I just started a new job almost 2 months ago, and my new schedule allows for me to leave at 3 pm every other Friday. I left work early and I was ready to just plop on the couch and catch up on my DVR. I got a call around 6:30 pm from Zach, who had just arrived back home from a day of skiing. I knew he would be 
gone all day, so I wasn’t counting on doing anything with him, so I was surprisingly (and happily) mistaken! He wasn’t feeling too well, so we ended up taking a trip to the grocery store for some food and medicine for him, and we picked up “The Watch” with Ben Stiller from Redbox. The movie was not as funny as I expected, and I definitely wasn’t ready for aliens, but it wasn’t bad.
gone all day, so I wasn’t counting on doing anything with him, so I was surprisingly (and happily) mistaken! He wasn’t feeling too well, so we ended up taking a trip to the grocery store for some food and medicine for him, and we picked up “The Watch” with Ben Stiller from Redbox. The movie was not as funny as I expected, and I definitely wasn’t ready for aliens, but it wasn’t bad.
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| Found a great picture of the dress from JCPenny's website. |
Saturday morning was the weekly 8 am breakfast with my parents and their friends at Panera! But this was my special birthday breakfast – and Zach came along!! Since it was my birthday, Zach was happy to oblige and joined us. Afterwards, Zach decided to go home and hopefully sleep off some of his chest congestion, and the rest of us decided to go bowling. Unfortunately, the bowling alley was closed until 3 pm for a private event. Since the alley was next to the mall, we decided to go shopping for a new outfit for me for dinner that night. Zach was taking me out and I wanted to wear something special to celebrate the occasion! Plus, in the year and a half we’ve been together, he’s only seen me in a dress/skirt ONCE, and I felt I owed the guy a little bit of “dress up”! After a few hours of shopping, I had a brand new black dress, shoes and accessories! Success!!
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| Garden Room in the Tavern (recently rennovated) |
I was able to go home and take a nap before getting ready for dinner. Zach arrived around 7:15 pm, and had apparently *possibly* evaded getting a speeding ticket, (Oops!), so he had to apologize for being a little late! Nonetheless, we headed over to The Broadmoor to have dinner in the Tavern!! He remembered that I wanted to see the new renovations that had been completed since I left the hotel back in January, and made the reservations all by himself, without any input from me!
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| Sorry for the terrible "cropping" but it was the best shot I could get! |
Dinner was GREAT. Zach extended his arm to me and he “escorted” me as we were walking in and out of the restaurant. The funniest thing was that he couldn’t remember where the restaurant was, so I had to show him! He ordered some oysters for an appetizer with a Stella Artois, and I had a Caesar salad and a Cosmo. For dinner, he ordered a filet minon and I had some amazing salmon. He knew that he really wanted dessert, so we didn’t overdo it on the first two courses. He had a huge piece of chocolate cake and I had espresso ice cream – when they brought the desserts out, they put a candle in my ice cream, and the plate had Happy Birthday written on it in chocolate. So cute!! He ended up trying my ice cream and liking it so much, that he “helped” me eat it! All in all, we were there for over 3 hours, but the entire experience just went too quickly.
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| The beautiful chandelier that I could NOT stop looking at!! |
During dinner, Zach handed me 2 birthday cards that he instructed me to open in a particular order. The first one was clearly a card for a little girl, but it did talk about having a “sparkling birthday”, and Zach knows how much I love sparkles! He even wrote inside the card that he knew it was for a little girl, but it just “screamed KAREN!!!”. The other card was also sparkly on the cover, but it said “A Day to Celebrate You? I’m in!!” He really thought about me when he picked them out, and he couldn’t decide between the two, so he got both!
After dinner, we headed back to my apartment and watched a
movie to close out the night. I even pulled out the birthday card he had given me from last year and showed it to him. I think he was really surprised and even a little touched that I had held onto it. I’m a very sentimental person and I like to keep mementos from things I’ve done – especially something like a card that someone took the time to pick out and really think about what to write in it. I now have all my cards out on my kitchen table and it’s a great feeling to walk by and think about each of those people.
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| Bon Ton Cafe: Great food & breakfast served all day! |
Sunday was a great “lazy day”, to quote Zach. We went to breakfast in a cute little place in Old Colorado City, and sat by the window to watch the snow quietly falling down! Watching snow fall is one of my most favorite things in life. Afterwards, another nap (for over 2 hours!!) was definitely called for, and was certainly appreciated. Around 2 pm, Zach wanted to head to REI to look for some new ski pants, and I was happy to tag along. After the mini shopping trip, we headed to Colorado Mountain Brewery so I could appease my small appetite that had been growing since I slept through lunch! It’s one of our favorite places, and now the bartenders there are starting to recognize us as regulars!! We shared an appetizer and had a cup of soup and a beer each – what a great warm meal to enjoy on a cold, snowy day! I finally dropped Zach off at his house and headed home to take care of my dog, do the dishes and watch the Oscars.
