Wednesday, 27 May 2009

• Currently Battlestar Galactica - Season 2.0 (Episodes 1-10) By Edward James Olmos, Jamie Bamber see related

  Another Year Over, and a New One Just Begun

  I'm officially 25.  It doesn't really feel any different, but seeing the number jump up makes me feel a little odd. 

  I had a pretty exciting and memorable birthday weekend, in both good and bad instances.  The weekend started with a trip to the airport to pickup Maggie and Laura, who decided to visit Denver for Memorial Weekend/my birthday.  Thursday night we dined on Indian food, and then introduced the girls to Dan & Joe by going out to Bull and Bush Brewery for a few pints.  Maggie kicked Joe's ass at a chugging contest, which was pretty entertaining.  We mostly spent our evening catching up with each others' lives, discussing changes in jobs, school, relationships... it was really nice to have my close girlfriends with me.

  Friday I unfortunately had to work (it was a busy Friday considering the holiday weekend), but Maggie and Laura entertained themselves downtown and eventually ended up at the Denver Aquarium, where I met up with them after work for a Happy Hour beer and some sliders.  We sat in the Dive Lounge and chatted more.  From there we headed to the Cherry Cricket, and after waiting almost an hour for our table we had our delicious burgers and beers and onion rings.  Laura found $20 lying on the sidewalk outside the restaurant, which we put toward our bill, and all was well in the world.

  Saturday was my first of four days off (which was AMAZING), and I spent it with the girls.  We made our way north to the Butterfly Pavilion (which was, sadly, smaller than I expected it would be) and spent some time taking photos and walking around in the very humid air.  From there we went on an adventure, driving down to Whole Foods for some local wine/beer and a birthday cake (and cannolis!).  We wanted then to get some locally and fresh-roasted coffee, but the shop was closed, so we braved the downpour (it rained ALL weekend while the girls were here; it was sunny and 70 degrees today, go figure) and headed back to Sunflower Market for cherries and more snacks, then headed off to Stella's for our afternoon coffee fix.

  Over the course of the day on Saturday I got calls and texts regarding my birthday dinner that night, downtown at the Breckenridge Ballpark Brewery.  I'd reserved a table for 15, and had invited about 15 friends and their significant others.  I'd known that several couldn't make it: Taylor's parents were in town, Anna was in Minnesota with her family, and Carl's wedding anniversary was that evening.  However, as the dinner got closer and closer I got messages from people letting me know that they couldn't make it or that they'd be late.  It was bumming me out; my birthdays have never been great, but I was hoping that this one would be a fun dinner with close friends, good food, and good beer.  I finally let my emotions get to me when I found out that Dan and Joe were not coming, as Dan was working and Joe wouldn't have time to take the train downtown after work.  I called the restaurant and canceled our table for 15, making it a table for 6, of which there were four of us who went: myself, Maggie, Laura, and Matt.  As we finished dinner, I got texts from Megan saying that she and Jeff had made it to Wynkoop Brewery and were watching the end of the Nuggets basketball game, and that we could all go join them after dinner, if we wanted.  So, we walked down to Wynkoop, had a beer with Megan and Jeff, watched the Nuggets lose, and went home.

  As over-emotional as it sounds, the entire evening just ruined my birthday for me, and made me change my perspective on life in Denver.  I knew that having my girlfriends from MN with me would make me homesick, but the one thing keeping me sane and happy the last few months has been my Denver friends.  If I had a bad day at work, I took comfort in the fact that I could call Anna or Taylor to bitch about it.  If we wanted to celebrate for any reason, we could call up Dan and Joe and go have a beer.  If I needed to go shopping, Megan was there with me.  It seemed like, whenever thoughts of leaving Denver would creep into my head, I just had to think about my friends and how much they meant to me, and those thoughts would go away.  Now I'm left wondering if they are as good of friends as I thought.  Then I wonder if I'm being overly needy and immature.  Then I just feel bad, because I'm sure all those people had good reason for missing my party: that they didn't just forget, or decide they wanted to stay in, or not want to spend any money, or not want to venture all the way downtown.  But all in all it made me wonder: If we decided to move away from Denver, would our friends be upset?  Or would they just shrug and say "Oh well"?  Would we even be missed?

  Yeah, that didn't sound PMS-y at all...

