Pengs on Trains

For my birthday, Linz told me that she was not going to get me anything materialistic but instead, made plans for us that would involve me needing to dedicate an entire Saturday for an activity together.

I'm obviously very good at shopping for myself. I'm also very good at planning birthdays - making it hard for those in my life to surprise me. She decided this year she was going to make it happen. Never one to have been surprised, I was ecstatic at the idea. I told her I just needed to know what to wear - could I wear a dress? Flats? Lipstick?

Yes, she told me. I could wear all of the above. It would take us two and a half hours to get to our destination and the activity itself would be two hours. She also said that what we were doing would involve drinking (surprise!).

The car ride was stocked with snacks, good music and lots of laughs (she knows the way to my heart - we haven't been Pengs for 15 years for nothin'). Before I knew it, we pulled in and I saw it.

THE ROYAL GORGE TRAIN.

This has been a dream of mine since moving to Colorado. I am absolutely in love with the idea of trains - there's something just so romantic about them. And this particular one happens to go through the Royal Gorge (hence the name). And, you guys, when we boarded they actually called "All ABOARD!" 

Swoon!

The trip itself took two hours (or three tequila sunrises) and the train is complete with an open-air deck where you can stand and see the Gorge. The only thing that could have made this trip any better was a guy named Bob, wearing a bolo tie with a handlebar mustache to tell us all about the history of the Gorge and the world's highest suspension bridge (956 feet high and a quarter mile wide across the canyon!). Oh wait, Bob was there!!!

When the train arrived back at the station, we were not ready to exit. Can't we just stay and do it again and again?

So, Pengs and I made a promise to each other to make the Denver to San Francisco train happen within two years. And thank you to her for making this making this girl's train dream come true.

One of 30 adventures before 30 down. 29 to go - all aboard!

Champagneloe

 Mid-June, I was able to reunite with Miss Chloe Urban as I picked her up from DIA. It had been 18 months since we last saw each other and it had been since this weekend that we truly got to spend the quality time together that both of us enjoy so much.

She arrived on a Friday evening and true to ourselves, we stopped at the liquor store on our way to my place to pick up not one but two bottle of champagne, one of those being Veuve Clicquot Rose that she was kind enough to purchase to toast to my 29th birthday. Which was a blessing and a curse all on it's own as now that I've had the best champagne ever - the rest pales in comparison (and we all know how much this girl loves the bubbly).

The rest of the weekend consisted of walks around Denver, Jazz in the Park, Brunches, French + Forest Room 5, more toasts, more champagne and really, really good conversation. And maybe a few naps.

Chloe is considering a move to Denver and I can't tell you how happy that would make me. She has always been a voice of reason for me, with thousands of emails and texts and calls exchanged over the years since we first met at SK+G when she was still an accountant (now a nurse) and I was just a girl out of college. To think of how much we've grown since those days and how much we've got to go - including London and Paris this Fall - the idea of all the possibilities puts a smile on my face.

In the meantime, she'll be back in three short weeks to experience Florence + the Machine at Red Rocks with me, along with a camping trip and (you guessed it) - more champagne.

Almost 30.

I turned 29 on June 7. Newsflash, right? Which, basically - is almost 30.

28 was supposed to be a magical year. And to be fair, there was plenty of magic to go around. 28 allowed me to get my feet sturdy on the ground in Denver, be a maid-of-honor, learn to ride my bike in the city, introduced me to a ton of new friends, got me back on a pair of skis and most of all, brought plenty of love in (and out) of my life.

I was happy to see 29 knockin' on my door and celebrated in true KK fashion (aka a week's worth of events). It started with wine flights at Cru in Larimer Square on Monday with the Scream team. Tuesday, my two dads took me to a delicious dipping dinner at Vesta. Wednesday, Langhorne Slim at the Bluebird to end 28 on a tambourine bangin' note and I rang in 29 with a mimosa brunch with Linz at Steuben's. June 7 carried on to a cheese/champagne picnic in the Botanic Gardens and wrapped with a group dinner with my new Denver family at Stella's and a stumble home from Streets of London.

 Oh, and then - we danced. Friday night, my Den girls and I hit up Lipgloss at Beauty Bar. Club Monster Katie would be proud to know that I am 29 and still dancin' until closing time.

Also, back on Memorial Day week - right after my last post, I saw Bon Iver at Red Rocks. You guys, I had joked about going to Red Rocks to see Bon Iver and crying and then I went to Red Rocks to see Bon Iver and cried.

