Hot Dogs

I am just saying, I love them. Hot Dog Shirt + Hot Dog = Awesome.

Check it at www.nataliedee.com

Baby #2

Corazon "Cora" Kinney, AKA Baby #2, came into the world Sunday night at 10:33 p.m. This is the second child for my friends Annie and Randy Kinney, and Cozette now has a baby sister.

I went to visit the new addition to the family and her parents Monday tonight, and she was quite delightful, as you can see. And that is me holding her, and I don't even look freaked out! Wrapped up in that blanket she was like a little burrito baby, and seriously, seriously awesome. Annie is doing very well, too.

Health Care First and the 15 bus

Having worked in health research for almost four years, the state of health care and access to health care in the U.S. has become of higher interest to me. I also am taking a Health Care Policy and Politics class this semester, so I was intrigued upon hearing there would be a “Health Care Reform Forum” on Wednesday morning, Day 3 of the DNC. My co-worker Patti and I headed downtown (my first ride in 5 years on the Denver light rail!) and it was a well-spent two and a half hours, as we heard from several legislators, governors and other major players regarding what needs to be done in the 1^st 100 days of the Obama administration to make Health Care First. One of the most powerful speeches came from a 13 year old boy who had to relearn to walk and talk following a car accident that left him with a traumatic brain injury, who spoke about the importance of having health insurance.

A highlight for me was hearing former South Dakota Senator and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle speak about the importance of improving access, lowering costs and improving quality of health care in the United States, as well as destroying the myths of how the U.S. has the best health care system in the world—when it is far from it.

The overall highlight was hearing Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton speak. It was my first time seeing her speak in person, and she didn’t disappoint. She discussed making health care affordable to all; moving forward legislation at the beginning of hopefully soon President Obama’s first term; that there is no option of doing nothing; the importance of modernizing the system to make all records electronic; and to press hard outside legislative sessions to make health care reform a reality.

I had on my purse a “Health Care First” button and as I was riding the 15 bus home from Obama’s speech Thursday night, I gave the button to a nurse on the bus who asked where I got it. Then I got hugged by a drunk Polish man who REALLY LOVED Jesus. I’m just saying, that 15 bus, it’s never dull.

And wait, that's not all for Tuesday

We left the Watch Fest before watching, so Patti, Laura and I viewed Hillary's speech from the comfort of the apartment with some wine. I thought it was well-delivered and a great choice for an orange pants suit!

After our little watch party, I picked up Mbayja and we decided to check out some action downtown. We ended up at Theorie, which some of you Denverites will know as the former Denver Real World house. We ended up talking to a 25-year-old delegate from Minnesota who is an Iraq War Vet and was SUPER and I mean he was SUPER excited to be at the convention. Also had an interesting chat with a fellow from New Zealand who was in Denver on business and had never been to the states before, but was fascinated by the high level of interest in politics here; especially the protesters aspect, the large number of police, and the general hoopla. I was pleased to learn he found Americans overall more friendly than he anticipated, plus, he bought me a Manhattan.

Of course, Mbayja and I had to get our pix taken on the red carpet. Naturally.

Tuesday with the DNC in town

Tuesday night my friend Annie and I headed over to City Park to volunteer for the Denver Dems Watch Fest. Turns out, we mostly watched, too, as there wasn't much for us to do, except for watch the opening musicians. But as you can see, we managed to visit a huge, inflatable art exhibit in the park, and we saw Bobby Kennedy's son Max speak. We also got to where those impossible-to-miss florescent yellow t-shirts, but alas, they had to be returned.

Below, Annie with the inflatable art. There was no sign explaining its purpose.

Using all my strength, but it resists.
Max Kennedy, son of Bobby and Ethel Kennedy, gets the crowd riled up!
They finally got that fountain working in the middle of City Park.
It's even pretty all lit up with the inflatable art!

Some more pix from Day One of the DNC

Me, modeling at the Convention CenterSeriously, the Big Bear can't even get in the Pepsi Center. Pretty much how I feel.
Soooooo many cops downtown! See it, believe it.
Cops on big bikes, and a protestor.
Robo-cops (notice the guy taking the pic super close).

