BABBLING BROOKE

The Kentucky Derby Party at The Denver Botanic Gardens

2010-05-02T08:38:00.013-06:00

Every year The Botanic Gardens has a very fancy Kentucky Derby Party. The party typically sells out in about 30 mins and over 2000 people buy tickets! The people watching is amazing from seersucker suits to custom designed hats. Everyone looked amazing!!

A couple of the agencies clients were sponsors this year so we were lucky enough to have all access tickets which made the party a blast.

A couple pics of our girls working the party!

Valentines Day in Cabo

2010-02-21T12:49:00.015-07:00

Pat and I decided to plan a spontaneous trip to Cabo, Mexico for Valentines Day this year. February 14th also marked exactly six months from our wedding, so we figured we would relax on the beach to celebrate.

We stayed at the most amazing place in Cabo, Me by Melia was unreal! It was exactly what we needed :).

We spent the majority of our time playing in the Sea of Cortez, relaxing in our cabana drinking pina colandas and eating wonderful food!

Pat and I are both a bit afraid of heights so when we both mustered up the courage to go para sailing we could not turn back. It was exciting and very scary at the same time. We could not believe how high we were!

On our last night we took a sunset cruise that took us by the famous Arch of Cabo San Lucas. We dined on fajitas, Dos Equis and Mai Tais while watching a beautiful sunset. It was tons of fun and a great way to celebrate Fat Tuesday!

We were very sad to leave the 80 degree weather and come back to snowy Colorado, but at least we got a little warm break :).

Congrats Kerri! Vows opens in Denver

2010-01-14T16:54:00.012-07:00

Look out Colorado engaged couples, it has just gotten a little easier to plan a wedding! Kerri used her creative genius to open Colorado's first wedding collective, Vows. Kerri, who owns A Touch Of Bliss, put together 19 Colorado wedding vendors and put them all under one beautiful roof. Essentially making it a "one chic stop shop for engaged couples".

They just launched last week to wonderful reviews at both their launch party and in the media.

It is a gorgeous location, with such lovely vendors. My agency Premier Image Agency supplied the models for the couture runway show and photoshoot.

So proud of you Ker!!!!!

Starting 2010 with a little Vegas trip!

2010-01-14T16:23:00.006-07:00

Just got back from a really fun Vegas trip with Kerri, Laura and Allyson. It was great to blow off a little post holiday steam and have some fun with the ladies!

Vegas is the only place where you can drink from a purse without a second look!

Shielding ourselves from the fountain in the Millennium Shops.

The first night we enjoyed a great sushi dinner at Koi before heading to Eve and Haze. Both new clubs were really fun and needless to say excellent people watching (or laughing).

Then next day we mainly shopped, gambled, napped and prepped for another big night at another new hot spot called Vanity. Our friend Justen is the VIP host there, so he always takes care of us when we are in Vegas. He set us up at the new restaurant in Hard Rock called Rare120. We dined next to Cris Angel and AJ form the Backstreet Boys, who apparently popped the question to his girlfriend the night before, but was not with her there (I'm just sayin.....). Then it was off to Vanity, which was so cool! Probably my favorite place in Vegas now.

It also became apparent to us that we now know where Santa also goes to blow off some post holiday stress :). Holiday sweater and all, who cares if it is 90 degrees in a club, he's Santa!

Check out those legs! NYE 2010

2010-01-05T16:03:00.005-07:00

We had a much larger gathering for our NYE dinner party at Kerri and Scott's this year.

We had an amazing dinner of crab legs and steak plus lots and lots of bubbly!

It was tons of fun and probably the first NYE I can remember that I wore jeans to, TAKE THAT :)

Why I could not stop laughing this Christmas!

2009-12-29T21:45:00.003-07:00

So Meredith showed me three hilarious/adorable videos last week, that I have not been able to stop watching!

Here they are.

1. David after the dentist

2. Charlie bit me!

3. I like you when you give me cookies!

Christmas 2009- Part 3

2009-12-29T21:32:00.002-07:00

After brunch on Christmas Eve at the Broughams was over we headed to my Moms for her Holiday open house. For a party that only lasted two hours, I suppose only my family (and Moms friends) would end up rolling a rug up to do our best "C Walking". Yes it is gang related. No, I am not currently affiliated with this gang but... I will cut you bitch!!!! That one is for you Mike and the Italy crew.

The party was a ton of fun and after we wrapped up our "dance-off" we headed downtown for a lovely dinner at Bistro Vendome. It was a great Christmas Eve filled with lots of cocktails and lots and lots of laughs. I am so blessed to have such a HILARIOUS family :).

In the morning Pat and I headed back to my Moms for breakfast and gifts and then off to our Christmas movie. This year we agreed on "Up In The Air", which was not as good as I thought it was going to be :(.

We finished up our Christmas at Pats Aunts house for a great dinner with Pats extended family.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and here is to a GREAT 2010!!

Christmas 2009- Part 2

2009-12-29T21:16:00.005-07:00

After we left the condo we headed over to Joe and Mica's house for Christmas Eve Brunch. It was really fun getting to spend so much time with our ADORABLE niece, Cecilia.

Boy, Pat was sure good with her :) hehe

Christmas 2009- Part 1

2009-12-29T21:02:00.010-07:00

We had a wonderful holiday this year and it felt like we celebrated for about two full weeks! We started our holidays with my father, sister and her boyfriend, Adam, up at Pats families condo in the mountains.

Pat and I did a little beautiful drive on Dam Road and got out to take a couple of pics. On the way back we captured a couple Moose right above the condo.

It was great to start off the holiday week in a relaxing setting by a fireplace watching falling snow! We opened gifts, had great meals, attempted to play boardgames and had lots of laughs.

During the day the group would hit the slopes while I hung back and worked or just relaxed at the condo.

Gracie Turns 1

2009-12-29T20:45:00.008-07:00

It seems like it was just yesterday when Sara went into labor coming to my holiday party. So in her pre-pregnancy jeans, perfect hair and makeup and high heels she checked in to have Grace :). Well here we are one year later and boy it just shows how fast time flies by!

Gracie was definitely the "Belle of Ball" at her lovely birthday party. Outfitted in a baby tiara and pink tu tu, it was pretty obvious who the birthday girl was.

Even Elmo made an appearance at the party! All the little ones (except Benjamin :)) loved Elmo. Here he is with Cozette, Barb's little one.

Graces first introduction to sugar went VERY well!

Happy Birthday Gracie!

A lovely ladies tea party

2009-12-08T20:20:00.003-07:00

For the fourth year I hosted my annual "Ladies Holiday Tea Party" last Sunday.

I served the same menu as every year, with an addition of some adorable macaroons!

It is always so nice to sit down with such great friends and recap all of the fun stories and memories from the past year. I even put together a slide show each year with all of the fun photos taken of all of us.

There were some great additions to our tea party this year(new girlfriends), some adorable additions to our slide show (new babies) and some very fun and exciting things for the new year planned!

The day I got to tell my Mom "I told you so"!

2009-12-08T20:06:00.005-07:00

Since my trip to Paris last year I have had a slight obsession with macaroons, especially Laduree macaroons. If you are unfamiliar with the story behind the macaroon or what Laduree is, I strongly urge to check out their website, it just makes you smile :)

www.laduree.com

It was my plan this year to prepare them for my friends at my holiday tea party that I host each year. I knew going into this that it may be a bit difficult as I have been told by various people they are very difficult to prepare. So being that I consider my mother a baking guru, I asked her to assist me.

We went back and forth over the recipe and finally agreed on my original Laduree inspired recipe. Even after arriving and beginning to cook my Mom was still saying I should not have high hopes for these. I kept assuring her that they would be perfect and to be optimistic. Well 3.5 hours later, voila! The macaroons came out perfectly and I got to send her home with some adorable treats that I knew from the start would turn out just lovely. I told you so, Mom!

I think we started a new Christmas macaroon tradition!

Getting ready for the holidays- French style!

2009-12-08T20:00:00.005-07:00

One of our lovely and thoughtful wedding gifts, was from my girlfriend Anna. She bought Pat and I cooking lessons at Le Central, a French restaurant here in Denver.

We attended the November class and got to learn how to prepare some traditional French holiday cuisine.

While we sipped wine, we walked around the restaurant and watched a live cooking demo for an appetizer, main course and my favorite, dessert!

We had a lovely evening and although I do love almost everything French, I definitely say I prefer our American holiday food, instead :).

My BIG 30!

2009-11-29T19:49:00.008-07:00

I had a blast celebrating the last week of my twenties for my big 30 on the 17th. We started celebrating with a small get together the weekend before my birthday but had the big party planned the weekend after. For the second year in a row, Kerri and I merged our parties since we are only a few days apart.

We celebrated at a really cool place in Cherry Creek North called Canvas and Cocktails, where you get a painting class and get to drink at the same time, DIVINE!!

After painting we went to Cucina Colore, a great Italian place near Canvas and Cocktails. Having 15 ladies at one table is always a good time!

Then as if I had not celebrated enough, it was time to celebrate with my mom, whose birthday is a week a part from mine. My mother and I decided to celebrate with a lovely dinner at The Flagstaff House in Boulder. Both Pat and my cousin Kerry were able to join us, which made the night really fun. What a great birthday week!

What a WICKED fun Wednesday!!

2009-11-12T14:12:00.002-07:00

For my birthday this year all I wanted was to go to Wicked when it was in Denver. Unfortunately it sold out almost immediately and ticket prices went through the roof. Well last night we gave it a shot and went down to the theater 2.5 hours before the show to participate in the raffle that they do each show for sold out performances. The odds are always pretty low because so many people show up to try and get the 20 tickets they raffle off for dirt cheap prices. Well...... last night we WON, wooo hooooo!!!! I was so excited. I actually got what I wanted for my birthday :). I absolutely loved it too.

