Hello from Denver!

And Happy 4th of July!!!! I hope you all have something fun planned for this long, summer weekend 🙂 Brian and I are absolutely loving our first visit in Denver, and we are getting so excited for our official big move out here.  Here is a peak at what we’ve been doing the past couple of days.

Wednesday

Wednesday afternoon I was completely caught off guard when my co-workers threw me a surprise going away party.

NIFS surprise party

There was ice cream, cupcakes, cookies, and brownies and it was all fabulous! I am so thankful to have such amazing co-workers.  I really am going to miss working at NIFS, but I know I will come and visit when Brian and I visit Indy in the future.

My treat was a delicious cup of cookies and cream ice cream with peanut butter chips, m&m’s, chocolate chips, and Brian and I shared a delicious cupcake 🙂 SO yummy!

NIFS Surprise party

NIFS surprise party

After an afternoon fueled by sugar, Brian picked me up from work so I could quickly change my clothes and we could head to the airport.

Tara flying to Denver

We are in Denver this weekend to really explore our brand new city before moving officially.

Brian flying to Denver

I enjoyed a tasty little bloody mary on the flight….

Flight to Denver

I was tired to begin with, but I think the alcohol got to me quickly and put me right to sleep.  It made for a very quick flight!

Tara and Brian

When we arrived to Denver, we were so excited to see our friends Liz and Aidan.  They picked us up from the airport and we are staying with them this weekend AND our apartment is next door to theirs 🙂  How fun!

They are just too sweet!  They greeted us with a welcome basket complete with a handmade map created by Liz herself 🙂

1-photo (8)

Thursday

Yesterday morning, we woke up chomping at the bit to get out and see our new city.  It was such a whirlwind of a day because we covered so much ground and saw so much!

To start the day we ended up walking through Cheesman Park, which is an absolutely beautiful park that is practically right outside our back door.

After that, we walked to the Cherry Creek neighborhood “oooing” and “ahhhing” at the giant, gorgeous homes the entire way.

Once we got to the Cherry Creek area, we saw this cute coffee shop called Aviano Coffee.

Touring Denver

The entire front was open to the street, so there was a ton of outdoor seating.  All of the staff seemed incredibly knowledgeable about the coffee they were serving, and the pastries looked fantastic!

This definitely seemed like the type of place a coffee connoisseur would enjoy.

Touring Denver

Touring Denver

Brian got a blueberry cheese danish, and I HAD to steal a couple of bites.  It was so flaky, buttery, sweet and delicious…I almost ate the whole thing!

Touring Denver

I ordered a cold-brewed iced coffee with almond milk and stevia which was extremely tasty!  The weather was heating up quite a bit, so the iced drink was very refreshing.

Touring Denver

Liz and I enjoying our mid morning pick-me-up 🙂

I wore my Fabletics outfit for most of the day walking throughout the city and in the heat and it was comfortable the entire time!

Touring Denver

After walking around town a bit more, we headed to the 16th Street Mall to check out a gym that I may try to teach group fitness classes at.  The gym was only 4 years old, VERY nice, and offered Les Mills classes in addition to several freestyle classes, Pilates, yoga, barre, and indoor cycling.  And it’s about a 15 minute bike ride from our new neighborhood!

As we walked through the 16th Street Mall area, we couldn’t help but notice and admire all of the restaurants with cozy outdoor seating and the stores with fun clothes.  I know we will be spending more time in this area!

Touring Denver

Soon enough, it was about 2pm and we still had to eat lunch!  We were very hungry, so Liz suggested eating at a cute sandwich shop called Snarf’s.  It had amazing reviews on Yelp, and was right around the corner so we couldn’t pass it up.

Touring Denver

There was a wide variety of sandwiches (vegetarian and meat options) in addition to tasty looking salads to choose from, and they had gluten-free bread upon request.

