Anyway, this might be a slightly longer post than normal, but since I’m sure you don’t want to read through two days worth of birthday-related posts, this will have to do! Besides, let me just tell you that my birthday was awesome!


Thursday dawned bright and early and my parents, sis, and I headed to the North Shore of Oahu to enjoy our last day in Hawaii. We went to one of the beaches where they were setting up for a pipe competition the following weekend. The weather was super windy and the waves were massive, so I didn’t play in the water, but I did enjoy watching all of the badass surfers. I mean, check these guys out!

I got to wear my new Oakley running sunglasses that my sis gave me as a birthday gift. I have a pair of Armani shades that I love, but they’re more fashion than fitness, so I really needed a new pair. Love the pair that Missy got me!!!

We also enjoyed a tasty lunch of shrimp from Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck. Apparently this truck is crazy well known or something and while it was tasty, I didn’t think it was best best shrimp ever. I rate it a 7/10 shrimps!

We headed back to Honolulu to pack and prepare for our red eye flight that night, but of course, we had to go out to dinner for a birthday celebration! We went to Keo’s, a ridiculously yummy Thai restaurant that we continually heard good things about. I ordered the green seafood curry and it was SO GOOD! I really enjoy Thai food but haven’t experienced anything near what I ate over in Thailand. This was the first time that the curry was actually comparable to the real thing!!

Mom, Dad, me, Missy, and Sang

We’re gonna skip over some bad things here: Honolulu making me check my carry-on bag by threatening me and then proceeding to lose it so that it wasn’t there in Denver when I arrived. They did manage to deliver it to my parents’ house on Saturday morning, though…. at 2:45am. Again, not dwelling on the negative!


My best friend Angel arranged a surprise dinner for me on Friday night, so although I was incredibly exhausted when we arrived in Denver from not sleeping on any of the plane rides, I took a two-hour nap and rallied to head out for more celebrating! She picked me up and took me to Sushi Hai, an awesome sushi restaurant in Denver. I’ve eaten here quite a few times, and it is always so good! I was super happy to see Angel, Cindy, Craig, Tim, and my parents there when I arrived. It was a small group, but it was a perfect way to spend the evening 🙂

Angel, Cindy, and Craig. And yes, Cindy has cake on her fingers 🙂

Even better? My friends weren’t done celebrating my entrance into old age! In addition to the dinner fun on Friday, I got up early on Saturday and met Cindy and Angel for a girls’ day! It started at Root Down for brunch and bottomless mimosas. This alone was amazing because Root Down is one of my fav restaurants, but it is so hard to get into without reservations! The owners converted an old gas station into an organic and locally-grown restaurant, and the menu is unbelievable. The 5 glasses of blood orange mimosa went down pretty okay too 🙂

And look what they got me for a gift: new snowshoes! (For those of you that have followed my blog for awhile, you know this was a much-needed gift!)

After the fantastic food, I was feeling full and happy; the perfect combo! We then headed over to The Sweet Life nail bar and lounge. The girls had scheduled us in for Essential Plus Spa Pedicures, complete with cranberry mimosas. Can you say heaven?! With my lack of sleep, full stomach, multiple glasses of mimosas, and hot paraffin wax on my feet, I’m pretty sure I almost fell asleep in my chair!

Almost, but not quite! The day wasn’t over just yet! This may be lame to some, but H&M just recently came to Colorado and the three of has had yet to check it out. Besides, what is a gals day without a little shopping?! We headed back into downtown and somehow managed to find a parking spot. Of course, I got easily distracted when a totally random protest interrupted us by walking down the middle of the 16th Street Mall!

What?! The kicker was that I couldn’t even figure out what they were protesting, and I’m positive that it isn’t because of the champagne! I saw a sign for something about water, another sign in Spanish about land and life, and a third man gave me a pamphlet on the Occupy movement. I think a bunch of happy campers just got together and decided to cause a ruckus!

Cindy, Angel, and I had a freaking field day in H&M and I managed to acquire a few new things. I found a really cute dress that I wanted, but have absolutely no need for. If I were to work in an office or something, it would be perfect, but my landscaping wardrobe doesn’t typically require pencil skirts! However, I liked the dress so much that I bought it anyway. I am thinking maybe I can wear it to a wedding that I have coming up in May….what do you think? Will this work for a wedding?

Dress by H&M

Gotta love the self timer. I feel like such a dork! But, then I took another pic that was much more me:

Dress by H&M. Ridiculous pose by me

And yes, I wear my hair in a ponytail A LOT.

I was thinking of maybe swapping the belt out for a red one so I could wear red heels with it, too. That would be fun, right? (And seriously, these are real questions! I’m fashion challenged!)

After all that fun and revelry, I crashed hard. I woke up on Sunday with plans to get some homework done along with  6-mile run. Yeah, that didn’t happen. I was just so tired and my apartment was a wreck! Oh well–here’s to hoping that 6 miles happens today!

Thank you to all of my friends and family who made my 30th so incredibly special!!