Who Done It? Clue Style

2009-10-25T16:32:00.012-06:00

This year for Halloween we were the characters from Clue. I have wanted to do this costume for a very long time but this was the first year it actually worked out!

Meet the cast...

Mrs. White and Colonel Mustard

Ms. Scarlett and Mr. Green

Mrs. Peacock and Professor Plum

Yvette, the french maid and Wadsworth, the butler

We even had the signing telegram girl too!

Our costume was for the party we go to every year, The Victorian Ball. We had an awesome time again this year as we were joined by lots of our friends!

Pat turns 30!

2009-10-25T16:24:00.007-06:00

Pat turned 30 on October 20th. I put together a little joint bday party for Pat and Jeremy, their birthdays are only four days apart.

We had a yummy dinner at a cool retro steakhouse in Denver called Bastiens. After dinner we headed out to Rockbar for a little dancing.

Happy Birthday!!!

When in Rome, do as the Danahy O'Hanlons do...

2009-10-25T10:40:00.005-06:00

After our wonderfully relaxing week in the Greek Islands, it was time for a new adventure, Italy. Our Italian adventure had actually been planned for over a year as a family trip to celebrate my mothers 60th birthday. The best part about our "family vacation" is that we have a HUGE family! So we had the joy of being able to experience Italy with twenty of my family members.

When Pat and I arrived in Rome we grabbed our rental car and decided to do a quick tour (ha ha) of the Rome sites. Luckily the day we arrived in Rome was an Italian holiday so there was plenty of parking around the Coliseum. All of the historic sites were also free to the public that day too, yipee. Check out our quick to Roma!!

After a bit of a stressful drive out of Rome (hitting Rome traffic = TERRIBLE), we were on our way to the Tuscan region of Italy. Driving in Italy was a bit like driving in a video game, it is as if there is no such thing as a speed limit (Pat = HAPPY). It was so wonderful to have an IPhone driving in Italy as its GPS got us everywhere with ease.

When we pulled up to our Tuscan castle both Pat and I knew this was going to be such a neat experience. As we climbed the Cyprus tree drive up the hill to the castle, we could not wait for our Italian adventure to officially begin. My mother did such an amazing job of locating the perfect place for us in the Tuscan countryside. Villa Maiano in Monte San Savino was the most unbelievably beautiful castle I have ever seen (and definitely ever stayed in). Enjoy some photos of Maiano and Monte San Savino.

The first couple of days in Tuscany were filled with relaxing at the pool, walks around the villa, day trips to the small towns around Monte San Savino, big dinners with endless toasts and stories and lots and lots of vino! Enjoy some photos of the other Tuscan towns.

Cortona- Where the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun" was filmed.

Moltepulciano- This Tuscan village is known for its wonderful, regional wine tastings. Although it became very interesting for me for a different reason. I became OBSESSED with the Twilight saga on this trip and literally read two of the books, New Moon and Eclipse in a week. Well for those of you Twilight lovers, in the book New Moon, when Bella goes to Volterra to save Edward from the Volterri, she runs around Volterra looking for Edward. Well Volterra is a town in Italy, but they actually filmed this part of the movie in Moltepulciano!! So for all of you counting down the days until New Moon on Nov 20th, you may just recognize these places.

Siena- This is a wonderful city in Tuscany! It is booming with Italian culture, history, shopping and dining. We took a day trip to Siena with Meredith and Adam. They went to search for a Synagogue because it was Yom Kippur and Pat and I went into the Centro to explore. We were about a month late for the famous horse races, but the Il Campo was still perfect for people watching. We sat in the Il Campo and enjoyed some amazing pizza, while reading the history of the town. After lunch we wandered through the beautiful streets, filled with expensive boutiques and designers, wonderful restaurants and decadent gelatto shops to find the Duomo. We met up with Mere and Adam here and then headed back to the villa.

Lago Castello- We ventured just outside of the Tuscan region into Umbria one afternoon to visit a beautiful lake and state park. The guys enjoyed a rock skipping contest at the lake before we headed for the castle on the other side. We explored the Centro of Lago Castello popping into shops and doing wine and cheese tastings. We settled on a nice little restaurant for lunch and had wonderful wine and a lot of food while sharing funny stories about the terrible teenage years. After lunch we found a fountain and did a quick euro toss for luck!

We decided to take a day trip to Florence with Meredith and Adam a couple days later. Florence (Firenze)is such a beautiful place. We began of Florence day figuring out the bus line, which surprisingly was very easy (logistics were not really our friend on this trip). We started at The Accademia Gallery, home of The David by Michelangelo. Seeing the David was amazing up close. We had the opposite reaction to seeing the David then we did to seeing The Mona Lisa last year in Paris. The David did truly live up to all expectations. There is a reason people wait for hours and hours to see him. After that we headed over to the Uffizi Gallery, to continue our museum filled morning. Between the two museums we were able to take in the amazing Florence Duomo. After the museums we headed over the famous Florence bridge over the river filled with beautiful jewelry vendors. We finished our Florence day with a great lunch and then headed back to the villa.

Pat and I decided to leave to leave the villa a day early and head north to Venice, as both of us really wanted to spend an evening in Venice. So we packed our stuff and said "Arrivederci" to the family and got ready for our two hour drive to Venice. Once we arrived in Venice we parked the car and boarded a water bus to our hotel. We spent the day in Venice strolling the canal streets and sightseeing in Piazza San Marco. After a nice candlelight dinner on the canal we headed back to our hotel to turn in for the night.

Our last day in Italy was spent in Pisa and Lucca. Pisa really does not have much to offer outside of the centro that holds the famous leaning tower of Pisa. This was something we really enjoyed and along with the hundreds of other people we played with making some fun pictures.

After seeing the tower we headed for Lucca, which was recommended by several friends. Lucca was really neat because it seemed like it was really popular by Italians and a place where they come to get away. The centro was completely surrounded, like many other mid-evil towns, by a wall around the town. The cool thing about Lucca's wall is that you can walk on the top of it around the town. Lucca is some ways actually reminded me of Colorado, the landscape was very similar and in the distance were foothills like you see here. It was a perfect town to see before we headed home, because it gave us a reminder of home!

And after two wonderful weeks in Greece and Italy we headed home!

It's all Greek to us!

2009-10-23T18:34:00.006-06:00

Pat and I began our honeymoon in the Greek Islands, visiting Santorini and Mykenos!

We had the most amazing time in Santorini and it truly was one of the beautiful places I have ever seen.

We stayed right on the cliffs in between the capital of Santorini, Fira and its other largest city, Oia.

Our time in Santorini was very relaxing. We had lazy mornings while we enjoyed breakfast on our terrace everyday and then slowly headed out to explore the island. We spent time hiking the cliffs near our hotel and taking our 4-wheeler around to see the entire island.

Santorini is famous for its white and blue cliff side architecture and serene beaches. It is not hard to believe that in the surrounding waters of the island many scientists believe buried deep beneath the ocean is the lost island of Atlantis.

Visiting the Red, Black and White beaches were also awesome! Although the water felt like Colorado lake water, they were sure pretty to look at.

On the opposite end of Santorini from Fira is Oia. Oia is famous for supposedly having the most beautiful sunsets in the whole world. Every night hundreds of people come to the city and oooohhh and ahhhhh as the sun fades away. It was very crowded, but worth it. Although I am not sure how many places claim to have the best sunset in the world, I can say it is the most beautiful one I have ever seen.

Because we were not able to see Athens at all, we were really interested in seeing Ancient Thira. This hilltop on Thira was first inhabited by the Dorians, whose leader was Theras, in the 9th century BC. Thira was later occupied in the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine eras. Most of the buildings that survive today date from the Hellenistic era (around the 4th century BC).

The ancient houses and larger part of the cemeteries of Ancient Thira were excavated by German archaeologists between 1895 and 1902, while the cemeteries on the northeast and northwest slopes of Sellada were excavated in 1961-1982.

We were very excited to also explore the volcano while we were in Santorini. We decided to book a sailboat tour to the volcano on our last full day there. The sailboat took us over the volcano, gave us a guided tour of it, sailed to some natural hot springs to swim in and then sailed around the island to the Oia side for another view of the sunset from the water.

After several wonderful days in Santorini we packed up and headed for the port to catch our speed ferry to Mykenos.

Mykenos architecture was slightly different then Santorini as all building were square instead of round. This island is famous for two things, beaches and partying! While Pat and I tried to experience both while we were there, we just got to tired from being at the beaches all day to head out at 1am when the party begins. I guess we got one out of two I guess. We had wonderfully relaxing days at the beaches, enjoyed tasty gyros and other Greek food while sipping on Mythos beer and pina coladas.

We had a wonderful week in Greece and could not wait to start our next adventure. Off to Italy we go.....

What a wedding!!

2009-10-23T18:15:00.006-06:00

Pat and I had the most amazing wedding! I could not be happier with the way it all turned out. It definitely made the months and months of planning worth it. It was so amazing to see what a POP! Art wedding actually looked like. We had so many amazing vendors, especially Kerri, who helped transform our concept into reality for one special day. We were so honored to have all of you there to share this with too!

Enjoy a little slideshow!

Back to reality......

2009-10-23T18:12:00.002-06:00

As all of you know due to a wedding, a honeymoon, a potential reality tv show and the beginning of a new division to the agency, I have been SWAMPED!! But..... I'M BACK :)

Our Mini-Moon Business Trip

2009-08-30T18:55:00.005-06:00

Last week we were invited to go to Miami to meet with Paul Fischer, Michelle Pommier and Valleri Trott, three of the most famous agents in the country. It was such an incredible and enlightening experience for us and has opened up so many doors for the agency!!

Because this was about as far from a boring business trip as you can get, we were calling it our "mini-moon" since we do not leave for our honeymoon until September 19th. We spent time lounging in our awesome suite, lounging by the pool and meeting so many amazing people from around the world.

