Oh, I'll Shake Your Cake! ;)

In the midst of my packing and my saying goodbyes and my selling my car (ahh!), some great friends offered to take me to lunch.

Already a fan of many local restaurants in Denver, we decided on D bar Desserts on 17th street which just happens to be on my Denver Bucket List.

Check out the adorable interior of this modern cafe.

And the cute set up is only the beginning.

The moment the first bite of crue fries entered my mouth, I was in foodie heaven.

I mean the garlic parm fries topped with swirls of macaroni and cheese sauce, melted cheddar jack, ranch, and then sprinkled with bacon and chives not only tasted delicious, but looked quite nice as well.

After our shared appie, I dove into my main course which was the pizza salad sandwich. Also delicious and fancily presented.

You can see the load of fresh, crisp salad layered in between a thin layer of melted cheese and tomatoes, all sandwiched into folded-over handmade pizza dough.

I love that Dbar takes ordinary dishes like pizza and fries and adds a little creative love making the restaurant unique and definitely worth a try!

And after lunch, it was time for dessert; after all, I am kinda stressed to the max right now, and desserts is stressed spelled backwards. ;)

And so we went with the house specialty: Cake and Shake.

I believe I found my soul mate.

We closed our lunch with some pink champagne cheers (and some tears) to new adventures and good friends.

It was a perfect last lunch for me in the city.

Thanks, Cheryl and Kari for lunch and for you. I miss you already.

Little India = Love

I see dating as an opportunity. An opportunity to try new things, go new places, have new experiences. And sometimes, it's an opportunity to fall in love. And one time, on a date, I fell in love with Little India.

I'd like to say Little India is one of the places I got in a fire. {Fire is a metaphor for the final end of a really bad dating experience.} And it is a keeper! {The boy was not ;)}.

Susan and I decided to start at Little India a little before dinner time to take advantage of their Cheese Naan and 2 for 1 drinks.

{The Cheese Naan makes my mouth water and my heart sing.}

After enjoying the sunshine on the sun porch, the happy hour prices, and the company, we decided to tackle dinner.

I ordered my usual --Butter Chicken. It's the only thing I ever order. It's perfectly colorful, perfectly tender, and perfectly saucy. {Kind of like me...bahaha.}

Susan enjoyed the Shrimp Marsala. Also delicious, but it's just not my Butter Chicken.

Other Highlight: With 4 locally owned locations throughout Denver, you are bound to find one close to you!

Racines Restaurant!

In this modern eatery, it's all about flavor. Racines, conveniently located in between downtown and Cherry Creek, is quite a Denver staple. So, on a hot summer day in Denver, the girls and I decided to soak up the sun and sip some cocktails and cross off another item on my Denver bucket list. The drink menu lists loads of common cocktails with special Racines twists. Example: A blackberry mint juliep. Refreshing. Tasty. Original.

Ms. Emily wanted something peachy, so the bartender went off menu to mix up a little peach martini situation. What a peach he was!

After glancing at the full menu, we couldn't pass on food. Much like the drink list, the food choices are fun and portions are plentiful. I went for the Nutty Cheese Salad which is maybe one of the best salads I have ever had.

Deuce sign throw up to whomever took the risk of adding bananas, fontina cheese, cashews, and avocado as salad toppings. I loved it LOTS!

Other highlight: Huge covered porch!

{And I'm not the only one who likes it!}

We've Been Friends Since 1st Grade!

Dear Amie,

Happy Freakin Wedding Day!

When I see you walk down the aisle today, it's going to take everything I have to not run up the aisle and hug you so hard I knock you over.

Xoxo, friend all the way from first grade who lived in the rocket-ship house.

I hope today is your best day EVER!

Rocktastic!

Before leaving Colorado, I needed to go to one more Rockies game.

Coors field is perfect for an evening game -- mountains, coors light, good friends.

These girls and baseball games are reason number 25 million and 1 that I'll miss America.

Goodbye Take Two-zie

Goodbye Room 212, AWCPA staff, non-dairy cake in the break room, science nook, colleagues I call friends, magical disappearing classroom library, and Promethean board that I fought so hard for.

It has been great.

Some goodbyes end up being harder than we imagined.

Sometimes, flowers, cards, surprise potluck breakfasts, and a happy hour invite as we drive away make hard goodbyes much easier.

1st Goodbyes.

So, officially, I've said my first goodbyes, and tomorrow, I'll say my seconds.

Remember when we were in high school, and we spent hours passing our yearbooks around and taking pictures -- like we would never ever see each other again?!

High schoolers still do that!

You know what else they do?

They help me realize that a little love note to a friend or colleague goes a long way.

They remind me to smile even on bad days.

They make me want to spend as much time as possible with good girlfriends.

They make me want to post pictures of people I love on facebook and everywhere.

They remind me not to be scared of trying new things or stepping outside of my comfort zone (like lacing up some roller skates and looking like a fool on the rink).

They make me want to play so hard that I have to take a nap on the ride home.

I became a teacher because I believe in education as the only way to create a better world and the only way to create a better life for each individual living in this world. In truth, I didn't really know anything about life or living in the world until long after my first year of teaching. In many ways and for many reasons, I'm ready to go international because of all the life lessons, discussions, and thoughts that I experienced throughout my 5 years of teaching amazing, bilingual, strong, challenging, and brilliant pumpkins. I wanted my students to learn from me, but I'm leaving my classroom knowing that I'm the biggest learner from Room 212.

And this is why I know that I have the best. job. ever.

Goodbye and xoxo, muffins. I miss you already. (LOTS and LOTS!)

American Love

My last Derby Day for a while needed to be celebrated in style.

So, we headed to The Lobby for mimosas, brunch, and hat watching.

And maybe even some fish racing.

{I didn't even know fish racing on Derby Day was an option! ;)}

To celebrate some more American Love, we headed to a Crawfish boil.

I know, poor crawfish, but lucky us!

Deuce signs to Leah Bug and Emily for helping me enjoy the day!

PS The Lobby's Kentucky Derby Party is an annual event, so next year, you should head on over and enjoy mint juleps and some treats from the Southern inspired buffet. The covered patio is great for any warm day though -- no need to wait all the way until next May!