Be Kind to One Another

When I left Iowa at 19 I spent a short stint in Canada then moved to Colorado. Since September of 1974 I have called it my home. So I have officially celebrated my 39th year in my adopted home state. And over those 39 years I have made a LOT of road trips across the vast state of Nebraska to visit my family in central Iowa. In the early years it was just cheaper than flying with little kids. In the later years it was because we couldn't bear to be without our Boo for a week, so she always traveled with us.

After our trip in 2012 we knew that she didn't enjoy traveling that far anymore. So even before we knew she wouldn't be with us for the 2013 trip we had decided to leave her home in the loving care of our pet-sitter. Sadly she didn't make it that long.

I told The Mister that if I had to travel by car across Nebraska one more time my head would explode. (No offense, Nebraska peeps - it's just a very long, straight road to drive with the same scenery for 39 years.  Yikes.)

So we decided to fly ~ but also mix it up a little and see some country we haven't seen that much of.  We decided to fly into Minneapolis, spend some time there and rent a car to make the three hour drive to Mom in central Iowa.

We left our home at 5:45 am last Saturday (taking time to make breakfast and weigh our bags.) We parked in the outlying airport parking, snagging a parking spot 40 feet from the bus stop. Oh and as luck would have it, the shuttle bus pulled up right behind us. And we arrived at Denver International Airport as the sun rose.

Someone had booked our seats in the emergency exit row where there is no place to stash your bag under the seat in front of you. I'm a girl. I have to have my stuff.

 

So we joked with the ticket agent and bingo bango - we have better seats. The Mister thanked him for saving our marriage. 

We were fortunate to be among the first to board and our flight attendant instructed everyone as to their designated spot for carry-ons. She requested we put ours under the seats in front of us. (She and I got along fine.) I watched her as the remainder of the plane boarded. She was friendly and smiled but every inch of her 5' 100 lb. frame was all business. If she told you that was your overhead bin space, you listened. She joked and called herself "Judy the Baggage Nazi."

Get this - the pilot came out and talked to everyone. First thought, of course, omg the flight is delayed. Quite the contrary ~ he was welcoming us all and said if it was alright, we would be departing a bit early.  We arrived in Minneapolis 20 minutes ahead of schedule. As we left the plane I paused to thank Judy the Baggage Nazi and told her I had never been on such an organized flight!

Next step was to pick up our rental car. Someone had requested the wrong size car so the Hyundai Sonata we had hoped for wasn't available. Again, humour and patience paid off. The girl at Avis went above and beyond to find one for us. We waited. She came back and said, "You've got your Sonata!  I stole it from Budget."  

The Mister to our Avis agent, "Don't you own Budget?"

Me to our Avis agent, "You do now!"

Again The Mister thanked her for saving our marriage and we left fast friends.

So we check in to the Marriott (10 minutes from the airport) and have an afternoon to kill. Mall of America (MOA) is across the street, so what the hell ~ let's go see what all the fuss is about. We're walking, we're walking, we're walking. We stop in a few shops. A new carry-on bag with a padded shoulder strap was in order; my shoulders were killing me.  (Hey my carry-on was heavy but both checked in bags were 36 lbs and well under the weigh limit!)

I love handbags but I've never been into name brand bags. I'm more of a Marshall's/Kohl's whatever bag is on sale gal. But over the years my Mom-in-law and BFF/SIL have sent a few Vera Bradley's my way and I think they are kind of works of art. So when walking into the Hallmark store in MOA looking for something else, I stopped by the colorful Vera Bradley section in the front of the store. The bags aren't within my normal budget but I did fall in love with an extremely colorful one. (As Emile Zola said, "If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist will answer you: I am here to live out loud!") When I saw it had a padded shoulder strap, the deal was done. However... I kind of wanted to see the rest of collection in that pattern and theirs was limited. 

I asked the friendly clerk about that and she said if I really wanted to see all of them the Vera Bradley store was one floor down. And she said it genuinely and with a smile. So I finally found the store, took a quick look around and promptly took myself back to the Hallmark store and the nice lady and bought the bag from her.  Because she had been generous and honest and kind.

