California Dreamin'

Guess what time it is, folks? Yep, it's Patrick appreciation time. Let me explain. Patrick is one of my best friends. I've known him for almost ten years and we've lived some major life together in that time.

Patrick and I met in 2004 while taking classes through University of Phoenix. I guess you could say he's my first online relationship, ooo. Over the years, we've seen each other through the highest highs and some pretty darn awful lows. He's been a sounding board, a voice of reason and a constant source of compassion and encouragement. He challenges me, supports me and pushes me to be the best person I can be. I am so beyond words grateful for him, I just couldn't even try to articulate it. After several trips he's made out to see me in New York, I finally got my behind out to California to see him.

Patrick lives in southern California not far from San Diego. He rents a great little house with his sweet dog and gorgeous daughter, Bella. Although he'd argue with me at times, I think he lives a cozy, simple life full of the important things. I like it. I was so happy to step into his world for a weekend and see what his day to day life is like. When I got off the plane, I was already excited. Looking up to see Patrick in the airport with this just made it even better:

I wish I would've caught the actual moment in action.

After he picked me up, we went straight over to his buddy's place to visit and hang a while before I finally experienced the gloriousness that is In 'n Out:

For the love of god, people. Drool. I took that down at 1am and went straight to bed. 

During one of Patrick's NYC visits, we'd been out super late and of course had to order pizza after getting home. While we ate, we watched an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives which featured the most amazing looking fish tacos I'd ever seen. Both of us proclaimed that one day, we would absolutely go to that joint together. That was about three years ago and Patrick still remembered the place. Wouldn't you know that it was George's at the Cove in La Jolla, not a far drive from him at all. So, he planned the entire day out to include a day trip there and it was magnificent.

We started out at Stone Brewery which has been a favorite of mine for years. Next to Colorado, California is one of the greatest places in the country for craft beer so I was psyched to go:

Not to mention, Stone IPA is one of the first IPAs I started drinking regularly and we all know how deep my love has grown for them over the years.

As if a fish taco extravaganza wasn't enough, my friend, Georgia, lives in La Jolla and she joined us for lunch. It was an absolutely perfect afternoon:

This makes me smile:

This makes me smile, too:

There ain't nothing false about the hype behind these. They were completely perfect and I could've eaten 9,000 of them. I mean, eating amazing food and drinking fantastic rose while looking out at this with my friends:

How could life be better?

After lunch, which Georgia treated us to entirely, she showed us around La Jolla and holy balls, is it beautiful. I was about ready to pack my bags and relocate immediately. As if the town itself wasn't tempting enough, we came across this little fellow that made my heart melt: 

Georgia and Patrick had to drag me away. Literally. I WANT THAT PUPPY!

We went back to Georgia's for a while after to sip some wine in her innnnnncredible home. I'm pretty sure Patrick and I both were ready to make ourselves at home and camp out for the night. Alas, we had speakeasies with skulls for walls to frolic to:

It was a badass joint. 

Overall, it was truly a perfect day.

Another thing Patrick knows I totally love is grilling out. So, the next day we had plans to grill steak and gorge on Patrick's famous homemade mac and cheese with two of his closest friends. I've heard about this damn mac and cheese for years and, being that it's the most perfect food on earth that I believe was created by angels in heaven, Patrick swore he'd make it. I whipped up some homemade chimichurri to marinate the steak in and we were off to Steve's place to cook on yet another perfect California day. 

Ok, I'm aware that I can be dramatic. But, when I tell you that this was mindblowingly good, I'm dead serious:

Before:

After:

Heaven is this. It is not a place, it is an overflowing pan of macaroni and cheese. This is what's in the dictionary next to 'heaven' if you look it up. Promise. Patrick, you done good. 

When we all realized Lisa was MIA for a while, we found her doing exactly what she should be doing when left with remaining homemade cheese sauce:

You make me proud, Lisa.

I gotta say, my chimichurri steak was also bomb:

Man, this ain't even right for me to be writing this post after I just got home from CrossFit and ate some lame turkey and vegetables. It's a cruel world I live in.

