celebrate love!

Last night we celebrated my co-designer and friend, Melissa's, soon-to-be-wedding. Mel loves rainbows and ruffles, so the invitations were happy polka-dots. She'd also like to avoid all attention on her (not to mention I think bridal shower games are just awkward), so the only activity was a play on the fact that she is an artist and the origin of bridal showers. I cut out paper "quilt squares" and all the ladies created a crayon masterpiece for the bride.





This was the easiest party I've ever thrown! La Sandia was fantastic! Along with their out-of-this-world frozen mango margaritas, they set everything up and far surpassed my expectations! (My only regret is that I should have tipped them even more. 35% really doesn't reflect how great they were.) We sat on the in-door/out-door balcony overlooking the sunset and the Rockies. Next time you're in the mood for Mexican food, visit them!





But the real star of the show was the Berry Chantilly Cream Cake from Whole Foods. Every single person there remarked how wonderful it was. And it's still office conversation today. $25 for the best cake of your life that always turns out ... it's so worth it!

And here it is—half devoured (I'll give you one guess what happened to the other half last night :).



[photos by sarah fritzler]

currently enjoying: root down

I recently enjoyed the perfect summer evening dinner at Root Down at the Highlands in Denver. We heard rumors about this "amazing" new restaurant and decided to make an evening of it to say farewell to our friend, April, who moved to Laguna Beach. What an evening it was! We sat on the patio for almost 5 hours (that's a record) and tried almost everything on the menu (we did try everything on the dessert menu). The weather couldn't have been better.

We ate things like Organic Carrot Gnocchi, Sweet Potato “Falafel” and Organic Roasted Baby Beets. Listen to this description of the entree I ordered: Roasted Petaluma 3 Chili Chicken - Habenero, Chipotle, Jalapeño, Lemon Creme Fraiche, Green Chili Grit Cake & Carrot-Cucumber-Spinach Salad

MmmmHm. After the flavors, the best part is that almost everything can be ordered gluten free and vegan! With one gluten/dairy free friend and another who is Celiac, this is a huge plus! We ordered everything gluten free and it was all "amazing".



We shared the Cheese Flight as an appetizer - Gin & Tonic Marmalade, Honey-Paprika Apples, Heirloom Tomato Jam, L.R. Rice & Sons Clover Honey


Apparently this is the "best gluten free bread" ... my friends would know!







For dessert we split one of everything. I favored the Udi’s Croissant Bread Pudding in Leopold’s Whiskey-Butter Sauce and Sour Cream Ice Cream, but my ultimate favorite was the Avocado Key Lime Pie with raspberry sorbet. Yum!




Root Down uses organic and locally grown ingredients. This isn't the place to go for a penny-pinching meal, but the prices reflect the ingredients and it's the perfect outing for a relaxing and truly enjoyable meal.

And if you share it with a group of wonderful friends, it doesn't get much better.

[photos by sarah fritzler]