Weekend Update: Rocky Mountain High

Last weekend Jay and I went up to Colorado to see his family and get some fresh mountain air. We flew in early Friday morning and grabbed some breakfast before heading to Estes Park. It was a beautiful day and the drive was perfect for all of us to catch up. 

Me & my Mountain Man. You should have seen how long that beard got before he started his new job :)

Karen & Ed

It was 48 degrees up at the top of Rocky Mountain National Forest! It started raining just as we arrived at the top. The altitude was killing me, so we didn't stay up there too long before heading down into Estes.

We did see a few elk on the way down.

On the way up there was this beautiful view that we decided we'd stop at on the way down (it wasn't raining at the time). Well, of course on the way down I insisted we get out & get the picture! Jay wasn't too happy about getting wet, but it was so fun running out to the spot as it was thunder & lightening! We just giggled the whole time! A special thanks to Ed for being such a trooper & taking the picture for us!!

There is a Huskers store in Estes, so I had to get a shot with Herbie. Go Big Red!

Friday night we arrived home, freshened up & then braved the torrential downpour to go out for a nice dinner at Union Bistro. The kahlua chocolate bread pudding was pretty delicious!! 

Saturday morning Jay and I went into town to the Farmer's Market with Craig, Mary & Erin who was visiting from NYC. We walked around the shops and just enjoyed some more nice weather. The rest of the day we just hung out at the house and relaxed. Shawn came down from Denver just in time for some beers on the porch!

Mary, Craig & Karen

Erin & Ed

Someday we'll get out to visit you Erin!

Jay and his BFF. We love it that we get to see Shawn every time we go up there!

We had an amazing steak dinner (I still need to get Mary's recipe for those potatoes - they were such a hit!) with everyone and just an overall great time.

Sunday we got up & went for a nice little hike right near the house. We had beautiful views of the Rocky Mountains and got to see some amazing houses from up there as well!

We went to the outlet mall to look for butter bells (they were $40 at the Rocky Mountain National Park gift shop - $12 at the outlets) and then did some grocery shopping in the afternoon. Ed made Alton Brown's ribs for dinner and Karen made her famous Blueberry Pie! Both were so delicious and the perfect way to end such a great weekend. 

I am so glad to be a part of such a great family! Love you!!

July Update (i.e. craziness)

Life has been crazy to say the least! 

Not only did we move July 4th weekend, but Jay also accepted a new job after 7 years with the same company. We both had been patiently waiting for the right opportunity to come along for him and it finally did. There are going to be a lot of adjustments to make for both of us - sacrifices really, but we both feel excited and confident about what the future holds with this new opportunity! 

Jay left a company that has become family to us over the years. He started at the bottom flying the smallest planes and worked his way up to management. He did such a great job, gained some great experience, and made many friends that we both will cherish for life. I was the only lucky lady invited to his little going away gig, so took a few pictures: 

There was such a great turnout and I even got a little sappy thinking about all the great memories we've made with these guys (typical me, I know). 

To Jay!

One night we went out to celebrate before Jay left for training. We've always wanted to try Coup Des Tartes and finally booked a reservation! It's the area's longest running BYOB restaurant, so we brought a bottle from our wine fridge that we'd been saving for a nice dinner. 

The food was DELICIOUS. I tried taking pictures of the food, but unfortunately they didn't turn out very good so here's what we had - picture this in your head:

Brie Brulee - Brie covered with caramelized apples and bruleed to perfection. Served with toast points and seasonal fruits.

Fire & Ice Salad - A fresh tower of watermelon dusted with cayenne pepper and topped with organic tomatoes, finished with toasted pistachios (which we did without), and a drizzle of aged balsamic glaze. (this was soooooo good. It sounds strange, but it was the perfect combination!)

Filet Mignon (Jay) - topped with fresh herb butter. Served with pesto, mushroom, and parmesan stuffed tomato and pomme frites.

Mahi Mahi (Amie - yes, I ordered fish!) - Oven roasted & topped with a green gazpacho sauce, served with a medley of Isralei cous cous, sugar snow peas, asparagus tips, and grape tomatoes. (can I tell you it was the best fish ever! I am going to crave this dish!)

Chocolate Fleur de Sel tarte  - I can't find it on the online menu but let me just say that I took a small piece of crust home that I couldn't finish and ate it for breakfast. It was divine!

It was such a perfect date night - we talked about all that the future holds, laughed, and found a new favorite spot.

...and while he was at training I bought a $100 garbage can. 

The end.

xoxo

Weekend Update: Dinner and a Moving....

As most of you know, we are in the middle of a move. It has been lingering over our heads for a few weeks now & we finally did some REAL packing this weekend. We are stacking things up where our dining table used to be & will be out by Saturday morning!

We are excited about our new place - it is bigger, closer to work, and in a nice quiet neighborhood close to all the fun that Scottsdale offers! I'll be sure to do a post once we've moved in to show you around. 

Saturday night we decided to get out of the house & use a gift card that one of Jay's pilots got him...luckily it was to the Melting Pot - a place that Jay has never wanted to try (why pay a premium to cook your own food??). I was surprised and excited that we got a reservation at the last minute. 

We started with the cheese course. Jay picked the Traditional Swiss Cheese option. Check out his dipping skills....

