Travel FML

I cannot believe of all things in life, THIS is the question I have to decide... Minnesota, Cali, or NYC. SERIOUSLY. I dont even have money for any trip, but I want to go to all three!! Yesterday my friend Jody invited me to a Roma reunion in New York. Most of the girls are already over on the east coast so it's easy for them to travel a couple miles, but I'm so far away!! I have not seen them in over 2 years and it would be so great to reconnect with all of those girlies that I studied abroad with in Italy! That would definitely be a fun trip cuz I've never been to NY, but definitely costly. I miss all my friends in MN/WI and would love to visit all of them too! AAND on top of that, I promised my friend Brooke I would visit her in California as soon as I could. What to do, what to do! OMG i guess I almost forgot this one too.... my sister is going to Chicago for her 25th birthday in October and she wanted me to come... apparently mom and dad nixed that trip (my sister asked them to cover me cuz she would never make ME pay!) PS. since I've been looking up flights so much lately, I had to do some internet research to find cheap tickets. In my opinion, airfarewatchdog.com is the best site cuz they email you when flights have gone down in price ;) DAMN I HOPE TO SEE YOU REAL SOON!!!

Leah's Restaurant Guide

Over the last few weeks, i have been going out to dinner at various restaurants around the southern denver area courtesy of OTIS. Here are my thoughts:


Garbanzo’s Mediterranean Grill
Superdelicious, healthy place. Set up kinda like Chipotle where you can choose one of 4 meals. Choose your protein... and choose your toppings/sauce/dressings. Delish!
Panera
Obv an all-time fav. I go there at least once a week. They have a new rewards card program… sign up! It’s free and they will randomly give you a free sandwich or free cookie/bagel. Sounds like a good deal to me!
CB & Potts
OMG. FAV SPOT. Super good food. Microbrewery. Really good beer. Lots of tv’s- sports bar atmosphere. Our waitress was great. I would go there literally every day.
Via Baci
Modern Italian. Known for their Neapolitan pizzas. Yummy bread. Okay food, Horrible service. We were waiting for like 45 min. and the manager did nothing. Would probably never go back.
Brio Tuscan Grille
Delicious Italian food from America. Large portions. Super yummy desserts. We got the tiramisu. I know my tiramisu because I’ve had plenty from different places, this ones in the top 5. Def #1 Italian recommendation.
White Chocolate Grill
Known for their steaks, unfortunately I do not like steak so I ordered this chicken crepe with mushrooms plate. It was pretty good but I wouldn’t order it again. Atmosphere was nice… bar area was cool. (desserts were all white chocolate sweets)
Red Robin
An American fav. Love the steak fries. Will always love Red Robin.
Which Wich
Sub Sandwich place. Has the BEST sandwiches. Really good turkey, better than subway. LOTS of options. Cool experience to order. (you fill out a paper bag with a red sharpie- kinda gotta go there to get what im saying) There’s only 1 in MN… in Blaine, but I would say its def worth the drive.
Quandary Grille, Breckenridge
Great food- I ordered a build your own burger. Ate on the patio, had bags outside, great atmosphere, great music. Younger crowd, yet family restaurant.
Blue River Bistro, Breckenridge
Expensive and not really good food, despite critics reviews. I got the mac and cheese. It was a super small portion. Me and my mom got bloody mary’s and they were horrible. We had to ask for more worcestershire sauce and they were still bad after our addition. I couldn’t even finish mine.
Outback Steakhouse
Again, a fav of mine. Will always love the blooming onion. That sauce they pair with it is sooo goooood!
Kona Grill
Great Asian restaurant. They offer sushi, but we didn’t get any even though it looked really good. I ordered the pad thai- really good and would get that again. Drinks were a little spendy. Patio was full- would have like to sit outside… maybe next time!
Lodo’s Bar and Grill
Not great. Average food. They have a sports bar patio on the roof, but it was raining that day. Kinda boring place, boring food. By just driving by, it gets more interesting later in the evening.
Five Guys
I haven’t been to a Five Guys since I was in Madison last. They have great burgers. Amazing fries. No need to order a large, they fill up the fry container and then fill up the rest of your bag with a ton more fries. None of their burgers contain trans fats cuz they use peanut oil…. And they have free peanuts!!
Ruby Tuesdays
Their menu has definitely changed…. A lot more healthy options. For every entre, you get to choose 2 sides… one can be their salad bar- my personal fav. They have the BEST croutons!!

Yummy Treats!

I went to Target a couple of days ago and was craving something sweet.... I remembered our old neighbors (I hate having to call them 'old neighbors') bought some of these little bite size brownies and they were AMAZINGLY delicious. I searched the Target bakery and got the LAST ONE. whoo! Beware, these little bites heaven are seriously addicting, you just cant have one... i usually go for two or three.... or four ;) I miss baking so much! We dont have any pans or pots or mixing appliances. Im craving making cupcakes or blondies or something!!! I might just have to resort to rice krispies.. at least thats something. We need to find a house soon so i can bake!

Breckenridge

Over the weekend, me and the fam took a trip to Breckenridge for my moms birthday. We hiked down the mountains, hiked up just a bit. Got lunch right when we got there. My dad said he must've at some bad soup because halfway down our hike, he started double timing it cuz his stomach did not feel good. Well I guess he made it back in time cuz his pants were not shit-stained. LOL. Sorry dad. Then we went to The Quandary Grill for dinner. This place had such good food, I'd recommend it to anyone. They had bags outside and played pretty awesome music. Its kinda tucked back in this little shopping area right off Main Street. You wouldnt be able to see it from the street. Those places are the best. The next day was my mom's birthday. Unfortunately, it was my first day at Victoria's Secret and I had to work 8+ hours because we were short staffed on LABOR DAY.... ya, the day that everyone goes shopping. I'll come back to Victoria's Secret... but when i got home, me and mom went out to Garbanzo's. Its this mediterranean grill kinda set up like chipotle. Really good food, really healthy. We came back for presents and cake. Im so jeal of all my moms gifts... PINK sweatshirt, Volcano candle from Anthropologie (best smelling candle EVER), Coach perfume, chocolate, flowers, etc etc. Makes me want to go shopping!!! AHH. So Victoria's Secret.... this is the BIGGEST DAMN VS I've ever seen in my life! Take the 2 MOA stores and combine them, then add the VSX line (sports) and the Supermodel line (travel) and you've got our store. Makes me want to spend my paycheck. For any of you VS employees/ former employees... this store has 3 BWC's, 9 registers, 3 entrances, 3 PINK rooms, 2 Very Sexy Rooms, a Body room, a Cotton Room... ya just for cotton panties, and etc rooms galore. And don't get me started on ROYGBV. The store is so big, that after the initial floorset, they just dont care because it would take literally 4 hours to close. It still pretty amazing and I'm so excited to be in that store. Okee....bye lovers!

check out my Breckenridge pictures!!

Shopping and Football

The past couple of days we've been house shopping, outlet shopping, and grocery shopping. Bought some new clothes which always makes me happy :) Last night, went out to dinner with Brian at Kona Grill- we didn't get their sushi, but still really good food. And this afternoon, went to lunch with our old neighbors from Wisconsin. So good to see the Demmon's again!! Now, watching some Badger football. Denver can't deny me my Wisconsin boys. On Wisconsin!