Oh My Sweet Goodness...: Denver Botanic Gardens

I'm fairly organized so looking ahead and knowing that this weekend I would either feel like celebrating or feel like being distracted (sadly it's fallen into the black hole of WTF??) ~ I'm glad we had plans for Friday night.

We love to laugh so we're always up for Comedy Works and there's a nice one not far from us. Bonus points for making dinner reservations at Lucy Restaurant for a delish dinner before the show. (If you're lucky Lucy the dog - who owns the restaurant... will saunter thru.) Dine before the show and you're treated like royalty - both during dinner and at the show. Sherri was really cute; I like comedians who can make you laugh just talking about every day things in life (Jerry Seinfeld and Ellen come to mind, too).

My Asian Chicken Salad

really sinful waffle fries

And The Mister's Sesame Seed Ahi Tuna

Saturday found us at Bonanno Brothers Pizzeria for an early dinner.

Home made burrato (mozzarella wrapped ricotta cheese)

Followed by

Beet, arugula and cucumber salad with yogurt dressing.

I missed The Mister's pizza but it looked quite yum.

From there it was off to the Botanic Gardens at Chatfield State Park to spend a crazy fun evening under the stars with Steve Martin, Edie Brickell and the Steep Canyon Rangers. They did not disappoint. Even though bluegrass isn't at the top of my list music genre-wise ~ you can't listen to this music and not tap a toe or quell a smile. And it just made me happy. Happy is a good place to live.

And how nice of them to sign our CD. They say "Hey" btw.

And on a side note - that Edie Brickell (aka Mrs. Paul Simon) - absolutely charming. I love her! The Mister recalled a quote of hers I had posted in a previous post. When asked if her husband influenced her music:

"Asking someone to help you create is like asking someone to salt your food ~~ it has to be to your taste." *Edie Brickell*

And if you are 100 years old like me you smile when you think of the other famous Steve and Eydie.

Although we are veterans of summer concerts at the city-based main location of the Denver Botanic Gardens this was our first visit to the State Park venue. It is beautiful - we sat on a large groomed lawn with about a thousand or two of our friends ~ a big stage looming to the west and the foothills in the distance as your back drop.

I used to be one of those crazy people clammering to get as close as I could to the stage ~ gotta' get the money shot! But you just never know when you're going to get busted for being a "professional photographer" (anyone with a DSLR and anything other than a kit lens is sometimes deemed thus) ~ and after a few years and many concerts, I decided there is something to be said for being in the moment.

And not stuck behind a lens missing the moment.

So this is my crappy cell phone shot.

My crappy cell phone shot of an [almost] full moon rising

and the thunderheads building on the eastern plains

Which reminds me of a couple of funny lines Steve shared:

"We are so happy to be performing here tonight for you and your cell phones."

And when the winds picked up at sunset (as they will in the foothills particularly) and the 500 lb speakers on either side of the stage started swaying dangerously from their hangers, Steve looked rather nervously (we had binoculars) at one of the stage hands and said, "Should we be worried, Mr. Speaker Man?" A pause. "Wait. I see one thumb up. Can I get two?"

(It was incredibly windy for about 15 minutes. We discovered when we returned home - waaaaaay east of the concert venue - that our neighborhood had been under a tornado warning - sirens and everything. Simba and A-choo slept right thru it.)

So, since we've become - like - (I'm channeling my innner 12 year old) event addicts ~ coming up next Cirque du Soleil's Amaluna in August and a return to Lucy Restaurant and Comedy Works in September for one of our favorite guys Weeds' - Kevin Nealon.

So take that biopsy results - whatever they may be!! Bring it.

I haven't been in the blogging mood lately and it occurred to me this afternoon that maybe it's not just all this crazy health stuff going on (wait... wait... wait...) but maybe also due to my lack of morning walks in the past few days.

I rarely walk in the park on the weekends because there are, you know - people - there on the weekends. I prefer it like this

Thank you very much.

I missed another morning because I needed to finish a couple of projects.

Burpies for Seal Beach, CA

Whee Ones for Cherry Creek North, Denver

(And I'm promising myself that one of the first things on my July reboot is to set up a new spot to shoot my products properly!)

Then we spent some time with this guy one night

He was... magic.

But any time I'm awake past 9pm (it was close to midnight! Gasp!) and up with the puppy at sunrise ~ I'm not too motivated to walk a mile or two.

I was all set into head to the wild this morning and then I stepped outside.

The smoke from no less than 8 wildfires burning in my state

is lying thick over the metro area.

Even walking a couple of blocks with Boo - breathing in the smoky air was suffocating. I am really claustrophobic so the thought that I can't breathe can send me into a panic attack in a heartbeat. In fact, even though windows were closed all night, I woke suddenly at 3:30am with the feeling I couldn't breathe. I bolted out of bed and headed to my studio ~ to breathe.

At sunrise I repotted some veggies and herbs (quickly as the smoky air was not fun to sit in)