1200 Miles West

Special thanks go out to Ronnie (our co-worker) and his Mom as she sent an official King Cake from Louisiana, along with beads and masks to help us celebrate. Ronnie whose family hails from Louisiana helped Indigio get into the Mardi Gras spirit by preparing homemade Hurricanes.

Ronnie (our in house drink master) and Brandon are featured on the left and Lana (our resident rock star) appears on the right.

There was a little confusion as to what holiday we were celebrating, but all in all a good time was had by all!

Last night, Mike and I joined Shawn Dodge and two of his friends for a Colorado Avalanche game. While the weather here in Denver didn’t necessarily cooperate, we meet them at Brooklyn’s for a quick beer and a little food and then headed off to the game.

We sat in row 17 right behind the net, which was exciting when the puck was on our end of the rink. Due to the weather the game wasn’t sold out, but the fans that were in attendance we out in full force.

While the AVS didn’t win, we did get to see a game that went into overtime.

Wayne, our resident Photoshop guru here at Indigio, created this for me in honor of my birthday:

Those are really my eyes, nose (even though I don’t like to admit it!) and my mouth. Can you believe it?

Wayne’s a talented man, here’s a picture he did for Mike.

Not sure why he picked the Indian theme, but it worked out well, don’t you think? He has a nice weather look to him. Hopefully that’s not a reflect of me!

Regardless, we hope you enjoy these photos as much as we did!

We were invited to a couple of Super Bowl parties, but we elected to stay home. Karmel, our orange and white kitty, enjoys spending time with us in the family room and as you can tell from the snap shot he’s a football fan as he picked the seat next to Mike on the couch to watch the big game.

Each time Mike yells at the TV or curses out one of the players on the Giant’s team, Karmel jumps up, almost as if he’s echoing Mike’s verbal comments.

Now, one could argue that Karmel’s reaction is due to the fact that he is startled by the loud noise and pounding motion on the couch, but if that were the case I wouldn’t have a football loving cat, now wouldI?

Since everyone is going to ask what Mike got me for my birthday…here’s a picture.

We decided last year that since birthdays are your “own” special day, it only makes sense to go to the store and pick out what YOU want. Last year I picked out a light brown Michael Kors purse and this year I decided on Coach’s Madeline Large Signature Tote. A special thank you goes out to Mike for going into each and every story at Cherry Creek Mall that carried purses.

Also, we had a nice dinner at Ling and Louie’s up in Stapleton. It wasn’t my first choice, but unfortunately we didn’t realize that Vesta Dipping Grill required reservations more than a couple days ahead of time. Plus, now that I’m not longer eating meat, it was tough to find a restaurant to carried more than one vegetarian based dishes.

I also enjoyed the bottle of wine that Mike picked out. I’m a fan of red wines, especially zinfandels, so 7 Deadly Zins was a perfect choice.

All in all, I had a great birthday.

I can’t believe that my little brother turned 30 today! I think this is the first birthday that we’ve spent apart, which doesn’t seem like a big deal, but when you share back-to-back birthday’s (Feb 2nd and Feb 3rd) it is!

Growing up, Michael was always jealous that my birthday came before his. The good news is that our parents always made it a point to celebrate our special days separately. Thist involved two special birthday dinners (I typically picked fondue and Michael in recent years picked surf and turf) and of course two cakes, which worked out well for me as Michael always picked chocolate cake which everyone knows is NOT my favorite.

Michael - I hope that you had a wonderful birthday and that we are able to share many more together no matter how near or far we are from each other. Happy 30th!

As can be seen by the addition of the countdown to Key West timer that has been added to the blog, it almost that time of year again where it is time to head south and soak up the sun and fun. Key West is my favorite place in the whole world so I thought I would give ten reasons why I like I so much.

Number 10: Bear Bottom Club. The picture was taken late in the evening after we got married last year. Why do we like the Bear Bottom? Matt Avery is the best entertainer in Key West by far. Why googling to see if Matt was still playing, I just found out that they have changed their name to ‘BigUns‘ but he is still the head liner.

Number 9: Trains! The picture below is of the seven mile bridge crossing between Little Duck Key and Vaca Key. The story of the Overseas Railroad is both amazing and sad given how short its life span. Many of the bridges remain and stand as evidence of that time.

Number 8: Mallory Square. Not only did Erin and I get engaged in Mallory Square, it hosts Sunset every night. Plenty of freak shows like contortionists, flame jugglers, and the like to entertain as well.

Number 7: Watching Marti act silly. Here is Marti going crazy over Elvis or his distant cousin at the Bull and Whistle.

Number 6: Sunsets! Everything seems to revolve around Sunset in Key West. In Marathon, it means bed time is close. In Key West, it means it is time to put on warmer clothes because the night is just beginning.

Number 5: Sailing. Whether on our friend Bill and Peg’s boat or on one of the big sailing ships on a sunset cruise, we love to sail and go turtle watching. The water surrounding the Keys is spectacular in color. Hopefully this year, we’ll get a calm day where we can snorkel from the boat.

Number 4: Hogs Breath. Good entertainment, decent food, but it is the atmosphere that can’t be beat. I look forward to my first Hog-A-Rita. Yes, it is a commercial tourist trap but that ‘local’ bar, the Green Parrot, scares the crap out of me.

Number 3: Spending time with Marti and Big Jim. They party pretty good for old folks. If it wasn’t for them we probably would never have visited the Keys in the first place. They also graciously let us stay with them at Outdoor Resorts which tremendously helps make it an affordable trip. I don’t mind that the average age at Outdoor Resorts is 78.

Number 2: We got engaged at sunset in Mallory Square in 2006. Ask Erin about how I ‘found’ the ring in the spare bedroom.

Number 1: March 16th, 2007 was a special day as Erin and I married on the beach. It was an awesome day and it was very special to be able to share it with Marti and Jim, Patti (Mike’s Mother) and Jim, Tim and Linda (Erin’s Aunt and Uncle), and Bill and Peg (Friends) as well as Metal Detector Guy.

We are very much looking forward to this year’s visit.