Boulder

There are few places that I find as magical as Boulder. I'm a little biased since I went to college there, but I still think you'd be hard pressed to find a city that does summer as well as Boulder. Between the gorgeous creek, the proximity of awesome camping sites in Nederland, and tons of great rooftops bars summer and Boulder are a match made in Heaven. Last week I was lucky enough to venture down to Boulder twice, once for a doctors appointment and once to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon with my friends. I spent my time walking around pearl street, dipping my legs in the creek, eating amazing food (more on that later) and just soaking up the general awesomeness. Everytime I go to Boulder I leave a little sad when I realize how far away those carefree college days really are behind me now (how did I graduate four years ago? Whattttt?) but I also feel a great sense of gratitude of how close I still am to one of my favorite places in the US. 

USA Travel Wishlist.

Santa Barbra

Lake Tahoe

Charleston

Nantucket

Sand Point, Idaho.

Last week I went on a grouper with my friends Ashley and Erica and we all got to talking about travel (so sophisticated). While everyone had big travel goals like Africa and Paris, I decided to ask everyone what topped their travel wishlist in the continental United States. I've had my top five planned for awhile. Santa Barbra goes without saying. As far as I'm concerned, It looks like Heaven on Earth. My love of mountains next to big fresh water lakes prompted my desire to venture to Lake Tahoe and Sand Point where as my love for quaint and rustic beachy towns fueled my pics of Nantucket and Charleston.  One of my goals on my 101 in 1001 list is to visit at least two of these little gems. Whats are your top picks?

LA

As much as I love Denver, I usually cant go a month without jetting off to another city. I blame this on the fact that I have friends who not only live in Amazing cities (Austin, Chicago, LA, and New York) but who are also amazing tour guides (Thank you Austiniets Teale, Emily, Amanda, Allison and Chris  Chicagans Ross, Ryan and Josh  LAites Kelly, Natalya, Mike, Taylor and Kevin and New Yorkers Katy, Mitch, Hayley, Brendan and Blair!). My last trip on June 14th for ym friend Kelly's 26th birthday party was deffiently one of my favorite trips ever. Her and my other friend Natalya recently moved into an adorable condo 6 blocks from the beach In Santa Monica. Santa Monica has always been my favorite part of LA, ever since I went there with my friend Patti when we were 18. Everything is so bright, warm, and colorful that it actually feels sort of like living in a dream. Although my trip was short, we made sure to enjoy the wonderful weather as much as possible.
Upon landing around 6:30 on Friday night, I quickly rushed back to the girls condo and changed as quickly as possible so we could walk down to the Huntley Hotel Penthouse to grab a drink before our 9:30 reservation at Fig. The Penthouse was hands down one of the coolest places I've been to. The hotel itself is fantastic, managing to be both modern yet sophisticated and cozy. The penthouse offers stunning views of the Santa Monica water and even though it was dark I could still see the sweeping beach line and towering palm trees. We got lucky and managed to catch a group of girls who were leaving the bar just as we got in so we were able to snag their seats. They also gave us a drink recommendation, the Aperol Smash, which is something we would have never thought to order otherwise. I'm not kidding when I say it was the best drink I've ever ordered at a bar. Light, refreshing, and full of fresh fruit and top shelf liquor. While the drinks there are certainly expensive, they all look insanely impressive. Brightly colored with big chunks of fruit around the rim, made with only pure ingredients and top shelf (no shitty sugary mixtures here). The staff is also super attentive and friendly. Great experience for sure.
After finishing up our drink (plus an extra one that was purchased for us by a nice gentleman at the other end of the bar) we went over to Fig which is located in the Fairmont hotel to have a light dinner. Ironically, I had been reading rave reviews about Fig in my in flight magazine on the plane on the way to LA, so I was pretty pleased when Natalya suggested we go there. We got lucky and were able to snag a cute table right outside by the quiant swimming pool which was lit up and surrounded by tress with tiny Christmas lights. We all ordered a tequila blackberry drink which was good but couldn't really hold a candle to the decadent drink at the Penthouse. We shared the salami plate, the queso fundido, and the mushroom risotto, all which were yummy and gave us a good base for the night of drinking ahead. Once we were done eating we headed over to the Shangri La Hotel where one of Natalyas friends had rented out the entire rooftop and penthouse suite for a party. The suite was pretty awesome with cool red leather chairs and fire places that helped warm us up once the weather started turning a little windy. The rooftop was amazing with tons of strings to twinkle lights and big striped ottomans for us to plop down on. After Shangri La, we grabbed a cab and headed to The Buffalo Club to meet our college friends, Danika and Angela. The buff club was pretty insanely packed and not my favorite spot that I've been to in LA, but it was great to see Danika and Angela who I hadnt really seen in a couple of years. We also ran into a couple of Natalyas friends from New York, proving how small this world actually is. Once last call hit, we naturally got a ride home from the bouncer and passed out on the floor of the apartment while watching "Hunger Games".
The next day we woke up early so we could explore a little bit before getting ready for Kelly's birthday party at 4:00. We walked down to Montana Ave where we had breakfast at Babalu, this cute little bakery/cafe where we sat at tables that were positioned on the grassy knoll in-between the street and the side walk. We got fresh fruit and south western eggs washed down with bottomless mimosas before we headed out to Stephanie Grace where I picked up a cute cactus for my apartment. After making a quick stop to pick up balloons and booze for Kellys birthday, Kelly and I took a stroll down to the 3rd street promenade to check out Brandy Melville where we bough matching phone cases and tank tops (did I mention that we were wearing the matching cat tanks above when this occurred?).
Around 4:00, our other friends began to arrive and we did a little pre gamming before heading out to the The Bungalow. The bungalow is seriously magical. It actually feels/looks as if you are just partying at someones beach house. Our group got there early enough to beat the usually hour long lines and we quickly parked ourselves out there for the next six hours to celebrate Kelly's 26th. Best time ever. At around 11:00, Natalya , Cortney and I decided to take a cab down to Venice and check out out some of the bars there where we ordered fireball shots and cheeseburgers. We finally made it back to Natalyas around 2:00am, where I instantly fell asleep in my dress on top of the covers. Solid evening.
Sunday was my last day, so we powered thru our hangovers and went and had lunch at The Misfit. The food was honestly incredible. We decided to eat family style and ordered Mac and Cheese, Fries, Prime Rib sliders, bacon wrapped dates, roasted brussel sprouts, and crispy lobster sliders. Pure insanity and the perfect way to end my trip. I wound up getting a sun head ach towards the end of the day, so I squeezed in a quick nap before I took a shuttle to the airport. My flight was an hour delayed which wound up being sort of a blessing since I was able to watch the Spurs game in an airport bar. I didn't get home till after 1:00 am Denver time but it was well worth it. Everytime I go to LA I like it more and more and I cant wait to go back and explore more of the wonderful city! Thanks again girls for such a great trip!!