I cannot wait for the upcoming year and all of the exciting things that will be happening with The Network.......

Here is a pic of Paul, Pat and I at Club 50 after our meeting!

If you are unfamiliar with Paul Fischer he has been an agent for over 30 years and has discovered many "supermodels" in his time. Names like Naomi Campbell, Stephanie Seymore, Claudia Schiffer,and Linda Evangelista. Just check out the E True Story that featured him.

Here I am with Valleri Trott, the former President of Elite, one of the biggest agencies in the world.

Kings on Leon at Red Rocks

2009-08-30T09:23:00.010-06:00

The first weekend of August one of our favorite bands, Kings of Leon, came to Colorado for an awesome concert and Red Rocks. This was a perfect way to relax before all the wedding craziness begun. It was probably the best concert I have ever been to and it was so nice to share the experience with so many of our friends.

We got up to Red Rocks a little early to do some tailgating and enjoy the beautiful weather and views.

Once inside Red Rocks we found our seats, dead center in the ninth row!! We had an amazing view and enjoyed rocking out to our favorite songs. Here are just a couple of their best.

Celebrating 5 Years Today!

2009-08-06T07:16:00.014-06:00

Even though in 7 days our anniversary will change, technically today is our 5 year anniversary.

Here are some photos from our engagement shoot last week! I am so excited that Kim Nodruft will be shooting our wedding, she is truly amazing!

A Friday Night at The Manor House

2009-07-28T20:35:00.009-06:00

Pat and I were invited to a party last Friday at the beautiful Manor House in Ken Caryl Valley in Colorado. The couple who own The Manor House are also wonderful wedding photographers too, so we enjoyed watching their photo slide shows around the Manor while walking around.

It was so fun walking around the beautiful property right at sunset and then venturing back inside for some indoor smores :).

Sitting out on the porch listening to lovely live jazz was so relaxing, something Pat and I really needed since the planning process has definitely kicked into overdrive!.

Congrats to Autumn and Macoy!

2009-07-28T19:52:00.019-06:00

It was so nice to break up all the upcoming wedding craziness to celebrate my girlfriend Autumn's engagement. Her and her fiance Macoy also just recently moved back to Denver after living in Manhattan for years. I am sure it feels so nice to be able to be with all her friends and family to celebrate such a special time!

Becca and her husband Mike hosted the engagement party at their beautiful pool and garden rooftop at the Beauvillion in Denver. It was a Mexican theme, we nibbled on tasty chicken burritos and margaritas while watching a beautiful sunset.

Autumn and Macoy were presented with a chili pepper (cash) pinata at the end of the party, which was fun to watch them crack open. I thought that was a very fun alternative to an engagement gift.

Riverfront Fashion Series- The best people watching in Denver

2009-07-28T19:40:00.004-06:00

Kerri and I went to the Riverfront Fashion Series a couple of weeks ago. The event is definitely one of the best runway shows in Denver not to mention one of the best people watching opportunities too.

The Riverfront Fashion Series is three shows total, each featuring a different designer. This last show was for Betsy Johnson. So to say the color pink was everywhere was definitely an understatement. We were both so thrilled to see that Denver Design Works had done all the decor, because they are also doing my wedding!

We saw lots of awesome pieces in the show, met some very fun and interesting people and, oh yeah, drank a lot of yummy wine!

Team Kickalottapus

2009-07-28T19:32:00.005-06:00

This year Pat and I joined a "Beer in Hand" kickball league. Although I had to miss about 80% of the games due to work, Pat sure got his fill of beer and kickball for both of us!

Each week our team "Kickalottapus" would pick a dress up theme and run the bases, beer in hand. It was hilarious to watch the wet collisions, spills and catches.

Can't wait until next year!

Hello Darling........My Breakfast at Tiffany's Bridal Shower

2009-07-14T21:42:00.016-06:00

As I get closer and closer to the big day I am reminded every day of what a lucky girl I am to have such a wonderful family and friends!

Katie and Kerri hosted and planned my friends bridal shower last weekend and it was one of the most amazing bridal showers I think I could have ever dreamed of.

The theme was Breakfast at Tiffany's and my great friend Larry offered to host it in his (out of a magazine) yard, or what most refer to as an oasis.

I knew Katie and Kerri were hard at work planning all the elaborate details for weeks but I could not imagine exactly how perfect it could have come together until I arrived.

The table was unreal! It was so beautiful I almost cried when I saw it.

The food was very yummy too. We snacked on chocolate croissants, quiches, chocolate covered strawberries and a beautiful Tiffany's box cake. Larry even whipped up some Tiffany's blue champagne cocktails for all of us to enjoy!

It was so fun to have my mother and sister at the shower to share the special memories with me.

My Future Mother in Law, Elise Brougham

We had such wonderful weather and I was so glad all my closest friends could make it!

All my beautiful bridesmaids!

Even Ro got to come out to socialize with the ladies! He was required to also wear his pearls though too :)

What a wonderful and unforgettable bridal shower. Thank you so much my lovely muffins!!

My Family Bridal Shower

2009-07-05T20:42:00.008-06:00

Two weeks ago my Aunt Kate and Maureen and their daughters, Kara and Amy, came in from Omaha to host my family bridal shower. The shower was at The Avenue Grill in their private room. My aunts and cousins decorated it so beautifully. The food was wonderful and the company even better :).

It was a lot of fun to have my little cousins in for the shower too.

Later on Saturday we headed to Kerry's for dinner and cake to celebrate my cousin Kara's birthday. We had such lovely weather and got to spend the entire evening outside in her yard. It was great!

I drove the scooter over to Kerry's that night and Rayah and Lucy just loved their rides around the block.

It was so thoughtful for my family to host my shower. I feel so fortunate to have such a caring family.

Do at the Zoo 2009

2009-06-28T09:39:00.006-06:00

Do at the Zoo was great this year and despite a little rain halfway through, the evening was perfect!

The food was amazing and of course so were the drinks.

We had a blast this year, can't wait for next year!

My San Fran and Napa Bachelorette Party!

2009-06-27T16:38:00.033-06:00

On June 12th my girlfriends and I set out for California for my bachelorette party. Katie and Kerri had set up quite the weekend for all of us, all seventeen of us that is!

We stayed at The Sir Francis Drake Hotel in Union Square, which was very conveniently located to everything. After we arrived we had a moment to get cleaned up and then we were off the Starlight Room, the famous bar/restaurant at the top of our hotel.

We all had a glass of champagne and enjoyed the view as everyone arrived upstairs. As a complete surprise, my girlfriend, Brandi had flown all the way from Hong Kong to surprise me! After quickly finishing our champagne we were whisked off to dinner at A5, a super swanky steakhouse.

Dinner was great and it was filled with stories and tons of laughs. After dinner it was out on the town. The night proceeded to get a bit blurry for me after this, so I will let the photos speak for themselves :).

Eight in the morning arrived a lot faster then I think most of us expected and it was PAINFUL!! Surprisingly we all rallied and made it into the "Fun Bus" by 9am ready to set out for our day in Napa. Some were a little worst off then others but everyone eventually pulled it together for an incredible day.

On the way out of the city we had all asked to driver to stop at the Golden Gate Bridge to take a picture. For those of us that had never seen it in person, it was quite the sight!

Our first stop was a champagne winery called Chandon. It was beautiful and it felt so nice to sit in the sun and have bellini's and mimosa's.

After we had a little champagne in our tummies it was time for a little lunch. We had reservations at Don Giovanni's just a little down the road from Chandon. It was absolutely beautiful and the food was great.

Once we relaxed a bit outside by the pool sculpture, we were off to our next winery Clos Pegase. This winery sat on very beautiful grounds and had an artsy feel to it. We all had a tasting (or a bottle) and again sat in the beautiful sun enjoying our relaxing day.

We were all very excited for our next stop, Sterling Vineyards. Sterling is so beautiful and unique. We actually had to ride a gondola up the mountain to reach it. The wine was lovely and just walking around the property was a lot of fun.

As we finished up at Sterling to head back to San Fran for our dinner reservations. We had to stop in the gift shop first to buy a case for the bus ride though :).

We had so much fun in Napa and I can definitely say there were a lot of laughs.

and, a lot of wine!!

Our dinner on Saturday night was less impressive then Friday and after drinking all day in Napa, we all decided to go back to the hotel after dinner instead of out. We had a big touristy day planned on Sunday, so we all needed to shake off the hangovers.

We started our Sunday off at a Irish restaurant in Fisherman's Wharf that was famous for its Bloody Mary's (They were amazing!!). I was especially excited about riding the Trolley Car to the restaurant. After breakfast was strolled through the North Beach Festival and down to Pier 39 to see the seals.

I have always wanted to see Lombard Street, so after the Pier we hiked our way there. The hike was pretty unbelievable and I definitely have a new respect for people who live in SF, because those streets are straight up and down!

When we arrive at Lombard it was all worth it though!

A couple hours later we had to say goodbye to San Francisco and head back home :(. I can say I think I may have had one of the most fun bachelorette parties and I can 100% say I have the BEST friends for making it so special and unforgettable!!!!

Beaver Creek: Not exactly roughing it!

2009-05-26T20:00:00.014-06:00

Pat and I spent this past holiday weekend in Beaver Creek at The Ritz Carlton with The Brougham Family.

The Ritz is beautiful and you can't help getting excited as you wind up the hill and through security gates to reach it.

On Saturday we woke up and the boys got ready for a nice day golfing at Beaver Creek and the ladies set out for the Blues, Brews and BBQ festival in town.

After an adventurous Saturday we decided on burgers on the grill and got ready to watch the Nuggets. Unfortunately they did not win on Saturday, so we were all a bit disappointed.

