Weekend in Review - Concert and Trivia

Another weekend come and gone... how fast they seem to go :)

This weekend felt like a good mix of doing stuff and relaxing.

The weekend started on Thursday night... where I worked out and watched Project Runway finale.  I'm bummed this season is over, I really like that show!  The two people that got first and second where the two I picked to win based on their runway shows, although I think it was pretty obvious that entire episode... so it's not like I predicted anything crazy haha.

On Friday morning I got up and worked out and then headed over to Dan's.  We got lunch together (Chinese buffet) which was nice (the getting lunch together the buffet was only eh).

That night we did a little running around and then met his friend Kyle and his friend Melissa at Buffalo Brewing Company.  This place is right next to Pappy's in case you were wondering.  It was good, the beer I had was good and the food was too.  We got pizza and pretzels.

After dinner we went over to The Demo to see a band play - LucaBrasi.  The lead singer of the group is friends with Kyle.  This is my second time seeing the band, the first was last September at the Fire Bird, but they were playing U2 cover songs.  Anywho... The Demo is connected to Atomic Cowboy in The Grove.  It was a lot of fun, although my ears were ringing into the next day :).  After the show we hung out at Atomic Cowboy until almost 2 am... I was beginning to get sleepy!

LucaBrasi playing at The Demo

What's written on the bathroom wall at Atomic Cowboy... with my creepy ghost-like figure

The fire pit in back and hey... you can see Kyle in the pic

We got back to my car and as we were driving I hit my windshield wipers and something flew off.  I thought out loud, geez, I hope that wasn't a parking ticket, but didn't think too much of it...  (I'll just go ahead and finish this story).  The next day when we saw Kyle again he's like did you get a parking ticket too - and it was like dang I hoped it wasn't that.  Luckily I was able to take a picture of his ticket and was able to pay it online today.  It's just so annoying to me that they wrote us a parking ticket and didn't put it in a place where we could see it.  Like had it flown off, when would I have gotten the notification?  How much would I had to pay in late charges? Ugh... it's just annoying to even think about... but luckily that didn't happen.

Curses!!

On Saturday we lounged around in the morning and then headed over to Kyle's house... which we hung out at until Trivia Night!!  I've probably said this about a million times, but trivia nights are so much fun.  This one was good too, it was small, but I was actually helpful - TV theme songs - check... pop culture - check... Will Ferrel - check... sadly all those rounds were first so I wasn't as helpful as the night when on, but whatever, I did something dang it!!

I made a dip, but it was way overshadowed by the other food at the table, including Dan's amazing Captn Crunch rice krispie treat things... yum!!

In the end we got second place!!  Out of 9 teams, but whatevs, we had a good time.

On Sunday it was really just relaxation... Dan took a nap and I watched a bunch of episodes of How I Met Your Mother on Netflix.

Countdown to the next weekend has begun!!

Cupcakes - Part 2

Fair warning - totally stupid post... but whatever... you may remember when I posted about cupcakes before... and who not do it again??

Michelle's birthday was a couple of weeks ago, and she buys us cupcakes (probably something I should buy her, but I did get her the mini magnum gold ice cream bars so I did bring her something sweet)  And she lucked out b/c Jilly's had two of her favorite cupcakes in her birthday month.

Here they are in all their delicious glory

Is your mouth watering?

The one on the left is Space Monkey - which happens to be the cupcake they made to win Cupcake Wars on the Food Network.  Michelle tells me they usually just feature it for a random week here and there, but never for the month... but for her birthday they did - haha.

Space Monkey
Cake: Banana Toffee
Filling: Dulce de Leche Toffee Caramel
Topping: Caramel Swirl Cream Cheese Icing, Astronaut Ice Cream, Chocolate Star

This cupcake was delicious - almost tasted like banana nut bread, but without the nut.  The filling was sooo good too.

