New York Weekend

I constantly tell my mom I should have been born on the East Coast and she constantly reminds me that I wasn't, and to get over it. I have always loved New York City, and dreamed of living there my whole life. It's probably my favorite city in the entire world. I love the noise, the tall buildings, the amazing food, people watching, and seeing so many cultures on such a small island. The shopping isn't too bad either. My mom took me to NYC last weekend for my birthday (which is in a month) and it was a blast. Saying goodbye to Brooklyn about killed me. The poor guy at Paradise Bakery at the airport looked at me like I was a psycho as I handed him my credit card with my shaking hand while tears were going down my face. Trevor told me I wasn't aloud to go unless I agreed to have fun and not cry about missing Brooklyn. Once the plane took off I pulled myself together and the whole weekend was amazing. Trevor was a fabulous Mr. Mom and informed me he never wants to be a stay at home mom. Music to my ears.

We walked all day long, stopped for frequent Diet Cokes at every Chipotle in the city, shopped til we literally almost dropped, and ate some of the best food in the city (in my opinion). We spent a day in SOHO, which is my favorite part of the city hands down, wandered the park and the UWS, and walked the Brooklyn Bridge. Most trips to NYC involve most of the family wanting to strangle my mom and I because we are so particular about where we eat each meal. It was so nice to be able to wander the city until we found the perfect place, and we found lots of them. I'll be doing a post on my travel blog about all my favorite restaurants in the city, so check that out if you're interested. We walked so much I had shin splints one night, wedge sandals are NOT a good idea. We ended most nights with treats from a bakery, watching TV in the hotel, listening to the noise of the city.

I can't thank my mom enough for such a fun weekend, she is my favorite travel buddy. And I can't thank Trevor and his mom enough for watching Brooklyn so I could go! I am already missing the big apple, but the more I travel the more I realize Denver has stolen my heart and nothing makes me happier than getting off the plane and breathing in the Colorado air. It's the perfect compromise for a mountain main and a city girl.

These shoes were not made for walking. My feet are still recovering!

Levain Bakery is AMAZING

I am still regretting not buying these!

 This is my parents old apartment building on Central Park West

July 4th

This 4th of July was fabulous. It involved rock climbing in the mountains (even little Brooklyn), BBQ and pool day with good friends, and a night on the lake. A prefect day in my book. The only downside was the lack of fire works due to the fires all over our great state. Crazy to think that this time last year I was waiting to go into labor and wondering how our life would change once Brooklyn got here. It has been the best year of our lives and we can't imagine life without her. Thank you for making us smile every day, Brooklyn! 6 more days until she is 1, and no, I don't want to talk about it.

Thank you to all the wonderful heroes serving around the world to protect our freedoms!

I have never seen her this tired. She played hard!

           

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Kansas City & A Half Marathon

A few months ago my sister-in-law Tausha asked me if I wanted to run a half marathon with her in Kansas City, where she now lives while her husband goes to Medical School. Somehow she convinced me to do it. After I ran the NYC Marathon I swore I would never do another race and well, after this race I thought the same thing, ha! I was excited to go to Kansas City and was also excited to have something to train for. I work out much harder when I have a race. We went to the expo the day before and I casually asked one of the workers how many hills there were in the race. She laughed. She proceeded to tell me that it was 80% uphill and Runner's World ranked it as the hardest half marathon in the U.S. Boy, oh boy was she right. It WAS uphill most of the time and it was very very hard. Luckily I had Tausha to run with and we had a blast. We never stopped and beat our goal of 2 hours. It was so much fun to see Kansas City, eat lots of food, and do some good shopping. The best part was getting to visit Tausha and Jacob! My mother in law was such a help with Brooklyn, and was so sweet to let us go with her on the trip! We got to see all of Kansas City (oh how green it is) and Liberty Jail. Liberty Jail was wonderful to see and made me so grateful for all of the amazing men and women that suffered so much so the church could be restored. We had a blast and miss Tausha already!

I finally did it.

I have been saying for years "I'm going to start my own travel agency and a blog with travel tips and reviews". Trevor has been encouraging me for years, ever since I decided to major it in. Well, I finally became a travel agent and I finally got my own blog/website! I am very excited about it. It's still a work in progress but I wanted to get it out there! Check it out @ lifesatripptravel.com. Thanks!