Friends come to town!

We had our first house guests, Lindsey and Ashley, over the weekend...four whole days to be exact! I was so excited to play hostess and show them around the Mile High City. We packed so much into four days that I am still recuperating from all of the fun!
They got here mid-morning on Thursday, so once we made the long trek back into the city from the airport, it was time for lunch. We went to Vert Kitchen, which has amazingly fresh foods and a cute patio out back where you can enjoy the weather. Then I took them down to the S. Pearl St. shopping area where you can find little boutiques, quirky shops and local restaurants. We also stopped by Cherry Creek mall; I had been boasting about all the stores that were there...Wilmington pales in comparison. It was apparent that I had not been to Southpoint Mall (Durham) or Crabtree Valley Mall (Raleigh) in a long time, since the girls were familiar with many of the same stores. Oops! It was fun just to catch up and chat with these two! I miss all my girls! I wanted them to get a feel for what we love about our neighborhood so we walked to the S. Gaylord shopping area for Happy Hour, where of course we did more talking! We also enjoyed some local brews and tasty apps. We made it back to the house in time for dinner. Zack bought a small grill so we could have a real cookout...such a thoughtful husband! I knew we would be doing a lot of eating out especially with all the things we had planned, so I figured we could all use a meal in: grilled chicken, fried okra, sweet potato fries and a fresh arugula salad. Although I love our Le Creuset square grill pan, I forgot how good grilled chicken on actual grill tastes.

For Friday, I had planned for us to go to the Coors Brewery Tour, but first we went for a morning walk in  our local park, Washington Park. The girls couldn't get over how green everything was...one of the very first things I noticed too once everything started to bloom.

Wash Park

We made it to Golden in time to eat lunch with Zack at Woody's Wood-Fired Pizza before heading to Coors. Zack and I stumbled upon this place when we went to brewery tour, and couldn't stop thinking about their pizza. I have already probably told you about this place in a previous post, but it is seriously good eats! The crust is just amazing, and you drizzle honey on it when you have eaten everything but the crust. Don't knock it until you try it! Once our tummies were full, we headed off to the Coors Brewery. Even though I have done it before, it was so much fun with these two...all giggles! 

Woody's

Even though it started to drizzle a bit, we weren't going to let it get in the way of our time in Golden. There are so many cute little places on the main street so we stopped in a few of them before heading back to Denver. I wanted to show Lindsey and Ashley downtown so I made reservations at one of the restaurants Zack and I went to during Restaurant Week: Vesta Dipping Grill. It was even more amazing than I remember it being before! After dinner, we headed to one of the many rooftop bars that are located downtown. On our way there, Zack noticed that Pennywise, a band he listed to back since middle school, was playing. His eyes lit up like a little kid on Christmas. It was seriously too cute. He stayed there while us girls went on to the bar. Depsite the rain, we had a fun time! Old school music (think Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch), a hopping bar, and great friends! Zack met up with us after the Pennywise show where he had a blast and even brought me a t-shirt (so sweet).

All dressed up for a night out!

Saturday, we woke up to a dreary chilly day, but we were determined to get out and about. I took the girls to the REI store, which is the flagship store; it is enormous. It is typically busy, especially on a Saturday, but apparently it was also their anniversary sale which equals their busiest day of the year. Go figure! We didn't find any good deals though, and headed back to the mall. Since we had some time to kill before the Eric Church concert, and it was yucky outside, we saw "What to Expect When You Are Expecting"...a movie I knew I wasn't going to get Zack to go see! It was cute; your typical girl movie! 

Like I mentioned, Saturday night was the Eric Church concert at Red Rocks. Only Ashley and Lindsey had tickets, but Zack and I hoped to find some there. We underestimated the popularity of Mr. Church! There was not one ticket to be had out there! Well, we did come across ONE ticket but it was $150...and that was cheap compared to the tickets advertised that week on Craigslist. It was cold, but Ashley and Lindsey had a great time though!

View from our tailgating spot

The girls' view from their seats...love the city lights from Denver at the top.

Sunday's weather was a complete 180 from Saturday. We made our way downtown via the light rail for the Rockies game. You have to get there early for tickets in Rock Pile, which is the cheap seats area, but I swear the best view! We went to Falling Rock Tap House for lunch before the game; Lindsey's friend Kristen suggested it and what a great suggestion. The burger with green chiles and guacamole is a must! We had beautiful weather at the game. After the game, we met up with friends at a cool bar called 1 UP where you can play all sorts of games, like SkeeBall and large version of Jenga. So much fun! I have mentioned Steuben's before...our favorite food spot here, and the sister restaurant to Vesta Dipping Grill. We took Lindsey and Ashley to dinner there on Sunday night. I think the girls would agree about how good the food is! And we introduced them to the Moscow Mule. Another must!

view from the Rock Pile...if you sit high enough you can see the Rockies in the background.

Monday morning came too fast, and I wasn't ready for them to leave, but the time had come. I am so, so, so glad that they came out to see us, and I hope they had as much fun as I did!!! And thanks to Lindsey for all the great photos!!

Take me out the ball game!

