Anniversary Trip to Seattle

Matthew and I took a belated anniversary trip over Labor Day Weekend to Seattle. Neither of us had been to Washington before, and since I'm short on vacation at work, we thought checking out a U.S. destination would be easy and fun.

We stayed in the Belltown neighborhood, at a boutique hotel called the Inn at El Gaucho. If you're ever in Seattle, I would highly recommend this hotel. Great location, wonderful amenities and super comfy beds!

Overall we really liked Seattle. We visited Pike Place Market, walked to the Seattle Center where we checked out the Space Needle, drove out to the Washington coast through Olympic National Forest, and had many great meals, including one at Spring Hill Restaurant.

Happy anniversary Matthew! MORE PHOTOS

HAPPY FIRST ANNIVERSARY

Woo hoo! Matthew and I celebrate our first wedding anniversary on 08-16-09. Last year was such a perfect day, and I love Matthew more every day. Sure we have our ups and downs (this spring was full of a LOT of major life events, second only to the summer we moved out here to CO). But I couldn't ask for a better partner, understanding best friend, sympathetic ear and general goofball to go through this crazy journey we call life. Here are some pics from our anniversary dinner at Beatrice & Woodsley, and awesome small-plates restaurant on south Broadway in Denver.

Dish #1: Black-eyed peas with fried green tomatoes and corn hash, with corn shoots on top. Spicy yummminess.

Dish #2: Lamb loin with figs, french toast and huckleberry jam.

Dish #3: "Soft-Core Cornography" O.M.G. Cold corn puree with horchata, polenta french fries and truffle mayonnaise. Public decency kept me from licking the bowl clean.

My main course: Halibut over a bed of cream risotto with zucchini and mushrooms. Matthew had the ruby trout.

Dessert: Anniversary spice cake with buttercream frosting. Our real cake top is back in Kansas, so we had to make due. :-)

2009 Crawl for Cancer - Denver edition

Back in 2006 I participated in the Crawl for Cancer - a bar crawl around Westport in KC, where the funds raised help fight cancer. Seems this little Kansas City-bred charitable event has been growing, because there's a Denver version now! We couldn't participate last year b/c it was the same weekend as our wedding (priorities!), but this year we decided to field a team and show LoDo who was boss. Our team name was Kansans Against Cancer (most of us were from Kansas, went to Kansas, or have a general love of Kansas). Many thanks to Matt & Jennifer, Wendy, Annie, Amy & Brian, Jen and Jill for helping us celebrate our anniversary one day early. It's ON for next year. www.crawlforcancer.org.

Boeckman Family Visit

My in-laws were in town the weekend of August 1st for a little mountain relaxation and outdoor fun. We had a great time showing them around Golden (they hadn't been out to visit since we moved into the new house). Saturday we hiked Mt. Lily (a second time for Matthew & me) and toodled around Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. We even spotted two different herds of elk. MORE PHOTOS HERE

Espana, 2009

I went to Spain for a week with my sister at the end of June/beginning of July. We started in Barcelona, where we went to the opening night of U2's world tour. _Utterly_Phenomenal_!!! We also enjoyed the architecture of Antoni Gaudi around Barcelona - Casa Mila, Park Guell, Casa Batllo and La Sagrada Familia.


After two days in BCN we hit the road for Granada, but stopped first in the Penedes for a Cava tour at Cordoniu, and then four hours down the road took a pitstop in Valencia. We drove through Andalucia on our way to Granada, and noticed how the landscape and outside temperature changed (I think we were in a desert!)


If I liked Barcelona, I loved Grananda! Such an old, 1400s-era city with so much character. And the Alhambra was truly impressive. I've always really liked Islamic art, and southern Spain is just full of Islamic influences. The tile mosaic and plaster work done in the 1200's is so beautiful. And I liked southern Spanish food more, too!! My favorite part of the whole trip was how the Alhambra smelled - cyprus trees, jasmine, roses ... I just wanted to stay all day and breathe in the beautiful-smelling air. Sounds cheesy, but it's true.


After our time in Granada, we had to drive back to Barcelona to catch our flight home. We decided to take a different way to BCN than we had come so we could see more of the Spanish countryside. About two hours into our nine-hour drive we realized we were in La Mancha near Don Quixote's windmills (built in the 1600s) so of course we had to detour to check them out.


If I ever make it back to Spain, I'd love to spend more time in Andalucia (Sevilla? Malaga? Cordoba?), and check out Madrid and Toledo, too. MORE PHOTOS

Ed's Visit

Our friend Ed came out for his second Colorado visit at the beginning of June. Friday night we met up with all our Kansas-transplant friends for a night out at Lala's Pizza and Wine Bar, followed by some beers at Govnr's Park.


Saturday we had a great time driving down Highway 6 into the mountains. We took the road up to the top of Mt. Evans (14,000+ feet) and even saw a yellow-bellied marmot on our way up. We capped the day off with a Rockies Game and some frosty Coors Light.

Thanks for visiting Ed!! MORE PHOTOS

The New House

Matthew and I closed on our new house on May 15th. The days before we closed was a drama-fest with the lender, to be sure, but we're excited and happy to be in our first home together (that we own).

We had quite a bit of painting and furniture buying to do, but now that it's all decorated and unpacked, we're loving it! MORE PHOTOS