Myrtle Beach Meetup

I am fortunate enough to still have some of the same friends that I made in high school in my life. I owe the meeting of these friends in part to my sister who is 15 months younger than me. While I had friends in my age group, my sister and I tended to share friends due to the proximity in age and the fact we had to share a car (thanks mom and dad!). Two of the friends I have managed to keep in contact with also happen to be sisters themselves...and twins at that. When my sister and one of these sister's lived in DC together I went to visit and thus a new tradition of girl vacations was born. They came to visit me in Denver, we visited Michelle in Atlanta, and then we spent my bachelorette party in San Diego where my sister has since moved. While the three of them all got together in Jamaica for Michelle's wedding in April, I was unable to go and so since we hadn't seen each other in awhile we decided to plan another trip. My fabulous sister and Lisa did most of the planning which I thank them for and so all I had to do was show up in Myrtle Beach a few weeks ago for the getaway.

While my sister and I get along we do have an "expiration date" so to speak and so I limited my time there to 4 days while they were all staying a full week. Of course, I also had my yoga classes to teach which also hindered my time there. I had never been to Myrtle Beach before so I was excited for the vacation and since we were going after Labor Day I knew I'd have an easy time flying stand-by there. I ended up taking Delta through Atlanta and arrived about 3pm where the girls picked me up. There is about a flight every hour out of Atlanta which makes this a convenient route for those traveling from the west.

Rachel had rented us a condo for the stay so we each had our own bedroom and there was a nice size kitchen which saved us on the cost of food. Since Michelle's husband had to leave the day after I got there we decided to go out to dinner Monday night and went to a place called Bimini's
It's an oyster bar and I must say the prices are good and the raw oysters cheap. If you don't like big raw oysters this place is for you because they are on the small side. The hush puppies were terrible but my sister and I split the steamed crab legs pot which was more than enough for two people. They also had Landshark on draft which was a big bonus in my book.

Myrtle Beach itself is pretty hokey with your standard gift shops and giant seafood buffets but we were staying in North Myrtle beach which was pretty quiet (of course it is the off season now)
Our place was only a couple minute walk to the beach which is where I opted to spend most of my time. The girls went outlet shopping one day and Lisa's fiance played golf but I spent the day drinking beer and soaking up the sun.

Although the sand isn't quite as white as gulf shores beach in Alabama I had to keep reminding myself that wasn't where I was at because they are so similar. I really enjoyed swimming in the ocean which had some nice size waves for boogie boarding and no seaweed or jelly fish. I was concerned it might be a little cooler what with it being September and all, but the days were sunny and hot and hardly a cloud in the sky. No hurricanes in sight!

We spent our evenings playing charades, putting together puzzles, drinking wine, taking turns cooking dinner, and oh did I mention drinking wine?!

(we jumped a lot too)
Of course the days went by too fast and before I knew it, it was time to say goodbye and head home. The airport is fortunately a straight shot and only about 20 minutes away from where we stayed so it was a breeze beginning my journey back home. My time came to an end too soon with my friends and sister but I was grateful that even with our busy lives we could all find time to get together and enjoy each other's company and the beach! Hopefully we will reunite sooner than Lisa's wedding which is set for next June...which then means we'll all officially NOT be single ladies wow!

Until next time ladies...

Closing out Summer

The days may be getting shorter and the nights a little cooler but that doesn't mean we are done with summer just yet. While we didn't make it up Long's peak due to Chad injuring his leg in hockey, we have managed to have some fun in and around Denver these last few warm weeks of the year. So here is just a peek at how we've been spending our weekends since the Warrior Dash in August:

Deadmau5 at Red Rocks - definitely one of the best show's I've seen in a long time at the best venue in the state. The only bummer was that DJ's tend to attract 14 year old raver kids wearing little more than neon underwear but that didn't stop us from having a fabulous time.




My friend Margaret has thrown not one but two shindigs at her house this year and both have been nothing but good food and amazing people. The first was to celebrate the end of the summer teacher training and the second was for Labor Day. I have really enjoyed getting to know the people I work with and out with at my gym and it's made my days here in Colorado so much better:




Taste of Colorado was also Labor Day weekend and Chad and I went with our best friends Lyndee and Mark. I had really wanted to go hiking but Chad was on call and since I had no one to go with I decided to stay in town and enjoy the free event. We ended up going out after the festival and we bar hopped all over Denver. Sometimes you just need a night with no plans like that:







(owling on a dumpster)

This past Friday was my gym's grand re-opening party. They closed for two weeks to clean and organize and paint murals on the walls inside and out. We ended up hanging out at my friend Sherry's loft which her and her husband had rented for the summer and happened to be right next door to the gym. We could look down on the action in the parking lot but talk in a more intimate setting:




(more owling)


(our gym produces results)



Yesterday was the Tour de Fat here in Denver which is an annual event celebrating biking, beer and being a freak. Everyone dresses up in costume and listens to bands and enjoys the great outdoors:



(chad as the beer ranger and me as the beer fairy)




Today was Yoga rocks the park and Lyndee and I had bought our tickets back in May to attend. The teacher was amazing and they had a live dj plus plenty of freebies from gluten free ice cream to luna bars. Although it started at 10am, the temperature rose quickly and we were sweating before we knew it. The total yoga time was 1.5 hours and we did some poses I had never even practiced myself. I love yoga and so add in an outdoor venue with your closest friends and you know it's a recipe for a great Sunday morning:












Namaste friends and cheers to the end of one season and the beginning of something new~