So, honestly? I reflect a lot on the great people in my life and the amazing blessings I have. But, there's something so beautiful about those rare relationships that grow deeper and deeper over time through good and bad. Patrick is a gem and I'm very lucky that he's in my life. He's one of the constants that helps me stay sane in a world that otherwise would've put me under by now. I hope you guys out there have a Patrick in your life. If not, I'll share him and he'll gladly make you mac and cheese, too. Yep, he's that level of awesome.

Next up, Patrick comes to Colorado! Look out Denver, we're taking you by storm come November. Color me excited. 

Dave, Tally & Mini Brooks Hit Up Denver

I suck at this blogging thing. It's like I get brain freeze then writer's block then bam, I just stop writing. Boo on me. Keeping up with this blog has been a form of therapy for me. I write when I'm sad, I write when I'm happy and I write when I need my voice to be heard. Sometimes, I just need ME to hear me. See, I can write whacky things like that because this is my own stream of consciousness.

This summer has been hard. Probably the hardest time I've ever gone through for a variety of reasons. A huge part of emotional survival for me has been the dear friends that have spent their time and money to come visit me. Dave and Tally are two friends that have consistently made an effort to visit me all my years in New York and now here in Denver. See, Tally is pregnant and due in December but she wanted to have one more trip before the baby comes. She chose to come to Denver. That's really an honor when it comes down to it. I feel special because I'm the one the two of them would travel to see as their last 'hoorah', if you will. I feel dang lucky for that.

Considering my dumb writing brain freeze has gotten the best of me lately, it shouldn't shock you that Dave and Tally were here over two months ago. I'm happy to write about their visit now, though! Dave is awesome when it comes to thoughtfully mapping out a weekend when it's something he's really in to. He had a few mini road trips he wanted to take to check out different mountains and areas that I was really excited to see, too. They rented a car which made life so easy for me since he drove everywhere and played master navigator. Go Dave!

When they got in, I took them for Mexican at La Loma which is just so good:

Does anyone want to bring me a tortilla from there real quick?

The next day, we hopped in the car and were off on our Loveland Pass and Estes Park adventure. Holy crap, the state of Colorado is spectacular. I'm gonna let the photos speak for themselves:

Lemme just tell you, this city gal is imfreakingpressed with this nature business.

We stayed there for a while really taking everything in. It's one of the most beautiful sights I'd seen yet in Colorado and I wanted to soak it up fully. 

Afterward, we drove through Granby Lake on the way up to Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park:

When we got to Estes Park, we decided a beer was in order. Annnd, we found the greatest bar, ever:

People. That bar is made of leather. And you are nearly sitting on the floor, the chairs are so low. And they were playing old Van Halen. It was glorious.

After our beers, we did the only thing that makes sense. We ate ice cream:

Tally had had it with me and my photo taking at that point.

It really was a fantastic day all around. I didn't think anything could top it.

The next morning, it was time for our second adventure. We were headed to the top of Pikes Peak and I had zero idea what the hell that really meant. In laymans terms, it means a narrow, steep, crap your pants drive to the top of a 14,000 foot mountain. Sounds awesome, doesn't it?!?!?! I'll tell you this much, there aren't words for how scary remarkable it really was:

There is no guard rail. NO GUARD RAIL! A photo cannot capture what I saw over the edge leaning out my window:

I had to duck down and cover my eyes the rest of the way up:

Do not laugh at me.

Once we got to the top, it was undeniably the most breathtaking thing I've ever seen:

King of the world:

This place was spectacular. If this tells you anything, I jumped out of a plane at 13,500 feet when I went skydiving... Needless to say, I was moved by the glory of what we saw.

Unfortunately, what goes up must come down:

We went to Three Lions after for a beer or ten. Slowly but surely, I realized I actually did make it up and down the mountain alive. That is cause for celebration, folks. 

What an amazing day. What an amazing weekend. What amazing friends to share it with. Out of the many trips Dave and Tally have taken to see me, this was absolutely my favorite. Everything about it was different and so much better than any other time together. I've known Dave for 14 years and, as we get older, our time together simply gets richer. I'm grateful for the love and support they offered me while here, the talks we shared and the time we spent getting closer than we ever have. I can't wait for that Mini Brooks to make their arrival in a couple of months. I also can't wait to show him or her these photos one day so they know they were right there alongside us the whole time.

