GABF :(

I'm missing the GABF this year and it makes me sad. I love this event and I know that all weekend my friends will be having a blast and I'm missing it. Sometimes I hate being out of town so much.

It's cooler today than it's been in months. That means that my favorite time of year is just around the corner. Autumn is all about the sweaters, the cider, and Halloween! It's football season and my fantasy football draft is coming up soon! All in all I'm really excited for the weather to cool down for good. Of course, come January, all I'll want is summer again.

Homemade Vanilla

There is only one store in Denver where I can find my favorite ice cream, Blue Bell. It costs a fortune, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make to be able to taste my childhood. You can get butter pecan, chocolate, cherry cordial, and various others but the only thing I ever get is Homemade Vanilla. I can't figure out why it's better than all the other vanillas out there, but it is!

It tastes like summers at my grandparents. If my brother and I were well behaved and didn't wake my grandparents up from their nap we could have an afternoon treat. Either a chocolate malt or a sundae with banana and maraschino cherries. It wasn't an every day affair but just often enough to make it worth it to play quietly during nap time. Sometimes as an after dinner treat, my grandma would let us have a "big" scoop in a small wooden bowl. If my cousins were over grandma would make us coke floats. She never had root beer and I could never figure out why.

I ate Blue Bell ice cream all the time before we moved to Denver because you could buy it in the grocery store. When we moved here and it wasn't around we made due with other brands. Dolly Madison wasn't bad. When summer came, it was time for my grandparents to stock up because we wouldn't have had Blue Bell since the summer before. My Grandma said that they went through more milk, bread, cheese, and ice cream in one month with us there, than three months with just the two of them.

When I used to drive to Texas to visit family, I would always stop in Amarillo at a gas station and get one of the tiny Blue Bell vanilla cups. It was the very first thing I felt I should do once I got to my home state. Now I fly most of the time and when I get to my Dad's house he's got it waiting for me in the deep freeze.

I've found some good ice cream places here but nothing compares to Blue Bell. It's nice to have a place selling it now. It's a fun treat every now and again. I try not to go too often, so as not to spoil the memories.

Mile High Music Fest!!

A couple of weekends ago I went to the Music Fest at the soccer fields up in Commerce City. I got tickets for both days and got up on Saturday to take the lightrail and a couple buses to the fields. It took a while and we still had about a mile walk from the bus stop to the gate but it was worth it. When I got inside I made a beeline for the closest cold beverage I could see. I stopped and listened to Gavin DeGraw of a bit. I made my way over to the far side of the fields to see Jason Mraz!!! Love him! He was fun to watch. I didn't have the best spot but I was close enough to see him and the sound was great.

After nearly an hour in the sun I realized I needed some hydration and some lunch. It didn't occur to me that there would be so many options for food. I figured it would be carnival food and I would spend my weekend eating funnel cake and french fries. Well I guess I should have known better. I was able to get a salad and falafal gyro for lunch! There were lots of veggie options which was wonderful. I ended up sitting under a tent near where Steve Winwood was playing so I got to listen to him while I ate and took a quick nap. The sun and 95 degree temp did a number on my head.

I walked around for a little bit and finally ended up over at the main stage to see OAR who put on a great show. I hung back near the tents but could still hear everything and had a good time watching the crowd. After OAR I went to see Lupe Fiasco and then made it back to the main stage for Tom Petty. I thought he put on a good show and all in all I was pleased with the day.

The second day I got an earlier start but still got there around the same time. I parked at the bus station instead of taking the train hoping it would save time. Well, no luck... because it was Sunday the buses were running once a hour and the traffic was so bad around the fields the buses wouldn't take us to the stop they had the day before. So after we sat on the bus for about 20 minutes and had only gone a block an a half the driver let us off and we walked the rest of the way. It was just over 2 miles but we walked the whole way.

