NYC stole my heart!

We are back from our NYC trip, and it was epic. From lunch at a 3 Michelin star restaurant, to a Broadway show, we really made the most of our time in the Big Apple. I'm sure I'll do at least two blog posts with some of the highlights, but here's a preview of some of our favorite moments. Let's just say that I loved it, and am already planning when I can visit again!

The food. Oh, the food. Amazing!

From Battery Park to the Upper West Side, we saw so many sides of the city.
More than once, we savored a little time in Central Park.

Seeing some of our good friends was a major
highlight. Seeing them while exploring the city
was even better!

Happy 30th Birthday, Joe!

We started Joe's birthday celebration in South Dakota, with his fancy DQ race car cake. But that was just the beginning, because this wasn't just any old birthday. It was the big 3-0! This meant I made Joe feel celebrated and important for WEEKS on end, with a fancy birthday celebration on his actual birthday, and a party with our friends a few weeks later. Would you like to hear about it? Good!

We started the celebration with drinks on the 13th floor of Trump Tower.
It was quite fancy, and we did some great people watching.

The drinks were quite fancy, and pretty darn tasty. Not your normal weeknight drinks!

We took some lovely tourist pictures. It was a pretty captivating view!

We went to Avec for a delicious dinner.
Photo Source

And we ended the night at Monk's Pub, celebrating the arrival of Oskar Blues beers.

But remember, since this wasn't just any birthday, we had to have a party as well! We had our friends over this weekend for the official fete, and did a pretty good job ushering in a new decade of Joe's life.

After we sang "Happy Birthday", Joe decided they should shotgun some beers.
A desperate attempt to hold on to his youth? I think so.

Still smiling, and feeling a bit proud of the shotgunning.
I'm kind of surprised this didn't lead to flip cup or some other nonsense :)

Singing!

Happy Birthday Joe!

Thanks for coming everyone! We had a great time celebrating Joe's birthday. We're so lucky to have such awesome friends to celebrate with. And now, only 9 more months until my big 30th blowout!

Sleepwalk with Me

I forgot to share this a couple weeks ago... but we saw Sleepwalk With Me a couple weeks ago, and it was an extra special night at the movies. We didn't just go to the Music Box, my favorite theatre, but we got to sit in on a Q & A session after the movie with the producer, who is none other than NPR's Ira Glass!

It was a great movie. Cute and a bit romantic, but also realistic, and not just Hollywood fluff. It was pretty darn funny, too! Here's the trailer, if you're curious:

Our whole group loved it, and we were equally enamored by the fact that we got to hear from our friend Ira after the movie. The whole theatre was kind of dorking out over seeing him talk! I'd highly recommend the movie. Check here to see if it's showing around where you live.

Seen any good movies lately? I'm always looking for recommendations!

South Dakota: {The Rest of the Trip}

Just a few more pictures, then I'll move on. I promise. We just had too much fun on this trip, and I used my new camera A LOT. First, I have to share a few pictures from Wall Drug. It's a silly, kitchy, touristy shop in a teeny, tiny town outside of the Badlands. It's famous enough that news sources like the New York Times have featured it, and it's quite a hilarious place to visit. I think we were all pretty hyper after enjoying our doughnuts and five cent coffee, and acted a bit goofy during our visit!

Another option for the family Christmas card...

Doughnuts!

We had a little Fort Collins love fest one afternoon, when we noticed Joe and I were both wearing shirts from
Fort Collins breweries, and Brendan was wearing CSU gear. 

Are they cute or what?

Grillmaster in his element

My parent's view out back. Not too shabby.

We got cake twice over the weekend, since we celebrated my mom's birthday one night,
and Joe's a couple nights later!

We ended the trip with an overnight visit to Denver,
where we got to spend some time with two of my oldest girlfriends and their charming husbands.
I love these people!

South Dakota: {The Badlands}

Ok, I'm finally ready to get back to the blog. We're actually leaving next Friday for another quick little trip, so I figured I'd better get the rest of my South Dakota pictures posted before we leave again!  These are some of my favorite pictures from our day trip the the Badlands, an amazing National Park just east of Rapid City. We were in awe of the dramatic rock formations, and soaked up the beautiful scenery as we climbed around on the rocks. If you ever make it the South Dakota, the Badlands are a MUST. It is a truly stunning sight.

Momma Hags doing what she does best-- keeping us well fed!

Do you like how we picnic? We're fancy, with our tablecloth and all.
We had leftover burgers on homemade buns, fresh hummus with veggies,
and a mindblowingly simple and delicious corn salad.

Sorry sisters, this picture was too funny to not post.
Hahahahaha!

Within a mile down the road it was complete prairie.
The dry grasses seemed to stretch forever,
even though we knew there were more rock formations just down the road. 

The pictures pretty much say it all. Amazing place to visit.

South Dakota: {Hill City}

I took almost 300 pictures in the four days that we spent in South Dakota. That is out of control, but we had fun capturing little bits of our adventures! I am still swamped with work and recovering from my cold, but I had to start blogging this trip before I forgot what we did. I'm going to keep this one short & sweet... here are some of my favorite pictures of some of my favorite people!

Hill City: "Check your guns here"

Learning about trains

Stopping for a bit of wine tasting

They love their guns...

Classy guys at Prairie Berry Winery

The whole gang!

Ok, long enough for one post! Hill City was beautiful, and we had fun eating, drinking, and goofing around together. South Dakota is quite beautiful, and reminds me of bits of Colorado that we enjoyed as kids. And no matter what, being with my family just makes me happy. We're all spread out these days, but whenever we get together like this it feels like we're back 'home'.