Happy Birthday To Me...

I might sound a little conceded, but I love my birthday! Ok, I love people's birthdays in general because it's YOUR one special day out of the year. I generally take the actual day of birth pretty seriously and want no other celebration beyond that, but this year things were a little hectic on my actual birthday (Feb 24). The whole week prior I was out of town and my husband Reid was slaving away to re-do our hardwood floors (that post will come at another time). So when I arrived back at home, we still had to let the sealant dry so all our living and dining room furniture was crammed into our sunroom. So I let the birthday cake slide this year, and Reid had already said he had a surprise planned for me the following weekend. So what I got on my actual birthday was knowing my "surprise" which is the whole purpose of this post.

For my birthday this year we ventured to Leadville, CO to have dinner at the Tennessee Pass Cookhouse. This is a restaurant that sits back 1 mile on a trail where you either cross country ski or snow shoe in the winter and then hike in the summer. This was perfect since I got some XC skis for Christmas! A few weeks prior, I tried to take the skis out because I knew they would have something to do with my birthday, and let me tell you it was a DISASTER! Later we determined it was the conditions of the snow mixed with my ski having no wax on it, so we set up a lesson before dinner just so I knew what I was doing. Great call! I had so much fun and now feel much for confident on my skis.

Having some hot cocoa and cider before my lesson

Beautiful snowy view from the loft

So now for the dinner. We left from the Tennessee Pass Nordic Center, and they suggested you meet around 5:30. You must make reservations as well as pick an entree so they can get everything up to the cookhouse to prepare ahead of time. The weather was the perfect winter setting for our evening. Snow all around, a light snowfall coming down, temperatures just right for bundling up but staying warm on your workout up there. It was so calm and peaceful! We arrived at the cookhouse and I made sure to take some pictures before it got too dark. We weren't able to see the views due to the snow, but I can only imagine there are some pretty spectacular views from their patio. We headed inside to a nice warm atmosphere lit only by candlelight. We sat down and soon enjoyed our 4 course dinner. Oh and did I mention we were kid and dog free on this trip :) So nice to get out just Reid and I and enjoy some time together.

The Cookhouse

The trail leading up to the Cookhouse

Thanks for my birthday present

Mmmm....beer!

Mmmmm....alcohol-free wine!

I must admit I was a bit nervous for the trip back down to the nordic center as we only had headlamps to rely on, but it was surprisingly fun and I got a little bit of downhill practice. We got back to our car about 8:45p and still had to make the drive back to Denver. Unfortunately the weather picked up a bit so our drive home was a little more cautious than we would have liked. But we made it back safe and sound with our sitter telling us how perfect both Snyder and Carson did. Definitely a birthday to remember!!