, CO has an outdoorsy charm to it and everyone we met was so happy and healthy from the inside and out. I hope to make it back soon for more hiking and more brewery tours! Next time, I would prefer staying directly in the city of Denver instead of 3ish miles away. Hotel VQ was very, very close but not close enough to make it walkable to Denver. There was a highway in between us and the city. The shuttle was nice though, but not too reliable.

I hope you enjoyed my Denver recap!

{ 3 comments }

Denver part 1: Rocky mountain hiiiigh

by Julie on May 7, 2012

in Outdoors,Travel

Hello friends!

I can’t wait to recap this weekend! Todd and I went to Denver for our first trip together. We got really cheap one-way tickets so we took advantage.

Thursday Night

It all started on Thursday night. We arrived in Denver around 8:00 pm and immediately went to Budget to pick up a rental car. Originally, we wanted a basic standard car, but we found out they were having specials on Jeeps so we rent a red jeep that we nicknamed, “Red.” I know, so original. Then, we checked into Hotel VQ which was right near Mile High Stadium. It was a nice choice because they had a free shuttle we could use to drive into the city of Denver, which was about 3 miles away.

Todd and I were both starving, so I used my Yelp app to find a cheap place to grab dinner with high recommendations. We discovered Cheba Hut. It was there that I had a sub that changed my life. It was a local favorite with turkey, feta, and pesto, on their garlic sub roll, I think. In hindsight, I wish I was a good blogger and took a picture but we were so exhausted that photography was the last thing on our minds! I didn’t even take a picture of the restaurant until the next day. I highly recommend this place for their toasted subs. Holy cow it was amazing and I talked about it the whole trip.

Friday Morning

Friday, we woke up and it was really hot in our room. The A/C did not work too well + our window faced the sun. It wasn’t too bad, but throughout the trip, we wished our A/C worked better.

We were starving and wanted a good breakfast to sustain us for our planned hiking. Todd and I both love Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives so picking Sam’s No. 3 was an easy choice. I didn’t take a picture, but we both ordered a standard breakfast with eggs, bacon, toast, pancakes, etc. Everything was amazing and the people were so friendly. Another awesome place to eat!

By Friday morning, it was becoming clear that we wouldn’t eat a bad meal in Denver. Everything is so fresh and tasty.

Go Ahead.

Lick Your Plate!

We Won’t Judge…

My kinda place.

Saturday Afternoon

Then, we were off to Rocky Mountain Park! The drive was wonderful. It was at this point in our trip when I wish we brought John Denver’s Rocky Mountain High as a jeep soundtrack.

Todd and Red.

Me and Red.

So freakin’ gorgeous.

Once we arrived near our hiking spot (near Bear Lake), we saw tons of animals, like Elk, just chillin’.

Hello, Mr. Elk.

I would love this picture 100x’s more if my head didn’t look like a light bulb because of my hat.

Out-take.

Better.

Snow!

The hike was really, really fun! It was more relaxing than anything. Sometimes, we would just sit on some rocks and listen to the silence.

One time, we heard a rattle snake and all the sudden, Todd skips down the hill. I honestly thought it sounded like a wood-pecker (because I’m an dork ) and didn’t know where he went. Maybe Todd just wanted to skip? Why was he scared of a wood-pecker? Then, he told me it was a rattle snake.

GEEZ, Todd, thanks for letting me know. I guess I need to research rattle snake sounds before hiking again.

Even the parking lot was breath-taking…

Red had a fun time too. Can we keep him?

On the way back to the hotel, we saw a Violet Avenue sign… obviously, I had to take a picture.

That ends part one… stay tuned!

{ 8 comments }

Jetsetters

by Julie on May 2, 2012

in Family,Travel

Hi everyone!

So… Todd and I are taking a random weekend trip starting tomorrow! We wanted to pick a place where neither of us have gone and a cool city. Also, having a direct flight was key for this particular situation.

After looking and looking at different flights to various cities across the country, we decided on…

Denver, CO

We think Denver is the perfect city to fly to for the weekend for hiking, playing, and visiting tons of local breweries! I can’t wait to blog about it! The best part about this trip is that it’s last minute and incredibly low-key. We aren’t planning anything fancy. Just us, the outdoors, and yummy cheap food and brews when possible.

I am SO excited!

**********

Last weekend, my sister invited Todd and I plus family and friends on Dave’s side. The food, drinks, and conversation were plentiful. What’s not to love about a weekend night with your favorite people?!

See this serving plate for the shrimp? Well, I painted that for Melanie 10 (!) years ago when I worked at a family camp in PA. It even says so at the bottom. It was nice to see it again and nice to see that Melanie and Nate actually use it.