Happy Times =)

What a fabulous week it's been!  We've been enjoying some incredible weather out here (low-mid 70's during the day) and I was thankful to have the opportunity to share this with my mom and Lee Ray, who came to visit us last weekend.  I've been looking forward to my mom visiting since we moved here (2 years ago this week!) and I'm happy to say, the trip was a success!  It was so great to have her here and I honestly didn't want them to leave.  Here are a few highlights from our trip.  Enjoy!

Friday:
Mom and Lee Ray arrived.  Since their flight got in a little late, we made this a really chill day and just stayed around our place.  I drove them around our neighborhood on the way back from the airport (this is a favorite past-time of the Porcheddu's - Marc finally understands where I get it from!) and looked at all the pretty houses.  I also lectured them on the importance of staying hydrated while visiting Colorado (a common problem for flat-landers - stay hydrated or you can get altitude sickness!).  That night, we took some time to catch up and sat around the living room, opened a bottle of wine, and ordered from our favorite pizza place, Attivo Pizza (best pizza in Denver, by far!!).  I definitely love nights like this =) 

Saturday:
We debated whether we should head to mountains on Saturday or Sunday, and opted to stay in town on Saturday since it was supposed to be windy.  Another relatively chill day of watching football, going on a few walks to soak up the beautiful weather, and running minor errands around the house (we normally would never do this with guests over, but they forced us to!).  We also drove past one of the homes that Marc and I really like (potential new home??) just to show them the neighborhood.  My highlight was going on a long walk with mom to my favorite spot, Cheesman Park.  She was quite "wow-ed" with the scenery and amazing views of the mountains.

That night for dinner, we went to a great local spot, Le Central, which is this awesome little French bistro just down the street.  We ordered their famous moule frites (mussels and fries - don't knock it till you try it!) and then went to another favorite spot for dessert, Sweet Action.  Sweet Action is this fantastic ice-cream shoppe that specializes in some pretty funky flavors (green chile, spiced mocha, salted caramel) in addition to sporting some vegan options.  Everything is sustainable and the hippie in me is obsessed with this place =)  I ordered a double with Reese's Pieces and red velvet cake ice cream (to die for), Marc got the Reese's with their pumpkin pie ice cream (very good!) and Lee Ray ordered their cinnamon gingerbread ice cream (tasted like Thanksgiving - yummy).  Mom opted to be healthy and just took a few bites of our ice cream...lame =)

Sunday: 
Sunday was our famous "Colorado Day".  We started off the morning with a fabulous breakfast, courtesy of Lee Ray.  He made a full southern spread of bacon, eggs, biscuits, gravy, and a potato/zucchini hash (we had to use up our zucchini!).  Our tummies were quite pleased...but a little sad we had to go on a hike later =)

Good morning!  Mom and Lee Ray cooking our gravy - yum =)

To show how much I love my mom - a "pre-makeup" picture =)

Chef Lee Ray - our kitchen master =)

Look at that spread!  Full tummies are definitely in our future.

The whole group - Happy Sunday!

Thankfully we don't eat like this often...but it was a great treat.

After breakfast, we had to fight off the food coma and head up to the mountains!  The road up to Mount Evans was closed due to blizzards (yep!), so we just drove to Echo Lake instead.

What a beautiful backdrop!

My mom was so excited that there was snow on the ground =)

A little snowball fight may or may not have occurred =)

Wish this wasn't blurry!  Look how smiley Marc is!

My mom decided she wanted to take a piece of Colorado home with her - so she pulled up a few saplings.

...I'm pretty sure this is illegal but oh well =)

Heyo!  My mom really liked this "action shot" of me ducking under a tree =)

So cute - walking down the snow path =)

After our hike around Echo Lake, and quick stop at the lodge to get a pressed penny (yes - they were obsessed with getting that pressed penny), we continued our drive to Frisco to show them a cute little "touristy" mountain town.

There were still some Aspen trees that hadn't dropped all their leaves just yet - I was so happy to show my mom these beautiful, gold trees!

A quick stop in Frisco for some coffee and a cookie =)

Enjoying our warm drinks before we head home.

After we got home, we were POOPED!  But we mustered up enough energy to cook a fabulous dinner.  Marc made an incredible pasta dinner with my Nanni's meatball recipe - after hiking all day we were quite thankful to have such a yummy and satisfying meal.

While Marc cooked dinner, mom and I enjoyed some wine and french bread with dipping oil.  That bottle of Crown was full the day before...

Marc the master chef for dinner - browning Nanni's meatballs to perfection!

So sad - the smell of meatballs always brings Polly to the kitchen =)

Nanni's meatball recipe combined with Marc's sauce - a perfect fusion of old and new =)

AH hate this is blurry - but Happy Sunday Dinner!

And that really wrapped up our trip!  It was so much fun to have my mom and Lee Ray visit, and I was sad to see them go home on Monday morning.  This was the first opportunity I had to "host" my mom for something, and it was really kinda fun!  She enjoyed seeing how we use all our grown-up stuff...I guess it's interesting for a parent to see what quirks they passed on to their progeny.  I'm pretty uptight about pillow placements on the couch and my mom thought it was hilarious, since that's DEFINITELY something I got from her =)


As with any guest visit to Colorado, my goal is always to try and convince them to move here (the more people I love that move here, the less reason I have to move back East!).  I'm happy to report that this trip was another stunning success.  I have started the brain wheels a-churnin on yet another East Coast skeptic, and my mom is now considering moving here-ish...

Maybe not in a serious she's-putting-her-house-on-the-market-tomorrow kind of way, but I think in a hmmmm...when-my-daughter-starts-having-kids-it-may-be-fun-to-move-here kind of way.  Either way, I'll take it =)

And there you have it!  I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend - we sure did =)