Rocky Mountain Rendezvous

So... Denver was a freakin' blast!

 

Genius idea on our part to pick a random city in the middle of the country and meet up for the weekend.

 

Brooke and I have been friends since we were about twelve years old, and randomly finding the fun in almost any situation has always been one of our specialties.

 

There's just something so awesome about old friends, and that feeling of seeing them and feeling like absolutely no time has passed since you last saw each other. We always just pick up right where we left off, and this weekend was no different.

 

 

I apologize for the poor quality of some of the rest of these pictures... Brooke and I had some issues sharing our photos. And PS I hate Shutterfly.

When we arrived Friday morning it was pouring rain in Denver and absolutely freezing. But fortunately we had an indoor activity planned: pedicures at this super adorable salon I had found for Brooke's 31st birthday. I think we both needed a little pampering.

 

We also grabbed lunch at the Ship Tavern, a super cute vintage pub in the Brown Palace Hotel, which is the second-oldest operating hotel in Denver. It's absolutely gorgeous, and if you're ever in town you should definitely check it out.

We basically spent the rest of that day and most of the next day (the weather eventually did clear up, and we had sun for the rest of the weekend) wandering around downtown Denver. They have this area called the 16th Street Mall, which is an outdoor pedestrian mall that's a little over a mile long and has about 300 locally-owned stores and over 50 restaurants. You can bet that kept us busy (and sent me home with a couple new pairs of boots).

The state capitol building and campus were very pretty.

And we loved wandering around the gorgeous streets in the sunshine. Denver has a lot of super random artwork!

Brooke's four-year-old son has had a stuffed bear named Blue Bear ever since he was born. So of course we had to check out Blue Bear Farm in Denver, as well as the 40-foot-tall Blue Bear statue! And we got a souvenir for Blue Bear himself, of course!

We really liked this gorgeous park which was right outside of downtown next to the river.

And I could not get over the completely random architecture downtown. There were modern buildings everywhere, but they were built around super old buildings and churches. It was such a eclectic mix, but it really worked!

We were absolutely fascinated by a building called the Navaree right next to our hotel. It was built in 1880 as a school for girls, but it later became a hotel, and then a restaurant with gambling and hookers! It's across the street from the Brown Palace, and there was an underground tunnel with rail tracks that went to the hotel, so that businessmen could visit the ladies without being seen entering the building! Now it's home to the American Museum of Western Art and unfortunately isn't open to the public on the weekends, because we would have loved to see the inside! I totally think it's probably haunted...

On Saturday night we were super excited about our tickets to The Dinner Detective. It's a murder mystery comedy dinner show that was hilariously entertaining! When we arrived we were asked to pick an "alias" for the evening (Jessica Rabbit and Betty Boop - HA!) and then begin interrogating each other (after visiting the bar, of course) to try and figure out who the murderer was among us.

Then during dinner actors played out different scenes of murders and investigations, and between courses we were allowed to examine clues to try and solve the case.

Brooke and I totally picked out some of the key players before dinner even started, but unfortunately we picked the wrong killer so we didn't win. Shoot. It was still a super fun evening though.

And on Sunday of course I dragged poor Brooke to a sports bar downtown so we could watch the Seahawks play. Road games are always super stressful for me and every other Hawk fan, and this one was filled with even more anxiety for me, because I was in a bar filled with Broncos. Luckily, they were very involved watching their own team play, and I was quietly able to watch the Hawks come back and beat Houston in overtime!!! I was scared to cheer to loudly and piss someone off. Seriously, these fans were rowdy!

The weekend was over all too quickly, and I headed back to rainy Seattle. Honestly though, Denver is a super rad city and I would totally go back there someday. Plus, it was a great place for me and Brooke to meet up -- just a quick two hour flight for both of us. Maybe we'll go back again next year!

As for me, I think my months and months of incredibly busy weekends is finally coming to an end. It's really been a whirlwind summer! Honestly, I'm ready to spend some time enjoying my own city and settling into my new house. This weekend my momma is coming over to help me go though a bunch of old boxes. And as boring as that sounds, I'm actually super duper excited! I'm also seeing all my aunties for some epic garage sale-ing. More on that later...

I hope you're having a great weekend, everyone! 

Welcome to October!

That's right ladies and gents! The month of October (Halloween!) is in full swing, which means several exciting things...

 

Most importantly, Hocus Pocus (the best Halloween movie EVER) is on TV pretty much nonstop, which makes me want to jump up and down like Sarah Jessica Parker, screaming, "Amuck amuck amuck amuck amuck!"

 

 

Also, I was featured today on Susannah's blog, Simple Moments Stick, as one of 15 Awesome Couple Costumes!

 

It's no secret that Stew and I are adult dress up nerds. We love brainstorming, planning, and wearing costumes. Seriously, invite me to a costume party any day of the year and you'll make my day...

 

Here are some of my favorite ones we've put together over the years...

