A Wild Week

Whew!

I've had quite the eventful few days, hence the utter lack of blogging lately.

Let's review, shall we?

On the Fourth of July, I went to a late brunch with The Boy and BFF.  We hit up one of our favorite breakfast places, the Drake Diner.  I threw the diet out the window for the holiday and ordered the eggs benedict (with the hollandaise on the side).  It was yummy.

Then, we gathered up our other besties and headed out on an epic bike ride.

First, l have to tell you: I love my clip-ins.  They are not nearly as difficult as I thought they'd be, likely because the dude set them to be as loose as humanly possible (and therefore the easiest to get in/out of). And, riding is soooooo much more efficient, as you get momentum pedaling down and up.  I had no reason to be scared of them.

Anyway, the bike ride was not so much a "hardcore workout" but rather a leisurely ride to various establishments on the bike trail.  First, much to BFF's chagrin, we headed to Orlondo's.  It's a dive right off of the trail and on the outskirts of Water Works Park, and it turned out to be quite great.  We found a spot on the shaded patio, grabbed a beer and a free koozie, and chatted up some other cyclists for a while.

We then hopped back on the trail and tried to hit up Confluence, a relatively new brewery in Des Moines.  Again, it's right off the trail, just behind Gray's Lake.  Unfortunately, they were closed for the holiday.  Wah wah.

So, we made the best of it and continued on to Mullet's, one of my favorite patios in the city.  We grabbed a spot at a long table, ordered another drink, and grabbed a few apps for the table to share: the Waikiki pizza (seriously, pineapple on pizza is heavenly), some fried pickle slices, and some chicken nachos.

Finally, we headed out for the trek home and quickly discovered that whatever route we took would include some pretty darn intense uphills.  We decided to go for a long-ish hill with not such a steep grade, and it took us off the trail and through downtown.  (I got to really practice clipping in and out on this stretch!)

We made our last stop of the journey at a neighborhood favorite, Wellman's on Ingersoll.  While I am not super stoked with the service at this particular place, the patio is pretty spectacular, and you know how I love a good patio!  We had a couple more drinks (gotta stay hydrated!), and I annoyed BFF as usual:

Just kidding: she loves me.

While The Boy and I had planned on hitting up a Fourth of July celebration with live music, fireworks, beer, and fun later that night, we were pretty pooped from our long day in the sun and instead ordered take-out and watched TV, hitting the sack around 10:00 or so.

I swear we used to be cool.

I ended the day with a pretty sweet tan:

On Friday, I worked out bright and early, cleaned the apartment a bit, and then pretty much lounged around most of the day.  I even declined an invite to the pool because I knew the weekend was going to be jam-packed with outdoor fun.  On Friday night, The Boy and I headed out for an impromptu sushi date and then grabbed Identity Thief from Redbox.  We both thought it was good, but we were both expecting it to be a lot more entertaining.

On Saturday, The Boy and I headed downtown with The Crew (our bestest friends) for Des Moines' annual two-day music festival, 80/35.  (We skipped Friday.)  We had a blast wandering around, lounging in the grass, drinking beer and eating festival food, listening to loads of live music, people watching, and having fun.

View of the main stage from our spot under the tree -- likely from a laying-down vantage point.

Find the Emmy!

Keeping cool with BFF in the water fixture in front of our blanket.

Hanging with The Boy.  How cute is he?

I have the best BFF in the universe.

Seriously: the best.

The only band I really went up close for was Wu-Tang.  I wanted to see them because they are just so darn iconic/legendary/famous, but I was not so much feeling the music.  First, they came on about an hour late, which was just annoying.  Second, I just did not understand it: there are nine guys, and it sounds like they just yell back and forth during the "songs."  Clearly Wu-Tang is just not for me.

This was a tough selfie:

But we succeeded!

After a crowd surfer landed on me and The Boy (about three or four songs into Wu-Tang's set), we decided to call it a night and head back to our car that was parked at BFF's house about a mile away.  After a day of walking around in flat-bottomed flip-flops and sweaty legs, my feet and inner thighs were so ready to be done.

(You're welcome for that visual.)

Despite Saturday's all-day festival being over, I'm not quite done recapping the Wild Week, believe it or not.  To wrap up the weekend, MB (hey girl, hey!) and I hit up yet another show at my favorite Des Moines venue: Simon Estes Amphitheater.

How gorgeous is this?  I am so lucky to live in Des Moines.

Simon Estes is an outdoor amphitheater that is situated on the east side of the Des Moines River, smack-dab in the middle of downtown.  Every summer, they host Nitefall on the River shows.  I've seen acts like Mat Kearney, Erin McCarley, Colbie Callait, and more.

Last night, we saw The Lone Bellow and Brandi Carlile.

MB is a huge Brandi Carlile fan, and I didn't know anything about her.  (Turns out I did know one or two of her songs, but whatev.)  Regardless, I absolutely loved her by the end of the night and definitely want to get some of her music.  It's totally my kind of stuff.

Thanks, MB, for such a fabulous girls' night!  I love you oodles and oodles!

So there you have it, friends: I had quite the eventful few days!  I'm ready for a somewhat relaxing week ahead, prior to my sister's bachelorette party this Saturday.  Eeeeeee!

See you tomorrow with a recap of workouts and recipes!

How did you spend the Fourth?  Have you been to any great concerts lately?  Who wants to go see Kid Rock with me -- St. Louis in August?