On Sunday we headed out for a long hike on the mountain. Rain or shine we were determined to get a hike and even though half of the hike we all were under umbrellas it was still very fun and beautiful. Plus we all knew we were heading to the spa at The Ritz afterward so it made the cold a bit more bearable. Boy did those mineral pools in the grotto feel good after the hike!

We got to see a bunch of animals over the weekend too.

After relaxing at the spa we headed down to Minturn for a nice Mexican dinner. Dinner was nice but the best part had to be the dessert after back at The Ritz. We got a drink once we were back and headed out to the fire pit to roast smores! They have a total smores setup at night, it was amazing!

What a wonderful, and relaxing weekend. Once we got back into town we had some friends over on Monday to watch the Nuggets BEAT the Lakers wooo hooooo, NO NUGGETS!

Derby days and crawfish legs.....

2009-05-05T20:42:00.007-06:00

Last Saturday we headed out for my second annual crawfish boil at Nono's. My girlfriend Brandi, who is originally from Louisiana introduced me to the event last year at Nono's. Well I wanted to keep the tradition alive, even though unfortunately Brandi could not make it this year (she moved to Hong Kong a couple months ago :( ).

Kerri, Lauren and I had an awesome time! We sat at a big table with an entire family for New Orleans, who quickly taught us the proper way to "suck the heads" of crawfish. They were so much fun and gave us so many awesome tips for the next time we return to NOLA.

We sat and ate pounds and pounds of crawdads, while sipping bloody mary's, mimiosa's and of course hurricanes! At the very end of our southern smorgasbord the Kentucky Derby began, and although we did not have our hats, we sure were cheering for our favorite horses.

My Engagement Party

2009-03-21T11:45:00.004-06:00

I know it is a bit late but I kept forgetting to post my pics from my impromptu engagement party that Kerri threw for me the day after I got engaged. It was a really fun night and touching how many people could come with less then 12 hours notice :).

We sipped champagne at Corridor 44 as I told the engagement story over and over :). After Corridor we met up with the boys and went to do a little dancing. What a fun night.

St. Pat's 2009

2009-03-15T17:32:00.007-06:00

I cannot believe it is St Patrick's Day AGAIN!! We always have so much fun each year and boy does Denver celebrate their Irish heritage.

Pat and I started off at 11am and did not get home until 1am, geez!!! I have no idea how we pulled it off.

Car Bombs for breakfast anyone?

Nightclub and Bar Show Vegas 2009

2009-03-15T17:27:00.002-06:00

Kerri and I just got back from Vegas last week and boy was it the most exhausting trip to Vegas I have ever had. We had so much going on due to the trade show and casting calls it felt like we were running to get to everything.

We got to meet a lot of great people and hopefully we landed some new clients from it too!!

Luckily we get to have one night of fun while we were there working :)

What a nice winter weekend!

2009-03-15T17:04:00.008-06:00

A couple weekends ago we headed up to the mountains with a big group of friends to stay at Pat's Aunt and Uncles condo for the weekend.

Our first night there we were treated to a French specialty called Raclette by Kendra and her husband Florent. Similar to fondue but with more processed meats. We had a wonderful time and ate and drank until almost midnight.

Right around this time I decided to provoke the "Frenchies" into sledding down the front yard with me. Although we had a BLAST that night all of us regretted it the next morning as we saw all the bumps and bruises.

The next day some people headed for the hills for some skiing and the other half of us headed to Keystone for a little ice skating. It was so much fun to get back out on the ice, it had been too long!!

We had all had a pretty exhausting day filled with lots of activity but decided to still pull it together and head to Breckenridge for some dinner. After dinner we decided to head back to the condo and play some board games.

In the morning after breakfast we packed up and headed back to Denver. It was a very fun weekend and nice break from the city!!

Valentine's Day- Party of Five

2009-02-19T21:39:00.003-07:00

This Valentine's Day I celebrated with friends, since Pat was out of town on a ski trip. We had planned on celebrating on Sunday so on Saturday I went out on the town, stag. I joined Scott and Kerri and Scott's sister, Kendra and her husband Florent.

We had a very yummy dinner at Baur's and then did a little dancing after at Suite 200.

Good Luck Brandita!

2009-02-19T21:29:00.005-07:00

My girlfriend, Brandi, departed last Saturday for Hong Kong to move to be with her boyfriend. I was so happy that we could all get together for a wonderful French dinner to share stories and laughs.

We will all miss you very much Brandita!! Can't wait to rendezvous with you and Daniel in Thailand 2010 :)

Caroline and Ben turn 1!!!

2009-02-19T21:08:00.011-07:00

It felt like it was just yesterday that I was typing a blog about Caroline and Ben being born, well now they are both 1 years old. It felt like that year just flew by, geez!

Anyway, they are just the cutest lil muffins ever!

Caroline had a great party with all of her friends and family. She got lots of great gifts.

The party got a little wild when Caroline opened a gift that I think was actually for her daddy.

Like the little lady she is, she refused to eat with her fingers and would not eat her cake unless her daddy feed it to her.

A couple weeks later it was time for Benjamin's "Candyland" themed birthday party. Benjamin seemed to have a blast with all of his little friends. It was a very fun party and watching Ben have his first birthday cake was classic!

Atreju's worst nightmare.......

2009-02-06T04:31:00.004-07:00

Blue Bell Brougham

Pat's parents cat is currently staying with us while his parents take a four week vacation. To say things are a little upside down here is an understatement!!

BBB is a huge cat with a little head and crossed eyes. She is a riot :) Atreju has yet to figure out how he feels about her.

I GOT ENGAGED!!!

2009-01-03T11:37:00.013-07:00

So for those of you that don't already know, I GOT ENGAGED!!! Since a lot of of family have not heard the story yet, here goes. For those of you that have just skip to the bottom for pictures :).

So Pat surprised me on New Years Eve and told me he had made spa appointments for us on New Years day at the Omni Hotel outside of Boulder. He also told me he got an awesome deal on a room so he thought we could start the new year off right by making an entire day/night of it. So we packed our bags and headed towards Boulder first thing Thursday morning.

We had couples facials, massages and pedicures, which were wonderful!! Then came the next surprise. I thought Pat had just gotten a normal room and instead he reserved the Omni Suite, which is basically the whole top floor of the hotel. It was unbelievable!! We got a chance to relax a bit and then Pat told me he wanted to head into Boulder and walk around Pearl Street before dinner, so around 3:45 we were on our way into Boulder.

Once we were into Boulder, Pat asked me if a had ever been to Chautauqua Park, which I had not (and he knew that). Chautauqua is a beautiful park that rests right along the beautiful Flatiron Mountains in Boulder. Pat wanted to walk a bit in the park before we headed into town. Clueless, I happily went along with a brief little hike, even though I was in heels :). Along the path there was a cute little rock off to the side and as we approached it Pat pointed out that there were flowers laying next to it. As I walked up to the rock I quickly became suspicious as the flowers just happened to be one of my favorite flowers, Gerber Daisey's. As I picked them up and turned around, Pat proposed. I was a mess and the second that Pat started crying I could not stop the tears.

Everything happened so quickly that I hardly remembered what Pat even said. I think we were both so emotional we kind of went into shock and ran for the car. After we got back into the car we called our parents and collected ourselves, because apparently the night was not yet over. Pat then took me to the St. Julian Hotel in Boulder, which is one of my favs, where we had a cocktail before dinner. He had even plotted out the romantic walk from the hotel to the sushi restaurant after. We had a wonderful sushi dinner and Pat tried to tell me all the parts of his speech that he could not get out which, of course started the tears again.

After dinner we headed back to the Omni and to my surprise when we got into the room, there was music playing and rose petals everywhere! There was even champagne and chocolate covered strawberries :). Every part was amazing and completely unforgettable!

The next morning, we had an amazing feast delivered to the room for breakfast and then headed back to Denver. I was so happy and could not believe it all happened.

Well Pat was STILL not done with all the surprises!!! Through out the whole evening I kept telling Pat, "I so wish we could have had pictures of that". Well, to my surprise, he had secretly arranged for our friend Scott, who is a professional photographer, to be hidden in the bushes with his paparazzi camera photographing the whole thing. Pat's brother was also hidden with Scott, and was supposed to videotape the proposal, but apparently got to emotional, and forgot :). Well after we arrived home, I actually went into the office for a bit and then ran some errands. When I got home Pat had candles lit and a slide show ready to play for me. I could not believe he had arranged to have the whole thing photographed. I was so happy, and of course started crying AGAIN!!!

So here is the engagement!

The new and improved Premier Image Agency!!!

2009-01-03T11:32:00.003-07:00

As many of you know we began the fun yet stressful task of rebranding and redesigning the entire website several months ago. Well I am happy to announce that as planned the website DID launch January 1, 2009!!! It is absolutely amazing and we love it. Please look around and explore the site there are so many coll new things. We are still in process of getting all the models pages setup and live so only about half of the models are visible currently.

www.premierimageagency.com

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-24T13:28:00.002-07:00

Wishing all of you love, health and happiness in 2009!!

Happy Holidays!!

Pat, Brooke and Atreju

Ladies Christmas Tea 2008

2008-12-24T13:24:00.002-07:00

Last year I began the tradition of hosting a Christmas Tea for all my closest girlfriends. I was very happy that EVERYONE could come this year. We had a wonderful afternoon filled with tea sandwiches, chocolate and lots of different teas. I played a sideshow of photos for everyone to watch and reminisce. It was a lovely afternoon with the ladies.

Nothing like a Santa Hat to get you in the mood!

2008-12-24T13:17:00.004-07:00

For Christmas, of course!!!

I hosted an event last week at The Jet Hotel. I happily agreed to the Santa hat theme :).

It was great that my girlfriend Autumn and Becca could join us too.

Pat's great friend, Jack was also in town.

