Hi! I hope your weekend has been full of fun and good things 🙂

I honestly had one of the best weekends ever because my MOM came to Denver to visit me for the first time.

Brian was actually out of town this weekend, so having my mom here to keep my company was absolutely perfect.  She was only here Friday morning through Sunday morning but I really think we crammed a lot of fun into our visit.  There is just so much to see and do here in Denver and I wanted to show Mom ALL of my favorite things!  I think I made a pretty darn good first attempt.

Friday morning after picking Mom up from the airport, we headed out to walk to the 16th Street Mall, which is an outdoor shopping district right smack dab in downtown Denver.

On the way, we HAD to stop at a favorite coffee shop for a little caffeine buzz…THUMP!

thump almond milk latte

I got the usual (almond milk latte) and mom got a vanilla latte made with their homemade Madagascar vanilla syrup.  She loved it!

We then walked all the way down the 16th Street Mall stopping in shops and enjoying all the people being out and about along the way.

By the time we got to the end, we were by a new favorite “fast” food restaurant of mine called the Protein Bar.  Not only is the food DELICIOUS, but their mission is to CHANGE the way people eat on the go by offering healthy, fast, delicious food 🙂

protein bar

protein bar

protein bar

I got the Superfood Vegan Salad with a side of the Carrot Ginger Soup and Mom got the Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Bowl.

Just like last time, I loved every bite!

protein bar

Protein Bar Salad

We then headed back to my apartment to freshen up because we had an afternoon reservation to see the fabulous Chihuly exhibit at the Denver Botanic Gardens.

1-photo (28)

WOW! All I can say is wow…seriously the art was amazing and I can see why there is so much hype about it here!  The whole time, Mom and I kept trying to figure out HOW Chihuly created such detailed, grand, and beautiful pieces of art from glass and who they knew where to put the art in the garden!  Amazing and totally worth seeing if you are out here.

1-photo (34)

After Chihuly, I drove mom around a few neighborhoods to show her some of the drop dead gorgeous homes around our area, we popped into the grocery store for some dinner items and food for the week and before we knew it, the sun had set we were feeling tired and we were so ready for dinner.

We opened up my new Skinny Taste cookbook and made the French Onion Soup with a side salad.

dinner - skinny taste french onion soup

Mmmm was so fall and totally hit the spot as we relaxed and watched a movie.

Another fun addition to the night?

tone it up sparkling cider rose

I made the Sparkling Cider Rose recipe I had just received in an e-mail from the Tone it Up ladies.  It was just cider, sparkling rose, and cinnamon which I happened to just have on hand.  The drink was so fall and fun!  I think I’m going to make it for Thanksgiving this year 🙂

Saturday

Saturday morning, we got up super duper early and fueled up with a bowl of Pumpkin Egg White Oats (and coffee) before hiking the Flatirons in Boulder.

breakfast egg white pumpkin oats

 

flatirons

This was one of the first hikes we did when we moved out to Denver, and I just LOVED it!! I knew my mom would love the beautiful view, moderately hard hike, being in the wonderful mountains, and the adorable little town of Boulder.

hiking with mom - flatirons

hiking with mom - flatirons

hiking with mom - flatirons

hiking with mom - flatirons

Side note…when we stopped for a little break at the top we snacked on some Trader Joe’s Salmon Jerkey…super yummy 🙂

salmon jerkey

We then walked around the town of Boulder and bought some Christmas stocking stuffers, Thanksgiving decorations, and enjoyed the fire juggling street performer.  <—YES! We saw one!

boulder, co

boulder, co

By this point in the afternoon we had worked up QUITE the appetite, which was PERFECT because I wanted to take my mom to Snooze.

snooze boulder

We enjoyed a small pancake of the day kind of as a dessert 🙂  It was the pumpkin pancake which was absolutely amazing!!

snooze

Then I enjoyed the Late Harvest Benny which was eggs benedict with a sweet potato polenta cake and a sweet potato kale hash topped with an amazing and perfectly poached egg and hollandaise sauce.

snooze

Mom got the Bella Bella Benny and the Benny Goodman.  She loved it!! 🙂

We then shopped around a bit more before heading back home to Denver to shower up, make some dinner, relax, enjoy some Lik’s ice cream and chill out.

We made another Skinny Taste recipe…the Bangin’ Shrimp with quinoa! It was so flavorful and relatively easy to make.  I’m definitely going to keep that recipe handy.

skinny taste - bangin shrimp

Mom’s flight was this  morning, so we headed out this morning and dropped her off at the airport.

Seriously, it was an amazing visit and I am so happy she came.  We had the best Mother Daughter weekend just running around, seeing the sites, and having fun!  I just wish she could come more often!  I won’t see her or the family again until Christmas (maybe my sister in November), so this year I am SO looking forward to the holidays.  PLEASE COME SOON, CHRISTMAS!

Share something fun from your weekend?  Did you have a great workout?  Eat something delicious?  Make a new recipe?  See an old friend?  I want to know!

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  1. Sounds like you had a wonderful weekend! You are really making me want to visit Denver! 🙂

    I heard about that Skinny Taste cookbook over the weekend. I’m going to get it for my sister for Christmas. 🙂 We get together once a week and make dinner together – I know she’ll love it.

    This weekend I went walking/hiking with my boyfriend and it made me think of your post from last week about why you stay healthy and fit. My boyfriend loves to walk and be active, and I want to get fit so I can keep up with him and enjoy activities with him!

  2. So nice of your mom to come visit you while Brian was away. Really sounds like you two had a fantastic time, and like you said, were able to explore a bunch for the little amt. of time you had together.

    I made Lindsay @ Lean Green Bean’s pumpkin bread – so good & extremely easy to make.

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