A few weeks ago I met up with a couple of my old, dear friends for a long weekend in Boulder. Bev flew in from Kansas City while Laura, who moved to Boulder from Fayetteville several years back, played tour guide and set up the loveliest weekend for us. Timing our flights just right, Bev and I arrived in Denver within minutes of each other on Thursday morning. Before we even left the airport we were already sipping cocktails, diving into the girl talk, and I surprised us with matching bracelets to commemorate the trip.

Photo by Bev

From the airport bar we made our way to the amazing Four Seasons Denver for a little relaxation to kick off the weekend. We had wine and snacks by the rooftop pool while we waited for our spa appointments. The Four Seasons treated us each to a massage, which was amazing after an early morning of travel. The spa was heavenly – from the sheets (where can I buy those?!), to the relaxation room – this was the perfect start to our trip.

Leaving was hard, but we were excited to grab a bite to eat at the cutest little restaurant across the street and then make our way to Boulder! This was my first true Colorado experience and, thanks to Laura, we definitely did it right. Bev has already outlined (and narrated) our entire trip perfectly over on her blog, so check that out to see even more.

Our first stop in Boulder was to our adorable little Airbnb. When booking this trip, I had a really tough time. Nearly every hotel was already booked and the ones that were available were motel-like quality for nearly $500 a night. Even the Airbnb options seemed either scarce or scary. Turns out, not only was the triathlon Ironman taking place that weekend, but also a Greatful Dead reunion. So basically we couldn’t have picked a more “Boulder” weekend to go. Finally though, I struck gold. I stumbled upon an Airbnb that had just been listed. It was in the best part of town and was less than $300 for our entire three-night stay. Only catch was that it was so new there weren’t even any photos yet. I messaged the owner and she responded almost immediately calming my fears – she snapped a few photos for me and I immediately hit the “book now” button. If you followed our Instagram Stories on that trip, then you saw us drooling over this place our entire stay. It looked like it was out of a fairytale. It was the cutest little backyard cottage, coated in beautiful flowers, situated by a babbling brook. The decor was not only comfortable, but was very Instagram worthy (so naturally Bev and I felt right at home – hah).

After getting settled, we headed over to Laura and her husband Eric’s, condo and had a relaxing dinner catching up, drinking wine (because, duh). We had all of Thursday and Friday to spend in Boulder and our itinerary was full of the perfect mix of activities. On our first full day, we started out by walking to a local coffee shop for breakfast and then we walked even further on a hike up a freakin’ MOUNTAIN! That’s right, we hiked all the way to the top of a mountain (then sat for a while), and then rolled down. Okay, we hiked down too but that part wasn’t as impressive. It was beautful though and photos of course don’t do it justice. After spending over two hours doing physical exercise on vacation we obviously earned our next drinks, so we did a little shopping and beer drinking downtown. Knowing that eating and drinking were going to be at the center of everything we did on this trip, we enjoyed a lovely dinner at Arcana and then it was time once again to return to our fairytale cottage.

Our last full day started out by walking to the Farmer’s Market, where I guzzled fresh watermelon juice, and then it was off to brunch! We did a little thrift store shopping and then picked up the loveliest picnic from Cured. Realizing that we had the most perfect spot for a picnic at our Airbnb, we set up shop by our brook. Another fabulous thing about our rental? The owners! They joined us for wine and were just the loveliest. The house became so popular that sometimes they have to pause the listing, but you can also find the renter here!

For our last afternoon, we headed over to yet another rooftop pool for (more drinks) and a little sunshine. After another lovely dinner and meeting even more lovely Boulder folks, our trip was quickly winding down. It was just the right amount of time and just the right amount of activities for visiting the quaint, yet lively town. After seeing all the beer selections and all the cyclists, I’m now convinced that Todd needs to visit, so hopefully we can go back one day soon as a family.