A small part of history

Yesterday I lent a good part of my day to volunteer at the Democratic National Convention here in Denver. I did not have the sexiest of assignments--I was part of the Greening Team, and my duties included standing next to trash, recycle, and compost receptacles and telling people where to place what. Problem was, my new buddy from Nashville, Mbayja and I were in a corner where no one else was. We were able to see parts of the African-American Caucus though, and see two protesters be escorted out.

After awhile, we started wandering looking for other fun things to do, when we got tricked into volunteering in the kitchen with Susan, another volunteer. This was pointless except we got to see all the desserts being made for the events, and one of the cooks made us french fries on the sly. Here we are wearing our hairnets and showing off our rubber gloves.

We ended up escaping after lunch to wander the convention and I was able to purchase 10 pieces of Obama flair (buttons, if you will) and meandered down the 16th street mall. The only celebrity I spotted was Willington Webb, Denver's former mayor. Below are pictures of me, trying to be excited at the beginning of the shift, and of my favorite Big Blue Bear as I left the Convention Center.

I returned home for a few hours, than made it back downtown where I encountered an overly talkative ABC news producer whom I could not shake for the remainder of the evening. I joined a few friends and saw the end of Michelle Obama's speech, but since I had been downtown mostly since 6 a.m., I headed home around 9:30. My friend Alice got in though to the Pepsi Center! I also have some fun photos of police in Riot Gear that I will post later.

It's a really exciting time for the city having the DNC here, and even more exciting is that I have credentials to get into Obama's speech on Thursday at Invesco!

More to come

Not a lot of time to post now, but lots of fun adventures have been had! We just saw the 2nd deepest canyon in the world, and are going mt. biking down a volcano tomorrow.

Lots of pix of course, too!

OK I will try and post manana. Hasta Luego!

Primera dia en Lima

Our one-day stop in Lima proved interesting and tiring. The owner of our hostel sat us down with a map and showed us many fantastic places to go with lots of recommendations--especially for food. This was awesome, plus his name was Frances, but we were all in dire need of naps, so a bit prolonged. The best part was though, that everytime he told us of a new food he would say "You will put it in your mouth, and you will lovvveee it!" (He turned out to be right, too).

I'm finding my Spanish can get us by just fine, and we've learned from guidebooks Laura brought to negotiate a price to our destination BEFORE entering the cab. This didn't stop our first cabbie from trying to rip us off--we had set a price of 6 Solis to get to a restaurant for lunch, and upon arriving, he demanded 15, which I refused to agree too. We were in a bit of a bind, because we only had 10's as our smallest bills. Finally, after me stating several times "Ud. dice NUNCA quince!" He gave me 2 solis change for my 10. He also seemed to be saying that it was a fake 10, but I was like, "Yo recibo del banco esta manana!" haha, anyway, paying 8 for a 6 solis ride did not seem bad after that.

We went to lunch at a place Catia recommended to me as well as our hostel owner. El Bolivariano in Pueblo Libre was fantastico! We had cepiche as well as a lot of other seafood and some potato and yucca that were great, and of course, some pisco sours. After lunch we visited Plaza Mayor and I talked to some policemen because they were everywhere; apparently there had been some protests recently, and we were right by the Palcacio de Gobierno, but I couldn't really understand all they said.

We took a tour in English of la iglesia de San Francisco, which has Catacombs where over 25,000 people are thought to be buried from the Fransiscan era. There were also hundereds of people waiting outside for, from what I could discern from asking a few people, was some kind of workers conference or organizing. We made a quick stop at Plaza St. Martin, then got a cab to an ocean-view park called "Parqe de Amor", yes, the Love Park, which was a wonderful place to stop at around 5:30 (remember it is winter here; the sun sets early). People were hanggliding (or maybe it was paragliding) and the ocean view was spectacular. The park also had a long wall that looked mosaic with several phrases about love painted on it. Of course, there were several people making out, which was cliche but, admittedly, pretty cute all the same. The picture is of a huge statue of two people making out, haha, I love it.