Atreju hopes Santa.......

2008-12-24T13:13:00.003-07:00

Brings his Mom a bigger purse for Christmas.

What a GRACEful delivery

2008-12-15T21:33:00.005-07:00

Although Sara is a staple at every years holiday party, this year she had a good excuse to miss it, she went into labor a couple hours before the party!!!

At 5am on Sunday December 14th, Sara welcome a healthy baby girl, named Grace into the world. She was 6 lbs 10 ounces and was 21 inches long. She had a head full of black hair, long legs and big lips. There may just be a modeling contract in someones future :)

Sara did such an amazing job in her delivery, I am so proud of her.

We could hardly wait to get to the hospital to meet Gracie!!

Our Annual Holiday Party 2008

2008-12-15T21:05:00.015-07:00

Last weekend Pat and I held our annual Christmas Party. It was such a fun party and it was so nice almost all of our friends could make it.

I was particularly happy to have a holiday party this year, because it was the first year Pat and I actually put up a tree. It is amazing how much a tree lights up a room and makes you smile :).

We had some really nice additions to our party this year. I hired two of my lovely models to be Santa greeters. When guests arrived they took their coats and offered them a cocktail before they even got inside.

We also sprung this year for a bartender. I designed two amazing signature cocktails for the party which were a smash! Strawberry Mojitos represented my red drink and Key Lime Martinis with a graham cracker rim represented the green drink.

The theme of the party this year was "Melting Pot", because we are so lucky to have so many friends from all over. So we wanted to see all different foods that represented our friends ethnicity, country, family or culture. To say we had a lot of food is putting it mildly. We actually ran out of counter space we had so much food. It was so fun getting to sample food from Peru, Finland, Mexico, Ireland, Greece, Croatia and Puerto Rico we were also made awesome Italian and Brazilian cocktails.

We had such a fun time and surprisingly fit nearly fifty people in our place :)

What another great Holiday Party!!!

A perfect start to the holidays!

2008-12-15T21:00:00.006-07:00

By a stroke of luck, Kerri and I were able to get a reservation at The Brown Palace for Christmas Tea a couple of weeks ago. It is always such a magical experience and sure gets you in the mood for the holidays.

What a great 29th bday!

2008-11-26T17:33:00.026-07:00

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

2008-11-13T09:23:00.006-07:00

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!!!!

2008-11-06T17:41:00.002-07:00

Halloween in New Orleans

2008-11-06T16:11:00.030-07:00

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!!!

Annual Pumpkin Carving Party

2008-10-27T20:19:00.012-06:00

Last Sunday was our annual pumpkin carving party, and it was a BLAST!! I love having my wonderful friends and family over each year before Halloween to enjoy a hearty fall menu of food while carving our pumpkins. People are also encouraged to bring their kids, in costumes, which was adorable this year.

This year we munched on chili and pumpkin cupcakes while sipping hot buttered rum.

Some of the costumes that were featured this year were.....
Kaden- Mickey Mouse
Benjamin- A Lamb
Adain- A Golfer
Emma- The Little Mermaid
* Unfortunately only Adain tolerated his costume long enough for a photo op, and boy was I glad he did. SO CUTE!!!

After yet another year of expert pumpkin carving I am convinced I have some of the most talented pumpkin carving artists as friends.

EVEN BETTER IN THE DARK!!!

Pat's 29th Surprise Party!!

2008-10-27T19:52:00.015-06:00

Pat turned 29 on the 20th of October and I threw him an awesome surprise "poker themed" bday party. One of Pat's good friends, Blake was also turning 29 the same weekend, so his girlfriend, Kristin and I decided to throw a joint party for both of them. Since they share many of the same friends this worked out very well!!

A good friend of mine owns a club in Denver called Wish, he actually closed it to the public for the private party and poker tournament we had planned, which was awesome!

It was amazing that with such a large party, no one said anything and both guys had no clue what they were in for :). We decided to surprise them with a dinner before the party that we invited some close friends to, then the task was to somehow convince them after dinner to go to the place where the party was without letting on about the big party that was already getting started.

We were able to get the guys to get on board to head to Wish and via text messages I was communicating with my friends on the inside, that were busy getting everyone over to the front to jump out and yell, SURPRISE!! This is probably not the easiest task when trying to coordinate about 75 people. Somehow they pulled it all together and as we walked in everyone screamed. It was really awesome because it took both of the guys a couple minutes to even figure out what was going on.

Soon after, the Poker Tournament began and off to the tables we went. It was a really fun tournament and everyone seemed to have an awesome night, maybe a couple of people even had a little too much fun :).

Next stop 30!!!!

WHAT IF.....

2008-10-08T14:26:00.003-06:00

Obama/Biden vs McCain/Palin

What if things were switched around?.....think about it. Would the country's collective point of view be different? Could racism be more of an issue than we think? Try to ponder the following:

*What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, including a three month old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?

*What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review?

*What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?

*What if McCain had only married once, and Obama was a divorcee?

*What if Obama was the candidate who left his first wife after a severe disfiguring car accident, when she no longer measured up to his standards?

*What if Obama had met his second wife in a bar and had a long affair while he was still married?

*What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became addicted to pain killers but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?
*What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?

*What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five? (The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early
1990s.)

*What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker?

*What if Obama couldn't read from a teleprompter, or send an email?
*What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included discipline problems and a record of crashing seven planes?

*What if Obama was the one who was known to display publicly, on many occasions, a serious anger management problem?

*What if Michelle Obama's family had made their money from beer distribution?
*What if the Obamas had adopted a white child?

You could easily add to this list. If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are? This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in

one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.

Here are the facts about each candidate's Educational Background:

Barack Obama:
Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with aSpecialization in International Relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Joseph Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. inPolitical Science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

vs.

John McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899

Sarah Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism

Education isn't everything, but we're talking about the two highest offices in our country as well as our standing in the world... Having a "D student" for our President sure has made a significant impact over the past 8 years. Are you letting the issue of race stand in your way? It's your vote, you make the call.

A ZEN BABY SHOWER

2008-10-06T19:25:00.017-06:00

On Sunday I threw a baby shower for my amazing girlfriend, Sara. She is a yoga instructor and definitely loves all things "yoga". So when I was thinking about themes, I came up with a "zen-yoga" baby shower theme.

I thought I would share all the details in case anyone needs a neat theme for an upcoming shower.

I tried to transform my place into a spa-like environment. I removed some pieces of furniture so that we could cover the ground with yoga mats and huge pillows, to encourage people to get comfortable and relax.

I served a very simple menu, for Sara is not a very adventurous eater. As a creative way to tie the menu into the "yoga" theme, I named all dishes as yoga poses. I also wrote all of the food names on rocks. The menu was pretty cute.

- Zen Punch- Champagne Punch
- Peaceful Tea- Green Tea
- Locust Pose Samo's
- Triangle Pose Brie
- Downward Facing Doggies (BBQ Lil Smokies)
- Child's Pose Mac and Cheese
- Happy Babies- Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil

The tables were decorated with orchids, candles and more rocks to give it a "zen" feel. I also placed nice quotes on the tables with the centerpieces.

Instead of wrapping her gifts I used them to decorate, because they went along with the yoga theme.

My cake designer did not disappoint as he delivered a work of art for the shower.

It was so great that so many of Sara's friends and family could join. It was a great afternoon.

Cocktail's for a Cure

2008-10-05T18:53:00.004-06:00

My girlfriend Kerri, put on a wonderful event last week to raise money for the Susan G Komen Foundation. The turnout was great, the auction was successful and the pink cocktails were flowing.

I was very excited to win a great auction item, 5 hours of PR/Media Relations from an all women PR Firm here in Denver. WOOOO HOOOO!!! When the website relaunches in November we will be able to go into PR overdrive :).

Unfortunately at 7 the VP Debate came on, which of course even in closed captioning, still sent me into a political tizzy. Unfortunately for me at this point I realized the person to my right and the person to my left were Republicans!!!! Oh I had to get out of there ASAP or my head was likely to blow off my body in frustration :).

It was a great night for a great cause and luckily I had the debate tivo'ed so right when I walked in I got to start it all over again- YIPPPEEEE GO BIDEN!!!

CultureHaus- Art for the young at heart

2008-10-05T18:42:00.003-06:00

Last week a group of the ladies and I headed to the Denver Art Museum for annual the CultureHaus event. Not only is it supporting a wonderful cause- Art, but it is also a great place to people watch.

As we sipped the signature cocktails and munched away on the yummy gourmet Mexican fare, we listened to Denver's Mayor talk about the importance art has on Denver.

We pretty much spent the entire night at our table pointing out the amazing shoes or outfits walking by. It was literally like a couture fashion show- So fabulous!!!

Sunday at the Jersey Shore

2008-09-23T17:43:00.006-06:00

After the party we had to head over to the famous Jersey Shore, Seaside Heights Boardwalk. Meredith and I have been going to the boardwalk and beach since we were little but Pat and Adam had not been so fortunate :).

I simply could not let Pat get out of Jersey without trying the best pizza on the planet. The slices are the sizes of your head and have to be folded to eat properly.

I was glad Pat agreed that the pizza was amazing!

MOM MOM'S 90TH BDAY PARTY

2008-09-23T17:23:00.006-06:00

That wonderful wake up call came early on Sunday, and we managed to peel ourselves out of bed at around 7:30, after the night we had before that is impressive :). We quickly got dressed and headed out for some much needed coffee and breakfast before we hailed a cab to get to Port Authority Bus Station. Pat and I were meeting Meredith and Adam at the bus station in order to get a bus to Tom's River New Jersey for my grandmothers (Mom Mom) 90th birthday party.

