101/1,001 List Update

I've accomplished a few things on the 101/1,001 List in the last couple of months, but don't have pictures, so I'll just lump them together in one post.

#42 Do a Pub Crawl; Date Completed: 12/04/10; Tasks Completed: 35/101. See pictures below.

#77 Make Wedding Soup for Christmas Dinner; Date Completed: 12/25/10; Tasks Completed: 36/101. This is a holiday tradition in my family, but for some reason, Tricia and I had not attempted it since I moved to Denver. I have to say, it was delicious and I think we would have made my grandmother proud.

#33 Buy Flowers for Myself Every Year on My Birthday; Date Completed: 01/12/11; Tasks Completed: 37/101. Hey, nobody else is going to do it for me, so I may as well do it for myself.

#1 Take a Photography Class; Date Completed: 02/15/11; Tasks Completed: 38/101. The class wasn't as informative as I was hoping...kind of disappointing.

#88 Consult with a Financial Planner; Date Completed: 02/16/11; Tasks Completed: 39/101. After my 40th birthday, I realized, "holy crap, I really need to do something about this retirement thing." I have a 401(k) and a couple of IRAs, but wanted to have a more definite and aggressive plan. I met with a financial planner who has put a great long-term strategy into place for me and I feel much more confident with my financial future. Plus, he's really hot, so I don't mind meeting with him often. ;-)

#93 Buy New Bedroom Furniture; Date Completed: 02/21/11; Tasks Completed: 40/101. I'm completely in love with my new furniture, especially the bed. For some reason that I have not yet figured out, I'm not able to download pictures from my camera, so you'll have to wait for them.

#54 Take a Pole Dancing Class with Girlfriends; Date Completed: 03/23/11; Tasks Completed: 41/101. Thankfully, there are no pictures to document this fiasco. Let me tell you, spinning on a pole is a lot harder than it looks. Not only did it require more upper-body strength than I have, but I was also afraid of falling, which led to me having a death-grip on the pole the whole time. We did have a lot of laughs, though, so it was totally worth it.

What I've Been Up To Lately

When the Summer of Rhonda was over, I thought my schedule would slow down a bit, but that has not been the case at all! I didn't do any volunteer work during the summer, so I've been doing quite a bit of that over the last couple of months. I volunteered twice at the Starz Denver Film Festival, which was very fun. Can you believe they had me bartend in the Filmmakers' Lounge? Kind of like asking the fox to watch the hen house, if you ask me. I've also volunteered a couple of times at Urban Peak, which is a shelter for homeless and runaway teens. I always look forward to going there and cooking for the kids. For the most part, they're very polite and grateful. Being there always makes me extremely appreciative of my own safe, cushy upbringing.

I've also been having a lot of fun with some new friends that I've made recently, and it seems like just about everything we do involves costumes! First, there was Halloween bar hopping downtown. I was feeling kind of super hero-ish this year, so I decided to go as Bat Girl.

Here's the whole group.

Me with Andrea and one really creepy clown (her husband Brian).

A friend of mine is starting a business called Bar Scavenger, which will provide everything you need for a scavenger hunt for bachelor/ette parties, birthdays, etc. They had their first trial run in November, and Amanda and I were more than happy to be guinea pigs for the experiment.

Part of the scavenger hunt is to complete certain challenges and tasks. Here's Amanda taking on the "challenge a stranger to a push-up contest" task.

We had to find the one bar in LoDo that has pickle-infused vodka (Retro Room, in case you're wondering), and 3 team members had to do a shot of it.

And I took on the challenge of "invent a team shot, give it a name and get 3 strangers to drink it with you."

Then, a couple of weeks ago, we did the 9th Annual Denver Santa Pub Crawl. You're asked to bring at least one unwrapped toy to be donated to needy kids. This makes you feel not as guilty about the fact that you're day drinking. Costumes are required for this, and I'm certainly not going to pass up an opportunity to traipse around downtown in something sexy!

Our ridiculously fun group. No, really, I swear I'm wearing clothes!

