North Point, Brie and Howie's Wedding

I got up early this morning and went to the 8:30 service at North Point. There are no churches that compare in Denver; I really miss good singers and the environment. It was an excellent sermon as usual. I was happy Brie was able to meet me and that we could squeeze in a quick breakfast before I headed to Howie's wedding (and that I could meet her adorable new dog).

I had never been to a jewish wedding before. I liked the traditions; it was interesting to see. They did everything - broke the bottle, danced around with the bride and groom on chairs. They also did a special dance around the parents since it was their last child to get married in both families. It was great catching up with all my friends from highschool. It was strange to see Howie getting married. It's hard to believe it's been 10 years since he used to eat my goldfish crackers in our AP English class. The remaining bachelors and bachelorette from our "Merry Cohorts" group (Billy, myself and Steve) made a bet as an encouragement to get a move on with this whole marriage thing. Kelly doesn't get included since she's in Japan and currently has a boyfriend (unfair advantage, she probably is next). The bet is whoever is next to get married gets $20 from each of the remaining two. A Brittany Spears 48-hr wedding in Vegas doesn't count. A few minutes after we shook on the pack Steve was off flirting with girls at another table. On my way out I commented to him how he didn't waste any time. He said he takes bets seriously.

I finished the day with a trip to the vet to see poor Winnie (one of my parent's dogs). He had been sick all week and couldn't keep anything down. The vet finally figured out he had swallowed something. They performed surgery. We had to drop him off at an overnight emergency clinic so they could administer pain medication. He wimpered the entire way over - it was so sad. Hopefully he'll be almost back to his old self in a few days. I was sorry I couldn't run with him down to the end of the block as I know he loves it.

Georgia Tech Homecoming

I went to Georgia Tech's Homecoming game against Clemson. I had not been back to campus in quite awhile. It was fun hanging out with everyone again. I got to catch up with Jennifer, Tamara, Alexis and my old boss Cristina. I was excited to run into Kendra, my lil sis, at AXO. I had not seen her in over a year, and she didn't know I had moved to Denver. Here's a picture of us in front of the AXO house. I met up with Brooke and we gave ourselves a tour of the house. My pledge classes' composite picture is no longer in the basement; I'm in the stairwell now - that's a sign you're getting old. I left the football game a little early. I walked past the physics building. I had remembered the day I ran up those steps to check out my grade in E-mag. E-Mag, Re-Mag, Three-Mag, thank goodness my major accepts a D-Mag. Seriously, does it matter that I understand Maxwell's equations? Although, it does make me feel good that at some point in my life I was smart enough to comprehend how changing magnetic fields produce electric fields and all those equations with the funny squiggly lines...haha, those would be integrals. I did get a "D" so probably not comprehending so much as suffering through it. Aah, filling out those scan-tron forms was like a weekly lottery ticket - how many will I match this week?

The Cook's Warehouse

I went with my mom to a cooking demonstration class. It was basic stir frying taught by Helen Chen, daughter of Joyce Chen, held at the Cook's Warehouse in Atlanta. It was an awesome class. Helen is entertaining, a fabulous cook and very knowledgable. As an early birthday present my mom bought me a wok and a few other utensils. I've been inspired to try to re-create some of the dishes Helen made in class.

I realized how much I really could use some cooking classes when I watched her take the tendon out of the tenderloin part of chicken meat. Just that demonstration made the class worth it. I can't think how many times I've tried to cut the tendon, but to see how easily you should be able to slip it out. It was amazing how quickly she could prepare the food. I would enjoy cooking much more if I had a clue what I was doing.

Back to the ATL, Sara's House

I headed back to Atlanta today. I had dinner with Sara, a friend from work at Home Depot that also went to GT. I saw her and Josh's new house and I just love it! I've included the picture she emailed me. She even has a fence surrounding the front yard - too cute, especially if she painted it white (high maintenance but the cliche would be cool). It was built in the 30's; I like the style. It's hard to believe the house is so close to downtown. Zeus, their corky, has a huge backyard. He doesn't know what to do with all that space.