Meredith and Adam looked like Pat and I felt so we were a perfect match, Meredith and Adam were working with about 2 hours of sleep so it was not surprising when Adam headed directly to the back of the bus to lay completely down to sleep and Mere proceeded to get into some terribly curled up, uncomfortable positions and tried catch some zzzzzzzz's.

About and hour and half on a bus and we had arrived. My Dad picked us up at the bus station and we headed to see Mom Mom before the party started. It was very nice to visit with her before the party started.

At the party we were able to see all of our first cousins, some of which I have not seen since I was a child. It was also great to get to introduce Pat and Adam to our Dad's side of the family.

WHAT A JUICY APPLE!!!

2008-09-23T16:40:00.011-06:00

Pat and I jetted off to NYC last Saturday and proceeded to have WAY to much fun in New York with some amazing friends and family. Pat and I checked in to The W Hotel on Lexington and were instantly happy to get a room with a view, a view of The Waldorf Astoria, of course. Our hotel was so cool, very modern and the entire hotel smelled like a spa which I loved :).

After we arrived, we relaxed for a bit but then quickly jumped on the subway to head out to go buy a bunch of pashmina scarves, which I adore.

Then it was off to dinner at an awesome Korean BBQ restaurant with our great friends, Chris Spinney and Autumn Metcalfe. Which believe it or not Pat and I have known since elementary school. The night started off right as the four of us finished the awesome food and a jug, yes JUG of sake and decided to head off to meet my sister, her boyfriend, Adam and his friends.

We met up with Meredith and Adam, who had started their night off right too :), and instantly started talking about old memories and funny stories. The W we are all holding up with our hands seems to signify "West Side" although to us it means "Wilmore Davis" and "Warriors", our elementary school name and mascot LOL. Together we represent 3 different classes of Warrior alum.

Next it was off to a club called "Fat Baby", where the dance party truly began. Meredith and Adam are quite the dancing couple, with some "California Style" moves for sure. Chris's mustache was not only a lady magnet but it brought the guys over as well, who thought he was the coolest guy because of his amazing 70's porn star stache.

We called it a night at around 2 and hitched a ride from our good friend Castel, and prepared ourselves for an early rise and trek to Toms River, New Jersey.

PICS OF THE DAY

2008-09-18T14:29:00.005-06:00

I read a website everyday called I can has cheezburger? It is so cute and really puts you in an awesome mood, especially once you figure out how to speak kitteh language. Here are a couple pics that were posted that I thought were great!

Just Peachy!

2008-09-17T19:16:00.011-06:00

As fall approaches I was able to do some canning and baking with a million peaches from my girlfriend, Brandi's plentiful peach tree.

As we sipped fresh peach bellini's and nibbled on peach cobbler and peach crisp we successfully canned nearly 40 jars of peach and pepper jam :).

Hey it is always fun to model our fashionable aprons too!!

BRAVO! BRAVO!

2008-09-17T19:16:00.010-06:00

Last Saturday the whole lot of us went down to check out Jeremy and Brock's play. It was quite funny and we all had a wonderful time.

Had to grab a photo on the "stage" after the play.

Estes Park

2008-09-09T13:36:00.026-06:00

This past weekend we were lucky enough to escape the city and get a bit of fresh air for my cousin Amy's ten year wedding renewal ceremony. It was a very special and emotional ceremony since Amy has had the hardest year of her life battling (and beating the shit out of) cancer. It was wonderful to see all of my family from out of town and visit with those I do not get to see that often.

The ceremony was at The Stanley Hotel, the same location it was ten years ago. The weather was a bit chilly so there ceremony took place inside this time. It was a very emotional ceremony, I do not believe there was a dry eye to be found.

After the ceremony it was off to the beautiful reception.

It was so fun to see all the little ones in my family running around too. They are all adorable.

Of course in O'Hanlon family fashion the drinking and dancing begins immediately. Where some members dancing skills may fail their drinking skills make up for it :)

Once the drinking hit its peak, on came YMCA and hilarity ensued.

The wedding was amazing and feel very honored to have been invited.

In addition to the wedding we took advantage of the outdoors a bit and went on daily hikes.

It was actually Elk buggling season so they were everywhere. I was able to capture some of these amazing creatures in action. As well as some other cute animal buddies too.

What a great weekend!

GO BUFFS!

2008-09-01T13:24:00.010-06:00

Every year in Colorado two rival colleges, CU and CSU play in the Rocky Mountain Showdown. It is a big tradition to make a whole day out of the game and begin tailgating hours and hours before the game. This year the game was at night so luckily the tailgating did not begin until the afternoon, drinking before noon is pretty hard for me to do ;). It was a very fun day with great friends.

YES WE CAN!!!!!

2008-08-29T13:44:00.022-06:00

Well as you all read in my ecstatic post yesterday, I was one of the 86,000 fortunate people who got to watch history in the making. We were told due to security reasons we needed to arrive around 1pm in order to get the seats we wanted.

So at 12:30, we hopped on the scooter (yes my mom rode on the back :) and headed down to catch the lightrail to Invesco Field. Once we arrived the line was unreal. It started probably about a mile away from the stadium. So we hurried into line and proceed to wait for nearly two hours.

After having our credentials scanned and passing through what resembled airport security we headed up to the fifth level of Invesco to save some great seats (if there are such a thing in the nosebleed section). After finding a couple seats we tried to get comfortable because we were in those seats for a long time. Luckily since so many people had to arrive so early the festivities kicked off around 3pm. So the time passed relatively quickly. I am not sure how much of what we saw was also broadcast so I will keep this short.

In addition to numerous senators, governors and campaign managers who came up to express their support for Barack we were also delighted to have some musical entertainment as well. Jennifer Hudson kicked it off with a beautiful National Anthem. Click below to listen.

After that Sheryl Crow took the stage.

After those two performances people really started getting excited and the list of speakers and performers that came next really got us even more pumped up. Listening to Howard Dean and Al Gore was amazing. I thought Al had some really funny lines, especially the one about recycling. Hearing Martin Luther King III compare Barack to his father was so moving it was hard to hold back tears.

America the Beautiful

And then there was Stevie......

And just went you thought it could not get any better out walked Joe Biden. Shortly after Michelle and the kids arrived and happily gave hugs and took pics with people on the floor level.

Next came the speech that I believe people will talk about for a very very long time to come. GO OBAMA- YES WE CAN!!! At the end of the speech the stadium began erupting in fireworks for almost ten full minutes straight. It definitely took my breath away. Although towards the end my mother and I got a bit tired from our long day, it was worth every minute of waiting in a line and every minute roasting in the sun.

After the speech let out Denver for the fourth night of the convention came alive. Walking along the streets of Denver you had to remind yourself you were not in New York City. I met up with Pat and our good friends Mark and Heather for a couple drinks before calling it a night (or a week).

OH YEAH WE ARE GOING TO THE SPEECH!!!!

2008-08-28T10:51:00.003-06:00

I am soooooooo happy my mom and I actually got credentials for Obama's speech today!!!! So expect lots of fun pics and texts to be sent throughout the day.

YES WE CAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Danahy- O'Hanlon- KENNEDY!!!

2008-08-26T21:56:00.013-06:00

On Tuesday night my mother, my cousin Kerry and I went to WatchFest at City Park.

The event in the park was great! We pulled up a blanket, opened a bottle of wine and listened to great comedians, speakers and musicians who support Obama.

Included in those speakers were none other then some of the Kennedy's. Max Kennedy gave a very motivating speech about supporting Obama and gave credit to the rest of his family in attendance. Ethel Skakel Kennedy was one of those family members, she is the wife of the late Bobby Kennedy. According to my mother the Kennedy's were the third member of the holy trinity (Father, Son, Kennedy's)to an Irish Catholic family. Well Mom, I am sure Hugh and Lucy were smiling on you tonight then as you shook the hand of Bobby's widow.

THIS PHOTO IS WHEN MY MOM SHOOK HER HAND, UNFORTUNATELY SHE FORGOT TO NOT STEP IN FRONT OF HER CAMERA-WOMAN :)

We then got to enjoy a beautiful light and water show at the park.

Just another unbelievably exciting night in Denver!!!

More DNC Goodies

2008-08-26T09:27:00.006-06:00

Cool Celeb Stuff First-

On Sunday Night a little Mexican Restaurant on Colfax called Mezcal closed down to host a private celebrity event with lots of fun celebs.

Also on Sunday night another little Mexican cantina in the Cherry Creek North area called Tambien closed down for a private celebrity function. People spotted there were Anne Hathaway and Ellen Burstyn.

My mother was volunteering on Sunday in the Cherry Creek North area at the J.W. Marriot and actually got a smile and wave from none other then Dave Matthews. She also has had numerous cool encounters with lots of Senators.

Last night the celebs came out for The Rolling Stone Party in Denver. People like Bill Maher, Daryl Hannah and NYC Gossip Columnist Cindy Adams. Cindy was quoted as saying "The people in Denver are so nice, they almost remind me of the opposite of New Yorkers."

Last night at the Convention I am sure you saw people like Spike Lee and Cindy Lauper in the audience. My girlfriend Suzanne's mother in law actually sat right next to Jimmy Carter and said he was really nice.

Tonight in Denver there is a Grammy's party at The Church Nightclub as well as a celebrity poker tournament at Coors Field hosted by Ben Affleck. But most importantly we will all be watching Hill endorse O (FINGERS CROSSED IT GOES WELL!!!).

Next some scary stuff to report-

If you watched the video I posted on Sunday you can imagine protests are in full swing in this city and the security is unreal. Colorado outsourced to over 50 additional agencies to provide security in Denver this week, and it shows!!! Helicopters are constantly circling above and Police are pretty much on every corner.

Last night we hopped on the scooter and went down to Civic Center Park (the protesters park of choice). On the streets next to the park the sight of hundreds of "riot ready" police lined the streets refusing to allow anyone to cross the street. At one point tear gas was released and two hotels were actually locked down. It was a bit overwhelming and scary.

