Shining Stars at the NightShine Gala

NightShine Gala has come and gone... Hallelujah!  Not that it's not a good time - and there's definitely fun involved - it's just a lot of work, and a bit on the stressful side.  This year's event was a success however, and we raised a significant amount of money for Denver Health - honored our famed CEO who is retiring in September, and danced the evening away to Earth, Wind & Fire.  The decor turned out beautifully, food was spot on, and my man was by my side to hold my walkie talkie (who has pockets in a gown?  I think I need to invest in a fanny pack?), we had a lot of friends and family support by volunteering (THANK YOU!).  And the parachutes hung from the ceiling worked out (kind of oragami like - not the intention, but cool anyway).  Enjoy la photos.

Hangin' with the band

Hangin' with the Governor

Assorted soups and ceviches

Partay!

Body progress

Here's the latest bodybuilding progress.  I got up to 240lbs around Christmas.  I maybe put on 3-5 lbs of muscle but a lot of fat as well.  In a lot of ways, I feel like I've put on as much muscle as my genetics will allow, without resorting to steroids.  I wish I could put on another 10lbs but doubt I will get there for a few more years.  Naturally, if I do things ideally, I could maybe put on 5-10 lbs of muscle in a year.  As always, the fastest way to put on muscle is to get kinda fat.  EAT, EAT, EAT!!!  See posts around New Years to see my fat self.  Most people don't realize that when I'm fat I'm also way stronger than when I'm lean.  This is true in general, power lifters are generally fatties but they are way stronger than their bodybuilding counterparts.  Performance vs. Aesthetics, always going to be a battle.

 I'm also a bit leaner than usual.  See striations in my traps? That's new!  I could definitely get leaner, I'm carrying some fat around my shoulders and back (I'll show more pics).  I would like to lose 5-10 lbs if Candice can stand my cutting self for a few more weeks.  We'll see about that....

I grew up kickboxing, so I love to burn calories hitting the bag.  One of the best cardiovascular exercised you can do.  Also, I'm spent in a relatively short period of time, which is nice.

Curvature of the lower and mid back is due to deadlifts.  Some sweet stretch marks and freckles if you look closely.  I should never try to tan, I just get all freckly.

 I've been working on my traps a lot the last few months.  Here they are, relaxed.

 Getting my pump on with the smith.

Holding your breath while flexing makes you more vascular.  I also look like I'm going to explode in this pic.  I don't even look like myself, weird.

 More definition in the serratus and obliques.

 Holding a little fat in my back.  I do like the V sweep of the lats though.  Lots of weighted chin ups and t-bar rows for that.   For the next while I might lose a pound or two but realistically, I'll probably just maintain for a while.  Being someone who is never happy with my body, I'm trying to learn to be content with where I'm at.

Perfect Weekend

Just had the ideal birthday weekend, perfectly orchestrated by Mrs. Farrington.

The celebration started Thursday night and ended on Monday pm.

Fortunately, my birthday goes down during restaurant week, so we got some discounts on some of Denver's best food.  Not all we ate is pictured but you get the idea.

Thursday night:

 Carne Asada, with sweet potatoes and mole colorado at Lola

 Fresh donuts

 Junk Food and fine chocolates

Next night we went to Stellas

 Tomato Rigate with cream and tomato sauce

 Best ciopinno ever

 Fresh chocolate chip cookie dough and milk, Candice makes chocolate chips cookies on demand.  That quality alone makes her my favorite person on the planet.

Saw Hugo, that night.  I thought it was going to be an action adventure with little kids.  It was way better than I had expected.  Totally recommended, especially if you have an affinity for silent films, which we do.

Waiting for calories in my new Ben Sherman shirt, love it!

Next morning, slept in, opened some presents and then went for brunch at root down.

 Amazing hot chocolate with a touch of chili and miso cinnamon whipped cream

 Banana bread french toast, maple agave syrup

 Sun dried tomato hollandaise for that benedict

Breakfast burrito, with chorizo and mole sauce

Guns were then rented at the shooting range where we practiced for the upcoming zombie apocalypse.  It's serious business.

 Pictured is the .40 Sig Sauer P229 and a HK .45acp sub machine gun

One thing you should know about zombies is that they only die from head shots. This is one dead zombie. This fella was  taken out at 25 yards.  I did miss twice, which in a real zombie scenario, could have been the end of me.