The one on the left is Key Lime

Key Lime
Cake: Vanilla
Filling: Key Lime Curd
Topping: Key Lime Cream Cheese Icing, Vanilla Buttercream, Vanilla Wafer

This one was really delicious too... it was a lot lighter tasting than the Space Money, but in a good way.  I actually really like light tasting desserts, like lemon cake... so this one was delicious, the filling was so good and that green around the edge was like sugar or something and gave it a delicious crunch.

Here's a picture of the inside...

Space Monkey on bottom, Key lime on top

Jilly's really does have wonderful cupcakes, I highly recommend trying them... and as you can see the monthly ones are big!

Weedend in Review - A nice break

My weekend started out on Thursday (man, I love having every Friday off... someday when I inevitably have to change my schedule I'm going to be super bummed).  I went to Zumba with my sister and then just chilled at home.

On Friday morning I was planning on getting up early and working out, but I slept in and it was amazing!!  Seriously, it was great to just sleep in!

My sister and I had plans to have lunch at one of our favorite restaurants - The King and I. It is Thai food and it is delicious.  I will say that they re-did the restaurant and the food is different.  While it's not the same as it was, it's still good, I just liked the old stuff better.  The vegetarian spring rolls were amazing - the flaky shell and the sauce - YUM... but now they are different.  So it's a bit of a bummer.  I still like going here, just sad they changed recipes.

After the lunch we headed down the street to Cheap Trx.  Lindsey had a lot of business to attend to at the tattoo/piercing shop.  Mostly she wanted to make an appointment to get her dream catcher tattoo touched up.  Lately when we've gone in there they say you have to make an appointment, but surprisingly they were able to do it right then - and it went quick too.  The tattoo looks so much better now (although we totally should have taken before/after pics)

When we got back home I went to work out and then up to Dan's.  Friday night we really didn't do much, but he got a new BBQ pit - so we had some yummy barbecue.  We made bratwurst burgers - and they were delicious.

On Saturday I met Susan and we got pedicures (she got a manicure too).  It was a lot of fun to relax and get my toes all purty.

Yes... I took these just as I was writing this blog

After our relaxation we went over to CJ Mugs for a bridal shower for a coworker.  It was an great bridal shower, they did a really great job and I'm so happy for my friend.  I wish I was able to go to the wedding, but they are getting married in Florida and I just don't have the money :( but I can't wait to see all the pictures!

ignore the one on the far right... not really friends with her anymore...

Saturday night, we really had a low key night at Dan's... he made some more meat on his grill (pork) it was tasty!

Sunday was a lot of the same... just hung around his apartment, except to run to the grocery store... but after the busy-ness I've been having lately it was really nice to just relax.

Weekend in Review - Dan's Birthday - (new recipe too)

It was quite a full weekend!! 

On Thursday after work my mom took me to get my birthday present from her - a new pair of tennis shoes.  I really needed a new pair now that I'm trying to work out more (hopefully a post about that at some point)

I love them a lot... they feel good on my feet (so far) - and the picture doesn't do the color of the laces justice - they are much more vibrant in person... and they make my feet look smaller - score!

On Friday I woke up and worked out and then headed over to Dan's.  We then headed over to Gateway Race Track for his birthday present - getting to drive a Lamborghini around 3 laps of their road track.  I bought him a Living Social deal, otherwise I think it would have been way too much to be worth it.  He got to choose which car to drive (there was four options).

It was really cold out (luckily they had an indoor observation deck) and I was able to get some pictures (they have packages you can get with real professional pictures)  I think he had a lot of fun... although I think he was too small for the Lambo.

trust me, it's Dan

I have a video of him driving too... very exciting I'm sure

After he finished his driving experience we went grocery shopping for the party the next day.  The rest of that night we relaxed and I began to cook things for the party - the cupcakes and the jello shots.

I decided to make two kinds of jello shots - one of Dan's choosing (which was grape since he likes grape drinks).

