Avenue Q at Theater 2

I got to see a wonderful little theater production last Friday! For freeee! Ha! Hehehehe. I just love shows...

One of my friends ended up getting some free tickets to Avenue Q (a very successful and older production) which is sort of a Muppets meets South Park thing. Not only was the show itself just fun and full of good humor, I was so impressed with the performers! They all sang wonderfully and some even did the voices for more than one character!

We all know I am pretty critical, but I literally had no complaints. It was such a wonderful night!

{Linsdey, Julie, Me}

 

The show was put on at Theater 3, but in the theater 2 stage, in uptown Dallas. The place is only a couple blocks away from all the bars and restuarants of uptown, and we almost were going to hand out at the GingerMan afterwards, but as Lindsey was pretty sick she headed home and Julie and I just sat outside of a wine bar and chatted for awhile.
 

 

I really hope I get to go back to this place!

 

Colorado in August

omg.

I have officially discovered a love for hiking.

I went to visit a friend recently for 4 days, who lives in Denver, CO. Our plan was to mingle some much needed girly bonding time (jane austen/knitting/blankets/alcohol) in the mountains with some challenging hiking.

I flew in to Denver on Friday, and then we headed out to the mountains that night to check in at our lodge. I haven't seen mountains.... since I don't even remember lol. Just being able to drive through them was exhilarating, and I felt like my heart had woken up! Everything was so pretty compared to icky Texas.

Saturday morning we hopped into the car all ready for some hiking, with our little lunches wrapped up and packed in the backpack and our water bottles filled and sparkling. And then we realized after driving and driving and searching and squinting, that trying to find the very few trails secreted away was going to be a more daunting task than anticipated lol. Really, the area that we weere staying in had only a few places and they were more the 12 mile backpacking trails rather than any friendly day hiking. Once we bitterly accepted this truth, we salvaged the day by hanging out in Salida, a nearby little mountain town.

 

{Cafe in Salida, CO}

 

I begged Tyler to let us stop someplace (anyplace!) for coffee, and we had to stop in at a cafe in the end lol. It was a super cute place though and I wish we could have tried some pie! I always want to try pie lol.

 

{I loved this little yarn and fabric shop!!!}

We had a fun time exploring shops and things, and then went back to the lodge and just vegged out and watched movies.

Sunday we headed back to Denver in girly shame lol. Such fools... ah well. We then planned on doing some hiking in Boulder, CO bright and early Monday morning!

Again, we packed out little lunches and headed out to the little college town. There are the Flat Irons about 2 minutes from the downtown area *jealous* so we parked out there, and started our trip!

 

{Flat Irons in Boulder, CO}

 

Even though it was August! the temperature was only about 70 when we started out at 11ish in the morning. It was so perfect for exercise... and to think Dallas would have been in the high 90s at least! Ick.

 

{my Kill Me face}

 

So... this was me, struggling up, and up, and up, and up that trail lol. Not only am I admittedly not in the best physical shape, but I had never hiked up at a constant slope before, with a backpack, at a heightened elevation. It was hard lol.

 

{See that above me? Yea, that was the trail}

 

 

 

 {more rocky trail}

 

 

 

{ok, not the actual trail, but it would have been cool if it were lol}

 

.

 

 

{we finally reached the top! yay!!!}

 

 

 

{this was the Royal Arch we were hiking towards}

 

 

We almost turned back before lunch, but after snacking on our salads and drinks I felt much better and we were able to keep going. Thank goodness too!

 

 

 

{the view}

 

 

 

 

{victory photo lol}

 

 

 

{chillin, on some big rocks} 

 

 Aaaand after about 4 hours of hiking upward, we got to go back down! Yaaaay lol! That part was actually pretty fun! We were basically bouncing down the trail because of the steepness, and although I felt like it only took 20 minutes it really was about 1.5 hours. 

 {finally back in the foothills}

 

 

 

 

 {leaving Boulder forever... *tear*}

 

It was just so amazing and fun. I did this hike in crappy cheap athletic shoes, and definitely felt it. Before I do anything serious again I am absolutely investing in some hiking boots, now that I know I really love hiking. Although I am not sure anywhere near Dallas will be worth the investment...

 

 

 

 

 

The Hunger Games

This weekend is the official opening of the first film in Suzanne Collins trilogy, The Hunger Games.

Epic! hehehe.



I am comparing, as so many are, this sci-fi Trilogy with the Twilight Saga and the Harry Potter Series.

I have read all the HP and Twilight novels and seen all the films, and just completed the games trilogy a few weeks ago.

I really enjoyed the themes of fighting for political freedom in tandem with the struggle for personal survival, and thought that the novels had much more complexity in a thematic sense than the Harry Potter books. They were still a much more simplified version of many adult science fiction novels that have been on bookshelves for years, but should translate well to film because of this. Great books for anyone but probably best for teenagers.

HP still has something that can never be trumped; magic! Despite its simplistic thematic plot, the world created by J.K. Rowling offers that childish escapism none of others compete with, and will likely remain a classic for children and young teens.

Twilight has more of an obsessive, corrosive, brooding quality to it that isn't quite the healthiest, but is somehow impossible to resist. Despite the main character's insanely annoying possession of a suicide/stupidity gene, I think the true allure originates from Edward's possessive and unyielding love. Committment issues are pretty much not a factor in this relationship, and in this divorce riddled age, I think that amps up the attraction.


Yay for Katniss Everdeen! Go see the movie, even if you opt out of the books (I think it will be better on film anyway), and cheer for District 12!