denver.

of all the potential places we could live, i think i would love denver the most. we visited for just two days, didn't even do any of the colorado stuff--like hiking and skiing--except for shop at REI, and i still managed to fall in love with it. we stayed with one of ario's friends from residency and his wife (scott and megan). they have a kickass apartment in a highrise in the center of downtown, easy walk to everything...so that had a lot to do with why i loved it so much there. it made me wonder if i wanted a house with a yard in the suburbs, or less space close to everything (and as much as i love target, it doesn't count as a store i want to be able to walk to...) anyway, it definitely made me question how i want our eventual living situation to be.

megan's friend from college and her husband (lisa and chris) were visiting too, along with their adorable australian shepherd, digger. i pretended that the dog was mine and got my doggie fix for the weekend too.

we got in friday night around 9:30...megan and lisa picked us up and we went to the apartment and hung out. i passed out around midnight, which was really 2 am my time! the next morning i woke up around 6 and decided to go for a short run around their neighborhood. long story short, i got lost somewhere and the short run ended up taking an hour and a half. but when i got back around 7:30, everyone except ario was still asleep. i was very careful not to make too much noise at first, quietly took a quick shower, put off using the coffee grinder to make coffee...then by around 8:15 i was getting bored so i started banging things around in the kitchen and dammit i used the coffee grinder. by 8:30, everyone was awake...SUCCESS! :)

we went to a cafe for breakfast and we took the dog with us. inside the restaurant. how? oh, the dog has a "service dog in training" vest. everyone smiled, made way, and didn't even question anything. don't ask me how legit the vest is, because the dog is awesome and did exactly what he was supposed to do--that is, walk directly next to me, go under the table, put his head down, and wait for us to finish. so as far as anyone knows, he IS really in training. besides, lisa uses him as a therapy dog for children, so anyway, my point is it was all very legit. kinda. and also when i get a dog i am totally getting a service dog vest so i can take him everywhere.

after breakfast we walked around, went to the awesome REI store, i bought a pair of flip flops and ario and i mused on how awesome it would be to live in denver. then we went to the park where i learned how to play (and became slightly obsessed to) bocce ball. so much so that we bought a set when we came home. actually two sets, one standard, and one with smaller, lighter balls so the kids can play.

dinner that night was on a rooftop deck (seems like i tend to like rooftop decks...) at a mexican restaurant. awesome food, even better conversation with genuinely lovable people. we walked to and from the restaurant and i was wearing my new most favorite pair of shoes ever. high heels that are comfortable?? bring 'em on. after dinner we stopped at a little pub and everyone had drinks. i put my head down on the table and i actually fell asleep for a little while. i remember people's voices in and out of my head, but don't recall much of what they said. i woke up to laughter--at me, for sleeping in a bar. is it that unheard of?

the next morning we walked around the neighborhood some more, bought some stuff for the kids, (looked at a couple of houses, holy shit expensive)...and headed to the airport. at the airport security line, i was informed that my license had expired in july. uhh...oops. the chick asked for another form of ID and all i had was my costco card. this could've potentially been disasterous, but she accepted that and we were on our merry way. not the worst thing in the world, to be stuck in denver...too bad i missed the kids.

so. pics.

this was my breakfast saturday morning. carbs rule. i shared a little, but mostly i ate it all by myself.


me and digger the australian shepherd, aka the service dog, aka the coolest dog in the world:

denver also rocks because they have a printed version of "the onion"


heading to the park (they're carrying the bocce ball case...it's heavy!)


at dinner:

my models:

at the pub, about 5 minutes before i fell asleep:

maybe i was hypnotized by the green.

and here a couple of wanna-be artsy pictures the morning before we left.
there's a chick painting in that window, if you squint you can kind of see her.

i'm already trying to plan our next trip back. sometime in february maybe? i don't know...but i wanna. :)