Tis the Season…No, not THAT season

Ahhh, it’s finally my favorite time of the year again…

No, it’s not Christmas or Thanksgiving or July 1st (yes 1st, not 4th) or even summer vacation…it’s the release week of the 2009 Boulder County Gold Awards! obviously.

When they release these ‘best of boulder’ lists every fall, I sit down with a pad of paper and a calendar and I literally map out my Plan of Attack for the next 365 days. Why sit around on a Friday night debating about which sub-par restaurant you should waste your money on (and inevitably missing alllll happy hour specials because you just cannot decide in time) when here, sitting on my computer screen, is the OFFICIAL best new restaurant in Boulder!?!?!?!

And while yes, I admit that not all of the category winners make it onto my to-d0 list (best place to buy windows and, uh, best hearing aid center), the vast majority of them really will help me squeeze the most out of what could be my last 9 months living in Boulder.

So here goes…My favorites from the 2009 Boulder County Gold Awards. I agree with most of them. I’m surprised by some of them. And some of them…well, it should be an interesting year.

Best Locally Owned Store: McGuckin Hardware (heaven on earth)

Best Liquor Store: Liquor Mart

Best Bookstore: Boulder Book Store

Best Antique Store: The Amazing Garage Sale

Best Place to Hear Live Music: Boulder Theater

Best Dessert: Cheescake Factory (this is the best we can do!?)

Best Boulder County Event: Boulder Creek Festival

Best New Restaurant: Happy Noodle House

Best Late-Nite Restaurant: The Kitchen

Best Mexican Restaurant: Efrain’s Mexican (yesssss)

Best Sushi: Hapa Sushi

Best Brunch AND Best Breakfast: Lucile’s Creole Cafe

Best Seafood Restaurant: Jax Fish House (Thank you Bravo TV)

Best Coffeehouse: Vic’s (beg to differ)

Best Happy Hour AND Appetizers AND Outdoor Dining: The Med

Best Bakery: Breadworks Cafe

Best Sporting Goods Store: REI

Best Gift Shop: Paper Doll

There you go, folks: my itinerary for the next few months. For those of you IN Boulder, I hope you make your own list of places to check out. For those of you NOT in Boulder, this at least gives you reason to come and visit. I promise, you won’t be let down.

Cheers

-S.

www.bouldercountygold.com

Back to Reality…

Alright folks, we’ve got good news and bad news.

Good news: Took the LSAT yesterday. No more practice tests. No more stressing, no more nightmares, no more pre-test anxiety. More importantly, I think it went fairly decently….Well enough to keep my Ivy League hopes alive? We’ll have to wait till Oct. 17th for the answer to that one… Keep your fingers crossed – all of them.

Bad news: It’s now time to face every other responsibility that’s been put on hold for the past few weeks while I ran around like a crazy person, clutching my LSAT prep book and number 2 pencils. Woke up this morning to the realization that YES, I’m still in school full time. YES, I still have a job with actual assignments and deadlines. YES, I still have family and friends that I literally have not spoken to in weeks. Time to get back into the grind, I suppose.

Amidst all of this wonderful academic “fun,” you’ll be pleased (hopefully) that I’ve still managed to find some nice little gems in and around Boulder – places, restaurants, coffee shops, whatever…all of which amount to nothing short of a breath of fresh air…

Last night my brother, his girlfriend and I grabbed a little celebratory meal at Pasquinis in Denver. It wasn’t my first time at this particular italian joint, but it was my first time experiencing (no, not just eating) the most amazing breadsticks in the world. While I do admit that I am always a sucker for a good pile of greasy carbs – don’t judge me – this certain ‘pile’ definitely takes the cake. I have no shame in admitting that I literally had dreams about eating them again, in all of their buttery, parmesany, gooey glory. I.Am.Salivating.

For now, I’m staked out at Boulder’s Book End Cafe on Pearl St. Judging by the pile of textbooks next to my chair and the open planner next to my computer (this weekend’s to-do list has overflowed into next week…cool), I’ll probably be here for the next, oh, three days. While it almost pains me that I can’t enjoy the PERRRFECT fall weather up in the mountains this weekend, I have no problem settling for a comfy patio seat on Pearl, sunshine on my back, and a bottomless glass of ice tea. Thanks, Boulder.

Cheers

-S.

Allow me to introduce myself

If we were meeting in person right now, I’d probably give you a handshake or a high five or a combination of the two.

I’d tell you that my name is Sarah and that I’m a senior at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

You’d ask me – predictably so – what I was studying, and I would tell you psychology, advertising, and italian, but (as if this wasn’t already enough) I’ve decided to go to law school next year. You’d probably grimace, and I would confirm your assumption: I’m likely certifiably insane.

Then, because I’m not entirely self-absorbed, I’d ask for your story. Who are you? What do you do? Where have you been? At this point, since this virtual conversation is fairly one-sided, I’ll just assume that your life is incredibly fascinating and that you are charming and captivating and refreshing and intriguing all at the same time. It’s very nice to finally meet you…

So now to the real question…Why am I here? Why in the world have I joined the masses in the blogosphere? Please, please, allow me let me explain…

Like many young adults, one of my greatest passions is travel. I get a rush out of visiting new cities and seeing new landscapes, and I feel as though having an appreciative understanding of other cultures and lifestyles is one of life’s greatest accomplishments. Like many college students, however, I am absolutely and completely broke. After traveling around Europe for six months, I have unregrettably spent my entire life savings. The places I have visited and the people with whom I have interacted are now inextricably linked to my happiness, but I struggle with how to keep this all alive now that I am back in Colorado. I no longer have the means nor the money to fly to Switzerland for the weekend or to take a cooking class from a friendly neighbor in Perugia, Italy. It is no longer possible to hop on a train on Friday, without agenda or hesitation, simply hoping to make it back to class on time on Monday.

While logistically, this “travel bug” I have contracted seems to present just a few problems now that I am back at school without money or time, I remain convinced (perhaps naively so) that all is not lost. I refuse to reign in the sense of adventure my travels have fostered and the need for exploration they have unearthed. For all of these reasons, I believe my core purpose is very simple: to explore, to get lost, to touch and to feel, to see, to listen, and to experience my own backyard with the same voracity I witnessed among the hoards of backpackers throughout Europe.

I am blessed to have lived in Colorado my entire life, and yet I am disappointed to know that there is so much I have never experienced. There is always something more to learn, always something more to see and do, and I refuse to let myself become stagnant and complacent just because of location. So come on, Colorado, let’s see what you’ve got to offer. What will you give me for, say, under fifteen bucks?

So there you go – an explanation, a mission statement, a personal goal, and a very short, incredibly incomplete autobiography. I hope you stick around for more.

Cheers.
-S.