Heading to Denver

Although it was a speedy trip to Denver, any excuse to escape to the big city with my mom and sis is great for me. Add in lots of eating, shopping, and looking around = one fabulous weekend!

Joe's Crab Shack Fishy

Thursday

Left for Denver around 10:30

Arrived in Denver around 3:30

Checked into hotel

Relaxed for a bit and drove around Parker, CO (where we stayed)

Ate at Joe's Crab Shack

Mom with her fab bib!

Bib and Zipper
(which the waitress said I could keep, promise!)

Now, I like to eat at local places when I travel, however, Joe's is too good to pass up!

I had some fabulous crab steam pot, which I literally gorged myself upon and needed the shop 'til I drop experience afterwards.

Luckily we had no shortage of shopping while in Parker, the first stop was the

Aurora Southland's Mall.

Since I, unfortunately, had nearly nothing to spend it was a window shopping sort of day for me. Although I did splurge a little and bought a couple funky things at Charming Charlie (have you not been here? You really need to go!!) and a great Betsey Johnson belt at TJ Maxx.

Friday

Friday's breakfast was at the Hotel, but one thing I love about the Hampton Inn is that they have good breakfast :)

Friday morning I had a meeting that lasted until 1:00 (I know what you're thinking, those are precious shopping hours, but it was okay, it was a good meeting). My mom and sis did some more shopping and my mom got some GREAT deals!

Lunch was catered from Panera, who has the best cookies I've ever tasted.

Now on to the best shopping of the trip, Cherry Creek Mall. It isn't a cliche, it isn't just because it is the most expensive mall around (although it is, lots of designer stores). It is simply because all the stores I love are in this one, glorious place! It POURED on us getting there and I almost thought it was hopeless, but we FINALLY arrived!

The Stores I HAD to Visit:

Anthropologie

Hands Down my favorite store EVER. I limited myself to a single mug to add to my Anthropologie Mug Collection. Like I said, I'm poor, but I spent lots of time dreaming what my future house will look like!

Make your own Buffy Bar

Lush

However, I kept myself from buying ANYTHING! They have this miracle bar that exfoliates and moisturizes while you are in the shower called the Buffy Bar. There is no product in the WOLRD that I love more than this bar.

The reason I didn't splurge and buy one is because I found this recipe to make my own and I haven't tried it yet. I am anxious to do so, because it makes my skin look luscious! 

I had a quick return at Forever 21 and pretty much spent the whole thing on more junk jewelry :) Gotta love how CHEEP everything is! I didn't buy anything else, but drooled over how lovely The Apple Store and Sephora both are.

Before we went to dinner we all had to make a quick stop a See's Candy, who makes the most delicious everything in the world :) 

Magginao's Little Italy

I used my OpenTable App to book us a table at Maggiano's in Centennial (because it is close to Parker, and the other restaurant is on 16th and parking is so hectic). It was our last opportunity to eat their at half price because my last day at Chili's (they are both Brinker companies) was on Saturday. It was brilliant, as always! 

Then we went back to the hotel, exhausted!

Saturday

Breakfast was again a Hotel experience (hey, it's free!). The eggs weren't great, but my danish was good and the coffee was excellent. I needed the caffeine, because Ikea Day had finally arrived!

Now, for those of you who do not know, Ikea is like Disneyland for people who like to stop. It is a workout and a dreamland and a place to spend lots of time and money! 

I got to meet my good friend Camille and her hubby for a day in our favorite store :) I didn't have any plans to buy anything except a baby gift because I don't want to move too much stuff - after all that is why I had a yard sale recently. But, there were a few things I couldn't pass up. 

The first part of Ikea Day is remembering where you park

Here we are before the experience.

Sis

Mom

Me
(note my super cute
London Phone Booth Shirt!)

The next step is to have remembered comfortable shoes, to get a map, a cart, and a bag. It is also important to be properly hydrated and to bring snacks for your weaker shoppers so they do not get discouraged and make you stop shopping sooner than you would like to.

Off we went!

My purchases

Baby Gift Part 1

Baby Gift Part 2

I got the pink one, obviously

Pull out mirror!

Lunch was a super disappointing visit to the Ikea Restaurant. I had several rave reviews from friends about the Swedish Meatballs ... but let me save you your $3.95 and tell you they are sorta awful. The potatoes aren't even good (how do you mess up mashed potatoes?) The chocolate cake was pretty delicious, so if you need a snack I'd stop for that. Otherwise, the meal was pretty terrible and we all had stomach aches later that afternoon (which could be partially to blame on the long car ride home). 

Cami's 30 Day Photo Challenge Pick - from a High Elevation :)

That was the end of our trip ... the car ride home always takes so long!