I made it in time to see Colbie Caillat's last songs and to watch Rodrigo y Gabriela who are really talented. I went over and saw the Flobots and had a blast. The crowd was lovin them. Yay Flobots!! After seeing them I went back to the main stage to hear a little John Mayer and meet up with some friends who had found a shady place to set up camp for the day. The first half of the day was back and forth and back a forth between the two stages on either end of the fields with food stops in between. After John Mayer I went and saw The Roots in one of the tent stages. I finally got to see them. I've been trying to get to a Roots show since I met my friend Kyle 6 years ago. He introduced me to The Roots and Blackalicious and other music that doesn't get tons of radio play. There were other opportunities to see them but I would be out of town or out of money.

After jumping around with The Roots I went over and saw The Black Crowes. I was able to get right up front and right in the middle of everything. They put on a fabulous show and the sunset was perfect. Great time at that one! Last show of the day was back at the main stage with friends watching Dave Matthews Band. I've been a fan since HS so it was great to see them.

I've never been one of those people who goes to all the big summer concerts. I can count on both hands the number of major concerts I've been to in my life. I like the local shows, the small venues and the affordable tickets. It was a lot of money to go to the festival but it was totally worth it. All the shows I saw over the course of the weekend made up for the ones I've missed in the past. Out of all the bands I saw the only one I had seen live before were the Flobots. So the weekend was a treat. I will definitely be going again.

Full Moon

There's a full moon tonight. It was a very weird night, which I contribute to the moon. I worked today. It was supposed to be just a short patio shift. It's been so hot that people don't want to sit outside. What I wasn't counting on was that the plumber was going to show up to fix the drains behind the bar. He ended up snaking them out and the smell for most of the night can only be described as atrocious. So everyone wanted to sit on the patio. I was running all night. I dropped an entire tray of drinks (something I haven't done in a long time), I got stuck with "Boston Dave" who is an ass but tips well, and the guy I'm dating ended up sitting out there too. Having Sam on the patio wasn't bad but he and I have been going through a weird time and it continued to be awkward tonight. I'm going to wait for the moon to be waining before I talk to him about the awkwardness again.

Trivia was unusually busy tonight. We had a "meet up" group that my friend Holly is a part of come for trivia. She and I have know each other for a while and it was fun to see her. She always had a hug for me when I was feeling dumb or annoyed tonight. She brought her ex boyfriend and it was weird to see them together. I think they both still love each other, they are just in different places. He's a good guy so I want to give him the benefit of the doubt but part of me wants to be pissed at him because of my loyalty to her.

After what felt like the longest shift of my life, with the smell and the madness of a busy night, I was able to have a beer with Sam and some friends. It was the best Guinness I've had in a while. YUM!!! They took off and now I'm home trying to decide if tonight was worth all the effort expended.

I made good money (thanks, Kamil, JD and the boys...and Boston Dave, still a jackass though)!

I broke a bunch of glasses tonight and I did it in front of lots of people.

It STANK all night and not like regular stank like nasty sewer stank. The people who actually sat at the bar tonight, there were quite a few, are good people for putting up with it.

There was one crazy table who didn't seem to understand the rules of being in public. (it is not appropriate to put your bare foot up on the table even if you are outside)

I got to see Sam tonight. I haven't seen him in a while and I've been missing him.

One nearly perfect beer.

I guess I can live with the way the night went. Everyone seems to have made it out alive.

Where did June go?

I'm not sure what happened but I blinked and all of June flew by.

Things that I know happened for sure...

1 Softball Tuesdays followed by beers and mac n' cheese at Milo's, unless of course one of our players ends up in the emergency room

2 My birthday!! Yay cake!

3 Sam...

4 More work than I would prefer

5 Hanging out by the pool

6 I love Vegas! I love the food, the lights, the desert, and the free drinks!

7 :( Salsa moved back the Nebraska :(

8 I read a lot

9 Did I mention the food in Vegas. I spent a lot of money but it's the best!!

What to do?

