Birthday

I had a fantastic time celebrating my birthday.
Bryn and I celebrated Brian's birthday by going to dinner and reminiscing stories of Brian. It definitely was an incredible lead in to this year's celebration. And, she gave me sunflowers. I love sunflowers.
Afterwards, I convinced Sara Jo to drink wine at Elway's.
People always ask me--what do you want to do for your birthday?
I say--Drink wine.
Where?
But, of course....Elway's.
Since I had plans with a few friends, tonight, and knew that I wouldn't be going to my Plan A choice of all choices, I wanted to get my fix on Brian's birthday.
We did and it was awesome. Slow night and so we had attentive friends waiting on us and ample wine. Lately, I have preferred the Hess Cabernet to the Rapture. This still surprises me since I love the Rapture. Still, I drank Hess with Sara Jo and convinced her to eat a brownie with me. I promised Shari that I would have chocolate on Brian's birthday. We did and it was delightful! I will post a photo of said cake later.
Monday, we hiked at Matthew Winters Park to begin my day. The sky reminded me of Santa Fe and in all honesty, this hike is home to me. It is where Brian and I spent many days enjoying a hike. Well, I would hike and he biked to the summit and we would regroup and plan the rest of our day off or the next day if he had to return to work. Brian worked, too much, but always made time for an outdoor adventure.
Matthew Winters is a safe place to me and a place where I openly feel Brian's presence with me. I am glad that I opted to stay in Denver this year, for the birthdays. It felt right.....
I made reservations at The Avenue Bed & Breakfast at Manitou Springs for Monday night. Post hike, we returned to the house, showered, packed and headed to the DTC. I wanted to have a glass of wine at Shanahan's but they are not open for lunch. Eluded, again. I suppose I will have to check out Shanahan's another night.
We stopped at Great Northern Tavern for lunch. Great spot, bright, nice selection of liquors.
I drove to the Broadmoor and we sat on the outdoor deck. It was unbearably hot. No shade and too many people were trying to find solitude while day drinking, too. I love the Broadmoor but the lack of shade made the experience suck. Way too freaking hot!
We checked into the B & B and settled into Manitou. It is a slice of eclectic heaven. I really like this funky little mountain town.
All, in all, Birthday 2010 was amazing! Great food, chocolate, wine and friends. I am blessed! I have fantastic people in my life. I received many messages, via facebook and phone, but my favorite way of communicating is mail. And, yes, I received a few cards from the beautiful people in my life--THank You! You all made my day.....