Over the weekend... Snowboarding, St Patty's, and the NEAT Market!

This past weekend was kind of crazy but totally awesome! 

John and I went up to the mountains to get in some Spring snowboarding.  I took the day off from work on Friday (it was a heck of a busy week), so we made our way up on Thursday night!  We stopped at a Mexican restaurant in Idaho Springs along the way for a delicious dinner! 

My big sister Amber gave me some money for my birthday, so part of it went towards this.  Technically it doesn't break my Spending Fast since she insisted I spend it on something frivilous. ;)

Mmmmmmm..... beer.

We left the restaurant and continued our drive up, until John realized he forgot his condo keys when we were just 20 minutes away from the exit.  We had to turn around and drive all the way back to Denver to get them.  That kind of sucked, but luckily I had the Twizzler's that Cat's $20 bought me for the trip!

The next morning we slept in a bit, and got to have a leisurely breakfast.  I made an over-easy egg with sprouted toast, my homemade caramel apple jam, and a cup of coffee.

Gotta love that morning light!

Eventually we got geared up and drove up to Breckenridge.  It was a GORGEOUS day, and we had SO MUCH FUN!!  It was about 50 degrees and sunny, and the snow was soft and awesome.  We boarded for about 3-4 hours, and got our picture taken at the top by Epic Mix!

We are such dorks.  :)
That was the day I enjoyed a free beer from Cat's $20 too.  

That night we hit the hot tub, then John worked while I watched an episode of "Weeds", and then "Notting Hill".  I forgot how hilarious that movie is!

Saturday morning, we got up late again (it was so awesome to sleep in 2-days in a row) - and I made some breakfast for both of us...

Asparagus with garlic, topped with scrambled eggs, fake mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, onions, and hot sauce.  It was DELICIOUS.

John made bacon to go with his (yuck).  But he seemed to enjoy it!  HA!

We headed up to Breckenridge again to meet up with our friends Becca & Ryan.  It was the first time I'd boarded with them this season!  Love those two - they crack me up...

Ryan was the catch of the day! :) 

John and I had to do a super awesome high-five photo as well.  I can't jump quite as high as he can.

That night we headed back to Denver for Becca & Ryan's St Patrick's Day party.

This is where the trouble began.... Haha!
John was playing "Drunk Driver".  You just start playing Mario Kart with someone, but you both have to finish your beers by the end of the round.  You can only start drinking after the first lap, and you have to bring your kart to a complete stop before you continue with the race.

Needless to say, John drank a bit much.  Case in point:

Haha!!  Kind of my new favorite picture of John.  Goofball. :)

Becca - ain't she just the cutest!?

The gang hangin' out & havin' some beers.  It's how the Irish would have wanted it!

The next morning John woke up with a raging hangover, and I woke up to get my things ready for the Neat Market - put on by Plants & Animals Denver! 

The Neat Market is a place with vegan vendors - food, crafts, animal welfare, etc.  It was really fun!  Although I only sold two of my hair flowers (one to my little sister), it was still a fun experience.

Our little table set-up.  How could you NOT want to buy one of these babies? ;)

My mom actually came to help me run the table, but she also sold some of her knitted tea-cozies that she made.  She actually sold more of her cozies than I did of my flowers!  People went nuts for them!  They are really cute though!

Watercourse Bakery was there selling their pastries and goodies.  We shared a Key Lime tart (vegan).  It was SO yummy.

This is the girl with Watercourse setting up.  I loved the light coming through the skylight during the day too - I'm so glad it wasn't just a big dark warehouse!

The people are starting to trickle in...

Our friend Deb stopped by to see us!  That was so nice. :)

My little sister Taryn stopped by as well!  She's wearing the rose hair flower that she bought, and she's helping my mom model a hair flower as well.

My mom gave me $5 to spend on something, so I got this little organic plant!  It's actually Grapefruit Mint - so mint with a citrusey aftertaste.  I can't wait to try it in iced tea and mojitos over the summer - yum!!

After we closed up our table at the Market, I went home and made vegan cupcakes.  I joined some of my derby friends for a potluck dinner, and it was lovely to see them all!