Then I went and got a massage, it felt so good.  According to the masseuse, my traps, butt and feet  were really tight.  I wish I could get a massage everyday.

Then we all snuggled and watched Project Runway

After an epic snuggle, we went to dinner at Ocean Prime

where we summoned the holy trinity of meats in honor of my special day.  Filet mignon with bernaise sauce and crab which was then finished is a cabernet jus, lobster tail, asparagus and garlic mashers.  Basically the best plate of food ever.  We ordered too much grub.

After dinner, we went and saw the The Artist.  Great movie, the hype is well deserved.

After the movie, a late night run was made to El Diablo where I got a taco al pastor and a braised beef number with cotija cheese and avocado.

Surely using some sort of black magic, the wicked chefs at el diablo take a chili relleno and stuff it inside a burrito, to produce the ultimate late night fattener.  

The 

next day I was greeted by a mcgriddle combo from Mcdonalds.  I know this "food"comes from a factory or some sort of mine but I pretty much can't resist it.  Once in a while isn't going to kill you, right?  Then we went snowboarding.

The weather was in awesome mode and there was no need for many layers.

Got home and went to my family birthday party where I gorged on homemade sushi rolls, gyoza, yakisoba and a very labour intensive (but totally worth it) coconut cake.

 Later that night, I watched UFC and Strikeforce until bedtime.  Mma is my favorite sport, so again, perfection.

Then yesterday, I ate coconut cake for breakfast, then a ton of amazing BBQ from Boneys.  Finished the extravaganza at Cholon for dinner along with a bunch of other good food.  Side note -don't miss the brussel sprouts at Cholon-amazers.

A huge thank you to all the people who made my birthday weekend so special, especially the long- legged blond who always rocks my world.

Nothing good can come out of a list made a 5am.

It's 5am and I just had a Birthday.  It's time for a little self-reflection and life lessons I've found to be true.  It’s generally a list of clichés but whatever.  Let's do this.

1.  Pleasure is really important to me.

2.  I get teary eyed more often than I'd like to admit.  Probably once or twice a week.  That's probably weird for a dude but it's who I am.

3.  It generally works out better if you listen more than you talk.

4.  Don't wait to do the things you've always wanted to do.  This is one of the most important things.

5.  I'm a worldly person in a good way.

6.  Don't let your work define you as a person.

7.  Experiencing things that are out of the ordinary bring me a lot of happiness. 

8.  Goals are hugely important to me because they help me to live deliberately.

9.   Most people my age seem older than I do.

10.  I have genuine envy for people who feel passionate about their work.

11.   Balance really is the key.

12.  Cowards really bother me.

13.  My family is one of the greatest sources of happiness in my life but they can also drive me crazy.  This is probably because I care so much (this excludes Candice).

14.  I'm a little insecure about "fitting in."

15.  I'm not a very spiritual person.

16.  Generally speaking, I'm a confidant person.

17.  Most people are boring.

18.  It bothers me when people don't like things they've never tried.  Crack cocaine, hookers and Russian roulet are exceptions.

19.  I'm a worldly person in a bad way.

20.   Physically, I’m a little ugly and I’m totally ok with it.

21.  Being in your 30's isn't bad at all.  You have a better sense of who you are and what's important to you.

22.  Staying up really late, doing something fun or slightly naughty, is a great way to feel young again.

23.  Americans work too much

24.  Comparing yourself to others isn’t usually going to be a good thing although it’s unavoidable.

25.  Helping people is an easy way to feel connected and happy.

26.  I've been blessed with maybe 5-6 friends in my life.  I'm not always great about staying in contact but I'm fiercely loyal and think about them more often than they probably realize.

27.  I'd rather sacrifice and wait for what I really want than go for what is easy or convenient.  I think this has given me character.

28.  Sometimes I feel like there is very little that I have control of.  This is, at times, a great source of frustration and at other times a source of peace.

29.  I constantly evaluate what I want to do with my life.  I think this stems from the fact that I don't know what's coming around the corner.

30.  I had hoped this blog would originally be a place where I could document what was going on in our life and how we felt about things.  It's not totally what I had imagined, not as gritty.

31.  Physical activity is vastly under rated for happiness.

32.  Most people under-season their food.

33.  Kindness, generosity and tolerance are really attractive qualities.

34.  My wife is super hot and awesome, she makes me so happy.  Choose your spouse carefully, I don’t know that I see tons of awesome marriages out there.

35.  Having experiences that put your life and problems in perspective are refreshing and important.