Sunday, June 11, 2017

Tucson - June 2017



Our Casita at Miraval
Following tradition, we celebrated our birthday by going to a resort within driving distance of home - this year we went to Miraval Resort near Tucson.  The resort is located near mountains with beautiful views and is surrounded with lush Sonoran landscape.  All the meals and most of the activities are included in the rate.  Most of the rooms are in small clusters - we had a casita with views of the mountains.  The decor was modern with a very plush and comfortable bed, seating area and wonderful bathroom with an outside shower (which was better than the shower inside)!  There are also various facilities for the different activities on the grounds along with two pool areas and one restaurant.


We drove down to the resort on Friday afternoon with Shawna first meeting Keith at his work.  We first started out with the top down in the Audi but quickly changed our minds as it was way too hot!  We arrived around 4pm and got the tour after checking in.  Once we got to our room, we did not have much time to relax before we had to get ready for dinner which was at the chef's table in the kitchen.  We were joined by four other guests.  We had seven courses with wine pairings - the food was very tasty and it was great to see the energy of the kitchen.  Needless to say, we had enough wine and thus canceled out 6am hike for the following morning!

Cardio Drumming
On Saturday, we slept in a bit and had a light breakfast from the cafe.  We then attended our first class which used body boards with straps and bands to do resistance training.  It was quite hard!  Following class, we had breakfast - Shawna needed some protein so she had an omelet while Keith had the avocado toast.  Fueled up, we then went to our second class which was cardio drumming - it certainly got us sweating but Keith didn't enjoy it that much.  After cleaning up, we went to a honey tasting class where we learned about different types of honey.  The honey was very tasty and the guide was very passionate about the topic albeit somewhat lengthy in his explanations!  We then had lunch where we had various salads from the buffet.  The afternoon consisted of relaxing by the pool where Keith mostly napped and Shawna mostly read.  We ended the day with awesome massages.  That evening, we had dinner in the restaurant, sharing hummus trio, chicken and mussels for appetizers, beef and fish dishes for entrees, and cheesecake and creme brule for dessert.

Pool at Miraval
On Sunday, we slept in a again and then had breakfast, this time we tried the buffet which had fruits eggs and pastries.  We had signed up for a core class right before lunch but decided to attend another class before - TRX Endurance.  It kicked both of our butts so after this class, we canceled the core class!  Instead we cleaned up, packed and had lunch before we checked out and drove home.

View from our Room
Overall, we really enjoyed the weekend - beautiful resort with lots of activities in a beautiful location!

Sunday, June 4, 2017

Denver - June 2017

The EYC Fundraising Crew - Shawna, Keith, Anu, Kristina, Jodi and Ali
We went to Denver to host the EYC fundraiser event which is now our third year doing this event.  We decided to take advantage of being in town to catch up with friends so we arrived on Wednesday evening and worked there on Thursday and Friday.


On Thursday evening, we went to Patrick and Donnell's house for drinks and snacks and then had a wonderful dinner at Fooducopia which is around the corner from our house in Wash Park.  We shared many small plates which were all tasty!

Wash Park Tavern
The fundraiser was on Friday evening at Wash Park Tavern - we got the space and food for free and only had to pay for alcohol which was very generous of the Tavern!  After having lunch at Kristina's house, Shawna helped Kristina, Jodi and Ali set up - we decorated the place and set up a back drop of Angkor Wat so people could take selfies.  Keith stayed back at Kristina's house to do work calls.  Before the event, we went back to Kristina's to freshen up and to relax with a glass of wine.  About 70 people came to the event and we raised over $53K which is a record for us!  We were so excited!  While the event was supposed to end at 7:30 pm, we had several people stay until 10 pm!  We had not eaten any dinner so we returned to Kristina's house to eat a light dinner (salad, cheese/crackers) and then hit the bed!

Athena, Chris and Keith
Saturday was a whirl wind of social activity!  We started out with walking two laps around Wash Park - was so great to be back in the 'hood!  We then cleaned up at Kristina's house and had lunch at Martin and Michelle's house.  We had grilled chicken caesar and wine spritzers while enjoying their beautiful backyard and the great weather.  After this, we went over to Sarah's house to celebrate her 40th birthday - she had a party but we could only make the first part of it.  While there, we caught up some more with Jodi, Tim and Kristina.  Our last event was dinner at Chris and Athena's house (we also stayed there for the night).  They had moved to Cherry Creek so it was great to see their house and spend some time with them.  After drinks and appetizers, we had a great meal - grilled steak and chicken, salad, corn and a cookie dessert.  We stayed up a little past 10 pm chatting and then finally hit the bed - we were very tired!

Shawna and Sarah
On Sunday morning, we had coffee and croissants with Chris and Athena and then left early for the airport to head back home.  The afternoon was spent catching up on work and personal items!