Westbound

Hello from Portland, Oregon (pronounced Ore-gun, not gon, for the record...you only make that mistake once!). Tomorrow Blee will be running in her first marathon and Buckley and I are here to help cheer her on (and eat cupcakes, of course).

Here are some pics from our first day... Blee picked up her bib, we walked around town and I even found a few pieces of Fall :) Look back on Monday for results of the marathon!!

GO BLEE!!!!!



Fall on the bricks - reminds me of Harvard Square!!



The Streets of Portland







If I could sum up Portland in one word it would be: BRIDGES! Lots of them everywhere!!

Stayed tuned for the results!

Groundhog Day

So it has been mentioned to me that this space has turned into Groundhog Day... I guess I fell off the earth for a few weeks, but I am BACK. Is anyone there??? You should get a glass of wine because this is a long post.

I will give the brief synopsis of the past few weeks in photos... kind of like describing something through interpretive dance.

First up: Morning Hikes at Chautauqua Park in Boulder:



(The Flat Irons)



Not a bad way to start the day, huh?

I also had the opportunity to watch Hillary's kick-ass speech at a HRC event during the DNC:



Most days I hang out at Mollie's awesome apartment and do lots of TA.. as a break I ride my bike around town and explore different neighborhoods. The bike paths around here are amazing.. I promise to take some photos next time I am out!! This is a picture off of Mollie's balcony facing the streams around the apt complex.



I had a few visitors come to Denver to help me celebrate getting old. Yes, I turned old a few weeks ago. Deep Breathe... ok.

We went on a great little hike up Chief Mountain (the summit is at about 11,000 feet... just a little hike, right??)

Mollie & Blaze, both roommates from my undergrad days at Binghamton.

A view on our way up!


Can you believe the view?!!?!!!


Blaze, at the summit

Mollie, taking it all in

Me! (standard mom shot)

DJPJ (former guest blogger here at 5280) taking a water break



A trail marker at the summit.




And then came the celebrating, with more help from my Boston ladies:

And really...can you truly celebrate without a slip-n-slide? I am a child of the 80s, after all.



There were 2 surprises at the party:

IFM (the International Fashion Model) who was purchased for Blaze 5 years ago at her bachelorette party. IFMs sister lived with us in college at D130 and even went to Puerto Rico. I had no idea IFM was still around and she was a wonderful addition to the celebrations!! (notice the scary decoration hanging in the doorway. It is a SCARY cut off picture of me pasted onto the body of the 80s dress)

Speaking of the 80s dress... guess what showed up. Heidi asked me about 2 months ago if I was bringing the dress to Denver with me. I told her I was most likely going to send it to Goodwill. She was asking because a "co-worker" needed a good costume for an 80s party she was going to. LIAR. Her and Mollie wanted it for the party.




The weekend ended with a Rockies Game!!!


Here are my girls stretching during the 7th inning!!






Thanks to everyone who helped me celebrate my 30th!!

Well thanks for catching up with me. I think you probably need another glass of wine by now.

On the road again

Life around Denver has been good - not too much going on this week except for working and exploring. Last night Mo and I went to a Binghamton Alumni event. It was a good opportunity to meet some local Bingo folks and network my butt off. Mo and I discussed which baseball signal we were going to use if we wanted to leave quickly, but we both ended up having a good time and stayed for a few hours!! We walked away with shiny new alumni pins and a box of B-Connected breathe mints. Those Bearcats - always thinking.

Today I a off on another adventure. This time I am going to try to make my way up to Boulder, first on the train, then the bus - with my bike. I'm not too worried about getting lost, but I am a little hesitant about how to hook my bike up to the bus. This should be fun :)

Tomorrow we are heading to the Brandi Carlisle show at Chautaqua. I think this is a park, but I am not totally sure. We are going to ride our bikes so I will have lots of fun pics to post next week!!

Have a good weekend!

A Trip to the Highlands

I went over to Dr. Miller's for pizza and beers with her and M&M last night. Here are a few pictures from my first trip on the Light Rail and trying to figure out the bus. It is no shame train (the #1 for all you Bostonians), but it is very clean!!









This is the Pepsi Center - where the Nuggets play. I wish I had my camera out when we were riding by this because there is media EVERYWHERE preparing for the upcoming DNC next week.

Apparently this is not the right bus stop, but I decided to wait here for a good 20 minutes anyway. I needed to be up the road and on the other side. Ooops. Good thing I figured it out (thanks Blee!) or else I would have ended up going to the wrong town and most likely not even knowing!

They are nice enough to tell you where the doors will open on the train and where you should stand if you have a bike. Thanks RTD!!!! Can you call our friends back east at the MBTA?

Greetings from the Rockies

Ok Ok...I know I have been a slacker about posting... I promise to be better. It took me a few days for the shock to wear off that I am really not going back to Boston. I don't think it has truly worn off completely and it will take a while to figure out where "home" is, but I am starting to settle in. So what have I been doing?

Well last Thursday I went to my first Rockies game! It is quite unbelievable that you can walk right up to the ticket office and get tickets - pretty much anywhere in the stadium- on the day of the game!!!


There are multiple cools things about Coors field:

1. Mollie rode her bike there AND you can take the light rail (like the T, but not as advanced). We paid $5 for parking and didn't have to walk for 12 hours - it was just a short walk.
2. There is a row of purple seats the run along the stadium that indicates one mile high (5280). Obviously I needed to take a picture!!!!



It was a fun way to spend my first Thursday in town even though the Rockies lost. They are no Red Sox, afterall.

