Par-tay!!

Well friends, this weekend I got to celebrate turning 21! And I learned that I really do have friends! All this time at school feeling like I barely knew anyone, and I had friends for my birthday! It was a fantastic weekend and I was so very grateful for everything and everyone! 

The weekend started with dinner at Old Chicago. Man-Cub and I met with his roommate and girlfriend then my friends from Greeley came down with all their boyfriends/husband. It was good food and good times! And Old Chicago was really nice and gave me a free birthday shot! It was tasty! And Man-Cub had 6 vouchers for free beer so we shared those and I ordered my first beer! It was Blue Moon and by the end of it, I'm just not sure how people eat pizza and beer regularly...I was SO full!

The company was great and I was so happy to have friends from Greeley to celebrate! Unfortunately, three of them had to be at work at 7 on Saturday, so they couldn't go out with us. But at least they made it to dinner! For which, I was very grateful. :)

After dinner we went our separate ways. Man-Cub, his roommate and girlfriend and I took our leftovers to the car and went to meet up with some CSU friends at my first bar! I felt really stupid having to show my punched out ID and new license paper, but it was all good once we got inside and our friends waiting for us had already ordered a drink for me! It was so fun! After that drink, they ordered some Irish car bombs. These were simply terrifying because I can't drink fast, but you have to with this drink. A whole group of us took them so obviously, I had to snap some pictures. 

After that adventure, Man-Cub ordered a birthday cake shot for me. We had been given strict instructions that he should hold the lemon chaser for me, so we had to oblige. 

After that drink, we kept moving. By the end of the night we had gone to 5 bars and I learned that Old Town is even more fun! I was so grateful that everyone was willing to come celebrate with me and I had so much fun!

Saturday we slept in and Man-Cub tried to get us a tour at the New Belgium brewry. Because weekends are so popular, the tours were booked full until June. Because that didn't work, we decided to try Odells brewry. We went over there and met up with his roommate, but upon arrival, remembered there was a special music festival and there was a live band, meaning it was PACKED. We obviously weren't getting on a tour, so decided to head to New Belgium just to get a few samples.

Once we got to New Belgium though, we asked if they had any drop outs from the tours. They said they always have drop outs so they put our name on the call list. We got our samples, found a table, and about 45 minutes later, got called for the tour! We were very excited! I'm not a huge fan of beer, but it was still fun being able to try them all! 

 The men had SO much fun and loved ALL the free samples. Seriously, so many. 

One of our favorite parts of the tour was that they let us pour our own samples. It was pretty difficult, but super cool! 

 

Then when we got to the bottling building, they gave us 12 minute old Fat Tire. The guys were REALLY excited about that. haha Watching the bottling was my favorite part of the tour though...look at all those. And it only takes 8 people at a time to monitor.

The last sample we had was of the 3 year aged sour beer. It was the guys' FAVORITE sample and they were super excited they got to try it for free! 

The whole brewery was so cool and such a fun experience, even though I don't drink beer. haha If you're ever planning a trip to northern Colorado, you should definitely try and sign up for a tour at one of the brewery's...New Belgium was pretty fun, so you should start there. The company even seemed super cool and employee friendly. They had on-site horse-shoes, a volleyball court, and even a Frisbee-golf course.They also have a slide that they let us all go down. :)

It was a fun weekend and I'm overwhelmed with gratitude for the friends that I've made and the good times they are willing to share with me. And now I feel so grown-up being 21!!