Our good friend, Jeremy has been camped out in the park for the last couple of days filming an Iranian Photo Exhibit that has been set up in the park. The Exhibit is beautiful and I recommend everyone go check it out at night before Friday. Jeremy did tell us some very scary news though. Apparently Sunday night in the park the SWAT team was flipping over every trash can and crawling in flower beds in the park. When Jeremy inquired why they were digging through flower beds one of the men told him they uncovered a lot of guns all over downtown. The guns were tapped to bottoms of trash cans and other things around Denver. SCARY!!!!

There also was additional scary news of three white supremacists being arrested last night on suspicion of wanting to harm Obama. One of the men jumped 6 stories to try to escape Police and the other was arrested with bulletproof vests, shotguns and walkie-talkies. The did say that there is also reason to believe there is a fourth man that has yet to be apprehended.

So that is latest on the DNC from me!!!

HERE COME THE PROTESTORS!!

2008-08-24T22:16:00.003-06:00

Pat and I along with several hundred onlookers were able to see an unplanned Anarchist protest and march today. There were hundreds and hundreds of police in the two blocks around the capital. Fortunately there were very few arrests and no one was injured, although there were some bottles thrown at the police. It felt so funny to be running and video tapping right next to video crews from CNN, MSNBC and several documentary crews.

DNC- Presidential Experience

2008-08-24T22:04:00.006-06:00

The mobile presidential museum, The Presidential Experience, has set up in Denver for the Convention at Invesco Field. We were able to check it out with our friends, Scott, Kerri and their son Benjamin. Check out some cute photo ops below.

DNC- THE GREEN FRONTIER

2008-08-24T21:48:00.005-06:00

We began our day at Green Frontier day at the Denver Center for Performing Arts complex. It was a great festival because it had a VERY important message. It was very educational to learn of even more ways to "go green". I am so lucky to have a very "green" boyfriend, who is always recycling, talking about solar power and energy conservation and most recently bought an SUV that takes E-85 gasoline. Hopefully everyone will begin to take the "green" message very seriously, before it is too late. It was nice to listen to some guests speak about the cause. Denver Mayor, John Hickenlooper and Daryl Hannah were two of the main speakers.

1964- The Tribute

2008-08-24T21:39:00.005-06:00

After just a couple of hours to rest, we were off to Red Rocks for 1964- The Tribute with our friends Katie and Casey. If you are unfamiliar with the group they are a Beatles tribute band. They have been touring for twenty four years and look and sound just like the Beatles. It was great to get out of the city for the evening and enjoy a beautiful sunset at quite possibly the most amazing concert venue in the country.

Detox and Retox

2008-08-24T21:33:00.002-06:00

Bright and early on Saturday morning we were off to "Detox and Retox", a day I set up for some of my girlfriends. Both Katie and Kerri had babies in 2008 and my girlfriend Sara will have her baby in December of 2008, so I figured they all needed a little pampering :). So we went to this amazing new place called Beatice and Woodsley for brunch and after we went and had manicures and pedicures. It was a great way to catch up on girl time and get a little well deserved relaxation.

Bebe Masquerade Ball

2008-08-24T21:24:00.006-06:00

We started the weekend with the Bebe Masquerade Ball on Friday night. I could not be more obsessed with Bebe clothing and after Friday I have also decided I LOVE WEARING MASKS!!! Everyone should find an excuse to wear a mask at least once a year. It is so much fun.

DNC HERE WE GO!!!!

2008-08-21T14:58:00.002-06:00

As many others I am disappointed to report not getting DNC credentials. I am sure I wanted them as badly as EVERYONE else though too :). My mom discovered this week that in order to be awarded with credentials you had to have volunteered before the announcement of the outdoor acceptance speech. So it turns out that is isn't really open to the public after all booo whooooo :(. Although I am very disappointed in not getting to be a part of that on the 28th, I am not missing out on all of the other awesome things happening in Denver starting this Saturday and going through next Thursday.

I will be taking my camera everywhere with me for the next week or so, so if any of you who are out of state don't want to miss out on hearing about everything, just check back throughout the week. I am sure I will have some amazing photos and stories to share. The amount of celebrities and musicians that are expected in Denver next week is crazy. Every hotel in the Denver metro area is pretty much sold out along with a lot of privately owned properties, with unbelievable price tags. Oprah for example has rented a house in Cherry Creek North for the week for $50,000.00.

I will keep you all posted.......... GO OBAMA

AMAZING!!!

2008-08-16T21:53:00.002-06:00

Even though about 50 million people have viewed this video on YouTube, I had not heard of it until about two weeks ago. I was told it was amazing but I had no idea how amazing it realy was. It is hard to fight back tears when you see the amazing story of Christian the Lion.

Enjoy!!!

UM.... IS THIS REALLY OUR PRESIDENT?!?!

2008-08-13T16:42:00.003-06:00

Unfortunately YES!!! Not for long though, THANK GOD!!! Living up to his great reputation in some images from the Olympics below.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT!!

2008-08-11T12:25:00.004-06:00

Well his last week is final here (sniff, sniff :() My assistant, Jeremy, is leaving me after this week to pursue his dream of acting. He has already been in several national commercials, several print advertisements, several shorts and one feature film shot this summer in Missouri. Currently he is in a local play here in Denver that will be running during the convention. The biggest news came a couple weeks ago when he was signed on for four upcoming films. So as you can see there is a lot happening for him right now and I know we all wish him good luck!!!

So in case you missed it air several times during the Olympics this past week, here is his most recent work. A crocs commercial. He is the second actor in the video.

OUR ADVERTISEMENT IS FINALLY COMPLETE!!!

2008-08-06T09:09:00.004-06:00

I am rolling out a national advertising campaign for the agency and shot an amazing ad last month, well I finally got it back and wanted to give you all a sneak peak!!!! The background is the new addition of the Denver Art Museum, that the agency is right next to.

Can't wait for you all to see it in print!!! The photographer is making some final adjustments to the copy size on the bottom so that it will be larger and a little easier to read in print, it is too small currently (as you can see :)) Feel free to click on it to enlarge.

A DAY TO CELEBRATE!!

2008-07-25T14:09:00.003-06:00

Today is a very important day that I felt I wanted to do a quick blog on. Exactly a year ago today my cousin Amy was diagnosed with cancer in multiple parts of her body. This was a very sad and scary day for everyone in my family last year. I remember my mom telling me that she wanted to bring my cousin Kerry over to see my new loft, so when I opened the door to just find my mom standing there I knew something was wrong. When she sat on the couch and burst into to tears telling me about what had been discovered by doctors, it was really hard to believe it was real and it was probably one of the biggest wake up calls I have ever had. The news hit me very hard and made cancer seem like something that actually can happen to people in their 20's and 30's. That day I made a very important decision that I believe has changed my future, I quit smoking.

Well it is a year later and miraculously my cousin's cancer is gone and I have not touched a cigarette since that evening on July 25th 2007. So today is truly a day to celebrate for both of us :) To celebrate my break up with smoking I am throwing my self a little "Smoke Out BBQ" tomorrow to celebrate!

CONGRATS AMY!!!!

BEFORE YOU CHECK OUT THE DARK KNIGHT....

2008-07-18T11:39:00.003-06:00

Make sure to tune into the G4 Network this weekend, my Uncle's special is running all weekend long and is a behind the scenes look at Batman- The Dark Knight!!!!

A group of us is going to see it tonight, we are so excited!!!

Part 4- FRENCH RIVERIA

2008-07-09T14:43:00.029-06:00

DAY 7

The train from Avignon to Cannes was beautiful, it ran right along the Mediterranean. We were very excited because we had finally reached the part of our vacation that we agreed would be the "relaxing" part. Our hotel The Belle Plague Brougham (just like Pat) was located on Rue Brougham in Old Cannes.

We walked the marina and decided on some Italian food for dinner right on the beach.

DAY 8

We finally got the opportunity to sleep in a little bit and spent the morning on the beach, which happened to be a clothing optional beach. Unfortunately most of the people who opted out of their swimming suits, should not have :).

We walked the shopping district and saw the location for the film festival. There is a circle that surrounds the building with all the celebrities hand prints, so that was neat to see.

We picked up some wine and headed up to our rooftop pool for some more R & R. After we both napped a bit we got ready and headed out to the casino in Cannes, which to our surprise was empty. I guess only the weekends are busy in the casino. We won a bit then lost it but managed to walk out with what we brought in so I guess that is always good. We walked up to Old Town on the top of the hill and took some pics and then headed to bed.

DAY 9

We took a tour of Eze, Monaco and Monte Carlo in the morning. It was great because it felt like a private tour since there were only 3 of us (Pat, myself and Jill, from Ireland).

Eze was another mid evil village situated on the top of a mountain, only this town was on a cliff so the views were spectacular. It felt like a postcard every turn you made. Bono, from U2 has a house right below the village and dines at the famous restaurant quite a bit (coffee is 7 Euros there YIKES!!!).

I was very excited for our next stop to the perfumery Fragonard, where we got to experience how perfume is made and learn the history of it. Since 99% of perfume is made in Grasse the region is famous for it. We then were able to purchase any of the perfumes we liked at the factory.

Then we were on our way to visit the second smallest country in the world (behind the Vatican), Monaco. The drive to Monaco was breathtaking and our guide told us so much about the area on our way and while we were driving though. We drove on the road where Princess Grace died and our guide told us all about the scandals with her daughter Princess Stephanie.

Once we entered Monaco, you could literally smell the money. Our guide explained that the only way you can live in Monaco is if you marry someone born in Monaco, or you must have at least 2 million Euros in your bank account. There is zero crime in Monaco because there is one policeman for every 5 people. They have a jail but it is empty :).

