For Love of Annie's Cafe - Denver Favorite

Hanging out in the lobby of Annie's Cafe,  I briefly wait for the hostess to say goodbye to a few regulars. I see a display case showing candy favorites from my childhood - Saltwater taffy, chocolate malt balls and gummy worms. The hostess has wrapped up with her customers and  is now leading me and my friends back to a wooden slat booth, reminiscent of a park bench (sounds uncomfortable, but really isn't). The decor is whimsical and retro with classic metal lunch boxes stringed across the restaurant and the TVs are playing The Wizard of OZ.

Sitting with the likes of Knight Rider and Pac Man, I can't help but wonder why more people don't know about the place. By people, I mean people that I know. Specifically, I was at The Bluebird Theater (a block away) and I mentioned that I wanted to go to Annie's, to a group of friends, for some green chili fries and they had no idea... this annoys me slightly, but only to the point I take my unsuspecting friend for an amazing spiked milkshake. I am a Denver native, but have only learned of this local treasure a couple of years ago and they have been in business since 1981. This amazes me because the service, food and atmosphere are great! Annie's is a diner, specializing in REALLY good comfort dishes and spins on the classics. For example, they have all the traditional omelettes, but then they also have a  Mac n' Cheese Omelette.

Originally drawn in by promises of pie, I have since discovered so much more than pie. Some of my favorites include:

•  The House Green Chile - I like smothered on fries with cheese OR as a side with the house made chips. You can get the chips smothered, but I like them crunchy. 
• The Hopscotch - Delicious on a cold day... it's hard to go wrong with hot chocolate and butterscotch schnapps.
• Fried Pickes - Yummmmm!
• Pie - Pick any one; they are all delicious. 

The Deal - Annie's Cafe and Bar has Happy Hour every day from 3-6 and has nightly food specials Wednesday - Sunday 

Annie's Cafe and Bar

3100 E. Colfax ave

303-355-8197

M-F 7am-10pm, Sat 8am-10pm, Sun 8am - 8pm 

Extra 20% Off Groupon Sitewide - LAST DAY

For those who haven't seen already, Groupon is offering up to an extra 20% OFF today.  Below I have listed a few of my favorite deals if you need some additional inspiration.

•  Dinner for Two or Four at Cuba Cuba Sandwicheria (Up to 36% Off)
•  Upscale American Food or Brunch with Bottomless Drinks for Two at 730 South (Up to 47% Off)

• -Course Italian Dinner for Two or Four at The Wooden Table (Up to 38% Off)

• $20 for $40 Worth of Health and Beauty Products at Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy

• Air, Fire, Water, or Earth Spa Day for 1 or 2 at Lotus Holistic Health Spa, Salon and Fitness Studio (57% Off)
• Half- or Full-Day Snowshoe and Fondue Trip for One from Apex Ex (Up to 84% Off)

Lose Twice as Much Weight - Fitness Trackers Keep you on Track

I'm a big fan of information. The more informed that I have, the better able I am to make informed decisions. The same is true for diet and exercise. In fact if you are trying to lose weight, tracking what you eat can double the amount of weight that you lose. Kaiser put on a 20 week study of both men and women; 1,600+ participants. The entire group was on a reduced calorie diet, however some people tracked what they ate while others did not. The surprise result of the study was that the people who tracked what they ate lost twice as much as those who didn't keep track of what they ate. Read more about this study here.

Successful programs such as Weight Watchers are founded on the principle of tracking. The good news is that you don't need to join a program with monthly membership dues to take full advantage of  the benefits of tracking. Personally I have journaled, tracked points, and worn a pedometer, but my favorite trackers thus far have been the app plus wearable tracker combo. The major players in this category are Fitbit, Jawbone UP, and Nike Fuel. I have not used Fitbit or Fuel, but I can speak to the Jawbone UP.

The Jawbone Up system is the tracker system that I have been using the past two years. It does a lot of things, but the short version is that it has the ability to track both calories expended through activity, calories eaten, and your sleep cycle. My favorite feature is that you can set it to vibrate if you have been idle for certain periods of time. Also you can give it a window for when you want to wake up. Then when you are in a lighter sleep cycle it vibrates to wake you up.

Why am I posting this on The Denver Deal? Because I use my UP every day and I paid around $130 for mine. Browsing the deals today, I came accross the exact version that I use and it's on sale through Groupon for $49.99 ...what! The next lowest cost I could find for this is at Best Buy for $65.

Groupon - Jawbone $49.99 - $69.99

Groupon Goods