Life Transplanet

Yesterday we decided to go and hang out. Our roommate had her mom and sister visiting from out of town, so we wanted to make ourselves scarce. So we went to Lake Loveland again and walked around the lake. Then we went to Starbucks with some gift cards we received from a relationship class we took.

Outside with the Kress Marquee

Then last night we decided to go out to see a movie. Instead of going to the big movie megaplex we went to the Indie movie theatre called the Kress Cinema and Lounge here in Greeley. We really like the Kress and it’s a nice place to take friends and family, or go out on a date like we did. They’ve remodeled the building and given it a sort of art deco feel from the 40′s.

We saw a movie called “Barney’s Version”. It was a pretty interesting take on the traditional love story starring Paul Giamatti. At the Kress you can eat and drink (including alcohol) which is very different from other theatres that only offer popcorn, pop, and candy. We shared a “Charlie and the Chocolate Brownie”, a brownie and ice cream dessert. Also something different about Kress is that they have FREE showings of old cult favorites (on Fridays) and classics (Sundays).

Afterward, we hung out and listened to a live jazz band that was playing in the lounge for a little while before taking the Corvette back home. It was a great day all in all.

Me and Britton outside Dicken’s Tavern in Longmont

Last night we went to Dicken’s Tavern/Opera House in Longmont to celebrate our friends Troy and Lori’s recent marriage. Britton has been friends with Troy for a long time. Britton and Troy’s brother, Kelly, even went to elementary school together! But they really all became good friends when they worked together at IBM and had the great idea to put a band together.

Troy, Kelly, Dave, Britton and Jimmy -and lots of pizza circa 2003/2004 at Scooters I believe

This band was known as Pan Loco for all the pizza and crazy bread they would eat when they would practice together. They were really a pretty good cover band. Britton played bass guitar, Jimmy played guitar, Troy played guitar and keyboards, Kelly played drums and Dave sang. It was fun. They got gigs on what we call the “8th Ave Circuit”. Basically they are the kind of seedy bars in Garden City like Scooters and Bears. But it was a blast. We invited all our friends out and we rocked out all together.

Pan Loco poster

The band sort of just stopped playing together. Nothing major happened, just life. Everyone was busy and it was difficult to schedule practice times around everyone’s calendars. But for that moment in time, it was great. I was dating a guy in a band! haha

Some of the band looking sharp: Kelly, Troy and Britton

The best thing though, is that we all became good friends and so it was nice to see Troy and Lori and Kelly and Jimmy all together again for the reception. We had a lovely meal at Dicken’s Tavern and then got to watch a  live band upstairs in the Opera House. It was only fitting.

Congratulations Troy and Lori!

Troy and Lori

Last night we went out to a Halloween dance party in Greeley. My friends Shana and Marjorie are in a belly dancing group and have performances now and then. This one was a Halloween costume party and everyone was encouraged to come dressed up. Shana dressed as a nun (which is doubly funny since she is Jewish), Britton went in his afro wig as usual, and I dressed up as a bunny rabbit. We saw some other pretty creative costumes like Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (a flight attendant with diamonds on her outfit), the Mad Hatter, and Smegal (sp) from Lord of the Rings.

Leah (aka Lucy), Shana the Nun and Me the Bunny

Before we left the house I noticed that my black and white bunny outfit looked an awful lot like Schnoodle, so she even got into the festivities:

Schnoodle Rabbit and Cassie Rabbit

Shana changed out of her nun costume into a hoodlum get-up. She says, “I left the habit for the hood”.

Lorena, Shana and Me after Shana’s costume change

Our friends Lorena and Adriana came out with us after the dancing and we had drinks at Coyote’s Grill just a block over from the dance studio.

A bunch of misfits: Britton, Adriana, Cassie, Lorena, Shana, Leah at Coyotes

While we were over at Coyotes we started to see people coming in in black tie attire. At first we thought they had had a costume party too, but no, they were coming from the Greeley Chorale. It was quite the mixture of people. Our group dared me to walk through all the tuxes in my bunny outfit, and I did to their cheers. It was pretty funny.

We took the Corvette out so it was a fun night all in all.

Britton drove the Corvette with an afro

On a side note, I loved my fake eyelashes but I could never wear them daily, what a pain!

Check out these long lashes!

Last night we hopped over to Fort Collins to check out a local band Trichome.  We’ve seen them a few times at different venues.  They held a free show in support of their CD release party.  We went with our friends Matt and Jamie and Isaac came down from Lafayette CO.

Before the show started.

RockBand, the game did a pretty good job of describing the progression of a band.  You start off doing small shows then bigger and bigger and gain more and more fans.  Trichome has done a pretty good job and now they are releasing their CD.  We have noticed a change in their style too.  What we first appreciated about them was their ability to play reggae.  They’ve taken on a more funk/disco persona from what we’ve seen in the past.

Cool Stage Lights

I think for us the change in music style isn’t exactly what we like because we’ve followed them as a reggae band. But  I wish them well and have seen a remarkable improvement in their performances.  They are getting more and more professional and it seems that they have a pretty big following!

Short Video Of their Entrance (video sound really sucks)

Yesterday we went out to Oktoberfest in downtown Greeley like we did last year for a little while with our friend Shana. We met up with my mom, her sister (my aunt) Laura, and my grandma. Laura has just moved here and is staying with us in our downstairs bedroom as a roommate and it is working out great.

Oktoberfest with family and friends

Me and Britton (and a Polish sausage)

The Polka band and dancing

Afterward, we went over and visited with our friends Matt, Jamie, Chad and Erin at Chad and Erin’s new house in Windsor. We stayed out pretty late, but at least we got to sleep in today.