Loaf Love Tour comes to Denver

Romantic spots for a date day without the kids in Denver:

Skybox Lounge

Reservoir (any of them if you are in a canoe)

Backyard

The zoo

Yep… the noisy, hot, sometimes smelly destination full of children. It’s one of mine and Dave’s favorite places to go to without the kids. We can hold hands, relax and see things without yelling the words “Don’t push your sister” or “If you stick your finger in there that Aardvark is going to eat off your nail”

We can walk around, smile at one another when we hear other parents mutter under their breath to their kids. It’s a quiet chaos for us... mainly because it’s not our chaos.

So, when the Tillamook “Loaf Love Tour” came up, I thought… “Self, what a fabulous way to have a date day, enjoy some fresh air AND participate in a Love Tour with a VW and cheese. “ Not many times that combination comes together… 1) Random Scooby-doo commercials 2) When the Tillamook 1966 Standard VW Microbuses are joined by The Loafster during the Tour that will hit Denver September 15^th – October 4^th.

(See... I wasn’t just making things up)

Now… how do you get the chance to see The Loafster and perhaps get free entry into the Zoo?

Denver Zoo*

2300 Steele Street

Denver, CO 80205

Share the “Loaf Love” with Denver-area residents, The Loaf Love Tour will be offering free admission to the Denver Zoo on Saturday, September 17^th for the first 200 fans who sport their brightest & wildest Tillamook Cheese orange.* (Orange-clad fans arriving after the first 200 tickets will receive $1 off admission.) Once inside, zoo-goers will have the chance to experience the Loaf Love Tour and receive cheese samples, coupons, play Loaf Love Tour bingo & more.

*Free entry for the first 200 eligible participants only. Free entry starting at 9:00 a.m. until limit reached. Participating fans may check-in at the Tillamook Baby Loaf bus located outside the main gates.  To win, attendees must be wearing orange. Limit one free entry per person, no monetary value.

WHEN:                      September 17^th, 2011 – 9 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. – Denver Zoo

So it’s a date right? Dave and I will be out there together holding hands and dancing deftly around children as they scramble for the peacocks. If you see us, come up and say Hi, take a photo with us… we love chaos. 

~These opinions are all mine, but really, how can you NOT like cheese and the zoo? I am given Media passes into this event and I promise to attempt to eat my weight in cheese.~

Cook Street and Pasta Carbonara

Dave and I got a great gift from his parents for Christmas in 2009. Two gift cards to Cook Street here in Denver. If you have not had the chance to go I want to tell you to schedule a class NOW! Perhaps we can get the Mile High Mama's to have one of our Mother's nights out there! Great idea right?



After month's of looking at classes, etc, we finally decided on Pasta, Pasta, Pasta class because we were going to learn how to make our own pasta. Romantic date night with a meal handmade by us... pretty cool concept right?



It is....



So we showed up and the class holds approximately 24 people. Couples, friends, singletons, pretty much everyone that is looking for a night out and learning something new. We got there around 7pm, got something to drink, an antipasto plate to tide us over and very cool people watching.



After filling out a disclaimer "If you burn yourself... it's not our fault", we settle in with our table neighbors and then onto Chef teaching us about Pasta.



It was hands on, an egg, some flour and tons of stirring. Then kneading it (LOTS of kneading), wine and meeting new people. By the end we learned to make Classic Pasta Carbonara, Penne Pasta with Sausage, Garlic and Tomato and finally a chocolate Pasta with Raspberry Coulis.



So... I'm gonna share the Classic Pasta Carbonara with you, sounds fab right??
I did do some modifications to it.

Classic Pasta Carbonara

2 servings of spaghetti or linguine noodles
2 egg yolks
Heavy cream (slightly less cream than egg yolk)
1 tablespoon of oil (I like to use the pancetta oil)
Splash of white wine (if you won't drink it, don't cook with it)

Topping:
2 oz pancetta
Romano cheese grated
Parsely (finely chopped)

Cook the noodles

• While the noodles are cooking put two egg yolks and heavy cream into the bowl, beat, then add cheese, parsley, salt and pepper, set aside
  
• Cook the butter and olive oil until the butter has melted, add pancetta and cook fully. Add white wine and reduce completely, remove from heat.

When ready to serve, add hot pasta to bowl with egg yolks and cheese mixture. Toss to coat well and add pancetta. Adjust seasonings and serve immediately, garnish with grated cheese and plenty of pepper.

Living in Colorado means DAY TRIP!!

Dave and I love to do day trips. Every so often we have a weekend where we have no kids and on those weekends we usually decide to have an adventure.

Our last day trip was taken to The Garden of the Gods (about an hour from Denver) and then to the Royal Gorge (about 4 hours from Denver). We ended up getting halfway through the Garden of the Gods before we ventured off onto Rampart Range and found the back way to Canon City by way of Phantom Canyon.

The best day trips?
*Take the back roads
*Have good music
*Put the windows down
*Only go with people who love random roads and don't mind talking for hours.
*Take tons of photos and make a movie using Picasa

Oh... Hey... what's this? Yeppers.. My Nikon and I had a TON of fun on this trip... and now for your viewing pleasure!

Yes, He is Superman

When I first met Dave he had the single dad pad.

It was a three bedroom home, the area when you first walked into the house was full of toys, a basket ball goal and balls. (Clutterville, my head almost exploded… heh)

Then a year later we moved in together, by then the toys were moved to the child’s room, the house was 5 bedroom and the clutter was at a dull roar.

However the front room remained empty.

My computer lived there for a few months before it was moved to the basement, again, the space was empty, perfect for running around however without any warmth.