That one I followed a recipe online
2 cups boiling water
2 3-oz grape jello packets
1.5 cups of grape vodka (I used 3 olives purple)
1/2 cup cold water

And I made strawberry lemonade since Liz requested strawberry or lemon... so combined (even if she didn't have any of them)... they were REALLY good... I invented my own recipe for this one...
2 cups boiling water
2 3-oz strawberry jello packets
1 1/4 cups lemon vodka (I used skky I believe)
1 cup lemonade

I also added a slice of strawberry to each shot for fun.

I didn't have any of the grape shots, but the strawberry lemonade were really great!!  I heard the grape ones were stronger, but that would make sense since there is more vodka in those already.

On Saturday, I prepped some more food and then we packed up and headed out for the day.  First, we stopped by my mom's house so Dan should look at a light in the kitchen that stopped working.  He was able to fix it (he's so handy!!)

Then we headed over to my aunt and uncle's where the party was.  My cousin secured the house for us (my aunt and uncle gamble a lot at the casino and have free credits for the hotel... it's super nice of them to let us use their house.)  I finished prepping some food and then started drinking and hanging out.  It was so much fun that night.  We were going to have a party for Dan and Liz (since they have the same birthday) but I guess it mostly ended up being a party for Dan.  A lot of people came and everyone seemed to be having a very good time.  I know I had a lot of fun.

I made some food - I made the jello shots, cupcakes (yellow cake with chocolate icing), sausage dip, taco dip (sour cream, two packets of taco seasoning and shredded cheese), and little smokeys.  Dan also made tri-tip and chicken wings and Andy made sausages.  All the food seemed to go over real well.

I really enjoyed the party - I love this time of year when you can sit outside on the porch and just hang out and have a beer... love!

On Sunday, my dad gave us some amazing free tickets to the Blue's game... check out how close we were to the ice

Too bad the Blues lost to the Blackhawks and they didn't even score... boo... but it was fun.  I would say the crowd was at least a third Blackhawks fans...

Sunday afternoon we were just worn out!  We lounged around and took a nap... but the weekend was pretty amazing - just one of those great weekends where you hang out with great people and have a great time.

Already looking forward to the next weekend!

Ragu Chili Mac and Rhubarb Pie - NEW RECIPES

I haven't done this in awhile - but I've tried a couple of new recipes in the last week or so.

First we tried Ragu Chili Mac. I've been seeing this advertised on tv... and if you know much about me you know I love chili... and especially chili mac... so I wanted to try it.

It was super easy to make and while the recipe only calls for one tablespoon of chili power, I probably put double that in.  I also added crushed red pepper because Dan and I like things spicy.

It mostly tasted like meaty pasta with a hint of chili, but I still liked it, and can't beat it being super easy... I might make it again.

The second new thing I made was a Rhubarb Pie.  I have never made a pie much less a rhubarb one so I googled it and ended up going with the first recipe from Allrecipes.com since it had a ton of great reviews.  I made this pie for Dan's 30th birthday since he's told me before he loves it.

I couldn't believe how easy it was.  Pretty much just dump everything in and let it cook.  I cut the rhubarb in about 1-2 inch pieces.  I probably should have gotten more rhubarb and Dan said maybe cut the pieces smaller next time (I really didn't know).  I also added an egg white wash to the top and sprinkled with white sugar - This made it look really good.

Ignore the crust in the bottom right... someone was eager to try it

It tasted really great!!  I wanted to get a picture of the inside, but I totally forgot.  I texted Dan the next day to get a picture, but he said he had eaten it all by then (he must have liked it!).  It was really tasty, I don't think I've ever had a straight rhubarb pie before (I've had strawberry rhubarb).  Rhubarb is a bit tart, so it was a tart pie, but mixed well with the sugar so it was a good kind of tart.

I thought it was strange in the recipe that you mix up the flour and sugar and then put a third of it on the bottom and then put in the chopped fruit and put the rest on top and close it off... one of the comments said don't mix it up b/c it makes the crust better, and that seemed to be correct.