Estes Park

Every time I go to Estes Park it reminds me of why I moved to Colorado. Even though I don't really ski, the mountains have always been a very special place to me. I grew up going to the mountains in upstate New York and my love for those long summer trips is what ultimately inspired me to apply to the University of Colorado.  When I'm in places like Estes, Vail, Aspen, Nederland I feel so calm and at peace that i literally have to talk myself out of quitting my job and just packing up all my belongings and moving into a cabin and buying a horse. I try my best to do one Estes Park trip every year which usually involves horseback riding but this trip was extra special because we were able to stay the night at the Stanley Hotel.
"The Shining" has been my favorite book and one of my favorite movies since I was 12 so staying at the hotel which was used in the movie (and the hotel where Steven King stayed to write a great part of the book) was a truly amazing experience for me. The hotel itself is wonderful. Old and charming but still bursting activity and extremely well preserved. Originally we were going to be staying in a room in the main hotel but we wound up getting upgraded to an amazing two bedroom townhouse with a private deck and hot tub that was located in the back part of the property. Initially we were a little annoyed that we wouldn't be staying in the main part of the hotel, but it wound up being much better to have a whole house to ourselves and a hot tub to relax it. Luckily, we still got the full reign of the hotel so after we had dinner and drinks at the Cascade, the hotels restaurant (where we drank red rum punch and heres johnny whiskey sours), we set out exploring. I have to say, the hotel is much creepier than I thought it would be. This thrilled me but I'm pretty sure the other girls I were with were really glad we wouldn't be staying in the main building. Walking down the halls and up the stairs I actually felt like I was in "The Shining".  While the downstairs part of the hotel had certain touristy elements about it the guest quarters were eerily absent of any luxuries. While the hotel does not have a room 237 like in the movie version of "The Shining" it does have a room 217 like in the book version as well as a room 417 where Steven King stayed when he was writing the novel. Naturally, we went and looked at each as well as room 428 which is allegedly haunted by cowboy ghosts of the old west. Before departing Belen and I had to recreate the famous "Come play with us" scene from the movie on the second floor, which you can see pictured above. Other highlights of our trip included an awesome horseback riding session with a crazy (and hot) wrangler named JT who had he cracking up laughing the whole time we were riding, an awesome breakfast at a local cafe where I ate latkes with homemade applesauce, and an early morning power walk along the lake on the outskirts of town. It was such a perfect weekend in such an amazing place with some of my favorite people in the world. I'm a very lucky girl!

