After a million hours in the middle seat of the middle section of the Norwegian Airlines plane (where every beverage cost at least $3) I was delighted to be reunited with the ubiquitous water fountains of American Airports.
With the stupid rule to limit the amount of liquid you can bring on an airplane, I thought there would be opportunities to fill my water bottle between the security check and the gate. Not consistently in Europe! Though I could have stayed on that side of the ocean indefinitely, I was a little relieved and comforted by the amenities I had not only become accustomed to, but had taken for granted.
I arrived in Denver around midnight and Emily picked me up. I was so happy for a break from finding my way through public transportation after such a long journey.
On Saturday we kicked into full gear Summer break. We started with breakfast at the Appleridge Cafe where I had a breakfast burrito smothered in homemade green chili. I love breakfast burritos. The hash browns were potatoey and crunchy and I was in heaven. I was determined to eat as much green chili as I could while I was in the region.
Emily had taken a summer job working in a local brewery and after a customer tipped her with some homemade honey, we decided we should go visit him at a local fair/market. The fair was in some new housing development that had just been built and was trying to appear civilized. I love markets. Especially when they have strange things that I don’t want to buy. I passed on taking in an exchange student (since I didn’t have a home to share), crafty jewelry (since I don’t wear what I packed anyway), fancy makeup and party planning services. The fair/market was still very entertaining, and it had a brewery next door!
We shared a flight and ranked our favorites. Emily always makes me feel like home.
Later that evening we went to Kate’s going away party. Emily started getting suspicious when Kate wasn’t there- at her own party. Then a guy made an announcement: Kate and Josh (Kate’s boyfriend she was moving to Idaho with) were so pleased that all of their closest friends and family had come to wish them good luck for their move to Boise, and they also wanted to announce that they would be getting married! In 10 minutes! So fill your glasses and gather round. Emily was surprised.
Yep, that was why I came back to the US already.
The next day we went to Emily’s husband (and also my friend) Josh’s mom’s birthday party. Josh followed his nephew up a tree. We were all very impressed with his athleticism.
In the backyard there was a corn hole tournament. Somehow Josh and his brother-in-law were unbeatable. Emily’s competitiveness was creeping out. She was convinced that they would not be able to continue their streak. She wanted to make the bet a little more interesting. If Josh lost, he would have to kiss his mom’s dogs on the mouth. Or something else. I can’t remember. Cause *SPOILER ALERT* he didn’t lose (although it was very close. Emily and their nephew were in the lead for most of the game and then Josh got 4 BEANBAGS IN A ROW!). Emily was so convinced that she would win that she agreed that she would eat a hard boiled egg if she lost. Emily hates eggs. You know what would make you gag with just the thought of putting it near your mouth. That is what eggs are to Emily. It’s been an ongoing topic of conversation especially around breakfast. Em was a trouper. She was determined to eat the egg with grace and a straight face. This was physically not an option. The video is on Facebook. We watched that video over and over the rest of the night.
After the party we completed the night at that Irish bar I was talking about– the one with the videos of Ireland. It was so much fun to go back after I had seen the real thing.
On Monday Emily and I made a list of all the productive things we wanted to accomplish and we did about half of them. The same thing happened on Tuesday. And the rest of the week. We went to coffee shops and Emily did school stuff while I researched applying for jobs on cruise ships, we ran errands, we went to the gym, and we frequented Olde Town Arvada.
At the new Denver Brewing Company, they not only have as much water as you want, but a giant jug of sunscreen! Brilliant! Every patio should have such amenities!
While I was out of town, Emily and Josh had started hanging out with a married set of foot doctors (Josh used to work for a podiatrist). Though Keleigh (yes, I finally got a taste of what all of you with popular names go through when there is more than one of you in the room) didn’t take Dr. Jacob Stewart’s last name, I liked calling them the Doctors Stewart. I took pictures of our drinks in beakers at the Schoolhouse, but I forgot to take any pictures with them.
On Saturday we did something very Colorado– we did the Coors tour. Emily’s dad, Mike, works for Coors so it has been a huge influence on our family (yep, I’m part of the Hogan family– they are my Colorado family and Mike even says I’m his other daughter). He wasn’t at work that day, but I was glad Josh was there since he usually works on Saturdays.
We wrapped up the weekend at Josh’s mom’s favorite bar which was amazing. I took this picture of Josh because he tends to hold his phone like he’s taking a picture when he’s just looking at other things on his phone. I wanted to show him what it was like on the other side.
This is Dale.
Dale is very talented. 
On Tuesday night I got to do something that I had wanted to do since I saw all the picnickers along the canal in Paris– I recreated it with MY friends! 
And my friend Sarah joined us!
It was incredible. With temperatures in the 90’s during the day, by evening the heat broke and the light painted pictures on the sky that could have been in museums. 
We had sushi, we had saki and wine.
We had a bluetooth speaker which played a perfect pandora station of French music (Sarah’s recommendation). 
We laughed and we marveled at the perfect evening we had created. 
We got a little camera happy because the light was amazing.
The sky kept doing spectacular things
There’s Sarah again!
And just me with that sky.
A couple of days later, Emily and I did something that I’ll write about later. But this van was outside when we were done.
I moved from Emily, Josh and Dale’s house to Sarah and her husband, Derek’s. Sarah and I went for a walk on Sloan’s Lake and the sky was doing interesting things again. We went to trivia with Karissa, who Sarah and I worked with at the Art Institute ages ago. We had a blast.
Then on Sunday I got to look at houses with Sarah and Derek. They are looking to buy. It was so much fun going from house to house and analyzing what was important to them and to watch them negotiate, compromise and support each other’s desires.
After being away for 2 months I had such a great time spending some quality time with my friends again. And I also caught up on a lot of sleep.