Haunted Houses

In celebration of Halloween, I went with my two aunts to some Haunted Houses tonight. First we went to the Molly Brown museum house. Yes, it's the unsinkable Molly from the Titanic. The house was built in 1889 and was bought for what is equivalent to today's $1.5MM. It was a special event running for 4 nights. They do horror readings from Victorian authors. It was cool to be in the house at night; it was mostly lit by candle and they had replaced the few light bulbs with darkened colors. They had 5 performances in various rooms of the house. The performances included readings from Edgar Allen Poe, HG Wells and others. It was fun to be sitting on the carpet in Molly's bedroom and listening to the tale of Dora Shorter's "The Strange Voice" (Eileen - the main character has your name). Dora is an Irish poet and the person doing the reading had an excellent accent to match the story. I haven't been on the regular house tour, but this is also an opportunity to actually sit in the rooms versus what is most likely behind ropes on the tour.

After the classy Victorian readings, we went to a traditional haunted house called the Haunted Mansion in Littleton. I would recommend it; it was well done, complete with Freddy Crueger. What was the most entertaining was Ellen's reaction. She didn't want to be in front and be the first to walk into the next room. I think the creepy people following you around figure out who's the most scared and make a point to follow that person. The Haunted Mansion also has a store that has a great selection of Halloween costumes. Note to self: if I dress up next year, I would shop here.

Waterton Canyon

I went biking in Waterton Canyon with Raj this afternoon. Even more interesting wildlife then the High Line Canal trail - deer, rabbits and big horn sheep. The sheep are used to seeing bikers, hikers, fishemen and cars. They keep grazing and hardly seem to notice. The Waterton trail is actually a gravel road. After about 6 miles you come to the start of the Colorado Trail which runs 500 miles west through the Rockies to the edge of the Colorado state border in Durango.

Luca d'Italia

I went to Luca d'Italia for dinner; it's been rated a top italian restaurant both locally and by Zagot. It has a small dining area. On a weekend they are completely booked by reservations. I think often a small dining area is a sign of a good restaurant. There probably is only a couple of chefs working on the dishes and they spend a lot of time on each versus cooking for hundreds out of a menu with pages of options. I had gnocchi with crab meat in a lobster sauce. Believe me, it was as good as it sounds. I was also reminded a year ago, probably on this exact date, I was eating gnocchi in Croatia. Though there, it was prepared a little differently. For the main course I had "Rabbit Three Ways" - Braised, Grilled and Confit with White Truffle Sauce. Confit (kohn-fee) refers to a method of preserving. The meat is salted and and slowly cooked in it's own fat. Braising is cooking with "moist heat", typically in a covered pot with a small amount of liquid. And everyone knows grilled. I'm getting more interested in food from all the restaurants I've been trying in Denver. There surely is a difference between going to a chain restaurant versus being able to appreciate the different ways a certain item can be prepared. It reminds me of the show Iron Chef where they have chefs compete by creating 3 or 4 dishes with one main ingredient. This was the first time I had rabbit. Honestly it tasted a little like chicken; I liked it and would have it again.

Megan's Birthday Dinner

Megan and I went to dinner at Aji in Boulder to celebrate her birthday. It's a new Latin American restaurant that Megan said is always really crowded on the weekends. We got there early enough to catch some of the happy hour appetizers. It was excellent.

AXO Founder's Day

Today is AXO's 120th anniversary. I attended the Denver alumni group's celebration at the Arbor House in Golden, CO. Since the fraternity was founded on music, they had the assistant conductor of the Colorado Symphony as the guest speaker. For those not familiar with how a conductor manages to get everyone to follow him, he demonstrated by having us sing Happy Birthday. He conducts the youth symphony; many of the comments he made reminded me of my summers at Brevard and years in different music groups. Also as far as meeting new people, I finally met someone my age, not married sans kids, that actually lives within a couple of miles. She even spells her name the way I prefer - Shelley.

Team Buzz

I participated in Georgia Tech's Team Buzz volunteer day with the Colorado alumni group. We painted day care and nursery rooms in a shelter for women who are recovering from drug/substance addiction and are either pregnant or a recent new mom. It's called the Haven. I had no idea before I went that it's actually a program associated with the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. The house they live in was built by the government in the 1800's and was used as military living quarters.