Anyway, this might be a slightly longer post than normal, but since I’m sure you don’t want to read through two days worth of birthday-related posts, this will have to do! Besides, let me just tell you that my birthday was awesome!


Thursday dawned bright and early and my parents, sis, and I headed to the North Shore of Oahu to enjoy our last day in Hawaii. We went to one of the beaches where they were setting up for a pipe competition the following weekend. The weather was super windy and the waves were massive, so I didn’t play in the water, but I did enjoy watching all of the badass surfers. I mean, check these guys out!

I got to wear my new Oakley running sunglasses that my sis gave me as a birthday gift. I have a pair of Armani shades that I love, but they’re more fashion than fitness, so I really needed a new pair. Love the pair that Missy got me!!!

We also enjoyed a tasty lunch of shrimp from Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck. Apparently this truck is crazy well known or something and while it was tasty, I didn’t think it was best best shrimp ever. I rate it a 7/10 shrimps!

We headed back to Honolulu to pack and prepare for our red eye flight that night, but of course, we had to go out to dinner for a birthday celebration! We went to Keo’s, a ridiculously yummy Thai restaurant that we continually heard good things about. I ordered the green seafood curry and it was SO GOOD! I really enjoy Thai food but haven’t experienced anything near what I ate over in Thailand. This was the first time that the curry was actually comparable to the real thing!!

Mom, Dad, me, Missy, and Sang

We’re gonna skip over some bad things here: Honolulu making me check my carry-on bag by threatening me and then proceeding to lose it so that it wasn’t there in Denver when I arrived. They did manage to deliver it to my parents’ house on Saturday morning, though…. at 2:45am. Again, not dwelling on the negative!


My best friend Angel arranged a surprise dinner for me on Friday night, so although I was incredibly exhausted when we arrived in Denver from not sleeping on any of the plane rides, I took a two-hour nap and rallied to head out for more celebrating! She picked me up and took me to Sushi Hai, an awesome sushi restaurant in Denver. I’ve eaten here quite a few times, and it is always so good! I was super happy to see Angel, Cindy, Craig, Tim, and my parents there when I arrived. It was a small group, but it was a perfect way to spend the evening 🙂

Angel, Cindy, and Craig. And yes, Cindy has cake on her fingers 🙂

Even better? My friends weren’t done celebrating my entrance into old age! In addition to the dinner fun on Friday, I got up early on Saturday and met Cindy and Angel for a girls’ day! It started at Root Down for brunch and bottomless mimosas. This alone was amazing because Root Down is one of my fav restaurants, but it is so hard to get into without reservations! The owners converted an old gas station into an organic and locally-grown restaurant, and the menu is unbelievable. The 5 glasses of blood orange mimosa went down pretty okay too 🙂

And look what they got me for a gift: new snowshoes! (For those of you that have followed my blog for awhile, you know this was a much-needed gift!)

After the fantastic food, I was feeling full and happy; the perfect combo! We then headed over to The Sweet Life nail bar and lounge. The girls had scheduled us in for Essential Plus Spa Pedicures, complete with cranberry mimosas. Can you say heaven?! With my lack of sleep, full stomach, multiple glasses of mimosas, and hot paraffin wax on my feet, I’m pretty sure I almost fell asleep in my chair!

Almost, but not quite! The day wasn’t over just yet! This may be lame to some, but H&M just recently came to Colorado and the three of has had yet to check it out. Besides, what is a gals day without a little shopping?! We headed back into downtown and somehow managed to find a parking spot. Of course, I got easily distracted when a totally random protest interrupted us by walking down the middle of the 16th Street Mall!

What?! The kicker was that I couldn’t even figure out what they were protesting, and I’m positive that it isn’t because of the champagne! I saw a sign for something about water, another sign in Spanish about land and life, and a third man gave me a pamphlet on the Occupy movement. I think a bunch of happy campers just got together and decided to cause a ruckus!

Cindy, Angel, and I had a freaking field day in H&M and I managed to acquire a few new things. I found a really cute dress that I wanted, but have absolutely no need for. If I were to work in an office or something, it would be perfect, but my landscaping wardrobe doesn’t typically require pencil skirts! However, I liked the dress so much that I bought it anyway. I am thinking maybe I can wear it to a wedding that I have coming up in May….what do you think? Will this work for a wedding?

Dress by H&M

Gotta love the self timer. I feel like such a dork! But, then I took another pic that was much more me:

Dress by H&M. Ridiculous pose by me

And yes, I wear my hair in a ponytail A LOT.

I was thinking of maybe swapping the belt out for a red one so I could wear red heels with it, too. That would be fun, right? (And seriously, these are real questions! I’m fashion challenged!)

After all that fun and revelry, I crashed hard. I woke up on Sunday with plans to get some homework done along with  6-mile run. Yeah, that didn’t happen. I was just so tired and my apartment was a wreck! Oh well–here’s to hoping that 6 miles happens today!

Thank you to all of my friends and family who made my 30th so incredibly special!!