Kill Two Birds With One Stone

Can you call giving your number to two different men in one night killing two birds with one stone? Ah, Menver...gotta love it! Cara (Dallas), Kara (Iowa), and I volunteered for the Great American Beer Fest (GABF) last night. The event is the largest beer fest in the nation and was held at the Convention Center downtown. Hundreds of breweries come out to let people sample their beers. Since we volunteered, we didn't have to pay the $50 fee to get in and could still drink all the beer we wanted! We worked for the Lakefront Brewery pouring their assortment of beer, one of which was the perfect tasting pumpkin beer. It quickly became my new favorite job...if only it paid my rent.

Anyhow, I met some interesting characters, many of whom towards the end of the night, were quite drunk. The girls and I took a few breaks and wandered around the many breweries ourselves...tasted a couple of other pumpkins, none of which were better than the Lakefront Lager, and I also tried a blueberry one, which was different...nice to taste, but I don't think I'd want to drink an entire bottle of it. I also met the man who owns the Sam Adams Brewery. He came by the Lakefront table and I asked him to taste the pumpkin...I wanted his opinion. He said he wasn't big on flavored beers, but he did anyway and said he thought it had a nice flavor...a hint of nutmeg, but not too overpowering.

I met a handsome guy while I was pouring who I enjoyed talking to, but the line was backing up so our conversation was cut short. I did notice that he was with his Dad, which I decided was just about the cutest thing a handsome boy could do. Some of Kara's (Iowa) guy friends who she knew from a summer volleyball league were working at a brewery down the hall, so we linked up with them on our next break and went down to this hilarious dancing area...I say it's hilarious because the people dancing are wearing headphones and can hear the music, but as an observer, you can't hear the music, so it just looks like people are randomly dancing around. I had to get in on this. So I'm doing my thing, having a damn good time, when Kara (Iowa) points out that the handsome guy (let's call him GABF) is watching us! So, naturally, I decided to back my ass up so that he could get a clear view of ME! And it worked! Because when we left the dance floor (of course to get more beer because we were thirsty) he was standing right next to me, so I took the opportunity to strike up a conversation (INSERT APPLAUSE HERE PLEASE). I never know how to initiate a conversation, and maybe it was the pumpkin beer I had been sipping on all night, but he was holding the water pitcher that you use to clean out your glass before getting another beer and I asked him to fill mine up and somehow we got to talking...and he remembered that I was the girl pouring the pumpkin beer! YES!!! Anyway, he's from Iowa as well (which by the way, I've noticed TONS of people here are), but has lived here for about 8 years. He works in a law office, although he's not a lawyer. He even brought his dad over, who told me that he was excited that he just turned in his ballot for Obama since he wouldn't be home to vote on the 4th. Good man. So his dad (and brother) left and we chatted for a few more minutes, he asked for my number, and walked me back to the brewery where the girls were. He texted me last night to see if I wanted to get together on Sunday, so I'll have to text him back today.

BUT WAIT!!! OUR NIGHT DID NOT END THERE!!! After the beer fest was over, we went out with the boys who Kara (Iowa) knew from volleyball. There ended up being about a dozen of them and three of us...nice change! See why it's called Menver?? And I hung out with this cool guy who lives in Boulder (we'll call him Tryst because that was the name of the bar that we went to). He was really easy to talk to and I enjoyed his company. So when he asked for my number, I thought, why the hell not?!

So, it was a good night, to say the least. Who knows if I'll actually see either of them again (although I think there's a good chance I will), but it was FUN! Cara (Dallas) has pictures of our night, so when she emails them, I'll post them up!

I'm going to the ballet with Doug (the fourth grade teacher at my school) tonight. I have already given him the "this needs to remain a platonic relationship" speech considering that we work together and frankly, I don't think I'm really romantically interested in him, but I think we'll have fun anyway. I'm excited about wearing my cute black dress and black boots and it's COLD this weekend, so I get to pull out one of my favorite winter coats! We're meeting up with some other friends from work afterwards, so that should be fun too!

More to come tomorrow. Sorry about the sporadic writing, but work consumes me during the week. I'm working on a better balance of work and play, but it's a process.

Happy Weekend!