We meandered for awhile, and a bought a stocking hat (tuke for you Canadians) with Apacas (small llamas) on it from an artesan market. We ate at a small Vegetarian restaurant en Miraflores, but I waited to get dessert at a different place on our walk back to the hostel. We had 3 different desserts, and I remember none of the names right now, except one may have been Cimmayo (I am slaughterhing that). We leave for the airport to fly to Arequipa in 30 minutes. I think we are skipping Puno for an extra day there.

Oh and it is Independence Day here on 28 de Julio, so there are flags everywhere; red and white; very fun!

Bienvenidos a Peru

We made it to Peru! A bit early and without any problems. My friend from Denver, Catia, who is from Peru arranged for her parents to meet us at the airport, and they even had a sign with my name on it, but we were a little early so they did not get to use it. Her parents, Jorge and Karla, were so nice and got us two taxis to our hostel in Miraflores, aways away from the airport.

Our hostel is very fun and has a lot of character; I'll try and post some pix at some point. They have dos paredes (walls) with tons of pictures of other turistas who have stayed here in the past, as well as posters, shells, cameras and some musical instruments.

Nothing too out of the ordinary as far as the travels thus far, besides slight confusion in Mexico City as to how to get to the terminal for our Lima flight.

I forgot on International flights you get free booze; I had some nice whiskey yesterday afternoon on the plane, as well as diet coke and cafe. I love vacation! Besides the fact I have had the same clothes on for 24 hours, things are good.

(Oh and there are fake flowers planted next to the computer I am at; Me gusta Peru!"

$400 and a DS Lite, a good day

Saturday turned out to be a great day.

But perhaps a bit of back story, first.

On Thursday, as I drove home from the gym I called my friend Todd and found out his team needed extra players for volleyball right then. So instead of driving home, I drove to Wash Park across town and played a delightful few hours of volleyball, which I hadn't done since last June.

After the game, I was asked to play in a volleyball tournament that Saturday. It turned into an all-day volleyball extravaganza, with our team snagging the championship, and a $400 gift card to some local establishments.

On top of that, an hour and a half later I went to a Nintendo Party for only women , from which I left with a brand new Nintendo DS lite, in exchange for me playing four different games for 2 hours, including Mario Kart and Guitar Hero. Not-to-mention, they had free food, wine and lollipops.

To top if off, yesterday, I watched the rest of Season 3 of Weeds, a fabulously clever show on Showtime, went to brunch at Annie's Cafe since it just moved a block from my house, and rounded out the day listening to jazz in the park.

It's been a great past few days, to say the least. And I love summer!

Willie's B-Day!

I freaking love Willie Nelson so hard FO-EVA and it is 75th Birthday today!!!

Holla holla holla!!!

That warrants exclamation points all around.

I think I have seen Willie in concert 5 times; It was never a disappointment.

I am having friends over for Wine Night tonight and the play list will be only and all Willie Nelson, with the exception of possibly one Snoop Dogg song. Fo shizzle.

I put Bacon on my Bacon

Last night, I headed to a lecture and dinner at The Lab in Belmar. I have been there a few times before, but was especially excited last night as the subject of the lecture was on one of my Top 5 Favorite Foods, BACON.

That's right, bacon.

I went solo, and ended up seated to a very interesting 60-something year old woman named Lynn, who is originally from Northwest Iowa, so we had lots to talk about pre-bacon time.

The lecture consisted of two speakers; Chef Jorge de la Torre, who is the Dean of Culinary Education at Johnson & Wales University in Denver, and Pete Marczyk, who is owner of Marczyk Fine Foods in Denver. The night included a sampling of bacon infused vodka and bloody mary mix (delicious and I HATE bloody mary's!), a You Tube clip of Chicken Fried Bacon (well worth the time to watch it! Scary and reminiscent of not only Texas, but for all you midwesterners, you will love it), a discussion of the parts of the pig and where bacon comes from (the belly)!, as well as a delicious dinner that included bacon candy and a peanut butter bacon truffle from a new restaurant in the Stapleton neighborhood of Denver that I am blanking on the name of right now, but that I am TOTALLY going to again. There were also a few other fabulous pieces parts of the meal, all with bacon in them, including a jalapeño bacon cornbread.