There was another issue … we didn’t have a dining room table. We were all eating in scatter patterns around the two living spaces, but without being able to sit and enjoy a steak without someone spilling something or teaching the younger kids what it was like to enjoy dinner together as a family.

Then it happened, Dave realized how empty it was as if it hadn’t always been that way, so he planned, first in his head, then on paper the table was born. Piece by piece, he sketched, measured and budgeted for the lumber, etc.

He chose the date to start and for the next month the neighbors heard the

sounds of hammer against nail, staple gun

and cutting of wood during the weekend or at night after work.

He did all this while, working two jobs, attending his son’s T-ball games/practices and still being a father to the rest of the children.

Yes… he is superman.

Want to see what he did? Our kitchen table will have its “Grand opening” this Saturday when my parents come to town.

She Said - A year later (Part 1)

Let me give a quick rundown of the past: Dave and I were both divorced parents. We had no intention of meeting anyone that would sweep us off our feet. Just someone to pass the time and share some laughs with, we were ready to parent alone and date around until life got in the way.

I met him on my first venture into online dating after over a year hiatus. He swooped in with a silver tongue and the rest was already told over a year ago. We had our children during the week days; however had two days off to date, Wednesdays and Fridays. We spent those days and nights together, until finally introducing children came into the picture. The zoo and dinners were the baby steps we took to make introductions with fairly good success.

My parents came into town in November and I had the pleasure of introducing the three of them over dinner. In December he came to my home and shared Yule and Christmas with my friends and family. New Years brought us together again with friends and our “first” New Years memories. I met his beautiful family in early 2009 and fell in love with the two of them, knowing they were the type of people you can love like you have been part of them forever.

We had put our relationship on hold for a few months, knowing we were enjoying the easy way we fell in love and the easy way we felt with one another. We knew that we would have to have “the talk”… we were in our mid 30’s and didn’t want to waste either person’s time. February 22nd was the date we set aside to talk. We would have a date, settle in and find out if we wanted to continue dating.

He Said - A year later (Part 1)

It has been a year!!!!

Suzanne (Lily) and I have been together for a year and as I was looking at the calendar I began to reflect on this past 365 days and realized how far and how fast we have come in this relatively short of time.

I began going back through some of her old blogs and the emotions began to resurface. She documented our time together and at first I thought it was a little odd and the absolute opposite of private. In retrospect, I am glad she did it. We now have a permanent record of where we were and more importantly who we were prior to our arrival.

I re-read the “He said…She said” posts and it became clear that we have not really updated all of you as to what has transpired. You received bits and pieces through her but I remained silent. This got me thinking of how fun would it be to bring everyone up to speed from my side, not to mention a document that she can look at from time to time as a reminder of how much I am in Love with her.

I know the punctuation is off and that Love should not be capitalized but whenever we correspond the L is always in capitals.

So on to the story…

First, I would recommend that you go and re-read the “He said, She said”.

We started out as a few dates quickly spiraled into a proclamation of Love and the agreement that we would not let anything get in the way until February. I am one who likes to analyze everything and I knew that if my head got in the way it would attack and destroy this fledgling relationship.

So to summarize, we began dating in late September and were very comfortable leaving things status quo the same until the holidays. Yule was the first time that I ever saw where she lived (she kept this a secret as a retreat if things went sour).

After the first of the year, I felt it was time for her to meet my parents. She looked beautiful and my mother instantly took to her (that was a huge bonus as I am close with my mom). My mother informed me that if this relationship went bad Lily stayed and I would have to go, that put some undo pressure on things. As stated earlier, we had agreed that a re-evaluation would commence on February 22^nd.

He Said- A year later Part 2

will be up Wednesday

She Said - A year Later Part 1

Tuesday afternoon

18 months Chronicled

Dave and I are heading into 18 months together. To many people that might not seem like a very long time, however when things work… they just work. When he and I first met in 2009 he wrote to work out thoughts in his head, and despite the fact that he might like to tell the world he’s just a “dumb guy”, he’s wrong. About the dumb part, he is defiantly a guy, perhaps more of a man than I’ve ever had the chance to meet.

The first chronicles of our relationship can be found here:

She Said- Part 1
He Said- Part 1

She Said- Part 2
He Said- Part 2

She Said- Part 3
He Said- Part 3

She Said- Part 4
He Said- Part 4

He Said- Solo
She Said- Solo

She Said- Part 5
He Said- Part 5

And not to forget the next year, he wrote up something last September to remember our year together. I hadn’t put it up until now because I had to sort through the thoughts and get past the chaos that our life had turned into.

Things have settled, they have calmed themselves into our amazing life together, so that being said, starting on Sunday I will do another He Said, She Said.

I hope ya’ll enjoy the update on us, being a single mom of six when I first started blogging, and watching one of my closest single mom friends Ms. Single Mama close the doors to her blog this past week, it helped me remember that this while path I am on, was not just MY path that I was walking alone, it is a path I share with you all. So… thank you.

Enjoy the upcoming week!

~Suzanne (Lilith) (Lily)

It's official....

We are doing it… its official.

Dave and I are taking the next step and moving in together.

We have made plans, talked it out for weeks and laid in bed talking about our future.

Single Mom of Six? … I suppose that takes the ‘Single’ word out of the equation and adds another little one and an amazing man.

We are both confident in our ability to be partners and parents. We are both honest and open and truly committed to this.

What more can I say?

I am anxious, excited and admittedly, a bit scared.

This is it… it is where we are supposed to be.

Now… onto the future!

Wordless Wednesday (Chihuly Exhibit, Phoenix)