Back to Flo-rida.

I have said my final farewells to Colorado.

Yesterday was my first full day back in Florida,
and what can I say-
It feels like home : b

I got to wake-up Aleyse, something I have missed
...terribly so.
I made a delicious breakfast for the two of us.
Spinach & egg frittata and some shredded
zucchini and apple scramble -with cinnamon! YUM!

I rode with her into work. Went to Christian's
place, since I now have the key. hehe.
The bed was made- and it's all mine!

Laced up my rollerblades and went all around
the GC Town Center. Hit up LA Fitness.
Dined on delicious Costco samples for lunch.
haha.
Then took Aleyse's Eclipse to the gas pump,
Coconut Pointe (for waaay too much Christmas shopping)
where I happily ran into people I know!

I haven't done that in ages! It was soo refreshing!
I had dinner with Alex : D
and then when Aleyse got off work it was time for
watching a movie and passing out.
What a looong, wonderful day!


Today's mission:
Wrap the alleged presents
and find some ugly Christmas sweaters for
the bonfire tonight!

Manitou Springs, CO

My final two days were spent in the lovely,

quaint town of Manitou Springs.


Home of Pikes Peak
Garden of the Gods
and Cheyenne Springs.

Christian Mr. and I stayed at
The Avenue Hotel B&B.
What a fun experience!

The Ruxton Room.

Starting out as a boarding house
in 1886 for none other than Tuberculosis patients-
don't worry. The wall paper has since been redone.

Breakfast served at 9 a.m. The Mrs. has award winning muffins & pies!

The couple that runs it were very sweet.
They had two pups and a kittykat.
All of whom joined us come breakfast time : D

Meow.

The first night when we arrived in Manitou
we explored a few of the still open shops
and knew the next day would be an adventure.

On the 15th when we had one final full day of CO left,
we went to Garden of the Gods for some hiking abouts.

These rocks wouldn't have stood up without our help!

We explored the town to find some of the seven
natural drinking springs located in the area.
We found a total of five- and tasted them all too!

Later that night after some wine and cheese
we went to our fancy dinner at
The Mona Lisa fondue restaurant.

Just lovely ambiance.

mmmm. Brie. The best cheese ever!
Followed by salad, seafood, and dark chocolate dessert!

Those are terrifically happy, full, but happy faces!

Two more days!?!?!?

So, after day 1 in Denver we did another day of Denver-ish
activities on the following.

Begin scene: It was the 11th of December,
on a cold, windy day...

Characters enter: Cue Saige & Christian.

We started with a Brewery Tour!
Indeed, my fourth one : b

It had to have been the best tour I had been on yet!
Why you may ask?
Because there was a guide,
and I much prefer a person to an audio box- just sayin'

Afterward we drove by the second largest brewer in town
GCB
Golden City Brewery!

We stopped into the Golden Natural Foods Store
and grabbed some for-the-road snacks.

Drove to the Red Rocks Amphitheater.
Went to wander in REI in Denver.

And met with some friends for dinner at

The Yard House.
With over 130+ beers on tap-
Can you guess how it is served?

Correct: By the Yard!

After some good food, fun conversation,
and a long day of adventure
we could barely keep our eyes open!
hehe.

Cue: Sunset.
Enter: Sleep.
Sunrise's line.
Curtain opens.

We drove into Evergreen to meet
my Volley Ball Crew from
the Wellness Center for Brunch.

Destination: El Rancho.
It was more food, more fun & visiting,
and a pretty stellar game of pool on my end.

After final farewells
we left for the Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory Tour!
Yay! More free tea!
& over 70 flavors at the : D

After another great guided tour
we went to the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder.

I finally got to go into the Tea House too!
It was packed with people enjoying their tea and
teeny tiny finger foods.
The place has intricate designs and detailing
that are so lovely it kind of makes you drool.

After some more exploration around Boulder
we headed home so that I could some much
needed laundry.



Then, unexpectedly...Monday came along!
huh. Fancy that.
Which had been planned as a day of
SNOWBOARDING!

I had bought a super great deal online
a few weeks back for our lift tickets
to Ski Cooper.
However, it wasn't until we were an hour and a half
into the journey West when I discovered
that they are currently only open on the weekends.
No, Monday doesn't count.

So we hopped out of the car and walked around Vail.
Then headed back through the Eisenhower Tunnel
to go to Loveland.

It was the most beautiful bunny hill I had ever seen!

I have a lot of bruises to prove just how much I loved that bunny hill.

It was fun, it was challenging, it was somewhat successful too!

After a day of hard work on that hill we had a dinner at
Brother's BBQ.


mmmm. BBQ grilled tofu on my salad.
Yeah. That is good.

The following day was the 14th.
My last day in Golden.

I started packing, and packing, and packing, and
Wait- how do I have this much stuff!?

Anyways, after Anna got home we said a goodbye.
I cleaned some more. I packed some more.
We went to the post office so I could mail out some boxes.
We went to the Wellness Center for more goodbyes.

