#Vegas #NoFilter #PhenomenallyPretty

Have I told you about how much I love Jess Menard Brown? Jess and I were acquaintance friends in high school, but became real besties in college when we bonded over a shared love of Titanic, Romeo + Juliet, and basically just all things Leonardo DiCaprio. Jess is one of the wittiest, most fun, and most insightful and caring friends I've ever known. She is also my favorite person to go to Las Vegas with. We've been together twice before this year, and we always share the same end goals: dance, play craps, hunt for celebs, dance some more, and have fun fun fun. This is why I made a goal (#74) to go to Vegas with Jess again. Duh.


Our sophomore year of college, Jess and I had the pleasure of living with two of the most amazing women I've ever known - Vic and Amy. The four of us had a super fun apartment full of art walls, Indian accents, inappropriate jokes, and Homestar Runner. Over the years, we haven't been the best at keeping in touch, but have always remained special and close in one another's hearts.

At this point in time, we're pretty spread out all over the country. Jess and husband Andy live in Florida, Amy and husband Mike live here in Colorado, and Vic and husband Justin and children Moriah and Jadon live in California. Earlier this Spring, Vic called me with the brilliant idea of having a roommate reunion weekend in Vegas, and I could not have been more excited. By some miracle, it worked out perfectly that everyone could make it, and it turned out to be one of the best weekends of my whole life. I'm not even exaggerating.

It's hard to explain the amount of love I feel for and from these ladies. We are so easily able to pick up right where we left off, even if we haven't talked in months. Our weekend was filled with nothing but fun, laughter, grace, and joy. No bad moods, no conflict, no tension. On top of that, we had some real treats: an incredible dinner at Tao with a visit from the head chef, a fifth row viewing of Celine Dion in concert (!!!!!!!!!!!!!), and making new friends with Jess's sister-in-law Annie (#bestfriendannie). Not to mention a whole new batch of inside jokes and an ironic obsession with hashtags. #tatas.

Drinks at Tao!

In da club

My favorite photo of my supermodel friends

Pool time #bootyshaking

Delish dinner with #bestfriendannie too

This is how deep my love for Jess goes. Renewed Vows.

One last thing to illustrate how amazing these friends are: 

For my 15th or 16th birthday, my friend Caitlin got me a pearl from an Oyster in Vegas and gave it to me as a necklace, which I then wore every day for the rest of time. A couple of months ago, I lost my pearl. I can't even tell you how deeply saddened I was about this. While in Vegas, I saw a pearl place and told Jess and Amy my sob story. The next day, the three best friends that anyone could have went out to get breakfast while I spent some extra time in bed. When they came back, they gave me a surprise: a new pearl they had picked out for me. It was the most meaningful gift anyone could have given me, and I spent that whole afternoon crying because I love them so much. Goodness gracious, I am blessed. 

Sweat

Goal #59: Take a hot yoga class. 


90 minutes.


105 degrees.


Humidity.


Stinky People.


I honestly didn't think it was possible to sweat that much. 


Seriously.


I want to do it again.

Mississippi Makes Three

I just tried to count, and I think I've been to 35 states now. I don't count layovers in airports, but I do include driving through on road trips. Eventually I'd like to go to all 50, and as a start to this, I made goal #34: travel to 3 new states. In the last year, I completed this by traveling to Maryland, Virginia, and Mississippi.


Last October, my wonderful father took me on a trip to Washington D.C. which was nicely a two bird killer with Virginia and Maryland. We spent four days walking miles miles through the city, sightseeing at all of the typical patriotic places. Want to see some pictures? 

Julia Child's kitchen at the Smithsonian. For Lawrence.

In front of my friend Barack's house

Lincoln Memorial

Mt. Vernon. My dad has a massive man crush on George Washington.

Arlington National Cemetery

This June, I got to check off my third new state with a trip to Mississippi.  I went with about 70 high school students on a mission trip to do hurricane relief work in Hancock County. Let me tell you, I feel like I got to know Southern rural Mississippi pretty well. The first work day of the trip, I went on a little drive to urgent care with a couple of students and another leader, and we may have gotten slightly lost on the backroads. A couple of days later, I drove another student to the ER and got to know the state even better. More pics? Okay.

Cool kids on a roof.

My family group! 

Mississippi beach with my favorite ladies

Okay, great. 15 more states to go. I'm on it.

Learning to Love Colorado

Unlike most Colorado natives, I am not obsessed with this state. I love Boulder with a deep passion because it is my home and the coolest town ever. But as far as the rest of the state... meh. Sure the mountains are pretty, but I'm not much of a mountain person. I'm a water person - give me lakes and oceans and Puget Sounds! After living in green, lush, beautiful, perfect Seattle for 3 years, my disdain for Colorado grew. I'm quick to tell people that I'm just not that into this place, but I live here for my family and friends.

This past Spring Break, though, I learned that there's more to this state than the few places I had been. My life long best bestie, Kara, and I took a 4 day road trip through Southwest Colorado and down to New Mexico, helping me complete two goals: #32: Go on a road trip without a pre-set destination, and #60: Go somewhere new and touristy within Colorado. 

As a big lover of any road trip, goal #32 was one of the goals I was most excited about. But I was also concerned that I wouldn't be able to find a companion willing to go on an aimless trip with me. So when Kara said she'd do it, and could take time off over my Spring Break, I was thrilled! We talked loosely about where we might want to head, packed her car up with clothes and snacks and sleeping bags, and headed out on the open road.

We started with a quick trip through Garden of the Gods and Manitou Springs, then headed south to Ouray (probably my favorite place) where we stayed at this beautiful lodge with hot springs. The next day, we saw a bit of the Million Dollar Highway, and then headed through Telluride and down to Durango. After a night in Durango, we went down to Santa Fe (Kara's favorite), and then headed back home. Quick, but beautifully perfect.


Here are a few hot pics:

Garden of the Gods

Million Dollar Highway outside of Ouray

Unbelievably Gorgeous

Telluride

Mesa Verde

Santa Fe

One of my favorite aspects of the trip was that we made a list at the very beginning of things we might see. It was Kara's idea, and it made us both more observant of our surroundings in the best way. 

We saw all of these things except a shooting star. It was amazing how they would just appear in front of us (except for the time where we literally chased a squirrel up a tree). For example, Kara wanted to see a blue butterfly. While we were walking in Telluride, we saw this wall with nothing on it except this: 

Maybe that's not exciting to you, but it was exciting to us. Which might prove why Kara is my perfect traveling companion. 


Kara and I are planning on making this an annual thing - to take an unplanned trip. It's incredible how things just come together and fall into place when you let them, and we always felt like we were in the right place at the right time. I think I'm having a hard time explaining it, but there really was some magic to this trip and in just following our intuitions. Plus it gave me a new found appreciation for my lovely home state.