Sunday, June 28, 2009

Do at the Zoo 2009



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!

Saturday, June 27, 2009

My San Fran and Napa Bachelorette Party!

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!!!!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Beaver Creek: Not exactly roughing it!

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!

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Derby days and crawfish legs.....



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.