It's my day off. I slept in. I checked my email. I called and left a message with my landlord about the new lease, I hope he understood what I was talking about. Until recently I don't think he was aware what our names were. I wrote a letter to a friend. I watched an episode of Jon & Kate plus 8 on TLC (love them!). I cleaned my bathroom and have now lost all motivation. I'm sore from my recent increase in activity. I'm playing on our bar's softball team this season and I've been to the gym twice this week already and my body doesn't want to play anymore.

So, what to do? I could lay on the couch and lose myself in the many episodes of House waiting for me on my DVR. I could get motivated and go to the gym (not likely). I want to go shopping but I have spent enough money this week already so that's a definite NO. I should probably do some more house work but that's not fun. It's sunny out, I might go lay by the pool. I feel like staying in kind of wastes the day. I've been inside enough today...

Back to my regular life...

My time at the Grant opening is over. This opening has been the smoothest one I've ever done. There were some egos and not everyone got along all of the time but we all put in a lot of effort to make sure things went well. As the bookkeeper I don't get to stay for the whole process, which sucks. At least this opening is in town and I can still see everybody. The one good thing is the nap I took today. I needed a day off and a really great nap.

I have tomorrow off and have every intention of doing nothing. I'm going to sleep in and watch some TV. If I'm feeling really motivated I might go to the gym. I'm in need of some exercise. After that it's back to the grind. I'm working all weekend.

My Very Long Week

A week ago Saturday I arrived for my first full day of work at the new Grant Street restaurant. I've done a few of these before (or as we trainers say "this isn't my first rodeo") and each one is drastically different than the last. I had received a binder with timelines and checklists before I got there. Throughout the course of my first day I realized that much of my ability to stick to these lists is dependant upon too many other people (who don't work on Saturdays). So I spent most of my morning going through said checklist and making changes to it.
The day wasn't a total waste however, I still accomplished quite a bit. I went through employee files, I met my trainee, made lists of my own.

On Sunday we had our big trainer meeting. I got to see some friends I hadn't seen in a while and I got a snapshot of how this is all going to roll out.

It starts with Brent, the regional, he's one of those guys you have to get to know before you really understand his humor. I've done several openings with Brent and there are still some days when I can't figure out if he's joking with me or if he's pissed off. Then you have the combo of Larry and Amy. Larry is the GM and has done multiple openings in several different roles. Amy is his roommate and also my boss and with them working together and living together Amy wonders if they won't kill each other at some point.

Joe, Adam, Dennis & Karin are the managers. They are all very different and seem to work well together. Joe has a rebellious side. Adam can be a bit of a prankster. Dennis is nice and handles the short jokes with a quick wit. Karin seems to hold the boys accountable and keeps everybody on task.

The training team is a mix of veterans and newer members. I'm pretty sure the newbies thought all of us veterans were crazy after Sunday night's meeting. We have all of these old jokes from past openings and know each others personalities. It's only a matter of time before they turn to the dark side and join us.

In addition to the regular players we have been joined by a cast of characters from our Home Office. That means two things. One, most of the things that we need to do an opening are just a quick drive away and two everyone is in your business. So it's a mixed blessing.

After the first few days I decided that I'm going to have to fight for the computer for most of the time I'm doing this. Carla, my bosses boss kept trying to figure out why I wasn't in the office. I tried to get her to understand there are 10 or so people trying to use one computer and there are just some times I'm not going to be as productive as she or I would like. Luckily I found other things to do.

By the time Thursday rolled around we had staff in the building and it's, for lack of a better phrase, balls to the wall time. Once you get 100+ employees asking questions and telling you they forgot to clock in or bring their training books you spend most of your time running around putting out fires all day. It's exhausting yet it makes time fly.

We ended the week by going out to the Atomic Cowboy and getting our drink on! I think that our group made up about 1/2 the people in the bar. It was awesome! I love getting everyone together! We were going to after party at Joe's house but some people had a little too much fun. I ended up taking people back at the hotel & hanging out with Salsa & Jeff for the rest of the night.

