Beer + Soccer

We headed to the adorable slightly Midwestern style town of Golden, Colorado, which is most famous for being home to the Coors brand.  It was quite the operation with buses moving everyone from an off-site parking lot to the factory.  We got to learn about the history of the company, the brewing process, see the progression of the company branding and of course, get a fair share of samples.  

We even hit the adorable town of Golden during their Buffalo Bill Days festival!

 

After exploring downtown Golden, we headed to the college town of Boulder for some more brewery visits and on-demand fresh baked cookies (they bake cookies fresh for you while you wait…why oh why Seattle do you not have this?).  My favorite brew of the day was of course Hippie Nectar!  Story of my life…

To finish off the day, we went to see the Sounders play the Colorado Rapids.  Even though the opponent’s fans outnumbered the green, blue and white of the Sounders fans, the cheers from our section did not go unnoticed.  I feel like you have to have some sort of training to fully understand all the cheers since they were complicated and long.  I can only imagine the type of spirit there is during a home game…

Denver Day 1

One of my goals for the year was to see more of the US and visit some new states for the year.  This isn’t the easiest thing since I have been to basically all states within driving distance, but traveling for work has helped me a lot in venturing to new places!

On my hit list was to enjoy the perks of having college and high school friends across the country!  I spent a long weekend visiting a friend in pharmacy school in Denver.  It was hard seeing the city so recently after the shooting in Aurora and even worse to think that my friend almost purchased tickets to be at that specific theater for the midnight showing, but opted for tickets the following day.  It all hits way too close to home.

Despite all the sadness, we were able to enjoy some of the sights of the city (and beyond!) over the weekend.  For the first night, we walked around downtown Denver (and visited with all the painted cows in the area!), watched people play life-sized Jenga at an outdoor bar, had a great Mexican dinner out and grabbed dessert at a fabulous dessert place created by Chef Keegan, of Food Network fame.  Everything tasted amazing and looked even better AND it was our lucky day since we got to sit at the bar in front of the pastry chefs.  I think the pastry chef thought I was a creep because I was so enthralled with how they were preparing everything!

Commuting By Electric Boat

A team from work hit the waters of Lake Union via electric boat to enjoy a beautiful Seattle day (and of course some quality team bonding).  Yours truly was put in charge of snacks, so I had fun shopping at Costco (my favorite!) for some great munchies.  Throw in some Skrillex and some partners and you have yourself a real party. 

The day could not have been more beautiful!  I think electric boats might be my new favorite mode of transportation around Seattle. 

 

Father + Daughter Hike!

Despite an overcast day (intermixed with some slight showers), my dad convinced me to hit Tiger Mountain for a climb up to Poo Poo Point.  I am pretty much obsessed with the paragliders (I could watch them take off for hours!) and now that is something that has been added to my bucket list! :) 

 

As I just found out, this is even the viewpoint depicted in Grey’s Anatomy!  Issaquah is kind of a big deal… 

Here Comes the Bridal Shower!

I spent a super sunny afternoon with a bunch of amazing women celebrating a friend’s bridal shower.  I love a good backyard celebration (okay, maybe minus the sunburn, but it was still amazing)! 

 

As a side, it is very difficult to get 20+ people to look at the camera at the same time, but we sure did try!