This past weekend my good friend Lynda came in to town to visit from Tulsa. Lynda works in a group home in Tulsa and we used to share a lot of the same clients. We struck up a conversation one day and before I knew it, Lynda had convinced me to start running with her every morning on the river trail. We trained for the Austin marathon together and talked about everything under the sun. Literally...you can cover a lot of ground in 26 miles. After moving to Denver, Lynda and I have kept in touch and she decided it was time for her to come for a visit and for us to catch up. I'm SO glad she came! Lynda is super fun and an amazing person to be around. Her smile is infectious and she makes whoever she is around feel like they are the most important person in the world at that moment.
So...what do you do with an old friend who just steps off the plane? You pick them up from the airport and then take them straight downtown for some margaritas of course! Max had graciously offered to take care of Chance for the night so that Lynda and I could catch up and go out to dinner. We started the night off at the Rio with margaritas and chips and salsa. We hadn't had a heart to heart in about two years so there was lots of catching up to do.
\After margaritas we decided to pick up Lauren since we were right around the corner from her loft and stroll down the 16th street mall to check out the new H&M.
I tried to force myself to be in the shopping mood, but I just wasn't feeling it. Don't you hate it when that happens? Luckily, H&M has a baby clothes section because I am always in the mood for buying adorable baby clothes. Baby Kennedy (Brad and Ashley's little girl) was the winner of the shopping spree on this night. The little baby girl leggings and hats were way too cute to pass up.
Lauren and Lynda also hit up Forever 21 where we found some sweet tacky sweaters for tomorrow night's festivities.
After shopping, we wanted to hit up dinner somewhere down close to our house. I know that Max said that he had everything covered for the night, and I believed him but I couldn't resist making a quick pit stop at home to kiss my boys goodnight.
After Chance's bath time and a kiss goodnight for each of my boys, Lynda, Lauren, and I set off to the Village Cork. The Village Cork is a wine inspired restaurant within walking distance of our house that I have always wanted to try but we never have.
It was worth.the.wait!The Village Cork ended up being the perfect place to catch up with an old friend. Their wine selection was amazing.
Everything in this restaurant was completely organic and fresh.
We started out with brie and garlic for an appetizer and then we each ordered our own entree.
I had the pork chops and it was falling off the bone and perfectly cooked.
I will definitely be back on a date night with Max!
After dinner on Friday night, we tucked ourselves in early because we wanted to get to the mountains to explore on Saturday morning. I had promised Lynda that I would take her snowshoeing. Lauren had recommended a place in Eldora (just North of Boulder) to check out because it was less crowded and super easy as far as rentals and trails.
On Saturday morning, Lynda, Lauren, Katie York, Chance, and I piled in the car and headed off to snowshoe at Eldora. We only had one small hiccup on the way there....I got a ticket for speeding...drats! What can I say, sometimes bad things happen to good people :)
The drive to Eldora was beautiful, despite the ticket, and I am so glad that we went out of our comfort zone and tried something different. Because Max had watched Chance for me the night before, Max went off with the boys to ski today. Eldora was my first try...not only snowshoeing, but with Chance on my back in the pack.
I love that Chance is so content to just go along for the ride. The pic above is of Chance waiting for me to strap in all of my snowshoe equipment.
Lynda...all bundled up and ready to go!
Lauren and Katie ready to take on the mountain.
Snowshoes check, poles check, baby secured in pack check check. Let's do this!
Snowshoe Eldora or bust!
Lauren, Katie, and Lynda starting out on Lakes Loop.
About mid way through the hike, I had decided that I had found a new love. I can't believe I've never tried snowshoeing before. It is pretty much just hiking for the winter but there is something so peaceful about the sun shining and the snow crunching under your feet.
Chance loved it too! (Well for about the first two hours and then he'd had enough of the pack). That's okay though because now I know how long I can go for next time. Mental note...must be back to base of mountain in 120 minutes or Chance will have a complete melt down that no bottle or goldfish cracker can cure...check.
It was all worth it though! The weather was absolutely perfect and the scenery was so serene.
Through the trees looking up at the sunlight.
Looking down on the frozen lake.
Hiking over rocks and fallen down trees.
There was even this small private cabin in the middle of the hike. Random but cool.
I had an absolute blast on my first snowshoeing experience. I'm definitely putting snow shoes on my Christmas list.
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