On Sunday I woke up much earlier than I would have liked so I could get back to my side of town and meet My mom n' Mark & my Aunt n' Uncle for brunch. I love going over to my Aunt & Uncle's house. They made some delicious food and we all sat around a caught up. After we ate, my Aunt played 8 of Brahms 16 Waltzes. It was so beautiful. I could just picture some Jane Austen-esque ballroom scene. I loved it!

All in all it was a pretty good week.

Gray Skies

It's gray outside today. It's my favorite kind of sky, a gray one. It's thundering and next it will be raining. I love days like this. It's a shame I have to work in a bit. I'd much rather be out running errands and being out in it.

I have to close tonight as a manager and I just don't enjoy those shifts. There's just nothing to do. Wednesdays aren't very busy and I spend most of my time creating little projects for myself. I'm leaving for another restaurant opening and I'm opening the office this time around. I haven't done that in over a year so I need to update my material. That will be my project for tonight.

I really hope this opening is going to be a good one. It's such a great team of people that are doing it. I just hope the ego's can stay in check and we can all work hard for the benefit of the group. It could either be wonderful or a nightmare. I guess I'll see, I get there on the nineteenth.

It's started sprinkling now. I think I'll go get the mail

The new blonde in town

I went to get my hair done last week. When I walked in I had long-ish brown hair with seriously grown out highlights. After an hour and a half of drinking Diet Pepsi, reading fashion magazines and checking up on the salon gossip I walked out with shoulder length blonde hair with dark streaks in the front. Wow, big change... At first ,when she took the towel off my head, I think I must have looked terrified. It looked white against what little brown hair I had left. After cutting and styling it i was feeling a little bit better but still a little nervous. It was so blonde!! With the exception of my do-it-yourself blonde look senior year of high school I haven't been blonde since I was 4.

Almost a week after the trip to the salon I'm getting used to the new 'do. Everyone has given me such flattering compliments. The look of surprise on coworkers & regulars faces has subsided. I'm settling into the new look and maybe a change is what I needed.

It's spring!!

I do realize that this is a few days late. The vernal equinox was several days ago.

We had some warm days at the beginning of the month but it really feels like spring now. I'm sure there will be more snow still to come but I'm just focusing on the positive. I'm not a fan of the cold. After spending a month in Iowa for work I'm in need of sandal and shorts weather.

I did have a good time in Iowa (great people there), it's just too cold for me. I've finally thawed out from the trip and am happily settled back home. The day's have been in the 60's and we've even gotten a sprinkle of rain (though it quickly turned into snow after dark...but it didn't stick!!!). When it stops getting below freezing at night that will be cause for some real celebration!!

I'm so looking forward to spring for several reasons. Rockies games, patio dining, not having to wear a coat, sandals, flowers and rainy days are just some of my many.

I'm headed up to the mountains to meet up with my sister tomorrow and I'll be looking for more signs of spring up there. I might even take some pictures.

Restless

I just got home from work and can't fall asleep. It was dead today. I hate those days that just drag on. I've had 2 in a row and I'm going to go nuts if it doesn't pick up.

Hello there!

As a child I would receive diaries for Christmas. I would always start to write in them but never make it past January. I don't even have any of them anymore. My mom always said that I should keep a diary because it would document a time in my life that I would want to remember as I got older.

Many years later, here I sit with no documentation of my past (not in diary form anyway). I'm okay with that though. I have lots of good memories of my childhood, not to mention pictures that can act as my documentation. I think I communicate through photos better than words anyway. It sounds like a cop-out but it's true.

So why start a blog you ask? Well, several reasons really.
1. It will be a good exercise in self discipline.
2. My friend Becca has just left for Albania and I'll be on here reading her blogs. Now, if she is so compelled she can read mine as well. (somehow I think her blog will be more interesting than mine, just a hunch ;)
3. I travel a bit and meet all kinds of fabulously interesting people. Now I can write about my adventures and all the great people.
4. I'm looking forward to sharing some of my photos!

Well there you go, that's my motivation. I hope to be posting on here for longer than just a few months. I think I can do it. There's self-discipline in here somewhere.