Gangsters Paradise

...This is a real game. And I cannot not stop laughing at how ridiculous it really is. Discovered on Buzzfeeds list of  horribly offensive board games.

Vegas Eats: In N Out

So tomorrow I am off for a road trip with my friend Natalya who is moving to LA. We are doing majority of the driving in one day, driving about 11 hours before stopping in Vegas. Yeah Yeah wooo hoo Vegas. Um yeah, not really a fan of the place. I think its pretty tacky, over rated, and totally over priced. The up side? They have an In N Out. Which I will be eating at. Last year I went to both LA and Vegas and both times horrible things (aka hangovers) got in the way of me getting my burger. This time I wont let that happen. I always get the same thing (a cheeseburger animal style no tomatoes) but people have been telling me I need to try their fries (namely animal style fries) and shakes as well. Maybe I'll have to get wild and make my meal a combo. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegassssssssss.

Animal Style Fries? Hmmm maybe.

Cooking 1.0.1: Peppermint Bliss Avocado Salad (Day 36)

Avocado might be one of my favorite things on the planet. I haven't been able to find a ripe one anywhere in Denver for about a week now and I pretty much had a mental breakdown. Finally yesterday I was able to track one down at Marczyks and I got to make the salad I've been dying to try ever since reading about it on  Peppermint Bliss. I made a few small adjustments to Baileys original recipe.I have never been able to find cojita cheese in Denver so I used Feta instead and I also added olive oil to the frying pan to cook the avocados so they'd be less "grilled" and more crispy. The salad was so good I wound up making a second plate and then this morning I simply grilled up a few slices of avocado and ate them plain before running out the door for my dentist appointment. Highly Highly recommend. 

Ingredients

• Arugula
• Olive oil
• Cojita or feta cheese, crumbled
• Lime Juice
• Avocado
• Serrano Pepper
• Salt and Pepper

Preparation

• Mix together the juice of one lime with a teaspoon or two of olive oil. Set aside
• Slice up avocado and season with salt pepper and olive oil
• Add some olive oil to a large skillet and cook the slices of avocado for 1-2 mins on each side
• While avocado is cooking, slice up a raw Serrano pepper
• Toss the pepper, the arugula, and the lime juice and olive oil combo together and slowly add cheese till you reach your desired consistency.
• Top arugula mixture with seared avocado and enjoy!

You may all go to hell. I'm going to go to Texas.

Yes Yes Y'all

Exactly one week from today I will be heading to Marfa, Texas to spend a long weekend with my family. Located smack dab in the middle of nowhere, Marfa is known for its isolation, west Texas charm, and amazing art and food scene. It's a place I've always dreamed of exploring and now it's finally happening! We are spending one night in Marfa and then heading to the Ciblo Creek Ranch about 30 mins. outside of town for another night.  On the agenda  Prada Marfa, prickly pear margaritas and jalapeno mojitos, food trucks, and mystery lights and electronic wonders.  I cant wait to road trip it up and soak up the Texas sun.

Wanderlust Wishlist: Palm Springs

 It's no secret that I have some major jealously issues when it comes to my friends who live in California.  There are many things about California that spark my jealously. The palm trees, the warm weather, In N out.  Being from New York and Texas I always just assumed I wouldnt like California. Turns out, I love it. It's my happy place. Everytime I get off the plane in LA I feel an overwhelming sense of freedom and tranquility. For someone who has major travel anxiety this is an unparalleled luxury. Despite my love for California, I havent really explored much of it at all. I have still yet to go anywhere North of LA and none of my various trips to the sunshine state have lasted any longer than five days. While I've always had a desire to visit Santa Barbra and San Francisco lately I find myself oddly fascinated by Palm Springs.

Truth be told, I actually have been to Palm Springs. Twice, Actually. Anddddd I was pretty sure I hated it. 

Probably because my experience was Coachella based and was more like this..... 

 

....Rather than like this.... 

  

Or maybe it was because of my unnatural fear of wind power. Who knows.

My opinion on Palm Springs began to change over Christmas when my friend Kristinwhose family has a house in La Quinta, started texting me pictures like this from her backyard:

I started doing some research (Via posts like this from my favorite blogs) and discovered all the quirky magic that is Palm Springs. 

Like the insanely colorful Saguaro Hotel. I hear that this place is actually sort of Baits Motel esque.....but with those colors and those Palm Trees who the hell cares??

Or The Parker Palm Springs, which is famous for its lush grounds and ironic decor

The best part about Palm Springs is that it is actually a destination that is incredibly easy for me to go visit. It's short distance from LA makes it an ideal spot for me and my girlfriends to jet away to for a girls weekend, which is something we plan on making happen this year. I cant wait for sun, mountains, and arnold palmers (made with firefly vodka, of course) by the dozens. Bring on summer!