Colorado

WOW: Hiking in the Snow

On Sunday morning, I made a date to meet up with the fabulous Tiffany and do some hiking! I hadn’t hiked in months, so I was excited to get out and enjoy the outdoors.

When I saw that the temperature was in the 30s when I woke up on Sunday morning, I wasn’t as excited. Just the same, I got bundled up with a hat, a scarf, and some gloves and headed out.

I didn’t get quite this bundled up… but if I had that red snow suit, it could’ve happened!

On the way to Golden, I heard this song on the radio… There’s something about a little 90s rap that gets me going. I grew up in the 90s (and when I say “grew up” I mean I was in college then), so I just love those songs that I used to dance to at parties with my friends… and this was one of them. Thanks, 90s on 9, for getting the blood flowing and prepping me for this hike!

We chose Matthew Winters Park for our hike this week. It’s right on the edge of Red Rocks, and one of those places I’d always meant to check out. It was GORGEOUS!

I’m also always shocked that once you get your body moving and you’re in the sun, it really doesn’t feel like it’s in the 30s. The trail was pretty open when we arrived. We’d see an occasional person on a bike or off in the distance, but by the end of the trip, the place was hopping.

Now, you’d might think this would make for a pretty quiet trail walk…. but did I mention that I was with Tiffany? We tend to be chatterboxes, which was also the case today. It was so nice to catch up and hear about all that had been going on in each others’ worlds. If you don’t follow her blog Snack Snark Bark, I highly recommend it.

PS… Don’t judge my hat. Had to keep the ears warm!

This picture was taken at the top of our trek. There really was quite the incline to get there, and we could have gone a LOT further but after an hour we were ready to turn back. But, not before we took a few pics at the peak of our hike.

I swear, I live in the most gorgeous place. Seriously beautiful all year round. Today’s hike made me appreciate that once again, and made me want to get out there and hike more in the future.

Something that was new for Sunday’s hike was that there was SNOW on the ground. Thankfully, not throughout… but I had never hiked in the snow. It really slows you down a little bit, because you have to be careful (in my opinion.) However, it was interesting to see people running through there and riding bikes through there. Yeah… I’d rather take my time.

Overall, our hike took two hours. TWO HOURS on Super Bowl Sunday was quite the success. My Fitness Pal estimated that I had burned just under a thousand calories, and had already clocked more than 10,000 steps by 11am!

After burning all those calories, Tiffany and I needed coffee. We headed to Starbucks and got some coffee, but we were both a little more hungry than that…

Have you ever heard of Kolache Factory? It’s this ridiculously good place that I can’t believe I haven’t been before. They sell these little stuffed rolls, stuffed with tasty goodness.

Even though it was a little more decadent than I usually go for, I couldn’t even begin to resist a little bread ball that was stuffed with… WAIT FOR IT… Sausage and Gravy??? Ooooooooooh, yeah…

It was SO delicious. I was able to find the nutritional information online later, and was surprised that the damage wasn’t worse than it was… for all that flavor, just 250 calories. Not bad. Tiffany opted for one that was Jalapeno Popper flavored (really??)

I’d also brought some vegan donuts for us to munch on, but seriously, the Kolache took the prize…

When I stood up after we visited at Kolache Factory, I could feel some pain poking in the hip area, and I was sure that I was going to feel the work we’d done on the mountain for a few days. Totally worth it, and a totally fun morning.

We’ve made plans to get out there again in a few weeks…. I’m looking forward to it already!

Do you enjoy hiking? Have you ever hiked in the snow?

Planning for Change

TGIW: Thank Goodness I Work Out

Boxes Everywhere and a {GIVEAWAY}

Tea Time

After a very lazy weekend, Sunday arrived all too quickly and I had to set that dreaded alarm clock. Are you the same way? Does the idea of setting an alarm clock on the weekend make you wince?

Well, the good news is that I had a fun event to go to. I am involved in an alumnae chapter here in the Denver area, and a group of ladies and I get together on a somewhat monthly basis at different venues throughout the city. When I first moved to Denver, joining this group made it SO much easier to meet people and I’ve always had a fondness for it as a result. I especially love seeing new faces at these events of people that are also trying to connect after moving cross-country.

I usually play cruise director when it comes to our monthly events, but for January, my friend Jillian offered to help coordinate the event and chose Boulder as our backdrop. Things have been so hectic that it was nice to have someone else to do the planning for our group – - Thanks, Jill!

Not only did we have brunch planned at a lovely teahouse in Boulder, but there were also arrangements made for the group to tour Celestial Seasonings! Having a busy Sunday planned, I opted out on the trip to Celestial Seasonings (which I had already toured), but met the ladies for lunch.

The Dushnabe Teahouse was actually a gift from Tajikistan, believe it or not. Boulder established its sister city ties back in 1987, and artisans in Tajikistan went to work crafting this beautiful teahouse in its honor.

The exterior of the building is just as gorgeous as the interior, with hand crafted tiled panels surrounding the building. Once you arrive inside, you are greeted by the Fountain of the Seven Beauties and exquisite tiled ceilings. No detail was spared in the creation of this beautiful tea house.

Fountain of the Seven Beauties

The Ceiling

We had quite a large group and the restaurant was awesome to accommodate us so well. We all started off with some tea. I’m not a HUGE tea drinker, but I do enjoy the herbal infusions (i.e. Candy Cane Lane, Sleepytime Tea, etc.) so I picked a flavor that was called “7 Chakras.”

It had a blend of berries and flowers and tasted AMAZING! The little teapot had a strainer with loose leaf herbs, which was also a first. Our server brought out a timer to let us know when our tea had steeped long enough. Delish! I only wish I had drank more of it before it got cold!

The menu really had a large variety of international cuisine. Everything from Polish to Indian to Thai, the menu had a ton to choose from. I went with the Asian Chicken Salad. It came with soy and sweet chili seared chicken, napa cabbage, greens, red pepper, carrot, and a soy vinaigrette. Per the menu, it also is served with crispy wontons, but I asked them to leave them off this time.

It was REALLY flavorful and JUST what the doctor ordered. I can’t even begin to tell you how good this salad was, and the dressing was really interesting as well. It was mostly soy sauce, but in the best possible way.

After lunch and quite a lot of chatting, we got to enjoy a few tasty treats. My friend Jillian surprised us all with teapot shaped cake pops in honor of the event.

Just a bite of cake and frosting was EXACTLY the right amount of dessert… and she may have even stuffed them with a little surprise chocolate chip cookie dough! Yum-O!

BTW… Jillian blogs all of her fabulous creations over at Good Morning Sweetums. Check her recipes out… they are amazing!

If that weren’t enough sweetness, one of the ladies has been living in Switzerland and just happened to be back in town in time for the event. She treated us with Swiss chocolate… decadent, to say the least! And, somehow, the chocolate just kept multipling within her bag… Eeks!

I stopped at two little mini squares, but wow… the Swiss REALLY know what they are doing over there.

Before heading out and splitting from the group, we took a quick picture outside of the teahouse. To my friends who like to travel to Denver, make a note… we’ll be going to the Boulder teahouse when you come into town. I love this place!