Colorado

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!

Are you a fan of tea? Any favorite flavors?

Back from Paradise

Happy Holiday Weekend

Twelve.Twelve.Twelve

WOW: The Loveland MS Walk

On Saturday morning, I had the opportunity to walk with a great group of people for a fantastic cause.

About a year ago, I remember reading a VERY surprising Facebook post written by a beautiful, vibrant young woman. She was in the hospital. She was scared. She didn’t know what was going on. I can’t even imagine how I would feel in her situation…

Olivia was one of my former employees who had such great energy. Always happy, always on the go, and someone with her whole fabulous life just waiting to unfold. Now, she was in the hospital and had been diagnosed with MS. Over the past year, I’ve followed her story and sat in disbelief. How could someone so young have something so severe come into their life like MS.

Here I am with Olivia and Debi before the walk

A few months ago, she posted on Facebook that she was assembling a team to walk in the Loveland MS Walk. It took me about 1/2 a second to sign up. I love 5K walks. I love the energy out there as your walking for a cause. And, I love walking in honor of strong, beautiful people and I knew I wanted to be a part of this.

Our team ended up being a little smaller than anticipated, likely due to the crappy crap weather that Colorado delivered on Saturday morning. It was literally 48 degrees when I arrived at the walk, and as a bonus… it was windy and rainy. AWESOME.

The walk was designed to be a 5K or a 1 mile walk, depending upon which race you were interested in walking. The walk was held at a beautiful park next to a shopping center. Now, I shop at this shopping center quite frequently, but I really don’t know why I haven’t visited the Chapungu Sculpture Park before. It’s amazing!

I walked with an umbrella in hand. And, Debi and I made the decision to walk the short walk because we were both FREEZING. I’m convinced that the path we took was more than a mile, but it was perfect!

Truth be told, it was SO cold on this walk. I was so thankful that I had an umbrella with me during the walk because it started steadily raining toward the end. I have to say, this is the first walk I’ve ever done in the rain. Normally, I would have just stayed home, but I had to make sure I was present to support Olivia!

Gorgeous, right?

For my Colorado readers, this park is right on the East side of Centerra close to Macy’s. Seriously! Such a hidden treasure…

Loved this spot

Despite the chilly weather, we had a blast walking, visiting, and catching up. It’s amazing how “warm” you feel in company of great people. I’m honored to have been a part of this team and look forward to the event again next year. Let’s do it in the sunshine though next year, Colorado!

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