A March of 30.

I know I am so behind so forgive me as a play a bit of catch up in the next week. The months have gotten away from me but some real good times have been had.

In the month of March alone, I celebrated three of my best friend's birthdays - all of the 3-0. The crazier part? There were more best friend's birthdays that I missed out there (PY! Eener! Anika!).

Andy, my cousin, my brother from another (aerobic teachin') mother and my best friend - turned 30 the beginning of the month. We celebrated with a dinner at Steuben's where I stuffed myself full and then insisted on ordering a Boozy Milkshake.

Come the 16th, just in time for St. Paddy's, Suzy's birthday was up. 'Walk Me Home' - a boozy stroll down Colfax was the plan, but when we showed up to our first stop - PS Lounge - we quickly realized we may never want to leave. All of the ladies are gifted roses upon arrival and after not one, not two but three shots bought by the house to celebrate the occasion, we bellied up at the bar and soon felt like we were home. Until, of course, it was time to go home.

Celebrating 30 on the 30th, Linzi's celebration kicked off with a Brunch at Park and Co. A few drinks on the patio at the Tavern (quickly becoming a tradition for this one's birthday) eventually led us to the Atomic Cowboy. Since we started at 1 p.m. that day, and were well - 30, we figured we would last until all of 10 p.m. but somehow, someway - we saw 4 a.m. (and paid for it the next day).

I love birthdays. LOVE. And had so much fun celebrating the three above - now if I could only be everywhere at once but just know, if its your birthday and I, for some reason, am not next to you - that I am somewhere, toasting to your day, singing.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Shots of Cheese : Twenty-three : Captain Andrew

As we were coming out of Warren Miller the other night, there was the most random little ladder leaning against the wall.

Cousin Andy had his captain hat on. Because why wouldn't he?

The combination of these two things made this photo M2B (meant to be - obv). And it brings me a whole 'lotta joy and so happy that I live out here now and get to hang out with this guy on a regular occasion. #cousinlove

Captain Andrew
Taken in an alley next to the Paramount Theatre in LoDo
Captured on November 18, 2011

What Saturdays Look Like Now

Have you guys seen my new backyard?

For the past few weeks, Cousin Andy and I have been planning on going up to ski/ride. But now that I actually get to PICK AND CHOOSE my days - I shoot for ideal (aka spring-like) conditions. The first weekend I was sick so that was a no-go, the second weekend was cold and windy so that was a definite no-go but this weekend....38 and sunny. Sign me up. We're going riding, kids.

I met eager-beaver Andy at 7 a.m. in Evergreen so we could ride together up to Winter Park. He was a peach (as always) and had picked up Einstein bagels and coffee for us and we then took one of the prettiest drives of my life up the mountain.

Come to find out, Winter Park is a little more skier friendly than it is snowboarder. Andy made the switch back to skiing last Winter and his friend had done the same, and I realize that it's easy to forget how difficult it is to go DIAGONAL across a mountain on a board rather than with skis and poles. I'd been considering making the switch myself as I skied from age 3-18 before making the trendy switch to a board and have never been as strong on a board as I was on a pair of skis. I was a mogul maniac back in the day. Now, I won't go near those things with a 10 foot pole (or board). I figure sometime this season, I'll get back on a pair of skis to see how it goes.

But I digress, after sharing my feelings of frustration with Andy, we made a few changes in our trails and I ended up having a fantastic day of riding. The sun was shining, I only ate it twice getting off the lifts, and according to Andy's watch calculations, we got over 9 miles taken care of that day. Not to mention the breathtaking views. Winter Park gets you above tree-line, providing magnificent views like this...

A little Kanye in my ears, a little Katie on a board, and a whole 'lotta mountain made for one hell of a Saturday morning.