La Fondue

After a long day of commuting between 3 different clinics, I went to dinner at La Fondue with Leigh, her husband and some friends of theirs in town for the weekend. We had a cheese fondue, salad, main course (I had filet mignon) and a milk chocolate fondue. The fondue was tasty, but they needed to work on their ventilation. I don't think the restaurant was originally designed to have people cooking at each table. By the end of our meal we were all ready to get out into the cool night.

Westword Menu Affair

Westword is equivalent to Atlanta's "Creative Loafing" newspaper. They hosted an event at Invesco Field at Mile High with the proceeds going to the Food Bank of the Rockies. It was held on the club level at Invesco field. I haven't been to a Bronco's game yet, so it was cool to see the stadium. They had about 30 restaurants offering sample dishes and chefs doing demonstrations.

Snow and 5 days later it's 80.

I remember hoping for snow near Christmastime in Georgia. Haha! We hit an all time high a week ago, near 90. Wow, weather changes fast around here. So this is the first snowfall of the season. The leaves haven't even all changed or fallen off yet. This was a picture taken from my balcony this morning. I have a meeting at the hospital that's near downtown today, so I didn't have to get up really early and drive to Boulder. I get to make that drive later today. I was hoping I would be done with driving up there before the snow hit. So much for that plan.
Update: Five days later and it was nearly 80 degrees today. The weather here is fun. I like variety; it makes the morning commute more interesting. All the snow melted within a couple of days; however, the first ski lift opened on Friday! I've bought my ski pass; tis the season to decide ski or board...

Re-Decorating

I've been working on re-decorating my bathroom the past two weeks. I had to avoid the colors blue and green since they are my favorite, and I have a tendency to over do those two colors.
I decided to go with something bright, bold and simple. In the reflection of the mirror above the towel rack, you can see the candle holder I got from Linen'n'things. I got the vase on the counter top from Pottery Barn and the flowers are from Joanne. I also worked on my painting of a rose this weekend. I need to work on the petals a little bit, then I'm going to hang it on the wall next to the linen closet.

Race for the Cure

I ran in the Race for the Cure at 7:30 this morning. Myself and over 63,000 other people ran or walked in the 5K event. These races are held in cities throughout the US; but Denver's is the largest. I was able to meet up with a co-worker, Kassie, and run some of the race with her. I'm also happy to say that I think I've gotten closer to being in the shape I was in a couple of years ago. I really could notice it on this race. The fact that I did a 2.5 hour bike ride yesterday didn't effect me. I was still able to run the entire race at a decent pace.

Colorado Ballet

I went to see Sleeping Beauty performed by the Colorado ballet. It was held in the newly renovated opera house that just opened this month. I had never seen a ballet before; the costumes and sets were beautiful. I've never been in auditorium quite like this one either. The row we sat in was actually curved in a slight 's' shape. I'd be curious to hear the acoustics during an opera performance. Also, each seat has a tiny electronic screen in front of it that you can turn on/off yourself. It flashes up the name of each scene and a short description of what's happening. It would be very useful during a foreign opera.

We got discounted tickets to the ballet at the last minute, so we had a quick meal at the nearby Sam's No. 3 diner that first opened in Denver in the 1920's.

High Line Canal Trail

I went for a bike ride today on the High Line Canal Trail. The trail runs completely through Denver, towards the mountains and is over 50 miles long. An entrance to the trail is only 1.5 miles from my apartment. It's a beautiful trail for running or biking, even horseback riding. There's a wildlife refuge area. You never know what animals you may see. Last weekend there was a snake on the trail. Today I biked past a house that had roosters crowing. I was running on the trail last weekend, and a girl on a horse was down on a dirt trail in a meadow that overlooks the mountains; I just thought to myself that it was incredible that 20 minutes from downtown Denver you can have such wide open spaces with scenic views and horses! I think it's the coolest thing that I can hop on my bike at my apartment or just walk out the door and go for a ride or run through such a beautiful place. That's what I imagined living in Colorado to be, and I haven't been disappointed.