Rudolph and Mrs. Claus.

Yeah, we had a little bit of fun.

So, thats pretty much what I've been up to lately....volunteering in order to bank some good karma to balance out the bad karma that may come my way by spending countless hours drinking my way through downtown Denver.

#57 Attend 5 Concerts

This was definitely one of the more fun tasks on the list! The five concerts I saw were Rodrigo y Gabriela, Stone Temple Pilots (twice...yes, I'm an STP whore), the B-52s and Dave Matthews/Tim Reynolds. If I was forced to pick a favorite, I think I'd have to go with the second STP show. A warm summer night at Red Rocks with STP and my best friend...you can't ask for anything more.

Date Completed: December 9, 2010
Tasks Completed 34/101

#4 Learn How to Change a Tire

Unfortunately, I had to learn this because I actually had a flat tire at the time. Last month (yes, I know I've been a horrible blogger lately) I volunteered at the Denver Film Festival and when my shift was over, I got in my car to leave and discovered I had a flat. Luckily, BR saved the day and not only put on the spare for me, but also taught me how to do it myself should the need ever arise again. Imagine my horror when I hit a pothole 15 minutes later and blew out the spare that he so painstakingly placed on my car. Yeah...that's a whole other story!

Date Completed: November 7, 2010
Tasks Completed: 33/101

Top Ten Moments of the Summer

You know how much I love a top ten list, so of course I had to do a Top Ten Moments of the Summer of Rhonda list. I've had so many wonderful adventures this summer that it was hard to narrow them down, but here's a photo essay, in chronological order.

I spent a lot of money and deprived myself of quite a bit of sleep this summer, but it was totally worth it! I have a ton of memories that will last a lifetime.

I have to give special thanks to my three partners in crime, Amanda, Steve and Michael, who also sacrificed money and sleep (and in Amanda's case, even some blood) to share these moments with me. Thank you, you have no idea how grateful I am that each one of you is a part of my life!

Farewell to the Summer of Rhonda

Even though we're supposed to have record high temperatures in Denver this week, I have finally accepted the fact that The Summer of Rhonda is officially over. But, I didn't go down without a fight. This past weekend, Amanda and I planned a fun-filled wrap party weekend and had a blast. We kicked off the weekend Friday night at our home away from home, the rooftop of The Taven Downtown.

After the Rockies game that night, there was a fireworks show at Coors Field for Fan Appreciation Night. The Tavern is across the street from the ballpark, so the rooftop was the perfect vantage point.

On Saturday night, we went to our first roller derby match. The roller derby is something you have to do once in your life, just for the experience. It took us a little while to learn how the game works and how points are scored, but once we figured it out, it was a lot more fun. Also, the people watching is unmatched by any other sporting event.

We capped off the weekend on Sunday afternoon with a beautiful 3.5 mile hike in Deer Creek Canyon.

It was the perfect way to say goodbye to summer.

#64 See a Red Sox Game at Fenway Park

Although the tour of Fenway was disappointing, going to a game there was anything but! I had a blast! Before the games, the street is closed off and it's a huge party outside the park.

And I'm there!

You know that little problem I had at Wrigley Field with people standing in the aisles during the game? Yeah, they don't put up with that in Boston. Someone will stand in the aisle while there's a batter at the plate for about 8 seconds before people start yelling at the person to sit their ass down. Bostonians...these are my peeps. I made friends with all of the people sitting next to/behind me, including these 4 punk kids. Andy, Alex, Pat and Jesslyn taught me more than I ever thought I would know about the punk scene in various cities. Andy also told me all about how to make DMT, but I don't think I'll ever need that information.  

The highlight of the game was probably the middle of the eighth inning when the entire crowd sang Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. I love that song because it reminds me of my childhood. My dad and I used to sing it all the time. I knew about the tradition of singing it at Fenway from watching the movie Fever Pitch (thank you, Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon) and was really looking forward to it. The crowd didn't disappoint me...it was so much fun! When the game was over, the Canadiens found me and we ran around the park taking pictures before security kicked us out.

