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Ojo Caliente

Nikki and I drove down to New Mexico this past weekend to spend Memorial Day relaxing in hot springs. We really liked the resort. It was quaint and very enjoyable. Our time was spent between soaking in the hot springs, getting massages, reading by the fireplace and eating at their restaurant. They have 4 different kinds of hot springs: iron, arsenic, soda, and lithium. Unfortunately, since it was a holiday weekend, the pools were a little more populated than we would've liked.

On Sunday evening, we both got massages that we really liked and rented a private pool for afterwards. The private pool was great. The arsenic mineral water was nice and toasty and they have a wood-fired kiva fireplace out there. Unfortunately, about 10 minutes into our 50-minute time, lightning and thunder descended upon us and we had to leave the pool (and get refunded). That was a bummer because we were really enjoying the private pool. No worries though. We headed back to our cottage and started up our own fire.

The restaurant on-site was really nice, too. I got mexican food for each meal and they didn't disappoint, living up to New Mexico's reputation for serving good and spicy mexican food. I think the green chilies were a bit much for Nikki at times, but she really liked the meals she got, too. Her french toast on Monday morning was super rica!

Here's a shot of the back of our cottage

¡Obámanos!

Last Saturday, Nikki and I met up with 100,000 of our closest friends to watch (the future) President Barack Obama give a speech in downtown Denver. Okay, we only went with about 10 friends; we don't know the other 100,000+ people. Given that his two previous rallies in Kansas City and St. Louis drew 75,000 and 100,000 people, respectively, we figured it would be a great atmosphere to see him live and he didn't disappoint. It was a beautiful autumn day and as Marco put it, "You could smell the change in the air!" Reports after the event declared it as the largest rally to-date. Very cool!

I just dropped off our mail-in ballots a few minutes ago and it feels great to be part of the political process. I really wish more young voters would take part; perhaps many of them don't realize the impact they can have. However, it does seem like the voter turnout for young voters has been increasing in the last few elections. I'll wear my "I voted" sticker with pride!

Here is a picture I saw online from the rally. Truly incredible!

a pumpkin-rific day

What could be more fun than spending a beautiful, sun-filled afternoon outside picking strawberries, raspberries, and pumpkins? The answer is… NOTHING! So this past Saturday, that's just what we did.

Shauna threw the best pumpkin party ever. We started our day with pumpkin cream cheese pumpkins… healthy – no, but delicious – yes. We washed them down with some yummy hot apple cider. To further indulge in our kid-like day, we dressed ourselves up in some Halloween garb. We sported Halloween tattoos, headbands, ties, socks, and witches'' hats. We thought we were pretty cool until we arrived at Berry Patch Farm and found that we, in our late 20's, were more dressed up and festive than the kids. Well, I think we still thought we were pretty cool :)

Berry Patch Farm was so cute. We took a hay ride out to the field for some pumpkin pickin', and then walked back to the farm picking and eating berries the whole way.

Despite our constant munching at the farm, we arrived back at Shauna's famished. Lucky for us Shauna was prepared and we stuffed ourselves silly. Kudos to Shauna and Champa for serving us up the best potato soup and chili Colorado has to offer! Although our food coma bodies were desperate for some couch time, we mustered up the energy and began our pumpkin carving. Twenty minutes later all the boys had successfully managed to clean and carve their pumpkins, how is that? Twenty minutes in I was still scraping the guts of my pumpkin out! I guess when you are creating beauty, it just takes time ;) So, an hour and half later us girls put the final touches on our pumpkin masterpieces, and they looked pretty darn sweet!

We ended our fabulous day with a scary movie… Prom Night. Okay, so maybe not that scary, but there was still a whole lot of screaming going on! And yes, I admit, a good bit of the screaming was coming from yours truly. I'm such a scaredy cat.

Pumpkin Party Pictures

let the festivities begin!

Even Penelope gets in on the fun!

Ahh... Fall. I love it. I'm not sure what I love best - could be my birthday, which is the first day of Fall, could be the cool, crisp weather that makes you want to bundle up on the couch and read a good book, maybe it's the leaves changing colors, or perhaps it's that Fall brings us Halloween, which, quite possibly, could be my favorite holiday? Who knows? All I can say is I am so happy and excited - let the Fall festivities begin!

Matt and I decided to usher us into the season with a little party. It was a great excuse for me to make all my favorite Halloween recipes and decorate the house. We munched our way through the night and through the super cute movie, The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Up next... Shauna's pumpkin party. A whole day devoted to child-like fun - hay rides, corn mazes, hot apple cider, toasted pumpkin seeds, pumpkin picking, and pumpkin carving - can't wait!

Halloween party photos...

birthday wishes

I recently celebrated my 28th birthday... YIKES, I'm getting old! I could not have wished for a more wonderful day. My sweetie pie friend, Tasha, worked her magic and surprised me with a fabulously fun day with friends.

My girlfriends picked me up and we all went for mani-pedi's. We relaxed our morning away being pampered and enjoying some much needed girl talk. Afterwards, we headed to Starbucks for our caffeine fix, and then we were off to Boulder. Our next stop was the beautiful Dushanbe Teahouse where we enjoyed a yummy brunch and mimosas.

The rest of our afternoon was spent shopping. The most fun was had at the hat stand on Pearl Street. I bet we spent a good half hour trying on every hat that stand had to offer, but it was the best silly fun!

The boys caught up with us for a delicious seafood dinner at Pappadeaux's. After dinner we headed over to Tasha and Jacob's for dessert... ladies and gentleman, this presented the best surprise of the day - my birthday cake. Tasha dreamed up a pretty daisy cake for me - white petals with a pink center - it would be just lovely. A trip to the grocery store provided her with a bundt cake pan, kind of looks like a flower she thought, then all she would need to do is fill up the center and her flower would be complete. Fast forward a bit... cake is iced, but those pretty bundt cake lines are now gone, covered up with white frosting. The center, a little higher than the cake itself, but iced in pretty pink frosting. Having a hard time visualizing this masterpiece, well trouble yourself no longer...

Confused? Are you thinking, hmm... this reminds me of something, but I'm not sure it's a flower. It looks a little more like a.... boob? Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner! Tasha Belle made me a boob cake! And let me tell you, it was the best damn boob cake I have ever had!

And just when I thought this birthday can't get any better, my hubby surprised me with a murder-mystery dinner train ride through the Royal Gorge. I'm a lucky lady!

More b-day pics...

it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

We recently spent a beautiful afternoon at the Denver Botanic Gardens. It was a perfect day to stroll through the gardens and snap pictures of all the pretty flowers and plants.







More pictures from the Botanic Gardens