  We ate delicious Triple Eruption Chocolate cake that evening, and we successfully hooked Maggie on BSG, so after dinner/beers the night got a bit more low-key. 

  Sunday we'd planned to enjoy a Hangover Brunch at Sputnik's, but soon realized that the idea of more fried food and more alcohol made us all cringe.  We decided to try meeting up with Dan and Joe at the coffeeshop we'd tried the day before, but WTF they were closed on Sunday mornings... so Dan and Joe suggested a place called Wash Perks, which had decent coffee and bagels.  We sat outside (it hadn't started raining yet that day, and it was sunny and warm), chatting and bullshitting.  Sadly we had to bring Laura back to the airport, as she had to work on Monday... then, there was a giant thunderstorm which came rolling over the mountains.  Laura kept us updated from the airport, and after being delayed because of tornado warnings and lighting, Laura finally headed back to Minnesota. 

  Maggie and I left the airport and had a quick slice at Anthony's Pizza, then went to the mall to do some shopping.  I spent my birthday gift card from Matt at Victoria's Secret, then we ventured to Eddie Bauer, which I admit I'd never been in and decided that I love the place.  It's expensive, but their clothes are nice without being too trendy.  I found three new shirts for under $50 total (thanks to my parents for some money to buy said shirts with) and know that I will be back soon to get some more.  I also bought Matt some crazy expensive lavender tea at Teavana, hoping it'll help him sleep better at night.  We met up with Matt at 5:00 after his shift at Apple and went to Mad Greens for dinner.  That night I'd made secondary arrangements for a second birthday party, for anyone who couldn't make the first (which, as I mentioned, was almost everyone I'd invited), at Old Chicago.  Matt, Maggie, and I joined Dan, Joe, Katie, and Kat for a few rounds of beer and some appetizers, but headed home afterward instead of going out for the night.

  Monday Maggie and I braved the rain again and headed downtown to an Arts Fair.  We perused local artists' booths and saw lots of art that we'd never be able to afford, but also picked up some jewelry that we liked.  We then decided to pamper ourselves with a trip to a nail salon... which was so entertaining... we walked in to see this older Vietnamese lady and her husband (she spoke broken English, and I don't think her husband spoke any at all).  She was a riot and chatted most of the time we were there.  She even painted intricate flowers with little jewels on each of my big toes and on my ring fingers (not really my bag, but it was just so funny!).  As Maggie's nails dried we got to hear about the trials and tribulations of being a prosti-tot (several, probably 12-14 years old, came in and complained about their teenage boys, and played on their very expensive cell phones, much nicer than mine), and finally left feeling pampered.  We picked up Matt after his work shift was over and headed to Spicy Thai for some sushi and Chinese food, and when we were full we once again went home for a quiet evening.  We were supposed to see Monday Night Raw at the Pepsi Center that night, but because of the stupid Nuggets the event was canceled.  Stan Kroenke pissed off the WWE, and now they won't be back at the Pepsi Center - ever - and instead will be going to the Denver Coliseum.  The event was rescheduled for August 7, so we'll we waiting for tickets to go on-sale for that... stupid basketball.

  Tuesday was Maggie's last day here, and luckily (or unluckily?) Matt was "fired" a day early from Wolf so he had the day off.  We got up kind of early and took our cameras to the Botanic Gardens.  There were so many kids there on field trips that it was bordering between amusing and angering, and on several occasions I fought an urge to trip a child...  I got some good shots with Matt's little point-and-shoot, you can see them on Facebook.  Matt got to play with his new camera and got some beautiful pictures as well.  When we'd had our fill of schoolchildren, we went to the Nature and Science Museum to walk around.  We all started to feel old, as by the end of the day we were all sore from the waist down.  Maggie and I then went to Sunflower Market, bought some groceries, and had a feast of salsa, guacamole, and fajitas.  It was fantastic.

  Then, this morning, I got up at 4:30 and drove Maggie to the airport.  It was very, very sad...

  Tonight, Matt and I had a date night and enjoyed some pizza and beer at Old Chicago thanks to the birthday gift card I got from work.  We also got a free round of New Belgium Sunshine Wheat, courtesy of the New Belgium beer rep. visiting our Old Chicago tonight.  The whole event made me wonder if my sophisticated coffee palate could be transferred to a sophisticated beer palate... one will have to wait and see.

  For now, I've got a very (VERY) happy buzz and am ready for bed.  G'night!

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