After church on Sunday, we went to our first Rockies game together (Zack had been once already for a work thing..."how nice", right?!).
Zack and I have met some great people while out here. And even in a big city like Denver, we are still reminded what a small world it can be! One couple we met at church ended up being friends with the group of friends (which I met through another friend of mine) that we met up with for Easter Brunch. Did you follow all that?! Oh, and all of them are from the South! We have also met some great people not from the South...don't want to leave them out! But it is so comforting being around people similar to you while being so far from friends and family.
So on to this post... The couple from church invited us to a Rockies games. The Rockies were playing the Braves...another sweet reminder of the South :) And what was even sweeter was the SUITE we got to watch the game from. I'm not going to lie, I want to experience the cheap seats, what the locals here call "The Rock Pile." Those tickets are just $4 a piece (no joke!), but at Sunday's game, there was no complaining from us about "the suite life"!
We had so much fun with new friends, and definitely enjoyed watching the Braves win!

National MS Society - Denver Walk MS

As many of you know, I have been volunteering with the Colorado-Wyoming Chapter of the National MS Society. After a few weeks of volunteering,  I was asked to join the Walk Committee. While I enjoyed chatting with the other volunteers while stuffing mailers and helping out any way possible, I was excited to do more.
I won't bore you with too many details of what all of my responsibilities were, but I mainly was in charge of the vendors and sponsors for the Denver Walk. When I came into the planning process, many of them were already secured, so I figured how hard could this be, but as time passed, I realized there was lots to do! I was glad to have a purpose again, as far as "working," and enjoyed all the little logistical details and planning. But what I enjoyed most was the task of touching base with all of my team captains. Each committee member was responsible for keeping in touch with a few teams during the registration and fundraising process. Most of the time you would get a voicemail rather than a voice on the other end or no reply after sending an email. But once in awhile you would get to hear a story and feel compelled to help pass along that story.

The National MS Society is not only about raising money for programs and for research for a cure, but it is also about raising awareness. No two people with MS are the same, and there are so many degrees in between the extremes. You may not even be aware someone has MS, like many of the volunteers I interacted with on a weekly basis, although they all in some way suffer from this debilitating disease. I had the pleasure to speak frequently with one of my team captains, who has MS herself. And although she is just down to using one finger, she has not let it get her spirits down. As her fundraiser, she and her son went skydiving. She explained to me that she was extremely active before she was diagnosed with MS, and she wanted to prove to herself and others that MS wasn't going to keep her from being active, even if she had to rethink how. The most shocking part of her story was the landing because she has no use of her arms or legs. So, they came up with a special landing plan. Obviously, her safety was a major concern and taken into account, but accidents do happen. She proceeded to tell me that she hurt her leg while landing, but didn't want to tell anyone. She said she figured if it was broken, it was okay since she couldn't use it anyway. (At this point, my eyes were filled to the brim.) I asked her, "Weren't you pain, though?" She said that she felt a little discomfort, but she didn't want to spoil the moment for everyone else. My mouth fell open! She finally told her son on their way home that they needed to stop by the ER, and sure enough it was broken. I was totally floored. I could not believe her courage and determination. And to top it all off, she wants to do it again!!

I was so hoping to meet her at the walk, as she would be there with her friends and family. Unfortunately I did not get the opportunity; there was so much going on and so many people. But I will never forget her or her story. Everyone I encounter through the Society, asks me how I got involved (this is a typical question of any non-profit organization, I feel like). I do not have MS nor do I personally know anyone with MS, and always tell of my grandparents, who I am so proud of, and how they ride in the Bike MS and volunteer with the Society in NC. I also interned with the Central NC Chapter in college (thanks to my grandparents) and volunteered a bit after college. For me, this was my connection to the National MS Society. And while, it will still be a part of my connection, I feel like I can now say that I fundraise, walk, and raise awareness for the woman I connected with here, as well as, all of the other people that I met here who suffer from MS.

As for the Denver Walk MS, itself, it was a truly amazing experience. I have participated in other organization's walks before and have volunteered at the Bike MS in NC, but to be a contributor of the planning aspect and to be a quasi-staff member for this event was completely different. It's hard to explain, but I had so much pride having been a part "backstage."  Oh, and I don't want to forget how AMAZING Zack was at the walk. I roped him into volunteering, and so he was with me in the Team Village Registration tent (the teams that raised $5,000 or more the previous year get a tent at the walk). He was so good with all the participants, making sure they were steered in the right direction and got what they needed. I overheard him speaking with a young woman in a wheelchair, who was having a hard time speaking, and he was so patient and kind. I was beaming with pride :)
It was a gorgeous day, and the event was so successful. I cannot wait to find out the final numbers, but am already in awe at what has been accomplished.
I want to say a BIG thank you to those that donated...it means SO much to me! For those who haven't had the chance yet, and would like to...lucky for you, you still can! My donation page can be found by clicking the link below.
Click here to donate to the National MS Society

Sorry for such a long post! I realized I had not talked about it yet, so I guess I had a lot to say! And I hate I don't have any photos from the walk :(