Considering every loop around MOA is a mile, we did our 5 miles. We found the delightful Napa Grille and plopped our sorry tired behinds down in seats on their patio. Our friendly server brought us our kale, chicken, roasted butternut squash and goat cheese salads. They were quite yum.

And so began our salad tour of the Midwest. And the oh so healthy side of fries almost every time.

As we were leaving I found our server to thank her and I found myself saying something Charlie's Gannie always said - what his Mother always says - "Have a happy life, sweetheart."

 

The Mister and I remarked as we were saying good night that wasn't it interesting how smoothly the day had gone. Even with a couple of bumps kindness begat kindness; laughter begat laughter and patience paid off.

 

There's a lesson there, grasshopper.

 

Here's to The New!

I'm the first to admit the Mister and I are creatures of habit.  We tend to frequent the same places ~ because it's comfortable, because it's easy. If we go out in the evening (and by evening I mean any time after 4:00) we're both tired after of a day of decision-making, so it's just easier.

We were reminded last night why it's good to step out of our "lazy/comfort" zone.  A friend gifted us with gift card to D Bar Denver and after a feeble attempt to find the First Friday Art Walk in the RiNo Art District our thoughts turned to food and a place to sit and relax. 

"Well," says I, "I have that gift card for D. We've never been there; want to try it?"

So off we go up 17th in Uptown Denver to find D.  We discovered later that it isn't a place one can often just "drop in" and find a table on the lovely patio or the cute inside seating area. We discovered later that it is not unusual to wait anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours for a table.  But as luck would have it, we pulled up right in front, had our choice of tables and sat down to relax.  On a Friday at 5:30pm.  Go figure.  The Universe was being very kind which was really nice because it's been an interesting couple of days.

It was one of those early summer nights ~ you know the kind. June has been trying to show off her summerness, even though it's still spring. Friday was a warm day in the upper 80's. But sitting under the feathery spring green leaves of this  beautiful tree with a cool breeze blowing lightly ~ well... it was pretty perfect.

The wait staff was very friendly and oh so accommodating ~ sit anywhere you would like and we'll be with you in a minute.  The menus were extensive ~ Happy Hour Menus, Appetizer and Main Dish Menus, Wine Menus and the famous Dessert Menu.

And despite my professed love of wine I find myself broadening my horizons when it comes to beverages. It could be my current obsession with smoothies but I find - after all these years - it's fun to experiment with a drink that may have more than one ingredient. And maybe little to no alcohol. And D Bar Denver was a great place to try something new.

I opted for the B-3 ~ Blueberries, Basil and Bubbles (Prosecco).

So good I had two.

The mister choose a "chai-irish" tea - chai tea and Bailey's Irish Cream.

We both agreed we are going to try to duplicate these yummy drinks at home!

Our non-healthy but quite yummy appetizer was huge bowl of Crue Fries (garlic parm fries, mac sauce, melted cheddar jack, ranch and chives with bacon on the side)

Yes, you are correct. The food coma began to set in early on...

So because I had been so decadent with my appetizer I opted for something a little lighter for my meal ~ a Not Quite a Cobb Salad.  The Mister had an awesome looking Pizza Salad Sandwich (which I failed to get a pic of) ~ it was basically a couple of slices of pizza with the salad right inside.  What a timesaver. ;-)

D Bar Denver is known for their desserts ~ they even have separate dessert menus for "Broad Daylight" and "@ Night".  We had to take our desserts home!  No room in the full bellies and the food comas were setting in deep. But we weren't about to leave a place known for their desserts without dessert!

So I will post pix of our "bag 'o' donuts" (which ironically yesterday was National Doughnut Day!); our oatmeal raisin cookies and 3-layer chocolate cake with Madagascar chocolate frosting later.  If I remember to take pix before we devour them.

Suffice it to say, we are thrilled we discovered this little gem and definitely will return!

So in the "keep trying new things" plan ~ this morning's smoothie was a new one. This Breakfast Strawberry Smoothie was super easy and very yum.

Easy peasy ~ strawberries, flax seed, vanilla yogurt,

1% organic milk and a couple of squirts of honey.

Done in a flash and even Cranky Chicken approves.

Open wide.

Enjoy.  And we did. 

Happy weekend!