Happy New Year! I haven’t posted a new blog post in a little bit so I’m actually pretty excited to be writing about my trip. Colorado was everything I knew I needed yet didn’t know I needed all at the same time.
This wasn’t my first time going to Colorado, it’s actually my third time, but this was my first time staying for more than 2 days or doing a turn around around trip, so needless to say I was very excited. People that live in Colorado literally live a different life, but it’s dope and I was glad to experience it.
How I Packed
As an LA girl I don’t own a lot of cold weather or snow weather gear, but fortunately it only snowed toward the end of the trip. If you watched my stories the Thursday we were leaving, I shared what skincare products I took, but didn’t talk about my clothes. I’m not going to make this super deep, but I am going to list all that I took. I had plenty of clothes to last the whole trip. I’m also big on packing with intention; My fiance and I packed 1 suitcase, we’re experts at sharing 1 big suitcase when we travel.
- Shoes |3 Pairs | Uggs, High Top Chucks, 1 Pair of Heels
- Pants | 8 pairs | 2 Pairs of Liquid Leggings, 3 Pairs of Cotton Leggings, 2 Pairs of Jeans, 1 Pair of Sweats
- Jackets | Came with 2, left with 3 | Fur Coat, Crew Neck, Marmot Hoodie
- Tops | 10 Tops| 4 White Tees, 3 Screen Tees, 1 Long Sleeve, 2 Sweaters
- Other/Misc | Pajamas, Neck Scarf
I had enough outfits to last me especially because we did certain things for a full day so that was super helpful. Having my fur was a really good decision on my part and instead of packing it, I wore it because packing it would have made our bag heavier. If I didn’t have my jacket I’m sure I would have been or could have been colder, but I was actually very warm. I layered my top half to compensate for my torn jeans. Having high top chucks was helpful because it kept my ankles warm without always needing super thick socks. It wasn’t the worst chill, but it’s definitely not our 50 degree LA cold.
How Long We Stayed
The reason we went in the first place was because my it was my brothers birthday and he really wanted us to come hang out and live the Colorado life for a few days. Our total trip was 5 days, which was plenty of time to do everything that we intended to do. We had full jam-packed days that were mostly spent being active which was nice because then I didn’t feel half as “guilty” about going out on the town after.
Day I | 12/27: We arrived Thursday night, I was extremely excited and could not wait to get there, I really didn’t care what the plans were as long as I was present for them.
Day II | 12/28: We slept in (much needed) and went indoor rock climbing and bouldering. If you saw my stories while I was there, rock climbing is when someone balay’s you and makes sure you have support going up. Bouldering is when you free climb and let gravity work with you. I’ve rock climbed before but not to the extent of this. I mean the place was huge, it was full of people, but not crowded; it’s just a Colorado thing.
Since it’s cold, there are plenty of indoor activities to take on and this was one of them. My brother knew a ton of people there, he climbs and boulders regularly so it was nice to be in his element and see Colorado through his experiences. We did that for about 5 hours. Got there at 1:00 left at 6:00.
We were gonna meet up with some friends that evening, but chose to go our own route and went to a cool little Irish Bar which had good food. From there we went to downtown Denver and went to two more bars.
My personal favorite spot was a place called Avanti’s. It’s a two story bar that has super chic modern vibes, not only is it a bar, but it has like 8 places to eat inside which is super dope. They had everything from Poke to Jalapeno Fries, Pizza to Vegan options. It had a good buzz to it and we got a discount on our drinks because we were from LA.
We actually didn’t eat the first time we went, we had a drink and went to another bar literally less than 5 minutes away called Forest Room 5.This bar was definitely not like Avanti’s, it was almost as if it was based in the forest in a log cabin. The inside was super rustic, they had a vending machine with old school books and movies. They had games and old school movies being projected onto screens in different locations.
My favorite part about this bar was actually the outside. There was 3 fire pits with logs surrounding them, a tee-pee, a waterfall and stream and another screen to watch the same movie that was playing inside. It was definitely super dope. We met some really cool people because everyone is super friendly out there and we just hung there for an hour or so. If you had a chance to read my #ColoradoConvos story, that is where the fur conversation took place.
After that we called it a night and I pretty sure I singed just a few hairs on my coat, nothing too noticeable.
Day III | 12/29: Saturday night was my favorite night as far as being out and about in the city. We chilled for most of the day, my fiance took me around downtown Denver to see all of the little spots and then we got ready to go out. We started our night off by going to a place called Retrograde. It is a speak easy that has a full on ice cream shop in the front. Super dope because in order to get to the speak easy you had to go through a heavy duty freezer door and once you’re behind it, the vibe is totally different.
The menu was designed an old school vibe and each drink was laid out in a font that basically added to the experience of which one you could choose. The taste of each drink was very unique, but the experience was fun so it was worth it.
From there we went back to Avanti’s which was dope because this time I actually got to eat at one of the food spots. We met up with a bunch of my brother’s friends, it was like 15 or 20 of us, the group kept growing and we just hung out and ate and drank. I had Poke Nachos and my fiance had these crazy fries that had jalapenos and all kinds of stuff on it. Both were good, very filling and perfect for a night out with friends.
From there we went to this club called Mile High which was this like industrial warehouse type of club it was actually so fun. Attached to the outside of the club, they had a whole tented area with another bar which was nice because it wasn’t crowded there, so we hung out there, got the party going and stayed through midnight to celebrate my brother. The DJ was playing all the right music, better then what some LA DJ’s play so we were hype and super impressed. After that we called it a night because we had a long day of skiing.
Day IV | 12/30: We went to Breckenridge to ski for a half day which felt like a whole week in my eyes. Skiing is not super easy at first or at least it wasn’t for me and it was super crowded at the resort because it was the holiday season. Nonetheless I survived my first experienced, didn’t quit even though I really wanted to and managed to ski all the way down a nice run that led us straight to the parking lot.
Day V | 12/31: New Years Eve was a good turn up. We started out by brunching for too many hours; which of course there is no such thing, but we drank a lot of champagne. The place was a super cute martini bar and restaurant called The Corner Office. The food was delicious, the drinks were flowing and the group kept growing. I was also enjoying NYE because it finally snowed which was all I wanted. It snowed the entire day and it was just stunning to look at.
I had a huge breakfast burrito with beignets as my starter; my fiance had chicken and waffles with this insane cinnamon roll as his starter. The cinnamon roll could have easily caused an instant cavity, it was SO sweet but SO good. We got there at 11, didn’t leave until like 4 and by that time it was definitely time to go. NONE OF US DROVE, we fortunately got picked up by a friend who lived up the street and decided to go to the mall and shop for a little bit.
AFTER THAT, we went to visit my girl Lauren and then proceeded to house hop the rest of the evening because in Colorado you can actually do that with everyone and everything being in Denver. We stayed out ALL day and literally drove home as the clock was striking midnight.
All in all, I wouldn’t change one thing about that trip. I learned that I should be more active and find new ways to work out and try new things. I learned to go with the flow and not need a schedule or a particular answer to what it is I needed to do. I learned to let go and just be; I was planning on doing all of this blog work while I was there, but I did what I could and kept it simple. The energy and the vibes in Colorado are super dope and I can’t wait to get back.
Did you go anywhere in particular for the holidays or do you have a trip coming up? Tell me about it in the comments!