It was fabulous to be in a room of over 100 people who all LOVED bacon. I mean, it truly is fabulous. I also learned that while Riesling is a great wine with bacon, you just can't beat bacon with PBR. Turns out there already is a Bacon Ice Cream, which I invented back in 2006 and am convinced someone stole the idea from my blog. hahaha. At any rate, both lecturers were entertaining and engaging, the food was fabulous, and The Lab again had mini Miller High Lifes, what more could I want on a Thursday?

I want this t-shirt.

CC Sami

Just so you know what a cotton candy sandwich looks like:

Irish Breakfast

Since it's St. Patrick's Day, my friend Jim had the idea of going to the British Bulldog pub for an Irish breakfast. It was quite tasty, as you can tell from the photos below. And yes, I am wearing green in honor of this fantastic day o' the Irish.

Beard Season

I love beards.

Laura (my roommate) pointed out to me on Monday that the Denver Post ran an article regarding beards on Monday. I found that quite fantastic.

And, as Beard Season is pretty much from November through March (maybe through April in the CO) it is now nearing its end. Maybe I can convince some beards to stick around into the summer, though.

Pink Tights Day

Yesterday was Pink Tights Day, so basically the day that I wear my Pink Tights from Target to work. See below:
Scary picture, yes, but a reason for a great day!
Today is not pink tights day. So it is more sad. Pthhh. hahaha. Oh well.

FAILURE

As most of us know, yesterday was Valentine's Day. My roommate Laura had heard about an art opening called, most appropriately for the occasion "FAILURE" that was occuring at The Lab in Bel Mar (which is in Lakewood, a western-bordering suburb of Denver). So of course, we went. With promises of love songs played on the oboe, cheese fondue, readings of bad poetry, and Ms. Pac-Man to be played, who could resist?

To be sure, it did not disappoint. An added plus was Laura running into an acquaintance with an adorable three-year-old who I had the pleasure to converse with regarding her amazing ability to slide in and out from under a picnic table carefully placed on Astroturf. The art was interesting, featuring work from I believe 34 different artists and their interpretations of failure. They also had two old-school typewriters set-up so patrons could type their own messages of failure--or whatever else their heart's desired on this loved-filled day--and place the cards they typed on in a box for others to peruse.

In addition, mini 7-ounce bottles of Miller High Life, yes, that great Champagne of Beers, were available FOR FREE. I also was able to snag the Ms. Pac-Man joystick for seven straight games, where I was unable to get past 8,610 points, but which my friend Jason (a pleasant surprise he ended up attending the same event) promptly beat into the ground with a score of around 15,220, to claim the High Scorer prize. It was really great to have that love for Ms. Pac-Man revitalized, let me tell ya. Oh! There was also life-size shuffleboard a la retirement homes in Florida. We played with a lovely older gentleman with a kind of white mullet who was afraid he might spill his pinot.

Overall, a quite enjoyable Valentine's Day evening, with several things I love: good friends, mini-Miller High Life, and Ms. Pac-Man.

(On a side note, Laura and I did go to another bar after the art opening, on Colfax, where we nearly got puked on by a stranger. But perhaps that is a story for another day).

Yes, We Can!

If you haven't seen this yet, I think it is pretty cool. Caucus is tonight in the CO! Last night I was at a caucus training and saw Forest Whitaker for a minute before I had to go, he was speaking for Obama. Cool things happenin', people. Get involved, it's exciting!

Yes, We Can!

Obama!

I saw Barack Obama speak today in D-Town, and it was very inspirational.

This pic is from my cell phone--obviously I was pretty far from the podium--but I have a few more I will try and post later on.


Obama was motivating, engaging, and funny, referring to the fact that in November, George W. Bush will not be on the ballot, nor Obama's "cousin," Dick Cheney.

Some info from an MSNBC article. I should have took a picture of the long lines outside!

"Eighteen thousand people showed up to see Obama in Denver, the site of the 2004 Democratic national convention and what Democrats see as a state that could go the Democrats' way in 2008. Obama spoke to an overflow crowd of 4,500 at an adjacent gym, and also addressed a second overflow crowd of several thousand at the university's lacrosse stadium. The Denver Broncos' Rod Smith and Federico Pena, the former mayor of Denver, were also on hand and spoke to Obama's ability to bring change."