Doggie DQ

As much as I love Whitey's Ice Cream... Hubble loves FREE DQ doggie cups! 



I think he had a smile the whole way there.

So Spoiled.

While we were waiting, Hubble did a little Iowa Dog photoshoot.  Here's his best shot.

Favorites in the QC

My (and Hubble's) favorite thing from this weekend:
Whitey's Ice Cream! Chocolate Peanut Butter Reval & Strawberry Cheesecake.
I'll be back to the QC 2 more times before we leave for CO- and I'll probably have Whitey's 4 more times :)

PS- Hubble didn't get any ice cream b/c it was chocolate... poor dog!

HP 7 P2

So we totally went to see HP 7 P2 at Midnight last night.  Yeah, nerds.  But we've been to every HP movie premiere showing, so we just had to keep the tradition alive for the final one, and it did not disappoint!

Some of these people in line had been there since 4pm!  We parked, visited the arcade, played words with friends.. and then decided to get into line at about 11pm.... and we still were just fine getting seats (thanks to some of Jason's students- who got us center back row... best!) 

Jason was seriously a celebrity here... every 2 seconds was, "Mr. Cochrane, Mr. Cochrane"... sometimes followed by "What are you doing here?" or "You like Harry Potter?"  :)

Jason actually ordered the tickets about a month ago for my birthday gift- Aud 1!

Here's us waiting in line with the full moon behind us- very HP like

So now that we're done with the HP midnight showings, we'll never have to listen to the crazy teenagers yell hello to Mr Cochrane and ask why the heck he would EVER be at the midnight showing of a movie... and the last time I will then only get 3 hours of sleep before rolling out of bed for the next day of work.  I guess that's what happens when you turn 30 (not yet)- you grow out of this stuff :)

Lunch @ Leonardo's

Yesterday I had lunch with a friend at Leonardo's on the SW side of CR.  This place was definitely on my list to visit before we leave.  It is just so unique!

When you step inside you take a step back in time and are surrounded by black & red leather cushy booths & walls.  There is also a very cool sunken bar in the middle... no bar top stools here! Just  little red leather cushion swirly shairs.  I feel like this was probably a ganster hangout back in the day.  There are no windows- just leather.

Don't try to order a Pepsi or Coke... they only serve RC Cola (not sure this is my fav)!  I ordered the Hawaiian Pizza lunch special- it hit the spot. 

I just love these townie restaurants!  Still on my list for dinner/breakfast dates:  Villa's Patio, Red's Alehouse, and Rileys, and the Amana's- who's coming with?

1st Anniversary

Our 1st Wedding Anniversary was Sunday 7-10-11.  Jason and I had a great weekend filled with yummy food, sunshine, TCR, and good friends!

It all started with our stay at the Hotel at Kirkwood.  We checked in and had a VERY yummy dinner at the Class Act Restaurant.

Jason had the Iowa Lamb- lamb chops, braised curried lamb, gremolata, couscous salad, hummus vinaigrette

 

I ordered the Black Angus Steak- Beef Tenderloin with mashed potatoes, seasonal vegetable, bordelaise or truffle mushroom demi

We got to sit at the Captains Table- a crescent shaped booth in the middle of the restaurant with curtains for privacy.  Also complete with Constellation Blown Glass Art above our heads! We definitely felt like VIPs!

 

Next we were off to see Guys & Dolls at Theatre Cedar Rapids!  When Jason proposed to me in NYC, he took me to see Guys & Dolls on Broadway since Lauren Graham was in it (from my favorite show- Gilmore Girls!). 
It worked out that this month Guys & Dolls was playing out our local theatre, so it was pretty neat to tie the proposal back to our 1st anniversary celebration.

To finish up the celebration we of course cut into our cake topper and it was surprisingly good!  White cake with Raspberry Filling.... YUM!  Paired with Prosecco from Italy...

...and opened up our 1st Anniversary Cards from our wedding guests.  At the wedding reception, we left note cards and envelopes for each of our guests at their table setting.  Each envelope was labeled with an anniversary year so they had the chance to write us a note or advice to be sealed until that year.
Each year we'll be able to enjoy a special note from our wedding guests to remind of of the very special people who were there to share the day with us... and hopefully gain some helpful advice along the way!

Here's to many more!

Lazy Pool Days

We started off our anniversary weekend with a relaxing Saturday at the pool.  This is definitely a perk of living with the in-laws for a few weeks- direct access to sunshine & relaxation!  I've made major progress on my reading list for the summer laying out.  Currently on the list:  Baby Proof- Emily Giffin.  I'm likin' it so far!

Hubble LOVES the pool too- even though

he gets a little jealous because he's not allowed to swim. 

Another week flies by...

Another IA week down- 3 more weeks to go!

Jason and I made a coffee pit stop, and I will definitely miss our Coffeesmiths SW. 

They just started to know our names and orders...

My favorite is the iced carmel macchiato- yum!  Jason gets a boring medium brew with sugar & cream. Oh, and don't forget to add a raspberry scone (every visit!) or maybe some gelato if you stop in during the afternoon.

 I headed to a meeting over by my old stomping grounds yesterday.  3 of my years in Cedar Rapids were spent working for Rockwell Collins so I figured it needed a special spotlight on the blog!  I met some very fabulous friends during my time there- I will never forget them, and they better come visit us in CO! :)

And then yesterday wrapped up with a Job Search date with Ashly at Blue Strawberry.  We shared a refreshing bottle of wine & hit the job sites!  You'll probably see many more of these types of posts as we continue our search for the PERFECT CO career. 

This blog could possibly turn into "The Adventures of the Unemployed Iowa Girls in Denver".  We've already got ideas flowing on what free activites we can explore!

As an interim plan, I talked to my yoga teacher about becoming yoga certified!  She said you can do a quick cert over a weekend- perfect!  As I've been scanning the CO job sites- I have definitely seen that there is a market for yoga teachers!  Maybe this is something I should look into a bit more.....

This week is coming to a close, but we have some very fun plans for the weekend!  It is Jason and I's 1st wedding anniversary on Sunday, July 10.   We'll check a bunch of our favorite CR activities and eateries off of the list!

One Month...

One month from today, we will be driving out west to start new life adventures in Denver, Colorado!

This means I have 30 days to fit in all of my favorite

Eastern Iowa foods & activities!

Here's what July looks like so far:

June went TOO fast!

The month of June has flown by and now we are left with only 1 more month in Iowa!  Here's some quick updates on what we've been up to:

Good Bye CR Condo....
We officially closed on the sale of our condo on my 27th Birthday- Happy Birthday to me! 
Jason and I enjoyed Sushi House takeout for our last dinner at our first home.

Cedar Rapids Balloon Glow-
One of my fav CR summer events.  We had a PERFECT night for the 2011 Balloon Glow at Brucemore.  We've been to this every year I've lived in CR.  LOVE it!

Valley Girls Weekend @ Camp Mills-
LOVE LOVE LOVE VG weekends at the lake. 

4th of July weekend included: Sunshine, Water Skiing, Tubing, Couples Olympics, Flag Routines, Five Hour Dance Parties, Yummy Food, Power Outage, Colorado Planning, Laying out on the Island, Reading, and Relaxing.

I will definitely miss our visits to Camp Mills.... but hopefully we are just re-routed to a lake in MN next year!