Today I rode my bike over to JHo's to wait for my cube to arrive. Mollie and I are about to head over to start unloading it. I'm ready to get this part of the move over and done with!!

After the cube arrived I took a ride along the bike path to the Cherry Creek area. I ate lunch, did some TA and walked around looking for fun places to hang out while I am 'unemployed'.

Farewell Tour.

First let me say that I am both honored and privileged to be the first guest blogger on JB's blog about her journey from the east side to the west side. I somehow convinced JB to let me write after sharing some delicious corn and sangria.


She somehow convinced me to keep my blog family friendly (though if you want the uncut version you can feel free to email me). So this farewell tour that I speak of by blog title is something that all of you Cher fans can relate to. And if you are not a Cher fan you may even know that she had her "farewell" tour many times. Good tactic.


Allow me to recap JB's farewell tour (and this only includes the nights I was a part of, excludes one on one date nights):
1. Dinner at Charlie's Kitchen with KD, me and JB
1a. I am going back and adding this after, too lazy to renumber but important nonetheless. Night at Cuchi Cuchi with tuna ice cream cones. Random trip to Good Times before closing. And photo booth stickers of KD, JB and I thats say "I've Been Good." Backwards.
2. Night at the Peeps with all of the people here who love JB to pieces
2a. Forgot this one too. PJ brunch at Tremont 647.
2b. Dinner at Foley's with KD, me and JB.
3. Wedding weekend. Not a planned stop on the farewell tour but categorized as a "last" something so I'm counting it.
4. Dinner at Pho with the girls to say goodbye
5. Dinner at Toro with KD, me and JB (equally as rewarding as eating JB's last corn with her was that KD was resistant to said restaurant and ended up liking about 90% of me and JB's standard fare).
6. Three in the bed later tonight.
7. Anticipated pre-airport breakfast.



So JB meet Cher. Cher meet JB. We laugh at Cher but really when it comes to JB I like how many opportunities all of us in the Boston crew have gotten to celebrate this lady's move. "If I Could Turn Back Time" maybe there would be more, but I am thankful with all that I have for all of this time together. In fact, KD and I have been spoiled for the last few days . . .

5:45 pm Friday - JB arrives at The Spring, huffing and puffing up the stairs with lots of bags, to bridge the gap between yesterday and tomorrow. Since that time we've been able to spend some great time together (see above) for which I feel very lucky and grateful. I've had the opportunity to do some things to JB that I know, whether or not she admits it, she will miss (see uncut blog). KD and I promised to give her something tonight that she'll never forget. Minds out of the gutter people, I'm thinking about a couple hard hugs, tight squeezes and maybe a press and hold or five. Can you blame us for wanting to soak in every single last bit of JB while she is here?

Over the past few days I have watched JB say goodbye to lots of special people and each time I've thought to myself "phew, I am glad that is not me" but the final countdown is on. 12 more hours and it is my turn. I am sad.



But it is ok because I take comfort in JB being a keeper. A forever friend. And even though this is JB's blog, allow me to talk about me. When I moved to the Spring almost two years ago, I knew JB and KD but I didn't know them that well. They came into my life at a tough time and saw me through some hard times. Actually I know we all did with each other. I was scared to move alone to the city but these two friendships epitomize that everything happens for a reason. And so it is fitting that the three of us are sitting here together right now and spending JB's last night here. Can I call a time out to say that when JB said I could blog I had a vision of being funny, not sentimental? But I guess my stream of consciousness has taken me here.


SO I hope this post will keep you all up to date on the latest until JB has settled into her new home and gets to sit down and catch you up on lots of fun stuff. I know I am excited to keep up with her move and what the heck she is up to. Lucky for me that is just about two weeks worth of stuff because I get to see her for her 30th, just a few weeks away. Yay.

But before I go, I will leave you with a couple fitting lyrics from a well-known Sonny & Cher tune:

1. They say we're young and we don't know
We won't find out until we grow

2. And when I'm sad, you're a clown
And if I get scared, you're always around

3. I got you to hold my hand
I got you to understand
I got you to walk with me
I got you to talk with me
I got you to kiss goodnight
I got you to hold me tight
I got you, I won't let go
I got you to love me so

I got you babe
I got you babe


Thanks to Cher, for her inspiration.

Weekend Playtime

This weekend was filled with lots of playtime with friends. Friday night was my farewell party at the Peeps. Thank you to everyone who came out to hang and have a few drinks with me before I leave. It was a bit overwhelming for me at times knowing that I will have to leave all of these wonderful friends as I begin my journey. AM and I were talking about the 'glue' in our group and how everyone is connected. I am sure I will describe each one of these relationships in time and how they have made such an important impact on my life over the past 9 years (!!).


Yesterday I met up with some of the girls at Tremont 647 for pajama brunch (the wait staff are dressed in their pajamas!). We sat outside in the sunny shade and shared massive strips of bacon, bloody mary's, and our plans for the rest of the weekend. It was a perfect weekend brunch date.


Thanks, friends... I had a great weekend.

Welcome

Welcome to 5280! I will be moving from Boston to Denver in the next few weeks and I will be using this space to document my move across the country from sea level to the mountains.

First stop - Party at the Peeps. Tonight I will be having my going away party at my favorite local bar where we will play lots of darts and drinks a few beers. It will be a sad night saying goodbye to some folks, but it will also be nice to have everyone in the same spot for a few hours. It is long overdue.

I will be posting my plan of attack for the move shortly. For now, I will be relaxing with friends and finishing up my job on July 31st!! EEK.