TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS.

well needless to say, i started my summer off right. immediately after finishing my last 2 finals on tuesday, ally & i headed out to broomfield, colorado to check an item off my bucket list.. SEE TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS LIVE!
holy cow, it was so much fun! ally & i got into town around 5, & after driving around for 2 hours & talking to some locals we found out there is a FIRE BAN in the whole state... unfortunate, since all the food we packed required being cooked by coals or a fire.
so before i had a meltdown (anxiety, anyone?) we found an ADORABLE bed & breakfast right in town, with a very cool name:

wildflowers just so happens to be the name of my favorite tom petty album, so we felt it was meant to be.

after we checked in we wandered around trying to catch all the wild bunnies... seriously. there were probably 50+ little bunnies running around this place. it was the cutest thing. i was in bed by ten, thanks to my sleep schedule being all messed up from working at starbucks, so poor ally resorted to calling her bf & eating chips in the bathtub so she wouldn't wake me. luckily i stayed up long enough to see the most amazing sunset:

ya, it was awesome.

the next day we woke up & headed to BOULDER! i've been told by about 10 people that i "belong" in boulder, & so i've been very curious to check it out & see what people mean. sure enough it's the best place i have ever been to. it reminds me of 25th street in ogden, but about 10 times that size & filled with people 10 times as nice. we had people wandering up to us all morning! they told ally they loved her tattoo, & i got about 10 compliments on my tie dye dress. there were little shops everywhere, selling just about anything you can imagine. i bought luke a carved elephant & a dream catcher for myself! the lady i bought them from even threw in a free bracelet. score!

there were marijuana dispensaries (haha), little cafes & tea shops, clothing outlets, antique stores, & even a 100% vegan/gluten-free restaurant!!! ally & i thought that was amazing, since she is vegetarian & i'm eating gluten-free, & finding places to eat for both of us was kind of a challenge! the restaurant was called LEAF & was so delicious!

a bumper sticker shop...i almost bought gigi another tattoo.

this guy was SO COOL! he could play the bass standing like that, & he could play the guitar while standing on his bass! skills.

ally & i wandering boulder.

excited to eat at leaf!

after boulder we headed back to broomfield & found a cheap hotel for 80 bucks, that even had a shuttle service up to the arena where tom was playing. so we headed up to wait in line & ended up in FRONT ROW for the show.

regina spektor opened for him & was so adorable... i was stoked to see her perform! however, nothing compares to the excitement i felt when tom & the heartbreakers came on stage. ally & i were screaming! it was by far the best live concert i have ever been to. he played a lot of his classics, like "free fallin," "i won't back down," & "runnin down a dream," as well as some older songs i was very excited about like "yer so bad" & "you wreck me." it was amazing! for the finale, he came back on stage & played "mary jane's last dance," which has been my fave song of his for at LEAST 20 years, & "american girl." 

here we are before the show with our friend AJ. we were so excited!

the best part of the trip might have been when i got this picture message on the drive home. luke (who i'm pretty sure missed me a lot ;) haha), bought this acoustic guitar for me to jam to! how sweet is that boy? i spent the majority of the drive trying to remember chords & songs i used to know.. it's been over a year since i played, so wish me luck!

all in all, a fabulous start to my summer.