Mile High Hunger

Denver Restaurant Week is just a few weeks away. Check out the website, find a date, snag a reservation and get ready to enjoy a coursed meal for $52.80 at many of the state’s finest and best restaurants.

Denver Restaurant Week 2008
Presented by the DENVER METRO CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU

Denver Restaurant Week is a seven-day celebration of the culinary scene in Denver. For the week of Feb. 23-29, 2008, participating restaurants will offer a multi-course dinner for the fixed price of $52.80 for two, or $26.40 for one (not including tax or gratuity).

Restaurant week offers gastronomes and gourmets an extraordinary opportunity to explore some of Denver’s classic restaurants – and some of the city’s newest – to sample a variety of the exceptional dishes prepared by Denver chefs at incredibly reasonable rates.

The one with the waggly tail

Early in November I began my Christmas shopping, hoping to have it all finished shortly after Thanksgiving. At Park Meadows Mall the Sundance store had recently opened and I had not yet browsed their beautifully rugged wears. I walked through the big barn doors, noticing the weathered wooden floor, thinking I would simply window shop, as I figured the store really didn’t have anything specific for those on my shopping list. However, I noticed an entire section devoted to our four legged friends.

I purchased a handsome red dog biscuit pale filled to the brim with all natural puppy treats, and also picked up a copy of Second Chances. With these two greats buys I quickly crossed my dog off my list – the presents were even wrapped in sturdy orange boxes donned with teal ribbons. Yes, I did just write that I bought my dog Christmas presents (55 percent of dog owners buy their pets holiday presents).

I recently finished reading Second Chances and am now all the more certain that Riley and I were each other’s second chance. This spring I will have had Riley for two years. She spent several months in various shelters before she finally found her way to me – and I had spent several months searching for the perfect canine companion before I found my way to her. Last week I bought the other book in the series Found Dogs, and I’ve truly found out that as Louis Sabin has said, “No matter how little money and how few possessions you own, having a dog makes you rich.”

It's Not That Easy Being Green

For New Year's my mother vowed to make herself a bit greener in 2008. I'm not talking the lovely shade you turn while leaning over the side of a ship swaying in a stormy sea, or the pantone one's thumb turns after picking weeds all day - I'm referring to easing your footprint on the wide world around us. I suppose the apple doesn't fall far from the tree because I'm slowly trying to become more green too.

I never made a conscious decision to take mass transit, but I commute everyday to downtown Denver to get to work. By the time I factor in parking and the gas it takes to drive 20 miles each way it just made economic sense to take the light rail for only $6 roundtrip. Every day I see the same faces on the train, and every day on the ride home I see the traffic and feel thankful that I can sit back and enjoy the ride reading my latest book.

I have also been looking for great reusable grocery bags that have a little style to them. I found some great Envirosax bags on Delight.com and Kayla gave me a great bag she found at The Container Store. So far I've spared the dump of more than 20 plastic grocery bags with
my trendy reusable bags.

In my searches for green living I have stumbled upon some great sites/emails that I would recommend for anyone in search of a little green in their lives:
http://www.greenlivingtips.com/
http://www.idealbite.com/
http://www.thegreenguide.com/

Maybe Kermit the Frog had it right, but why not try.
"...it's beautiful and I think it's what I want to be."

Pull open the cover and crease back the binding

I've been dabbling with the idea of creating a blog for awhile now. Actually, maybe I should say re-creating a blog as I've attempted this game before. I'm inspired to try my hand at this again from reading the daily musings of friends and strangers who feel like friends. The toughest decision is determining the name of the blog. We recently brainstormed blog names for a client I work with, there is so much riding on the carefully chosen words, the precise characters - it is what the reader, the searcher, the interested will draw upon to make their first impression.

So here it goes, enjoy the ride, enjoy the read.