 

Cops.
Mine is obviously a costume, but Stew's looked pretty legit, I thought. So did the girls at the party we went to, who snuck out the back door in a panic after they saw him arrive.

'80s.
I'm no one specific, but Stew went with Tom Cruise in Risky Business, tighty whiteys and everything!

Superheroes.
I've talked a lot about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and how obsessed with them I am, so this one was particularly close to my heart. 

Jersey Shore.
Stew as JWoww and me as Sammi Sweetheart.
Watching Stew walk in those stilettos is one of the funniest things that has ever happened to me.

'80s (again).
You'll see that this is a common theme...

White Trash.
This one was for a themed party some of the WWU guys throw every year. One of my favorites for sure.

'80s Prom.
I told you we're kind of obsessed with the 1980s.

Mario and Princess Peach.
This is the one that made it onto Susannah's blog!

 

As you can see, none of our costumes are every complete unless Stew is rocking a wig (and often some kind of atrocious facial hair). We might be the biggest costume nerds ever, but it's such a blast to get dressed up and have an alternate personality for an evening. That being said, it was vaguely horrifying when I had to organize and put away four huge tubs of costumes when we unpacked at our new house. It might be time to purge...

 

Are you excited for what we might have in store for this year??

 

Honestly, for this Halloween the thing I'm most excited about is having a house, which means I get to open the door for trick-or-treaters! For some reason I just think that's going to be so much fun. Little kids in costumes are completely adorable. Now, how to make sure that Stew doesn't eat all the candy before they arrive...

 

I know I still owe everyone a post about my trip to Denver with Brooke, but I've been having some major photo frustrations this week. I'll get it up as soon as I can, promise.

 

Happy October, guys and dolls!

What is your favorite thing about Halloween?

My favorite day of the week

Usually Friday is pretty fan-freaking-tastic all on its own, but this one is particularly exciting to me, because I'm going on a super fun little getaway to see...

this girl!

 

 

Brooke is one of my oldest and dearest friends, and unfortunately we live on opposite sides of the country right now so I hardly ever get to see her. But finally we decided to just pick a location and head there for a weekend of shenanigans.

 

Enter... DENVER, COLORADO!

 

I know what you're thinking... Denver? What a weird place for a weekend trip, right?  

 

But check it out...

 

 

It's right in the middle.

 

Neither one of us has ever been there before, but we quickly learned that it's pretty cheap to fly there, and Denver actually has a lot goin' on. Our hotel is right downtown in the middle of prime shopping and restaurants, and we have some super fun stuff planned like an afternoon at the spa, a day at the zoo, and even a murder mystery dinner night! And I did warn Brookie that I might end up dragging her to a sports bar on Sunday to watch the Hawks.

 

So yeah, I'm pretty excited for my weekend plans. It's going to be epic.

And for this week's #backthatazzup Friday, let's take it back to 1995 in honor of our longstanding friendship.
 

 

 

 

Woot woot!

 

Oh, and if anyone knows of anything fab to do in Denver that we definitely shouldn't miss, please let me know...

 

Have a great weekend, everyone!

No excuses.

I really have no (good) excuse for my absence here. I've been thinking about all of your constantly, fighting off overwhelming waves of guilt about my poor performance as a blogger.

 

But even these feelings of self loathing have not been enough to force me to log on and write something. And besides, I was raised Catholic, and therefore am no stranger to ignoring constant, consuming feelings of shame.

 

Plus I'm an all-star procrastinator.

 

But soon enough y'all are going to start to get bored, and stop coming back. So it's time I got my butt brain in gear.

 

Now... what should I tell you about?

 

I've had lots of ideas... but when I go to write them down I get a few sentences in and find that my mind is totally blank. And I'd hate to waste your time with rambling nonsense (current post notwithstanding).

 

Am I the only person who suffers from this blogger funk?

 

It's not as if my real life has totally stopped. Since my trifecta of a weekend I did Breakfast Club with some of my besties, saw a chiropractor for the first time, threw a huge party at my boss's house as part of a charity auction, missed an engagement party for our good friends due to the aforementioned party, and watched the Hawks spank the Jaguars. I've also been working crazy hours in preparation for a trip to Denver this weekend with one of my oldest friends. Oh, and I deep cleaned my bathroom at some point. Super exciting stuff.

 

But somehow none of this seemed important enough for a specific post, and I wasn't feeling overly inspired to photograph any of it.

 

But I promise to be better!

 

I really should have participated in Jenni's Blogtember Challenge, but it's obviously a little too late for that. However, maybe I'll still steal some of the prompts for inspiration.

 

And I'll be sure to keep you updated on fall, football, and everything else fabulous that we have going on right now.

 

Peace and love, homies!

Trifecta

Holy moly, what a weekend, friends!

 

We had a jam packed schedule with a concert Friday, a wedding Saturday, and a game Sunday.

 

First up was Zac Brown Band at the Sleep Country Amphitheater near Vancouver.