Allie & Mel Uncorked

My sister rocks. Not just because she'll drink margaritas all afternoon with me if I want but because she's so smart, driven and dedicated. She graduated (1st in her class!) in July from the ICC's Intensive Sommelier Program and she's been keeping her wine passion moving right along since. Her newest venture is in partnership with Parade Magazine and I'm SO psyched for her.

She and her classmate, Melissa, have started a fantastic wine blog to be published weekly for Parade online. It's so very exciting and something I believe is going to be tremendous for her. They officially launched today and I invite you to check out the fruits of their labor, Allie & Mel Uncorked:

http://www.parade.com/151523/allieandmeluncorked/meet-allie-mel-uncorked/

I love the idea that they're taking wine and making it something fun and approachable vs. snotty and exclusive. Wine is fabulous whether a bottle is $10 or $200. It should be fun and something you enjoy sharing with folks you love and I believe Allison and Melissa will completely bring that sense to anyone looking for a place to learn.

Deepest congratulations, ladies. I am so proud of every single thing you've accomplished so far and this is only the beginning. Cheers to you both!

Maddie Comes To Denver

Instagram has become the new thing. I'll admit, I totally love it. It's pretty much the only social media thing I really do and keep up with. The rise of negativity, comparison, overshared opinions and all around depressing crap that people put up on Facebook is astounding and I've got next to no interest in any of it. Instagram allows me to see/follow the people I truly care about and live alongside them, even from afar. Most notably, I get to see the most precious photos of my niece that Wynn posts. It makes me feel a little less like I'm missing out on her growing up and that makes me smile.

To those of you who enjoy Instagram like I do, please do yourselves a giant favor and start following Theron Humphrey at 'thiswildidea'. Theron and his remarkable pup, Maddie, have been touring the US together this year while he works on a year long photojournalism project called Why We Rescue. It's a story about how pets change our lives and who the wonderful people are who rescue them. Maddie is a rescue dog herself and one of the most incredible pups I've ever seen. Theron discovered that Maddie had a very special ability to balance on just about anything and he started taking photos of her doing what she does best.

Please won't you take a moment to see just what I mean here. Click on 'video' and check out the awesomeness that is Maddie. She is amazing. Theron decided to collect his photos of Maddie and had Maddie On Things published. It's a darling photo journal of Maddie literally on top of things and you just wouldn't believe some of these photos...

Allison told me about Theron a while back and said my days would literally be happier if I started following him and seeing his photos. Boy, was she right. As I started learning more about what he was doing, I looked up their calendar for the book tour and discovered that they were coming to Denver! There was no way I was missing that.

They held the book signing at West Side Books and graciously welcomed quite the crowd in to chat, meet Maddie and be a part of their amazing story:

Maddieeeeeeeeee!

Theron gave a brief welcome and told everyone about his current project, Why We Rescue: 

He also wanted to officially introduce Maddie by having her do a special trick. She decided she wasn't into it:

Instead, she wanted to work the crowd:

I don't blame her.

Finally, it was my turn to meet Theron:

I just can't explain what a gracious, humble, kind-hearted person he is. What he's doing in meeting folks and sharing their animal rescue stories is simply sweet and special. Many people just don't understand the love of a pet or what it means to share life with them. Through Theron's stories, he's going to be able to show hearts touched and lives changed. I don't know about you, but I could use a little more of this out in the world these days vs. downers like Facebook. 

I had such fun talking with Theron. I really feel honored to have shared in the smallest portion of his journey. His best friend, Garrett, is traveling along with them and what a spectacular photographer he is, too. It'd serve you well to also follow him at 'reallykindofamazing'. 

For those of you in Denver, Theron's work is being shown at the Redline Gallery through September 29th. Don't miss it!

Thank you, Theron, for being such a rare, special person. Thank you more for sharing who you are with us folks and creating unity across the miles in a tender, unforgettable way.