It was sooo easy to make, and I figure since Dan likes it I'll make it again sometime.  Not sure it's as good as his Grandmas, but I think I did a good job!

Weekend(s) in Review - Catching Up

I haven't done one of these in awhile... but I broke down my DC trip into days which accounts for one weekend... so I'm only two behind - that doesn't seem so bad.

March 29-31

On Friday - I pretty much told you what happened in my birthday post about the birthday happy hour at Patrick's that I totally forgot to take pictures of...

That Saturday, my dad's family celebrated Easter at my aunt and uncle's house.  I hadn't been to a family celebration in awhile so it was nice to see everyone.  Dan came with me too, so he met a lot of people for the first time.  It was a good time, although I mostly hung out with the cousins.  My cousin Andy's kids were there and boy were they hopped up on some sugar - they had so. much. energy.

Saturday night we really didn't do anything, but that was totally fine with me.

Sunday we went over to Dan's family's Easter celebration.  This was my first time meeting his extended family.  We usually have family celebrations going on at the same time in two different directions so I would go to mine and he would go to his.  I decided to skip my mom's family's celebration this year since it's smaller and I had spent a lot of time with her during the DC trip.  It was nice to be able to meet all of his family and the food was good too.

After we ate I played some ping pong with some of his family.  I didn't completely and totally suck - so that was a win.  I will say I was much better at singles than doubles... I really couldn't get the whole switch with your partner never other shot thing down...

April 5-7

On Friday I hung around my house for awhile and watched some TV... it was nice having a lazy morning in bed.  Around lunchtime I headed up to Dan's and brought Pizza Hut.  I got their dinner box which is a medium pan pizza, bread sticks and cinnastix for $10.  I think that's a pretty great deal if you ask me.  Believe it or not, Dan can't get Pizza Hut delivered to his place (only Domino's and Papa Johns) so he misses getting it sometimes.

That night we decided to go to a bar to watch the Blues game.  We went to Bobby's Place which we've been to a couple of times before, but never to watch the Blues game.  It would have been a lot of fun I'm sure, but the service was terrible... so after just one beer and one period we went back to his apartment where we made dinner on the grill - brats, potatoes and asparagus - yum yum!

On Saturday, Dan, his friend Kyle and me when to the Art Fair at Queeny Park.  I had never been before but what I've seen online made it seem like more of an actual Air fair instead of crafty things and it totally was.  There was so much neat art there.  It was also really fun to go with two boys... typically it seems like something girls would do.  They were fun b/c they would talk to the different artists about how they did certain things, so I got a lot more info than normal.  Dan also talked to an artist who is going to do a commissioned piece for him.  Something he's been wanting for awhile.  Can't wait to see how it turns out!

We didn't get anything from the show but I almost got a print like this b/c I liked it so much.  Just stuck out to me and I loved how it felt like it was 3D.

John Booth - http://www.masongraphics.net/prints.html (maybe someone will get it for me someday)

Dan really liked a Ford photograph by Todd Shaak (and this guy talked to us for at least 20 minutes)

Some other artwork that stuck out to me was Peggy Aebi's paintings - so so vibrant and I'm still day dreaming about them.

We also really loved Elizabeth Conn's paper-mache sculptures.  Seriously, they were amazing, there's no way you could tell they were paper mache.  I would love to have one (not the one below, but she had some swirly ones... swoon).

I also really weirdly enjoyed Jay Thompson's Cat Works pictures.  They are famous pictures with cat heads.  It may sound stupid, but there's something funny about them - go check it out!

They will be having another Art Fair there at the end of August, and I'm planning on attending again.

Saturday night we went over to my cousin's place for some bbq and hanging out time.  We had a great time and it was really nice hanging out outside for awhile... plus the food was good!

I was trying to keep the kids from not running in front of the washers... we clapped a lot

Sunday, I went shopping with my mom, sister, grandma, and aunt for my birthday (which I talked about in that other post), it was a really really nice day!!

