Good times! (nostalgia edition)

Because they make me happy, and because I didn't get to share them properly at the time, here are some selected pictures of the celebrations that happened before I left Philadelphia:

Definitely miss Thursday dinners with the people named Sykora and Dyson

Charlotte looks so much older already!

And THIS baby now lives outside! Woohoo!

 And then there are these two...




"Helping" grill outside

My going away party featured a sausage assortment.  These people get me.

There were also other delicious things to eat too!

Small group love!

And then something funny happened.  I can't, of course, remember what it was.  But it was hilarious:

Love for the Sykora Dyson family!

We also had an imprompto indian feast on the porch one evening.  Oh Tiffin, I miss you and your saag paneer.  But mostly your saag paneer.

And I FINALLY got to a Philly's game (after 7 years!)

And then there was the icing on the cake (literally).  This is the cake from our PGY-1 pharmacy residency graduation.  Note the spelling error - hilarious!

How did I get so lucky?

Birthday Celebrations (abridged)

While I was blessed with many wonderful calls, gifts, celebrations, and general feelings of love on my birthday, this one needs to be shared with the wider community.  JR and I went to the most amazing restaurant for a celebratory birthday brunch.  It is called Beatrice and Woodsley and both the atmosphere and the food are worth talking about:

First of all, it looks like this (on the INSIDE!):

And then there is the food.  Which both looks and tastes amazing!

The Philadelphiia Vandaveers - I kept thinking about how much you would L-O-V-E this place! Visit? ;o)

The parental visit - much overdue!

Wow - it's been a long time.  As Meagan would say, October was "uber cray cray".  Way back in September, my parents dropped by Denver for a weekend visit and we crammed in a lot of good times!

But first, a picture of Poochini...because I can:

Anyway - back to the trip! On Saturday, we went up to Breckenridge, CO for a beautiful day in the mountains. 

The main drag in Breckenridge

We had lunch at an adorable and delicious Mexican restaurant.  We sat out on the patio by the mountain river and took in the scenery:



Photo op!

They also had a silly hat store, which mom got into while dad was searching for a ridiculous gift for his annual office white elephant exchange:

Oh yes, and did I mention the aspens looked like this?  They did. 

Sunday, we headed down to Colorado Springs (and drove quickly past Focus on the Family headquarters, mind you), to Garden of the Gods.  Which is a fantastically cool display of plate tectonics and errosion - which I know because my mother insisted we watch the 15 minute educational video at the visitors center.  Oh, mothers.  Anyway - the park is absolutely gorgeous!  Here are some select views:

My parents fit in well in Colorado

I did a bit of climbing around the rocks, even though you aren't suppsoed to do that, and I wasn't wearing appropriate footwear. Typical.

See - don't they look good in this state?

Much fun was had by all!