It's finally all happening, the Warrens have hardscape!!!!!

It's happened...after 2 months of waiting and planning (and 7 months of living in the house with a mud pit for a back yard), we finally have concrete!!! It's looking so good out there, I can't believe how quickly it's been transformed.

First, they placed the rebar (sp?) while Galileo supervised. And then, the concrete trucks and about 47 dudes (I might be exaggerating) showed up. I was at work so I'm so glad Robbio took all these pics so I can see what I missed. I guess our cute little neighbor kid sat in his window all day long and watched all the big trucks and dude stuff - adorable!


By the way, an extra fun fact: our main concrete dude's name is.....wait for it....Beaver. Seriously, Beaver. Can't go wrong there. Here's Beaver and company in action:

Here's our landscaper contractor Mike supervising: And here's the finished product, isn't it gorgeous? I love all the curved seams. You can see where the slate is going to go, around the BBQ and up to the courtyard:

The steps coming into the backyard that will have ground cover in between: The east side of the house where the trash cans will be kept:
This is my favorite part: We really wanted to sign our names in our garage as it was being built but the Shea customer service reps somehow knew we would be THOSE PEOPLE and put the kibosh on it...so we definitely wanted to do it during landscaping because dang it, we can. Since I wasn't there and the concrete was drying quick, Rob did it for us. Unfortunately Galileo wasn't cooperating so some of the landscaping guys tried helping Rob push G's paw down - I get this great visual of a bunch of manly dudes trying to force this little white paw into submission. ha! Needless to say, G protested and it came out all funky, but dang it, it's beautiful and makes me so happy:


At the end of the day our slate was delivered. It's called Beijing Multi Colored and it's gorgeous, lots of reds and yellows - very warm looking. They delivered 5 crates-full, and we're hoping they won't need all of that...or again, someone has to sell a kidney. :) I've been freaking out because they had to leave it in our cul-d-sac and I had a momentary paranoia that someone might come steal it all. Rob intelligently pointed out that it would take a major effort and forklift to do so, but it still scares me to have thousands of dollars of stuff just sitting out. Supposedly slate is going in on Monday, woot woot!!!

Flowers for days!

Wowza, two non-house related posts in a row....hold on to your butts! Amazing, I know. (although, they are doing rebar out back today and scheduled (hardy har har) to pour concrete tomorrow, so stay tuned for more on the landscaping!)

Last weekend we checked out the Carlsbad flower fields - I'm simply amazed in the 13 years of living here that we'd never gone! It was simply stunning, flowers as far as the eye can see. Or, is it eyes? I'm no cyclops, you know.

We wandered around for a few hours taking pics, it was a glorious sunny day with a soft ocean breeze - perfection! Enjoy:
You know we love us some cut outs:

Vegas!

Vegas, by way of Denver - I'm no geographic genius, but I'm pretty sure we took the long way :)

We had planned a trip to Vegas for the 14th anniversary of my 21st birthday and then learned that our dear friend Judi was turning 40 and Jeff was throwing her a surprise birthday party....so of course we had to tack that on to the front of our trip - we adore Judi and it was so fun to be a part of her surprise!

Galileo helped us pack: And we were off and the crack o' dawn: We spent a lovely day with Dad and Patti after meeting one of Judi's friends at the airport and dropping her off to surprise Judi on her own. Unfortunately I didn't think to take any pics of our day together, but we had a great time chatting. And then, we were off to dinner!

Rob and I sat at the bar and waited. and waited, and eventually Judi walked into the restaurant with her entourage...and didn't even see us. We were looking at her for a while and laughing our butts off watching her oblivion when suddenly she let out a blood curdling scream and launched herself into my arms. It was fabulous, we were crying and laughing all at once and I had somehow gotten punched in the nose in the exchange, it was too dang funny.
It was way too brief (definitely broke our records for the quickest Denver trip EVAH) but a nice time hanging with Jeff and Judi and gang...We didn't think to take too many pics at dinner either, but I'm sure Jeff will post some on his blog soon (no pressure, right?), called Can O' Pringles, to the right of our blog there------------------------------------------------------------------------------>>>>>>
won't a double blog post be some sort of universe-changing, heavens-opening, angels-singing, pigs-a-flying, snowball-in-hell-a-flinging, apocalyptic event? Hold onto your butts!

And then, with only 3.5 hours of sleep, we were off again! We look pretty sleep-deprived and caffeine-laden here, I love it.We were staying at the Vdara hotel in the City Center and it was gorgeous - they totally hooked us up with a stellar view for the bday girl!Some other sights: Dick Butkus and Batman. Not together, but only in Vegas, right?
We did some shopping and Rob was STOKED to learn he could wander the mall with me while drinking beer. I'm telling you, I'd get to go shopping WAY more here if we had those same laws.We also had some great eats - at one of our favorite breakfast places in the Venetian, Robbio always likes to get the Fried Chicken and Waffles (I know...I'll let that combo sink in for a minute). Doesn't he look so happy: The first night we got dolled up and went to some KILLER sushi...we didn't lug our camera with us, so we took some dorky shots in the room only (other than Rob's phone camera)

The 2nd day was truly one of my best days EVER! We spent all day at the Canyon Ranch Spa - I had a 100 minute cocoon wrap and massage, and I was really making some num-num noises and fully in my happy place...sigh. We then got dressed up again and went to one of the best dinners we've ever had, at Sage in the Aria hotel. Seriously - go there. And ask for the waiter Bond - he's my new gay best friend.
Rob had the foie gras brulee and was DEFINITELY making some num-num noises: I had the lobster casconelli appetizer and it was amazing: for dessert, Robbio had the carrot cake - the icing was in the middle, and when you cut into it, it melted out in a blob similar to a souffle, I mean, seriously? Get in my belly!

I had some delicious heavenly combo of chocolate, peanut butter and crunchy stuff. Slap. Yo. Mama. (Not MY Mama, your own).
After a seriously heavenly experience at dinner, we continued to swoon our way through the Beatles cirque show, LOVE. It's the 3rd time we've seen it and we've adored it each and every time - majestic!

We were on a winning streak that night and on into 3 am of my actual birthday, man I love the Palazzo and Venetian!

and we should have stopped there, but unfortunately the next day, we left the proverbial deposit with Vegas. But don't worry, we'll be back to collect soon.

Whew, we're home! I promptly crashed out on the couch, and clearly Galileo was more than happy to assist in nap duty.