Radio Silence

My apologies for the radio silence over the past couple of days.    You know how much I love.love.love you all but there have been some things going on for me and my family the past couple of days that I needed to focus on.  Both for me and those around me.

Do me a favor and give all those you love around you a big hug for me, OK?  If they think it’s weird you can tell them I told you to do it. . .

20131228-220440.jpg

With that said, there have been a couple of runs over the past few days

photo 5-6 photo 1-10

 

  • A 60 minute very easy pyramid run because easy was all my  legs could do but my brain needed to move
  • And an attempt at speed work for 4 miles that once again, my legs weren’t all about but at least I got to 4.

Some changes made to the ol’ blog!

cropped-unnamed.jpg

And some good eats

photo 4-6 photo 3-8 photo 2-10

 

The husband made me get out of the house for a few and took me to one of our absolutely favorite spots here in Denver, Stella’s  in the Highlands.  Some good comforting Italian food, fresh air, and great company was exactly what I needed to end what otherwise could have been a pretty tough day.

  • Focaccia bread / Malbec
  • Zuchinni fries (best thing I’ve ever had in my life)
  • 32nd salad with creamy basil dressing

Zach and I both agreed it was the best night we’ve ever had at Stella’s.  Exactly what the doctor ordered.

Stella’s Trattoria and Date Night

Happy Friday night everyone.   Hope you are all having a great start to the weekend (can I just mention that I just typed wedding instead of weekend…hello wedding brain!)

Zach and I had a date night tonight — our favorite.

Tonight was Stella’s  in the Highlands neighborhood of Denver.

DSCN0313

Stella’s has a great outdoor patio for nice weather dining as well as a seating area inside for dining.

DSCN0314

It was a beautiful evening in Denver so the patio was packed when we got there while the inside was completely empty (anybody spy Zach?).

We’ve been to Stella’s many times and are never disappointed.

They are a very true-to-form Italian restaurant with great back home true Italian dishes.

DSCN0315

We started the evening with some vino while we perused the menu

DSCN0317

The bruschetta appetizer special was too good to pass up.  It had goat cheese, fresh tomatoes, onions, and vinegar + oil on fresh bread.  It was AMAZING.

DSCN0318

For my entree I went with the pesto gnocchi with chicken instead of shrimp, and honestly, it was TO DIE FOR.  It was honestly perfect.  The flavors worked incredibly well together and I could NOT stop eating it.

DSCN0319

Zach and I both agreed it was the best thing we’ve had in awhile.  But then again, anything with that much fresh parmesan cheese is going to make me happy.  Under that chicken was a ton of tomatoes, olives and fresh gnocchi.  AMAZING.

DSCN0320

Zach ordered the beat risotto with scallops which was also VERY good…but honestly nothing could top my dish.

The meal was AMAZING as always.

We love Stella’s and honestly, it would take a lot for us to have a bad evening when we go there.

We pulled in right before the rush of a crowd (about 630, we’re old), so our food took a little while, we didn’t mind though.  We had drinks, our appetizer, and great company.

DSCN0316

Honestly, Stella’s always delivers a great night and I highly recommend them to ANYONE who likes Italian dishes.  On. Point.

New Post From Zach

So I have an amazing fiance who is supportive of everything I do, including this blog.

He constantly is taking pictures or giving me things to write about for the blog, and I figured he deserves a little piece of recognition every once in awhile.

Would you guys be OK if I gave Zach a little moment to shine on the blog as a side piece?  I thought it might be fun.

DSCN0310

Look at this cutie!

So for Zach’s post of the day, he wanted to talk about his absolutely ridiculous bike ride this afternoon.

DSCN0312

Zach’s elevation chart

Zach went on a 43 mile bike ride this afternoon, like it was nothing.  He actually rode out to where we are getting married in the front range of the Colorado Rockies in Golden, from Denver, and then of course rode back.

He wanted to share with you all his elevation chart.  He is quite proud, and I must say, it is pretty impressive.  The boy has legs of Lance Armstrong, I’m telling you.  We’ve measured.  They are literally only an inch smaller THAN MY WAIST!  Ridiculous.

So anyway… that’s all Zach and I have for tonight.  We stopped by a Red Box on our way home and are planning to take it easy for the rest of our night.

To be honest, I have no idea what Zach got for us because I was too busy worrying about movie candy.

DSCN0321

Thank you Walgreens.  I honestly have no idea how good these are…but if they are a fail I always have a few cookies left!

Long run planned for the  morning . . . you know I’ll be back with a sweaty recap tomorrow morning!

Ahh — can’t forget the challenge! Day 3!  

Today I squeezed in

  • 135 second plank + 10 hip dips
  • 30 (real) push ups
  • 50 bridges
  • 50 reverse crunches
  • 3 minute pigeon L & R
  • 100 jumping jacks
  • 25 calf raises

I’m loving this challenge.  I had to take it easy today with my long run tomorrow, but still managed to squeeze in quite a bit!  Hope you all are enjoying it as well.

Happy Friday night all 🙂