update

This weekend I traveled to Denver to spend some time with my good friend Caitlin. B and I had never been to Denver before and we both have friends there. It was the perfect chance for us to both take a weekend trip – and for me to have a girls weekend, and B to have a boys weekend as he stayed with his friends.

What were some of the trip highlights?

Dinner at Steuben’s : I tried my first Moscow Mule (it was SO GOOD. I told B that I’m never drinking anything else again) and we split fried corn on the cob, french fries and ribs! Sadly, no photos of the food were taken that I can share. It was gobbled up too fast!

Walking around, exploring the entire city by foot on Saturday: Cait was a great tour guide! We saw the Capitol building, walked past City Hall, the Public Library, the famous Tattered Cover Book Store, Art Museum, both stadiums (football and baseball), through LoDo and to the Highland. We even made a stop in the HUGE REI that’s there.

Drinks at Wynkoop: Not only did we get to enjoy drinks with tons of people dressed as gorillas – but it was also their 24th anniversary and we got $2.40 beers the entire time (plus birthday cake!). The ~~best worst best~~ best part – trying their Rocky Mtn Oyster Beer! That’s right – I drank beer that was brewed IN ROCKY MOUNTAIN OYSTERS. Gross? Maybe. Drinking something that tasted like beef jerky? #Winning.

Drinks and dinner at Vine Street Brewery: Post-Wynkoop, we hit up Vine Street Brewery to try some of their beers and dinner. Again, no photos. Instead, lots of fries and drinks.

Hiking in Elk Meadow Park: Just a short drive from Denver lies Elk Meadow Park. Cait and I enjoyed an easy hike and saw some snow covered mountains!

snow capped mountains in the distance

Running up the bleachers at Red Rock: The view was gorgeous – and the run was hard. Can I blame it on the altitude?

looking down the bleachers

Up the bleachers

Visiting the beautiful city of Golden: While didn’t make it to the Coors brewery, we instead enjoyed lunch and walked around the cute town and took pictures with the statues. Just as fun? You decide.

All in all it was a great weekend – but I was so glad to make it back to Cleveland before all the flights were cancelled and the effects of Hurricane Sandy blew into town. We’ve had nonstop rain in Cleveland since I came back (so it’s hard to look at all those blue sky pictures of Denver!) but it’s nothing compared to those who were in the storm’s path.

Thinking of all my family in NY and NJ who are suffering the effects of Sandy, stranded without power! Stay safe, warm and dry!

What a glorious weekend! I’m back from a three day weekend in NY, visiting friends, hanging out with my brother and celebrating Mother’s Day with my momma. Of course, I’m going to share it all with you.

Thursday

After work, B and I took the rapid to the airport and flew into Laguardia. That’s right, we flew. That may not sound like a big deal, but B and I hardly ever fly together. For some reason, we either fly without one another (like I did a few weeks ago on my trip to Orlando) or we drive places (like we usually do to NY). But this time – we flew! At the airport, we grabbed a quick snack (pretzels and beer!) at Great Lakes and a 6 pack to go! That’s right, you can buy 6 packs to go ~~to drink on the plane~~ to bring for a friend!

After landing in Laguardia 20 minutes early, we hopped in a taxi to our friend Jared’s place, where we were staying for the night. Jared lives basically on Central Park West, so it was a quick taxi ride and a great place to stay. We met up with Jared, who was just coming home from work (yes, at after 10 p.m.) and grabbed some drinks and a quick bite to eat at a local bar.

Friday

Friday, B and I got up early and did some work. I got in a conference call and some emails and had planned on taking the day off to explore and visit with my brother, but after my brother found out he had to work and some of the projects I was working on were on deadline, and some others experienced a mini crisis (of course on my day off), I ended up working most of the day until meeting up with my brother for dinner at 8. Thank goodness with my job I have the ability to work remotely! I was able to get a lot of stuff done, get on a client call, and answer important emails all from NYC. Plus I got an awesome lunch break – meeting up with my jr high and high school bff (and Maid of Honor) Jane, who lives in New Jersey and came into the city to see me, enjoy Shake Shack. We of course got in a quick trip to J Crew.

Cheeseburger, Shroomburger and Cheesefries

Jane and me – friends for 15 years!

Friday night, I said goodbye to B and met up with my brother at Columbia. He got out of work a little after 8, and then we took a few trains and headed to Williamsburg (Brooklyn) for dinner. My brother had picked out a place for dinner, called Bistro Petit – and it definitely took after it’s name – there were probably 8 seats in the whole restaurant! Luckily, we had made reservations and were even able to sit outside for the first part of our meal – watermelon salad. Okay, I admit, watermelon salad sounds boring. It does. But my brother wanted to order it, so we did. It was anything BUT boring. The watermelon was perfect and came in a spicy watermelon reduction dressing with pickled watermelon rind, grilled halloumi cheese and mint.

watermelon salad from Bistro Petit

Kimchi Bouillabaisse… and bread for dipping

For dinner, my brother got the homemade pasta, and I got the Kimchi Bouillabaisse. Wow. I was greeted with a steaming pot of mussels, scallops, pollack, shrimp, tofu, rice gnocchi (my new favorite thing!), watercress and kimchi. By the end of my meal I could have still drank the broth with a straw – it was so good! The chef came out to ask us how our meal was and explain a little about the pickling and process for making the salad – you could tell he was really into his cooking and it was great to enjoy the fruits of his enthusiasm.

We took a few trains back to Manhattan and I spent the night at Columbia. Ahh, living the life of a college student – for just one night.

More to come … (Update – post completed here)