When I got home that night I had time to catch about an hour of "Frozen Planet" on the Discovery channel.  It was AMAZING, and I really enjoyed it.  Eventually I climbed into bed and slept like a rock!

So I had a truly wonderful (and busy) weekend!  How was yours? 

OH, and how could I forget??

One more quick post for today... (a bit of a background story)... 

All summer I've been so bummed out that I can't afford to get a ski pass this season.  In past years, I've always charged the amount to my credit card, then spent the winter paying it off.  Then one year, I didn't get it paid off.  Then the next year after that, I still didn't get it paid off.... and the debt just kept adding up.

Needless to say, I had to take responsibility.  As you know I've been working my booty off with getting all of my debt paid off - which has included cutting spending wherever I can, and even taking on a part-time job on top of my full-time job.  Last year I still ended up getting a 4-pack to Arapahoe Basin / Keystone resorts, but I knew that this year I had to be extra careful.  So no snowboarding for me!  SAD FACE but I'm a big girl, and there's always next year!

Yesterday was rough.  I had a ridiculously stressful day at my day job, then I had to go straight from there to my part-time job.  I got home late, hungry and exhausted.  John was up waiting for me - as excited as a boy can be.

John: "I have something for you!"

Me: "Is that my early Christmas present that you have been peeing your pants to tell me about for the last month?"

John: "Yes.  Open it.  I can't take it anymore."

So I opened it, and burst into tears.

The boy got me a FRIGGIN' SKI PASS for the season!!!  Not a dinky ol' 4-pack either - unlimited visits to Keystone, A-Basin, and Breck, as well as 10 passes to Beaver Creek and Vail.  I had no words!!  I hugged him and kissed him and thanked him endlessly.  I have never gotten a gift like that EVER, and it meant so much to me.  I quickly told him that there was no damn way I could afford to get him a gift even close to that in price, and of course he didn't expect one.  Then I told him that I would love him even if I didn't get me anything at all for Christmas, and he said with a smile, "I know!"

Best. Boyfriend. EVER.

Dustin' off the snowboard tonight, baby!  WOOHOOO!!!

Slush Jam - 2010

Early Saturday morning some friends & I partied it up end-of-the-snowboarding-season style the right way at Arapahoe Basin!

We started off with mimosas, which led to good ol' grilled grub (yes, I brought my veggie burgers), and plenty o' beer. We had some fun costumes, and although it did get pretty cold that day, we had tons of fun. I was pretty darn pooped by that evening!

The '09 / '10 boarding season was not the best I've ever encountered - and I didn't go up to the mountains all that much because of it. Here's hopin' that our partying will act as some kind of "snow dance" for next season....

Mister Grimes was nice enough to be the driver in his pimp new Subaru.... no really - it's totally pimp. Below I'm eating his jacket. 'Cause it's yummy.


Stacey wearing my coat - she got pretty dern cold up there! I love this photo of her - so funny!

Tony - the GRILLMASTER!


Little Brody - the pup of the moment. I love this guy!

Brian's awesome teddy bear hat.



We're quite the colorful bunch!

Ski Condo Weekend - Ryan's Birthday

My friend Ryan & I share a birthday, but this past weekend was just for him. His wonderful girlfriend booked us a condo up in the mountains where we spent all weekend snowboarding, hot tubbing, drinking, playing games and all kinds of shenanigans.

Apparently on Friday I enjoyed the booze a bit too much, as I don't remember part of the evening and apparently kept saying "My Spoon is Too Big!" over & over again (I posted a video of this last year if you want to reference it, and my ridiculousness).

This pic was of our day at Keystone on Sunday - we had such a blast! The boarding wasn't the best of the season, but it really didn't matter. It was all about friends & fun! And yes, Amanda's pants match my jacket - and no, we didn't plan that. We're just awesome that way.

Only down note was that it seems as though a few of us wound up with a rash from the lack of cleanliness with regards to the hot tub... that may have been partly our fault though, as we didn't exactly add more chlorine or sanitizer (even though we dumped huge pots full of water in there to refill it). Yah, we're pretty dern smart, y'all.

Rash & all, it was a wonderful weekend. Thanks to Amanda for setting it all up!