What a great 29th bday!

I turned 29 a couple weeks ago and was fortunate enough to have quite the week of celebrating, between the wonderful night of cupcakes and champagne at D Bar with my girls to an enormous, extravagant party a couple days later.



Because Kerri and I have birthdays just days from each other we decided on a joint birthday party this year. What started out as a little party became quite a huge event by the time it actually arrived. Not only were Kerri and I celebrating that night but two of our other friends were as well, Denver promoter, Adrian Smith and Bret Bearup, The President of the Denver Nuggets.



Before the party we had a french dinner at Le Central with our closest friends!






After dinner we had to scurry off to get to the party on time at 9pm. Well at 9pm there was already a line, which is unheard of. I guess when you get a bunch of sponsors to donate free booze, champagne, food and other fun things, people get there early. One of the sponsors was a oxygen bar, which everyone rushed over too right as we got there. It was so funny seeing everyone hooked up to oxygen, I think the guys agreed they looked pretty funny too.



We hired an artist to paint zodiac symbols on our guests, which was really fun!!



There were so many fun things going on around us and everyone had such a fun time. There were so many people there, Wish actually hit capacity, which is around 1000 people. So to say it was FUN is an understatement!!









Even Champ Bailey, of the Denver Broncos, stopped by our party along with a couple Chicago Bulls and Denver Nuggets!



They even made a really cool cake for the four of us too!!



What a fun night!!!

Madama to Madonna

On Tuesday night Pat's mother, Elyse took Pat, myself and my mother to Madama Butterfly Opera at The Ellie Caulkins Opera House. I told Elyse a couple months ago that I had never seen an opera, and being a huge opera buff, she decided that just won't do. She actually bought front row box seats for us, so in addition to seeing an amazing opera we also had the best seats in the house. It was a wonderful first opera experience and such a thoughtful gift.



The next night was set to a slightly more upbeat tempo, as Suzanne, Jerry, Kerri and I went to see Madonna. The sold out show began over an hour late (in typical Madonna style). Although once it did begin it was unexplainable. The technology involved with this show was like nothing I have ever seen. In addition to watching the amazing special effects, just watching Madonna perform was out of this world. It is so impressive that a woman of her age can dance and sing for 2.5 straight hours, it actually makes the ticket price really make sense. She truly works her behind off and gives you a show you will not soon forget!! All of us had "See Madonna in concert" on our Life Lists (Things to do before you die lists :)). So check that!



Off to the The Denver International Film Festival opening night tonight......

YES WE DID!!!!

Halloween in New Orleans

My girlfriend Kerri, organized a girl's trip to NOLA for Halloween to celebrate her 30th birthday. It was one of the best trips I have ever taken, we had so much fun. The Denver ladies included Kerri, Yolanda and myself, the NYC ladies included Kendra and Brittney and lastly Suzy joined us from Texas. It was a wonderful mixture of women and we all got along famously.

Most of us arrived on Thursday so we headed to the Ritz Carlton in the French Quarter to check in and get settled. Once we were settled we made our way through the quarter to an amazing dinner at Irene's, a wonderfully fun Italian place. Jeremy had actually flown into town to meet friends from Memphis for the Widespread concert the following night, so he accompanied us to dinner too. The food was wonderful and we had a blast! We ended up staying for about 3 hours because our waiter made a deal with us that they would keep filling our wine glasses if we just stayed and entertained them.




After dinner it was off to Bourbon Street to have a hurricane at the famous Patty O'Brien's. When we finished up on our hurricanes we headed back to the hotel to rest up for our big day ahead.




The next morning, as we all struggled to pull ourselves out of bed, complaining about how we will NEVER drink a hurricanes again, we finally got it together and headed for some breakfast at Cafe Du Monde for some coffee and famous beignets. Unfortunately a lot of other people had the same idea and there was not a table insight. So we wandered across the street to grab breakfast across from Jackson Square.



After breakfast we set out for the Oak Alley Plantation Tour, which was beautiful. As we walked up the Oak Alley you felt as if you were suddenly whisked back in time, it felt like Gone with the Wind. We also learned it was the house featured in the movie, Interview with a Vampire. Because we arrived at the end of the day the plantation was nearly empty, so we could quietly stroll the grounds and imagine what life was like back in that time. It somehow felt poetic to read about the stories and "monetary values" of the slaves that once lived at the plantation all the while thinking about how we were about to elect Barack Obama the president of this country. I could not help but think, how far we have come, although much further we can go!!!





When we arrived back to the hotel it was time to begin the Halloween costumes process. After a quick elevator ride, with Lebron James, who was in town for the game the next day. We decided to order in so we could dedicate a lot of time to getting ourselves together for the night ahead. As we played with our costumes and I did makeup and hair for the group, we enjoyed champagne that arrived as a gift from Kerri's girlfriend Allyson and another bottle that arrived from the Ritz. We also nippled on a fantastic chocolate cake sent to the room by Kendra. As the clock rounded 11:15pm we finally headed out to experience NOLA Halloween.




Halloween in New Orleans is like nothing I have ever experienced or even imagined. Because I have been to Mardi Gras in NOLA I was prepared for the craziness I experienced then, although I was surprised how different Halloween was. It felt a bit like what I would expect Carnival to feel like. Imagine thousands of people in the street with the most imaginative costumes you have ever seen. You just walk the entire night and only pop into the bars to simply get your cocktails to go. I was very happy we ventured off Bourbon Street and headed to Frenchman, which was much better. Frenchman is all locals so the environment is a lot more welcoming and the costumes, much better!!














After our feet literally could not take anymore we headed back to our hotel to turn in for the night.



In the morning we hoofed it over to The Court of Two Sister's for their famous jazz brunch. We sat around and recapped on the night before and laughed about all the amazing costumes we had seen. It was wonderful to sit out in the beautiful, humidity free weather and enjoy mimosa's and brunch.



After breakfast we set out on a lovely day of shopping, which is an absolute must in NOLA. Hitting the French Market first to pick up some yummy candles. Then next popping into famous stores like Trashy Diva to look at all their beautiful vintage designs, then off to try on diamonds at Kerri's favorite jeweler and lastly trying on amazing one of a kind hats at Fleur De Paris. After a long day of shopping we scurried back to the hotel to clean up for our last dinner.

On a recommendation from my Uncle's partner, Fred, who is a NOLA native, we ventured out of the quarter and into the garden district to a restaurant called Jacques Imo. In my opinion this was hands down the best dinner of the trip. The restaurant is so unique and truly gives you a Nawlins feel. It was the perfect dinner to wrap up the perfect ladies weekend!!!