Touring Denver

Brian ordered the Italian sandwich and I chose the Cobb Salad minus the bacon.  I know we were starving, but I still think this salad was fabulous 🙂

Touring Denver

After lunching, checking out the grocery store, and picking up a few things for dinner we cleaned ourselves up so we could cook out on a friend’s porch and watch some pre-4th of July fireworks.

Check out the view from our friend’s balcony!

Touring Denver

We are all slightly jealous of that view 😉

Touring Denver Tara and Brian

Throughout the evening we enjoyed some yummy sangria…

Touring Denver

and we enjoyed salmon and grilled veggies.  Everything was absolutely amazing.

4th of July 2014

And I almost forgot to mention our little appetizers!

Liz made her mom’s famous caprese skewers made with goat cheese.  The goat cheese was such a delicious addition to the caprese and we all gobbled them up.   There was also a tasty bowl of guacamole that we devoured and didn’t capture a picture of.  Yay for tasty food!

4th of July 2014

Friday

This morning, I actually ended up waking up at 3:45am Colorado time which sounds crazy early but it’s actually just 5:45am Indianapolis time…so not quite that crazy when you think about it.

I was able to stay in bed for a while longer, but by 6am Colorado time I was out the door with my running shoes on.

One of my very favorite things to do in a new-to-me area is to go running.  It’s such a great way to see things and get the lay of the land.

I found my way over to Cheesman Park, which has a big path that is just over a mile wrapping all the way around the path.

Touring Denver

Because of the altitude difference, I was a little nervous to do anything too strenuous so I just ran without my garmin or watch and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

Touring Denver

One of the coolest parts of Denver?

Seeing the mountains in the distance!

They are kind of hard to see in this picture, but if you look right between the big trees you can see them!

Touring Denver

Cheesman Park also runs right past the Denver Botanic Gardens.  Just running past, I can tell that the gardens are beautiful and I can’t wait to get inside to check them out.

Touring Denver

Today, we are headed out to the Cherry Creek Arts Festival for the day and I think we are going to try to watch some more fireworks tonight.

Hope you all have an amazing 4th of July and I’ll check in with you again soon!

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  1. Tara! I just found your blog, but I moved to Colorado 6 years ago (…holy cow, I can’t believe it has been that long already!). I’m from the Bay Area, but I went to college at DU (close to Cherry Creek). I live downtown – relatively close to the area you are moving to. Anyway, If you need ANY suggestions for restaurants, gyms, etc. please let me know! I absolutely love living in Colorado, and I hope your transition is seamless 🙂 xo

    • Thank you for the message!! Which gyms are you familiar with!? I’m always looking for suggestions and advice!

      • I work at Pura Vida (in Cherry Creek North), but I’ve heard great things about Colorado Athletic Club downtown. I started a fitness membership business last year, called Gymfinite, and it gives members access to independently-owned yoga studios, CrossFit boxes, HIIT gyms, cycle studios, etc. in the Denver-metro area! So, I also know Denver’s smaller, non-franchise gyms too (Colorado Athletic Club is HUGE). Anyway, there’s a list of smaller gyms on the website: http://gymfinite.com/locations. Let me know if you have any questions! I can also recommend fabulous farm-to-table restaurants, yummy + healthy lunch spots, brunch locations, etc. I’m a total health foodie at heart 🙂

        • Your business looks awesome! 🙂 I am sure I will have tons of questions when I get out there…so many options and I want to try them all. And as far as food suggestions, send them my way! We are always looking to try new and tasty things!

  2. I’ve never been to Denver, but it looks great! I bet I would like it. That area with all the restaurants and stores looks fun.

    The picture of you sleeping on the plane is adorable. 😉

    The sangria looks so good! I love sangria.

  3. It is so cool to see your photos since I was JUST there a few weeks ago. My boyfriend’s aunt and uncle actually live in the Cherry Creek neighborhood so we were down near the restaurants and shops quite a lot! It is an awesome place!

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