The whole weekend was wonderful, I love that the weather is getting nicer again and can be outside.  It just makes everything better!!

Number 4 - Fifty Shades Darker

On my trip to DC I finished my fourth book this year - Fifty Shades Darker.

This story is a continuation of the first book.  It picks right back up where the first book left off.  Here's some things I have to say about it in an easy-to-read list.

• I think this whole book takes place in like 2 weeks 'real time' (that may be an overstatement)... so let me tell you it would be the most stressful two weeks... ever!
• As my mom put so well... what made the first book exciting made this book kind of annoying.  This comment is in regards to the sex element of the book... about half way through I stopped reading those passages all together... it got sooo redundant.
• This book didn't really have an over-arching plot line which I found annoying.  It was just a bunch of little events that would get resolved in a chapter or two.  This made it hard for me to want to finish it.  Mostly it made me want to go to the next chapter, but within a page of that chapter whatever it was resolved itself.
• Speaking of plot, to me it felt like the same basic plot over and over again... she loves him, he loves her, she thinks she can never be enough, he tells her she is, they have sex... rinse, wash, repeat
• How incredible would it be though to have this rich, handsome guy love you like that though... pretty unbelievable haha

Overall... I wasn't that impressed with the second book, but I'm into the third book now, and eager to see how it all turns out.

My birthday!!

About two weeks ago was my 29th birthday.  Let's not talk about the fact this is the last birthday before I turn 30 ::shutter::

How did I spend my 29th birthday?  In a car of course!  We drove back from DC to St. Louis on my birthday.  This equaled 15 hours in the car in 7 different states.  When I put it that way it sounds awesome huh?

We did stop at Hillbilly Hot dogs along the way.

in Huntington, WV

That makes the THIRD time we would eat hot dogs on the trip...

Here are the hot dogs we got:

Ala Cheesy Beefie Weenie:  American Cheese, deep fried weenie, nacho cheese, bacon, mac wedge (deep friend mac and cheese), chili sauce and shredded cheese

Pineapplelachian Dog:  Beef weenie, bbq sauce, country ham, shredded cheese, topped with crushed pineapple

Out Wayne Dog:  Nacho cheese, bacon, sauce, jalapenos, onions, and shredded cheese

and a corn dog (which hard to believe was my mom's first one...)

There I go with the silly face again!

This place had all the Hillybilly details...

Like a table in a bath tub

and a redneck fire alarm

They even gave me a piece of pink birthday cake.

But that was just my actual birthday day...

On the Friday after I got back I had a happy hour with close friends and family at Patricks - my go-to happy hour place.  I had so so much fun with everyone.  Those that came out - Dan, Susan, Andy, Dad, Janet, Michelle, Ben, Kyle, Liz and Ken - I had so much fun I forgot to take any pictures - whoops.

But Michelle did give me an awesome Jilly's Cupcake - Strawberry Cheesecake

Just this past weekend I went shopping with my mom, grandma, sister and aunt and I got four dresses... 3 from grandma and the other one from Lindsey. (for some reason I can't find one of them online... but it's multicolored, and light and has a skinny belt)

All from JCP

Other gift... my mom is planning on getting me some new tennis shoes - which will come in handy at the gym!

My brother got me a t-shirt at Ben's Chili Bowl which I like a lot.

Finally, Dan gave me a new charm for my necklace... a dragonfly

It's from Tiffany... it came in the blue box and everything... so sweet.

Overall - I had a wonderful birthday this year... now all I have to look forward to is 30 (weep)

DC Trip - Day 4

We're up to our final day in DC.

This day we would actually use the Metro system without our trusty guide.  Don't worry - we totally nailed it.

And we're both on our phones!

We first went the the Smithsonian on American History.  We wanted to see all the important stuff like Archie Bunker's chair

Along with Bob Dylan's jacket and Muhammad Ali's boxing gloves

and the Ruby Slippers

Not to mention all the First Lady gowns.