 

 

Seriously, best performance I've ever seen. Hands down. If you ever have the opportunity to see him live - do it. And I know what you're thinking - Bon Iver = nap time but he doesn't. He had at least a 12 piece band with him and rocked. the. place. out. And apparently, the tears. Seriously, I've never been so moved.

And I hope to look back on 29 and be able to say the same. I want this to be the year that moves me. The year that moves me boldly and confidently in to 30. And also, I'd like to keep all the love IN the door this year.

Here's to movin'.....

The Month of May

HELLO!

My apologies for neglecting you, my HSCOOC, but the month of May has been a totes cray cray obv. 

There's been dating, a Quinceanera celebrating 15 years of Scream Agency, the finale of the Voice, the premiere of the Bachelorette and then a Bachelorette party IRL for my +more who wed her now husband, Scott, on May 19 in Las Vegas.

There's been the beach, a reunion with four of my best girlfriends, kayaking the La Jolla caves in the Pacific, grilling out, eating out, eating In-N-Out, driving from CA to LV, eating blue crabs with Dad and Anne, Cracked Egg with Pep, Sammy's with Benneton (wait, is there an eating theme here?), a night of karaoke at Dino's with Kid Sis, drinks with Austin and Andi, SSFS with Eener and Anika and, of course, a rehearsal dinner and a wedding.

Which was one of the most beautiful days of my life thus far. My +more did an amazing job putting together the wedding of dreams. She looks simply breathtaking in her dress, the groom so handsome, Christopher Walken did a great job marrying them, the kids in the wedding were adorbs, the food delish, the dance floor a ton of fun and then there were the Nothing Bundt Cakes to top it all off.

Oh and did I mention I caught the bouquet?

Nothing could beat the company though, to be surrounded and completely submerged in my nearest and dearest for nine days in May was more than I could have ever asked for.

All to come home to my life in Denver - Sir Gordon and Sienna, work, the Yves Saint Laurent exhibit and brunch date with the girls (complete with dress up), Josh Wickler's birthday, dinner at Linger with Lindsey Jones and Anne and one of two concerts at Red Rocks for this week.

And there ain't no stopping because you know what's next?

June!

Spring Fever

It's spring fever.  That is what the name of it is.  And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!  ~Mark Twain

I came across that quote a few days ago and it just perfectly sums up spring 2012 for me. Pep and Sam came for a visit over Easter weekend. It was complete with full tummies, laughs with the aroma of wine, trips to the Nursery and, of course, an egg hunt.

With two parent weekends back-to-back, I was definitely feeling like a Denver tour guide but was also feeling the love. Spring is such a beautiful time of year in Denver and now that I feel like I really know my city, I am so happy to show it off to those that mean the most to me.

And as the quote says : spring is here and I don't know exactly it is that I do want but whatever it is, I want it so! 

So let's just have fun with it, shall we? Maybe we'll even get a little personal...

Introducing a little side project of HSCOOC and Co. : 100 Percent Match.

A Girl + Her Dad

Last weekend, Carl Knoch came in to town for what was supposed to be a weekend filled with skiing. Thanks to the 80 degree spring days, our weekend turned in to a few hours of skiing and a lot of beer drinking on patios.

We started Friday with a trip to Steuben's followed by a tour and a round of hellos at Scream on our way to REI to pick up some bike supplies. After that, we were mountain bound.

The conditions were what most would refer to as "mashed potatoes" but let me tell you that this girl loved every second of it. Spring skiing takes everything that I hate (see: cold) out of the equation and leaves you with sunshine, beautiful clear skies and views to gasp over.

Andy had come up to meet us for the first part of the day and he was right, by about 2 p.m. - they mountain was no longer "mashed potatoes" and was just straight slush (we actually skied through water on our last run) so we found a deck, loosened our boots and planted our butts with a few Coors Lights (which we both decided, tastes way better at 10,000 feet).

Since nothing but slush welcomed us the next day, we headed back to Denver to enjoy the 80 degree weather how it was meant to be enjoyed - outside, riding bikes to a picnic in a garden. The Denver Botanic Gardens are in bloom a little earlier this year and we took full advantage by enjoying some sandwiches from Snarf's under a shaded tree.

Note to self : Don't go cactus shopping when you need to B-Cycle home.

After somehow surviving that ride home, prick-free, we went to meet the cousins for some dinner before the dreaded drive out to DIA to say goodbye to Dad.

As I've pulled myself up from the mess that was March, I was reminded during this particular visit that, sometimes, we need to just let it go and enjoy some quality time - just a girl and her dad. 

Colorado

Words to live by today and every day for that matter?

"Waiting is the opposite of living." 

Watch the below to see why I moved here. And why I plan to stay.

And why you, you and you should come visit this summer.