Colorado

V and I took a quick little trip to Colorado so that he could go to his brother from another mother's wedding. He came to Colorado several years ago for an exchange program, and became so close with his host family that he's back! The wedding was on the lawn of a beautiful mansion in a quaint town. After the ceremony, we took a look around the place. We twirled around in the living room...

Then retreated to the gazebo outside just before diving into some wedding cake cupcakes! Just as Vlad took the last bite of his cupcake, it was time for the guys to catch the garter. There was some pretty stiff competition... two people. Sure enough, the floor caught the garter!

After the wedding, we changed and came back to our neck of the woods. It was mid-afternoon so we walked down the street for some coffee. Two iced mochas please.

A little later we headed out for BBQ. Below you'll see a nice young man and his food... then you'll see his uncivilized girlfriend. It started out so well. What went wrong!?

The next day we woke up bright and early to head to The Royal Gorge Bridge. It's a giant suspension bridge that is 955 feet tall!

Hey, handsome!

Once we walked to the end of the bridge we found the aerial gondolas.

And made some stops along the way. Big girl can't take the 90 degree incline walks like she used to!

We made it!

And snuck a smooch.

The rest of our adventures got rained out, but we had lovely German lunch and went to Vlad's favorite pie place after. And of course we couldn't be gone this long without talking to our one true love.

Christmas Trees

This morning Kara and I popped a few cities over to check out some Christmas Trees.

For the past few weeks I've been buried under loads of homework and haven't been able to enjoy the holiday season. Now that finals are done, I'm ready for mulled wine and Christmas carols!

"O Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree..."

Anyway! First things first... run through all of the trees.

It has been raining nonstop, so it was a bit muddy, but in the 'mud'st of beautiful greenery, it isn't an issue.

There were some large ladies that cost a pretty penny....

And a plethora of shorties waiting for their sprinkle of Christmas magic.

To our surprise, there were 50 kids on a field trip which made for a fun game of "hide behind the trees."

Some hide better than others...

Finally after much deliberation, we found the perfect tree!

But didn't quite have enough room in the car...

Our noses were starting to turn pink so we moseyed into the gift shop where homemade syrup and jelly lined the walls.

I think I'm feeling the Christmas spirit now!

Galentine's Day!

It's such a shame when you don't have a Valentine...

Unless you have a bacon rose.

Just kidding. I'd like a bacon rose and my crush to like me back.

Today, though, is Galentine's Day where you get together with your... you guess it! Gals!

The wind was gusting at roughly 94 miles per hour, so the streamers became part of our outfits.

 

Mom arranged these beautiful flowers!

We had some brunchy foods: a donut topiary, quiche, obviously bacon roses...

Then it was time for dessert! Pink Velvet Trifle, served by darling Rachel.

Being the weird human I am, I figured we needed a little game- "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not"! Basically it's the Bean Boozled game, where there are two identical jelly beans, one is barf flavored and one is peach, or lawn clippings and lime, dog food and chocolate pudding... you name it, they got it. We'd pop one in our mouth, and if we got the bad flavor, "HE LOVES ME NOT!!!!"

Thankfully we washed them down with some bubbles.

Surprisingly, we ended up getting a valentine after all!

Naturally we had to dance our food off. Kara, your hair?

I had such a fun time. Big thanks to Mom and Dad for helping a girl out. And actually, a gigantic thanks to my Dad for BUILDING THE ENTIRE DECK AND PERGOLA WITH HIS BARE HANDS HELLO. It's beautiful- thank you for providing a lovely location for Galentine's Day!!

Missing Summer

"You always want what you don't have."

This is true for me when it comes to the seasons. In the depths of summer when my hair is a ball of damp frizz and lotion rolls off my legs with every bead of sweat, I picture a crisp winter day. Conversely, when it has been chilly for a few weeks, I long for bathing suits and watermelon... and a beach in SoCal.

Let's daydream together for a bit?

King Cake Galore

So Mardi Gras is just around the corner... A lot of people are really quite excited.

I think the whole "Mardi Gras" scenario dives so deep into the Cajun culture, of which I try and stay in the shallow. Sue me, the food is tasty but the accents make my throat hurt.

Thankfully, I found a little Mardi Gras-ish activity that was perfect for me- a King Cake Taste-Off at The Grove. I brought my trusty sidekick Lexi and we got to tasting!

 

There were at least 15 different places to taste from and luckily we were third in line :)

There was even a king cake flavored snow cone from Kona Ice!

A boudin stuffed king cake with pepper jelly... hellur!

 

Cheers!

We had such a good time. Thank you for putting it on, Sulphur! Let's do it again!