Michelle Obama's

We also saw the original Star Spangled Banner (the flag that flew at Fort McHenry.)  It's quite large, a funky shape, and obviously very fragile... but so cool to see a piece of history like that.  A Side Note:  My grandma's maiden name was Key and as you should know Francis Scott Key wrote the Star-Spangled Banner.  We always said that we were related to him... but after my aunt did some digging... turns out we aren't... but I may fudge that sometimes (shh don't tell anyone)

Some other cool things we saw

Kermit the Frog and me... I'm dark, but hey, I'm there!

Some pink flamingos

The first computer model

Julia Child (hey there's mom again!)

Julia Child's kitchen

Some train and other transportation techniques

Voting posters

A really old boat that was used in the Revolutionary War (they built the walls of the museum around this sucker it's so big)

The crock pot my mom still uses

and an old stage coach wagon thing

This is about when we decided to check out the simulators they had... we paid $7 a piece to ride and let me tell you - SO NOT WORTH IT... not that exciting at all and we went on one of the "exciting" ones.

We were going to get lunch in the cafeteria there... but surprise... there was a giant line (have I mentioned the lines in DC yet?!?)

Instead we went out to a concession stand on the mall and had hot dogs for the second time of our trip.

Way back in the distance there was a demonstration regarding same sex marriages which was being reviewed by the Supreme Court while we were there.  This particular demonstration was in anti-same sex marriages... we got to hear 'Marriage is between a man and a woman' quite a few times... quite aggravating if you ask me!

After our gourmet meal we went over to the Holocaust Museum.  When we got there however we realized they had already given out all the passes for the day, so we would not be able to see it.  At the Holocaust museum they only let in a certain amount of people to keep it more quiet and introspective... but it was a bummer we missed out!  That's something to do differently... we should have gone there first and then to the American History museum... total bummer!

When we realized that was a bust we decided to head over in the direction of the White House, Ford's Theater and where I thought might be a Souvenir shop.  We kept seeing all these teenagers (on spring break) with these really cute DC hoodies in lots of different colors, but could not figure out where they had gotten them. 

On our way in that direction we got stopped at an intersection close to the White House and a motorcade came through.  They had police in the street (later realized it was Secret Service) and had traffic blocked in all directions including pedestrian traffic.  Then several police on motorcycles, two or three black SUVs and a limo came through.  Once the motorcade was through the intersection all the police disappeared and everything just continued on it's way.  It was quite exciting to experience!

Maybe it was the President?!?

If we wanted to see the White House we realize now we should have done things differently (such a learning curve with DC huh?) but I did find where people were getting the hoodies - so that was a win.  (see the white vans/trucks in the pic above... that's where!)

We walked over to Ford's Theater... and what did we find?

If you guessed line you'd be correct!

It was another one of those enter the line when your ticket says this time sort of thing... so annoying.  We decided to head back to the metro and make our way back to Keith's... which we did perfectly!

That night when Keith got home we went to a local bar that has a Taco Tuesday and had that.  They were really yummy tacos (and margarita).  I would show the the pics, but are super dark.

For dessert we went to this Burmese restaurant which has a special little cake - ShweJi - which consists of cream of wheat, coconut cream, raisins, sugar, and poppy seeds.

As you can see the poppy seeds are white

Yum - ShweJi... it really was pretty good - light.

We wrapped up our trip by going back to Keith's place and playing some more Scattergories.

It was such a wonderful trip and I'm so happy that Keith moved to a city with so much to do.  I can't wait to go back and see some more of the sites!





PS... I forgot to post about the Cherry Blossoms in my Day 1 post... sadly they were close, but hadn't quite popped yet.  Here's a good, pretty picture of the buds.

so close!

Here's some, but not on the mall and not like you're suppose to see them... oh well, maybe another time!