is this famliar to anyone else?

Working in marketing, especially in the tech industry...this was just too funny not to pass on! How many times have you been in a meeting and everyone is throwing out crazy suggestions...and you end up with this! :)

The Process

fun in the mile high city

About 6 months ago I saw a bulletin on myspace from Dave Matthews Band that they would be headlining the Mile High Music Festival in Denver. So, I emailed a ton of friends and 5 wonderful girls said they were in for a weekend of music and other fun.

We arrived Friday night and went to The Paramount for dinner, drinks and dessert. Dessert came first and was a birthday brownie for Jennifer! It was kinda funny...4 of the 6 of us have birthdays within a month period between July 16-Aug 14. No wonder we all get along so well!

Saturday, we rallied up and grabbed breakfast before hitting the road. We got great parking b/c we had all carpooled...so it was just a short walk to the entrance. :)

We started the day with Eric Hutchinson, who was great! Then stopped and listened to a band we hadn't heard of called Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers...they were great too. Then we headed to Bob Schneider...where Nita gazed upon him...and listened to his music too. Through the rest of the day we watched part of Gavin DeGraw, Jason Mraz (while we shopped a little), Citizen Cope and O.A.R. We then went and danced and woke up a little at the Lupe Fiasco show. We finally had delicious pizza then made our way over to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Along the way, we found the best kept secret of the show. The stadium where the Colorado Rapids soccer team plays. It had shade, real bathrooms, concession stands with no lines...and a HUGE Colorado across the grand stands!! Fun and pics ensued!

Around sunset, we also had a little fun taking jump pics and using our buffs as props for a little gangsta pic!! hehe

We went back and relaxed in the lobby...in our "living room" and enjoyed a little wine (thanks to Bryan!) and reminiscing about the day.

Sunday, we decided to camp out at the main stage to get a great spot for John Mayer and DMB later in the day. We saw Brett Dennen, Ingrid Michaelson (who puts on a really fun show), One Republic, Rodrigo y Gabriella (totally amazing) and Colbie Caillat (she has a great voice, but doesn't perform at all).

Then, it was time for the headliners! We came to the show with a couple of people that were not John Mayer fans...but I think between him coming on early and jamming, then taking his shirt off at the end...he maybe won a few new fans. :) He really did put on a great show!

Then we relaxed for about an hour as the crowd filled in and we waited for Dave. He was incredible, as usual. He had a ton of energy and even danced around the stage a couple of times! And he had a special guest there too...Tim Reynolds! So cool! :) My favorite member of the band is the drummer though...he smiles the entire time and just seems to be having such a great time!!

Spending the entire day in one spot, of course, we made a few new friends...Sandra and Vince.

We relaxed on our couches again and our tummies hurt from laughing at Dana's hilarious stories.

Monday morning, we headed to Idaho Springs, where we we planned to spend a day white water rafting. We had been warned the water was going to be COLD. It wasn't too bad at all...maybe the wet suit helped with that! The views were really pretty along the Clear Creek. Pics will follow...but we only had the water camera...so you have to wait for those. Here's the view along the way...with snow still on the peaks!

After the river, we had lunch at a little local brewery called Tommyknocker's. A few of the girls shared a flight of beers, I checked email for work (boo) and we enjoyed yummy food. At the end of lunch, AP made me try a "secret brew" with a napkin over the label. I liked it! She ripped off the napkin and showed me, "IT WAS BEER!". I was so excited!!! OMG, a beer I like!! So, I started to inspect the label and turns out it was an Orange Creme...with only orange, sugar and water! Oh well, at least I didn't get caught making a face over an orange soda!! :) We shopped a tad on main street and I got my Idaho Springs ornament.

From there, we went to a great place my friend Jacob told me about. It's called Jumpstreet. It's a room about the size of a basketball court and covered in trampolines! Here we are showing off our toe touches!
Another fun trip...thanks all!! I hope to get the pics onto gaigespages soon...wish me luck catching up!

another wonderful "tail"

My friend Amy sent out pics of a dog that can walk on 2 legs. My doubtful self went to snopes and there was no story on it...so I hit up google. And there it was, a video of an amazing little pup named Faith! Sure to make you smile!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaYKnMQ4UQo

i would like a lion for my birthday, please!

I was out perusing cuteoverload and ran across this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adYbFQFXG0U

I thought, this can't be true...no way. And it appears that it is a real story...because everything on wikipedia is true, right?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_the_lion

Ok, and there is a full article that was in the Daily Mail too...WOW!! :)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-452820/Christian-lion-lived-London-living-room.html

the big easy

I've been a slacker...work has been insane...but I'm baaaack.

This weekend, I went to New Orleans for the first time since Katrina. The differences weren't very noticable in the French Quarter, on Bourbon or the Garden District...but our tour guide on the swamp tour (more on that later) did mention it many times and they were so thankful for the tourists returning.

We were in NOLA for my friend Christy's bday. Trips are so much more fun when you have a group of friends to create the memories with! We arrived late Friday evening and grabbed dinner of traditional New Orleans fare...gumbo, etouffe, etc. Then we hit a couple of bars and snagged a primo spot on one of the balconies over Bourbon Street. We got quite a show up there...and spent a lot of time watching the awful outfits parade by! Camille, Nita and I turned in early...as we had a 7am wake up call to go to the swamp tour the next morning.

We woke up at the crack of dawn (ok, at least for me) and boarded a tour bus and had plenty of entertainment from our guide, Brian. He told jokes, stories and made the trip fly by. We then boarded an airboat and zoomed around the swamp. I was surprised at how pretty the water was and how many flowers were everywhere. It was really much more beautiful than expected. We heard and saw tons of bugs, aligators (that are trained to come snack on marshmallows...they only see black and white, so they're easy to see!) and birds. We ventured from the swamp to the marsh and enjoyed the sunshine-y day!

After the tour, we headed back to town and snacked on pizza...it's abundant on Bourbon Street. Then we met up with the full crew and walked to Harrah's. No one was really feeling their mojo on the machines...so we walked on to the Riverwalk Mall for some retail therapy. While we were there it started to POUR! The weather is like Houston, they get little afternoon showers. Christy really wanted the full group to head to "Tujaques"...a place special to her and her grandpa. They were very, very close. We all got a group photo in front of the bar...I hope it's a special memory for her.

From there, Cara, Nita, Camille, Mindi and I grabbed dinner then went back to the room to get ready for the evening. We met Christy at Pat O'Briens...where we got some great group pics! And we toasted Christy's 30th with a bottle of champagne and a few hurricanes!

A few of us went over to get a delicious infused vodka bloody mary...I was done with sweet fruity drinks! And this hit the spot! We hung out at a place with a great people watching patio, then walked Bourbon for a while. We settled in a spot called Bouron Rocks. They had an emcee that was great! They played lots of fun music and even had a "you got served" style dance competition...how can you beat that!??!?! We headed back to the room for some well deserved sleep after a fun night!

The next morning Camille, Nita and I took the trolley into the Garden District, past the beautiful campus of Loyola University then stopped for lunch before catching our flight back to Houston!

Thanks all for a fun trip and most of all HAPPY 30TH CHRISTY!!!!! :)

Also, I am up to date on www.gaigespages.com with 7 new albums!! :) YEA!