After our salads, we shared the "Pacific Rim" (included teriyaki-marinated sirloin, white shrimp, marinated pork tenderloin, breast of duck, breast of chicken and potstickers) and "The French Quarter" (included filet mignon, breast of chicken, and shrimp, all seasoned with cajun spices, and Andouille sausage) with the Mojo Style broth (caribbean-seasoned bouillon with garlic & citrus flavors) to cook it in. It was all very good. 

For dessert, I picked the "Cookies 'n Cream Marshmallow Dream" option which was dark chocolate topped with marshmallow cream, flambeed, swirled together and garnished with crushed Oreos. Need I say more?? We also ordered a Ruby Port - one of my favorite after dinner drinks to have with a chocolate dish. Delicious!

It was such a great night and as some people say "Just What the Doctor Ordered"...and Jay did admit that it wasn't too bad of a date night after all. 

xoxox

Weekend Update: A Visit with the Murphys

While Jay was out galivanting in Mexico this past weekend (no photos - that would be evidence!), I was in Williamsburg, VA visiting my sister and brother-in-law. It was such a great trip!! Here is a recap:

Tricia picked me up Friday night and we went right to dinner. I had to get a picture of her and the purse I made her for her birthday :) It was funny because we were both searching in our big bags to find our cameras as we sat down!

After dinner, we went to the house and painted our toenails in preparation for a day of sunning on Saturday. We also made delicious cookie-brownie bars topped with none other than Ben & Jerry! 

Saturday we got up and headed to the beach. Instead of taking an hour-long drive to Virginia Beach, we stayed close and went to Yorktown beach on the York River. It's close enough to the ocean that the water is salty, so to us, it counts as a beach :) We walked through the farmer's market looking for one of Tricia's friends. This darn cooler was so annoying - I had to get a pic of it. Don't worry, I had my turn and pulled it UP the hill on the way back to the car. 

Getting some sun!

Looking north to the Coleman Bridge. 

This beautiful ship was setting sail just as we got there. 

After the beach we picked up some sandwiches and headed home. At this time I gave Tricia & Sean their shower present since I am not going to be able to make it home for the shower next month. This is my fourth quilt I've made and I'm so proud! It has frogs on it for Tricia and orange for Sean.

Saturday night we went to The Marina for dinner. 

And this was a big deal. I had FISH for dinner. I was determined to have fish because I was a) on the coast and b) with Tricia & Sean who love seafood. So I had this delicious blackened catfish. I seriously LOVED it and gobbled it up!

Tricia was a little excited about shrimp with Old Bay. Geez!

So as we were sitting at the marina & just had our food delivered, Mother Nature delivered the storm I had been asking for. The wind picked up real strong and quickly it booted us off our table and under cover by the bar since the marina didn't have an inside area for us to sit. 

We sat at the bar shoving down our food and holding onto everything that was blowing around until the restaurant decided to CLOSE due to the weather. The staff threw a bunch of to-go boxes at us and urged us to finish up quick while they pulled down all the metal "shades" around the bar. 

Does Tricia look pregnant here or WHAT?

Lame. A nice night on the water turned into a fast dinner on the water. But it was worth it to feel that breeze and smell that rain!! :)

We got home & had our brownies & ice cream (of course) and then played a little Wii. Of course I had to document that I won Smarty Pants at one point. My huge brute of a Mii was so proud. (Seriously - for some reason she was HUGE and bow legged...I couldn't fix it)

Sunday morning we got up & headed into Williamsburg to do a little walking around. This is the first place I saw:

Needless to say I did not go inside!!

Colonial Williamsburg was pretty cool. We didn't pay for entry into the buildings but instead just walked around & sweated our butts off! 

This horse just wanted my Dunkin Donuts iced coffee (I don't blame him - it was HOT!):

These steer were HUGE! I think over 2500lbs each!

Belly!

Required Colonial Williamsburg shot outside of the courthouse:

Duke of Gloucester Street:

Pretty brick building with pretty flowers:

The Governor's Palace (Thomas Jefferson lived here!)

It was a nice morning, but man were we HOT. I am just not used to the humidity anymore! We stopped into Baskin Robbins to have some grape/apple Pop Rocks sherbet to cool off. 

On the way home we stopped at the fabric store and got some scraps for Tricia to practice her sewing on. I taught her how to read a pattern, pinning tips, straight stitching, backstitching, turning corners, pleating, and more!  

It was a lot of fun & she did a great job!

We went to Tricia & Sean's favorite restaurant for dinner Sunday night - Bonefish. Of course I had to have fish again & this time I wasn't as lucky. I decided on Arctic Charr (on a cedar plank) after the waitress said it was a mix of salmon & trout. I know I don't like either of those fish, but she did say it wasn't nearly as strong. Plus I thought the chorizo on top would balance out the flavor. Let's just say I didn't love it, but I did eat about 2/3 of it anyway. Not too shabby. The potatoes au gratin were heavenly though!

One quick snapshot of us before we headed out!

Sean & I got up around 4:15 so I could get to the airport (about 1 hour away) by 6am. Tricia even groggily got up to say goodbye. I was sad to go, but thankful for such a great visit! I love you Tricia!!! 

(For her version of the trip, click here.)