 

Ah-mazing!

I love ZBB so, so much that I wasn't even mad when they took more than an hour to arrive on stage following the absolutely terrible opener. I am still a little sad that they never played Whatever It Is (our wedding song), but since we got to belt out the lyrics of all our other favorite songs, I'm over it.

 

 

After the concert, we jammed back up north to get ready for my aunt's wedding Saturday night. It was at this fantastic venue right on American Lake at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and they even hired a pontoon boat to take guest out for a ride on the lake after dinner. Of course there was some ridiculous dancing, which even included a choreographed dance performed by me and my cousins. I would share it with you here, but thankfully my mom forgot to press the record button on her phone.

 

 

And finally, finally the night that we've been waiting for (for eight months!) arrived...

The Seattle Seahawks home opener versus the San Francisco 49ers!

 

Let the tailgating commence...

 

 

Russell must have taken my letter last week into consideration, because our freaking defense was on the MONEY last night! It took our offensive line a little longer to figure things out, and the one hour weather delay in the first quarter was a bit ridiculous (since when do we have rain delays in Seattle?), but other than that, it was everything we could have dreamed of and more.

 

Oh and obtaining a Guinness World Record? I guess I can cross that one off my list now!

 

136.6 decibels officially makes the LOUDEST fans on the face of the friggin' PLANET!

 

BOOM.

 

It made the 29-3 victory that much more glorious. The poor 49ers fans in our section were crying crocodile tears and hanging their heads in shame. Don't come into our house and talk crap, bitches! The 12th Man will smack you down every single time.

 

Oh em gee it's going to be such an amazing season!!

 

I literally cannot even see straight because I'm so tired today, but my trifecta of a weekend was totally worth it.

 

How was yours?

I'll take it, but...

Dear Russell,

We need to talk. You were not at the top of your game today. I don't know if you were too busy posing in cable-knit sweaters and doing photo shoots for Sports Illustrated to practice or what, but the Seahawks' performance was a disappointment.

Sure, we were able to hold back the Panthers (one of the worst teams in the league), and I'll take a W no matter what form it comes in. But the offensive line was horrible, defensive line play was mediocre at best, and our running game was nearly non existent. Doug Baldwin played like a super star, and Golden Tate was pretty clutch, but overall we were outplayed. And I can't deal with this type of stress for the rest of the year!

Of course I will love and support you no matter what. But we had high expectations for this season, and this morning was a disappointing start.
 
I realize you were on the road with a 10 a.m. start time, but this type of performance will not do against the 49ers, so you need to figure it out before next week.

Sincerely,

The 12th Man

GO HAWKS!



 

In order to shake off the anxiety that accompanied watching the Seahawks' lucky win, obviously a backyard barbecue, beers and bean bag toss were in order.

 

Hawk yeah!

 

I'll be linking up with fellow Seahawks fan Kristine at Living Barefoot and Crazy occasionally this season for game and tailgating recaps. Please stop by and show her some love!

 

 

First Fall Friday

Yes, I know it's not technically Fall yet.
 

But Labor Day is over, I wore a sweater yesterday, the pumpkin spice latte is back at Starbucks, and NFL football started last night.
 

So it's Fall.

 

And the Seahawks play their first regular season game this Sunday, bitches!! I love you, Russell.

 

So on that note, I'm going to do a special Seattle edition of #backthatazzup with Whitney today.

  

 

And I'm pretty sure I'm going to spend Sundays for the next few months jumping up and down, screaming my freaking head off.

Come on Hawks, this is your moment!!

In other news, I finally got my hair cut and colored last night for the first time in about five years by someone other than my BFF. She moved to Oregon permanently this summer, and I've been procrastinating for months about finding a new hair stylist. But a friend recommended L15 Salon in Issaquah, so I finally swallowed my fears and made an appointment. I mean, the super blonde highlights coupled with trashy dark roots really had to go...

PS, did you know when Stew and I met, my hair looked like this? 

Super long, and brown... crazy!

So I'm not a natural blonde... don't tell anyone!

Anyway, happy Friday guys, I hope you have a fab weekend!

Out With A Bang: Labor Day Weekend 2013

Are you sick of summer vacation posts yet?
I hope not, because I have just one more for you...

We definitely put in our fair share of labor this year, so we took full advantage of the long weekend to kick back, relax, and celebrate another successful summer of shenanigans. A few of our BFFs joined us at Priest Lake last weekend to soak in the last rays of summer sunshine before fall arrives in full force.

Let the epic-ness commence.

Peace out homies – it's been real.

I thought it would be tough to switch gears into autumn, but I'm actually looking forward to the return of crisp weather, comfy sweaters, and of course NFL football!

Plus we've still got some fun adventures planned this month... a concert, a wedding, a work event, an engagement party, a trip to Denver, and of course a few Hawks games!
In case you were worried that our social calendar was going to suffer.

What are you looking forward to this fall?