Our first stop was the Cathedral of Monaco, a beautiful church where the royal family is actually buried inside under the marble floor. The graves of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier's are the last in the circle.

We then went to the Prince's Palace to watch the "Changing of the Guards" and then take some photos over the city and marina. The flag was waving from the palace which means the Prince was actually there.

Then it was a quick drive on the Indy race track in Monte Carlo which led to the main circle that included the very famous casino and a boutique for every uber famous designer in the world. The cars parked out front just showed how much money was in this tiny country.

Once we returned we quickly grabbed our luggage and headed for the bus to Nice, where we had to spend the night because our flight was supposed to leave at 7am. But, as we got to experience traveling in Europe is sometimes very difficult and after an airline strike and 3 different flights, 24 hours later we arrived in Denver :(.

Had a wonderful time but am happy to be home and get over this jet lag hehehe.

Part 3- PROVENCE

2008-07-09T13:51:00.036-06:00

DAY 5

Although we had a bit of a stressful morning getting to Avignon due to the fact our travel agent overlooked it was a French holiday and travel was impossible. Luckily we were able to get on our train and ended up in Avignon right on schedule.

Avignon is located in the Provence area of France and is know as the City of Popes. From 1309-1377, Avignon starred as the second Vatican, when the Pope at that time escaped Rome for security reasons. The entire city is surrounded by a mid-evil wall, which has been blown out in spots to allow for roads.

We spent our first afternoon walking around the town and around the Palace of the Popes and in the gardens above the Palace and Church. From the gardens the views are amazing, both of the Rhone river and also of the surrounding historic sites including the mid-evil bridge across the Rhone (half way across now).

We located a great wine bar that had 2.50 Euro regional wines and beers. This was so cheap compared to everywhere else we had been, so we had a few glasses :). Unfortunately that led to eating a hot pink (scary) hot dog later that night LOL.

DAY 6

We took a great tour of the Provence area including the villages of Roussilion and Gordes and the Lavender fields at Abbaye de Senanque.

The village of Roussilion is a beautiful town nestled at the top of a mountain. Everything is this village is painted with the colors of earth that are available in the region, red, orange and yellow. The village has been protected from building since 1946, so modern renovations will not occur in the village. There were sections of the town with huge red rocks, similar to what we have in Colorado. Our guide actually told us later they call it French Colorado.

Next we headed to a village called Gordes. This village is named one of France's most beautiful towns and as you drive up to it you understand why. The town was constructed in the 11th century and everything is entirely made of dry stone work.

Our last stop was the lavender fields at Abbaye de Senanque. This was the part I was the most excited for and it did not disappoint. The smell was so wonderful too.

Once we had cleaned up we headed to an African restaurant in Avignon for dinner called Woolloomooloo. This proved to be our most challenging meal because nothing was in English and no one spoke English. We basically just guessed and surprisingly the food was great!

DAY 7

We headed out early in the morning to a town called Arles. We were very interested in this town because this is the town were Van Gogh produced most of his work (and cut off a piece of his ear :) so throughout the town there are easels set up with Van Gogh's paintings to show you were he sat to paint his famous pieces. The last photo is actually set up in front of his old apartment.

It also is famous for its Roman Arena. Nearly 2,000 years ago Gladiators fought wild animals for crowds entertainment. In the early 1800's an entire town was set up within the circular defenses of the Arena. Obviously the town was cleared out not too long after and the arena returned. It has been somewhat modified for the "Bullgames" that still occur in the town and the outside is being completely restored so it will actually look the way it did 2000 years ago, again.

After we had lunch at a great Lebonese cafe we were on our way to Cannes in the French Riveria.

Part 2- NORMANDY

2008-07-09T13:20:00.028-06:00

DAY 4

We boarded our train to Caen at 9am from Paris, which got us into Caen around 11am. Once we arrived we picked up our rental car and started on a new adventure in itself, driving in Europe!!! Pat and I were a bit stressed to say the least trying to get out of the city and read street signs in French, but surprisingly enough, we ended up on the right road and headed toward Bayeux.

Our chateau was located about 10 kms outside of Bayeux and was definitely nestled away in the French countryside. The chateau was amazing and was filled with every French antique you could every want to see. We quickly checked in and then headed to the D-Day Beaches. It was an overcast and rainy day but considering what we were looking at and learning about it seemed only right the weather be depressing.

We began on the cliffs above Arromanches and Gold Beach. The beaches here still have all of the beached military boats and it was haunting to see the actual boats. After seeing Saving Private Ryan and the horrific scenes as they approached the beaches, it was hard to see the actual boats hundreds were killed in. We then walked through Port-Winston and bought a bottle of Pear Cider, one of the things this region is famous for.

Our next stop was the American Cemetery and Omaha beach. The Cemetery was difficult to walk through, especially with all of the graves for soldiers that could not be identified. The cemetery is set on a cliff above Omaha beach and is really a beautiful resting place for the thousands buried there.

Our final stop was at Pointe du Hoc. This was the famous site where the naval ships bombed the Germans and the Army Rangers scaled the cliffs to eventually defeat the Germans and disarm them. This was by far the most amazing section of Normandy to us. Pat and I both said that at times you could actually feel a presence there, considering all the blood that was spilt on the hill it would not be surprising it something may still linger there.

After an emotional day we decided to wind down and walk the grounds around the chateau and drink pear cider at a gazebo on the property before heading to dinner.

We headed to Bayeux for dinner to try some "Norman" dishes. Unfortunately I cannot say I was very impressed :(. I liked the wine though :).

Heading back to the train station early in the morning we said goodbye to Normandy.

PART 1- PARIS

2008-07-09T11:58:00.054-06:00

Our first stop was Paris and as you can imagine, it is hard to describe the beauty and history that 2.2 million Parisian's get to enjoy daily.

DAY 1

Our hotel was in the Madeline quarter of Paris, which is conveniently located to just about everything. After we checked in we decided to not waste a moment so it was off to The Louvre. In front of the the Louvre is the famous Tuileries Gardens. The gardens take you nearly ten minutes to get through before you arrive at the museum, but it is a walk filled with beautiful sights. The garden was once private property reserved for kings and queens. The garden is filled with statues, fountains, beautiful gardens and of course, lots and lots of people.

Luckily Pat and I had a game plan with The Louvre and had already discussed the areas we wanted to visit. Most people spend nearly an entire day at just this museum, it is one of the largest places I have ever seen. It is Europe's oldest and biggest and the second most crowded, after the Vatican. The Lourve is housed in a 16th century palace, with the exception of the 20th century glass pyramids added later.

So in we went to say hello to a couple of well known pieces.

After the museum we crossed the Seine river to see Saint-Chapelle church. This Gothic church built between 1242-1248 is a cathedral of glass like no other and was built to house the "Crown of Thorns". After a quick hike up a very old spiral staircase we were able to experience this unbelievable sight for ourselves.

Then it was back across the Seine once again to see Notre Dame. This 700 year old cathedral is dedicated to Mary (Notre-Dame) and has sculptures of her all over the church. We were able to go in and witness a bit of a mass and then walk behind to the beautiful Rose Gardens.

We headed back to our hotel to freshen up and then it was off to dinner at The Buddah Bar, an extremely trendy and terribly overpriced restaurant in Paris (mainly because of how poorly the dollar is doing). Although the dinner was very exciting when Pat and I realized we were dining at the table next to Janet Jackson and Jurmaine Dupree. After dinner we headed out to find a night cap. The streets of Paris were a buzz due to Spain winning the Euro Cup that night and combined with the Eiffel tower being lit up with millions of sparkling lights at the top of each hour it was a feeling that is hard to describe.

DAY 2
As I awoke on my first morning in Paris, I was so excited to go grab a chocolate croissant and espresso to start the day. Our first stop after breakfast was Opera Garnier. This enormous opera house was completed in 1875 and was the inspiration for The Phantom of the Opera, because it actually has a lake below the stage.

Then we were off for a morning stroll down Champs Elysees headed to the Arc de Triumph. We popped into La Ladree, to pick up some macaroons, they invented them. After a little sugar rush we decided to climb the Arc de Triumph to see the amazing views of Paris. The Arc was built by Napoleon to commemorate his victory at the battle of Austerliz.

Luckily for our feet, by day two we had started understanding the Metro system, so hopping on a couple of subways to go over to the Eiffel Tower was pretty easy. Once we arrived we began discussing how we would climb the tower. After some coaxing Pat finally did convince me to CLIMB the tower. About 600 stairs later, I wanted to die!!!

With nearly a thousand steps under my belt for the day I was ready to turn in early, so we watched the 3 English television channels our hotel had and feel asleep.

DAY 3
We had a lot planned for our last day in Paris, so our day started early. We head to the Musee D'Orsay, which ended up being our favorite museum. D'Orsay is in an amazing building that was once the Paris train station. We saw many of our favorites living at this museum.

Then it was off to see the tomb of Napoleon located in the Army Museum. Though Napoleon was a small man, this museum and his tomb make him seem almost "god-like".

We located the train station and hopped on the C Train "Vick" that goes to Versailles. Every King's dream would best sum up Versailles. It was almost impossible to imagine what life was like for Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette. Louis XIV actually spent half a years income of France to transform his fathers hunting lodge into a divine palace. We started off walking the gardens and fountains and then rented a canoe to row down the pond on the grounds. After we had melted enough in the sun, we began our hike back up the hill to head inside. We walked the former bedrooms and halls while reading our guide book about the history of Versailles.

We headed back to Paris and decided to hop on a river boat and take a sunset cruise on the Seine. It was wonderful to see the monuments from a different view. After another exhausting day we actually just ate left over pizza, from the night before and watched the BBC.

As we headed to the train station the next morning, I really understood why some people spend their entire trip just in Paris, there is so much to do. But we were happy that we saw everything we came to see and it was off to our second destination- Normandy.