Then I went out drinking with the Canadiens.

This was probably the most fun I've ever had at a baseball game. I wish I could go to Fenway every summer!

Date Completed: September 18, 2010
Tasks Completed: 32/101

Quick Weekend in Boston

I recently spent a weekend in Boston, which is now on my short list of favorite cities I've visited. The purpose of the trip was to see a baseball game at Fenway Park (more on that later), and since I've been to Boston 3 previous times and seen most of the touristy things, I made it a quick trip. I also decided to make it a solo trip. Although I've been lucky enough to travel with/visit some of my favorite people this year, I was in the mood to go this one alone.

When I arrived mid-afternoon on Friday, it was drizzling, which nixed my plans for a Duck Tour, so I just wandered around near my hotel for a little while. This turned out to be a good thing, because it enabled me to arrive at my intended dinner destination right after they opened. This was good because within 20 minutes, the line to get into the restaurant was down the block. Lucky for me, I snagged the last available table before the line started to form.

Quite a few reliable sources told me that I absolutely had to go to Giacomo's in the North End if I wanted good Italian food. Said sources were spot-on. I had the frutti de mare, and it was like heaven on a plate! The restaurant is very tiny, so you get to know your neighbors pretty quickly. I sat next to two women from Long Beach, CA, Chris and Janine, who were also visiting for the weekend. Within 15 minutes, we were sharing a bottle of wine over stories of our travels. After dinner, we went to Mike's Pastry for dessert. I think just about every other person in Boston was there, and with good reason...their desserts are unbelievable! Best cannoli I've ever had! After dessert, we decided it was time for more drinks and hit the Bell in Hand pub. Me, Chris and Janine:

On Saturday morning, I continued Ballparkapalooza 2010, with a tour of Fenway Park. I hate to say this, but compared to my tours of Wrigley and Petco this summer, the tour of Fenway sucked. Basically, they just took us to 4 different seating areas and told us some history of the park. No press box, no private suite, no clubhouse, no dug out...WTF? I mean, I got to stand in the on-deck circle at Wrigley Field, FFS! But, it was still awesome just to be there.

 Me and the Green Monster. Sorry I'm so squinty. The sun was right in my eyes.

 This is Mike. He and his friends came down from Canada for the Red Sox' games with the Toronto Blue Jays that weekend. We became camera buddies. Does this sound familiar?

After the tour, I went to the Aquarium/Harbor area to try, once again, to do the Duck Tour. Unfortunately, they were sold out until 5:00, which was too late because I wanted to be back at Fenway around 6:00. So, I went to the Aquarium instead.

The man with the coolest job in the world.

After the aquarium, it was back to Fenway for the game, and I came home on Sunday. Although it was such a short trip, I had a great time in Boston. It's a beautiful city and the people are so friendly!


If it weren't for the brutal winters, I could totally see living there. The hot boys with their East Coast attitude and Boston accent are another thing that the city has going for it! I could listen to that accent all day, I tell ya!

Chief Mountain

Amanda and I did a fantastic hike this weekend. The peak is called Chief Mountain and the summit is at 11,709 feet. It's a not a long hike, but you gain a lot of elevation in a short time, so our hearts definitely got a workout!
Views of the Front Range on the way up:

Proof that we made it to the summit:

Amanda the Conqueror:

Me with an amazing view in the background:

We had to do a bit of bouldering to get to the summit, but as you can see, the view (and the sense of accomplishment) made it all worth it. Thanks for a fun day, Jamanda! You rock (no pun intended)!

Martinis and Manicures

We have a new bar in Denver called Beauty Bar, which offers the best happy hour special I've ever come across...a martini and a manicure for $10. What girl could possibly pass up an offer like that?! So, last Wednesday, I rounded up some of the girls from the office for a night out. We had so much fun trying out the different martinis and getting our nails done.

My martini and manicure:

All the girls showing off our new manicures. Lauren, me, Dorelia and Amy:

Thanks, girls, for a fun happy hour!