After a lap on the track and a lot of farewell hugs,
we went to lunch.
One final Popeye sandwich at D' Deli.

Went for a small hike, a short run back to the car,
packed that little KIA Rio up to the max
and left for Manitou Springs.

The Avenue Hotel B&B!

Come inside!

See our room!


More on that later!
Ciao : D

A Day of Denver

Winter break is here!

& to join me in the Celebration of another semester done
Christian flew out here and arrived to DIA
yesterday morning.

After finally finding each other at the airport
we set out to start off with a day of Denver!



First stop: The Southwest (Airlines) Ice Rink.
For a $2 buck skate rental you get an arm band,
free entertainment watching adults fail on ice for the first time,
and ice rink privileges all day long!
Well, until 10pm, which is when my world starts winding down.



On second thought, the first, first stop was food.
He had an Alaskan Reindeer Hot Dog (see above).
Yes, the hot dog vendor has
Reindeer,
Buffalo,
Elk,
and Hebrew National.

Welcome to the Northwest my friend.


I don't recall if this next event occurred pre- or post-skating,
but it was quite literally right next to the rink.
Lannie's Clocktower Cabaret.
A lesser-known venue that I heard of through a friend of a friend.


The clocktower building itself is over 100 years old!
When you go to the lower level it is a hip Cabaret club.

Tonight's show: Sexy Circus!
Yes, yes, please & thank you.


Plus, for just $5 more you can upgrade to VIP
the gal gets a plastic tiara,
the boy gets a plastic fedora,
one person ends up on stage,
both get to sit front row. (Quite literally the base of the stage!)
Of course, he did choose to upgrade.
That boy loves his fedoras!
& I ended up on stage! haha.


The show didn't start until 11:30 p.m.
Yes, haha, thanks. I did stay up that late!

So to pass the time by before we:
explored 16th Street Mall,
found the Big Blue Bear at the convention center,
grocery shopped,
etc.

Today bears another big adventure!
Get it? eh? eh?
haha : b

The countdown begins with an arrival.

Yesterday was my last exam of the semester.
REPEAT: The semester is complete!!!

& now that I realize it is, in fact, the 10th of December
I also realize that I have 6 days left in Colorado.

SIX!?
Really, people?! Where did that go!?

Time sure flies.





Right now my body is trying to say I should be asleep.
haha. I knew this when I woke up at 2:30 a.m.
Yes, if you know me, I said woke up. That is not when I went to bed!
(I won't disclose said bed time here, I will however, have you know that I missed a call at 9:30 p.m. I was out cold!)

Maybe I will squeeze in a few more winks before I
pick up Christian at DIA.
Yay!
I have so much stuff planned for the next 6 days.
Can you say jam packed?!

I tried...my sleepy face slurred that one a bit.

Working backwards.

Today was my first day as a (not) intern.

It's weird that my internship really did end last Friday.
I still don't think it has quite sunk in that my experience there is over.
I believe that has mostly to do with the fact that Winter Break
will arrive at the end of this week!

This morning I decided to strap on my new Nike+ Sportband
and weave the little chip into my laces...
& go for a RUN!

A big thank you to Kelsie for the cool new toy!

Woo! So I ran the whole 2.25 miles to the Wellness Center
and it felt amazing, ...cold, but amazing! hehe.
Plus, the downhill grade for the majority of the run gave me my fastest pace yet!

Tomorrow definitely feels like a yoga day for me though.
I looked up two studios nearby and think I'll try a class
in the morning and one in the eve.

Working back to yesterday, I made $12 going to the mall.
Yes, I went to mall and got paid! in cash!
How so?
Well, that was quite simple: SURVEYS!
hehe. As I was wandering around a bit aimlessly
I was asked to participate in 2 separate paid surveys!

One for Hershey, where I got to sample one of these:
& another for a new Adam Sandler movie.
Watch the preview, answer questions.
Simple enough : D

I set out with my hard earned money for my original purpose.
To see this:
James Franco? Yes, please ; b

It was a good adventure movie with as much action as you could have
stuck to a boulder for 127 hours.
It's crazy that the main character portrayed in the movie lives about
an hour from where I am in CO.

The survey money paid for my dinner and a movie!
How refreshing : D

Of course, I only went out on the town after finishing
Exam # 1 and a Final Project!
Yahooo! One class down.
Two to go.

On Friday I went to Dinner & A Show with Kelsie & Chris.
Dinner was on them.
The show was on me.

Thai food. Yum. I was missing sea-veggies in my life!

Me-so happy I got this soup! ...get it? haha.

& more sea veggies! Seaweed salad, mine was served over mixed greens!

Plus, two of these guys! With peanut sauce, of course!

And afterward we arrived to the Denver Improv (yes, again- my second show here!)
To see this guy:
Finesse Mitchell. Ex- SNL entertainer.

We all agreed that the opening act, whose name I wish I knew,
was by far funnier in his act!
He was great!
Reminded me of Jim Carrey in his mannerisms.
Overall the experience was
laughable,
worth a laugh,
laugh worthy,
...
etc?





Ciao!