Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to my Mama! I was home with my family this weekend and we enjoyed a nice, relaxing few days.  

My gift to her was a craft from Pinterest :) I hot-glued river stones to a piece of black felt (both from a nearby craft store) to make a hot pad for her tea kettle.

To celebrate her day today, we went to a restaurant called the Chart House for a delicious meal.

We had oysters on the half shell for an appetizer,

and my entree was salmon wrapped in prosciutto with a balsamic reduction and a miso sauce. Spectacular! There was also a chocolate lava cake and a creme brulee for dessert but we devoured those before I remembered to take a picture, oops! Plus, we had a nice drive through the mountains to and from the restaurant. We ended the evening with a nice long walk along the creek nearby. 

Hope you had a great Mother's Day, love you so much Mama! 

Weekend recap

Had such a long, sleep-deprived weekend but it was oh so worth it!

Friday afternoon started with a few calm hours of babysitting (biked down to the park with the kids) and volunteering at the hospital (slow day, so much chai drinking and reading!).

That night though, things got busy. I spent a few hours at the YMCA preparing for the next day's 9News Health Fair (many nonprofit health fairs are held across Colorado annually to provide healthcare to anyone, especially the impoverished). Boulder Valley's Health Fair is run by CU students and this year I was a coordinator-in-training (next year I'll be a coordinator!). 

I slept for about 4 hours that night, and then was back at the YMCA by 5 am to get ready for the fair. It was a fantastic event (with a few minor hiccups) that served over 400 people! By the time the fair was over at noon though, I was exhausted and ready to sleep. Didn't get the chance yet, because a few other committee members and I had to return 300 chairs and 50 tables to the church and rec center we borrowed them from. 

Made it home in time for a quick shower and 30-minute nap before date night. We went to Larkburger (YUM!) where I had a portobello burger and truffle-parmesan fries (an excessive amount of them) and he had a burger.

We saw a performance of Heaven on campus (he is in a theater class and had to attend and write a paper about it) which I enjoyed, but was too tired to really appreciate.

No rest for the weary however, went to bed early and woke up early to wait in line for tickets to see President Obama speak on campus on Tuesday!!! My roommate and I sat in line for three hours and were some of the first few to get tickets. Unfortunately, students hours later were just walking up and getting tickets so I guess I didn't have to wait in line, but oh well it was an experience.

 

Happy ticket-holders!

The golden ticket!

Had a yummy lunch and shopping extravaganza afterward, then spent the afternoon laying in the sun alternating between napping and chatting with friends. Finally an outdoor yoga class to re-align me for the week, and the weekend was over! As fun as it all was, I'm hoping the week is a little calmer :)

Reserving with ease

Forgot to mention last night that I used Open Table as a last-minute way to get dinner reservations. I knew that almost everywhere in Boulder was bound to be full for Valentine's Day, but at a friend's suggestion I downloaded the Open Table app (it operates as a website as well). I was shocked! I never thought that finding a place to eat could be so easy! In the future I think I'll use the app to avoid repeatedly going to the same restaurants when there are so many others just waiting to be tried, since they are all listed right there!

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Anyways, we ended up at Japango, a delish sushi restaurant on the Pearl Street Mall. With just one click I had reservations, and could breathe a sigh of relief. Yummy good, romantic setting (I'm such a sucker for Christmas lights anytime of the year), and great company!

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WaterCourse Foods

I have a new contender for favorite restaurant, WaterCourse Foods in downtown Denver. It is self-described "vegetarian comfort food" and I would definitely agree. So far my (and my mother's) meals have included:

Sweet potato and black bean tacos

the Juan wrap (with sweet potatoes and cilantro pesto)

and the Andalusian pasta (with butternut squash and green olives). 

Scrumptious vegetarian foods that I will definitely be attempting to replicate in the future!

Mondays are the perfect nights to...

...go out to eat! After surviving the hardest day of the week, a little celebration is in order. Plus it's more exciting because it's an unexpected date night, not a Friday or Saturday.

I had a Spicy Baja black bean burger at Smashburger, which I must say is a welcome change from the usual bland veggie pattie at burger joints, often the only option for vegetarians. Yummm, must learn how to make black bean burgers!

Any other suggestions for vegetarian-friendly restaurants?