Weekend in Review - Memorial Day

Can you believe we've hit the un-official beginning of summer? It's crazy it's almost June - where has this year gone??

I'm a little late in getting this post up since Monday was the holiday and then Tuesday and Wednesday I was in a training class... but I really do like talking about what I do on the weekends so here it is... hopefully I don't forget anything really important!

You'll see the theme of the weekend was spending time with my cousins.  Dan likes them.  I like them.  So why not?!?

On Friday night my cousin Ben came over to Dan's place.  Before we left Dan got his new painting delivered.  Back when we went to the Queeny Park Art Fair he met a woman who did a custom piece for him.  I think it turned out pretty good.

The piece on the left is his new one.  The piece on the right he's had for awhile.

After the artist and her husband stayed and chatted for awhile we headed down to Lemmon's to get some pizza.  We met Andy there.  They serve the same pizza as Blackthorn, but it's easier to get in.  They serve deep dish, and if you're not a big cheese fan you probably won't like the pizza.  We ordered a pepperoni but ended up with a supreme.

After we finished the pizza we went over to Flip Flop Cantina with the idea to sit on the patio.  But b/c I'm a girl and get cold easily I made everyone sit inside.  I wouldn't really recommend this place unless you are trying to underage drink... but whatever, we still had a good time.

Saturday we pretty much hung around the apartment all day, now that Dan is working he's less go-go-go which is fine by me.  The night we went over to Andy's place for BBQ and hanging out.  We pretty much spent the entire time on his deck.  It was really nice.  Great weather, great company, just an all around good time.

That night will forever be remembered as the night someone threw a tomato at us... haha... a story for another time.

On Sunday, first we met up at Hooters and had some lunch. Then we went to the Grizzlies game.  (by we I mean me, Dan, Andy, Ben, Kyle, and his g/f, Melissa)  I bought a Groupon awhile back for it and we went on Sunday since it had to be a Sunday through Thursday game and Monday was Memorial Day so we were all off work anyway.  It was really awesome weather.  I really enjoy Grizzly park since you get the baseball experience without the Busch Stadium price.

We moved to these seats b/c less people.

Afterwards we ended up back at - surprise - Andy's place on the deck... good times hanging out there again.

On Monday we kept it low key.  Dan ended up making some burgers.  They were tasty.  We mostly just relaxed.  It was nice.

Overall Memorial Day weekend was wonderful.  It was just perfect and relaxing and what I needed after the funk I've been in.  I'm already looking forward to the next weekend.

Easy Blondies - NEW RECIPE

(this post would have been better with a picture... hey - look at my weekend posts... at least I'm getting better...)

On Sunday I felt like making something... and I was craving a blondie... not that I've ever made them before, but they are delicious.

After looking at Walmart for a box mix (you'd think they would have that right??) I realized they didn't make that... so I left with nothing.

Later in the day I googled around for an easy blondie recipe.  I could make it the normal way, but honestly didn't want to have to buy every.single.ingredient. (Dan doesn't have anything...)

I googled around and found this recipe that boasted you only needed 4 ingredients - sold!

Dan already had the butter and eggs too - so really I only needed to get to ingredients.

I got a yellow cake mix and decided to change it up by getting peanut butter and chocolate chips.

Since it was just the two of us I also cut the recipe in half (I may have over poured on the chips...)

I wasn't sure it was all going to work out since it was just four ingredients and then I went and cut it in half... but they turned out good.

They were not what I was craving, but they were fluffy and really good.  Dan ate nearly the whole pan so I know he liked them.  They are super easy and not that many ingredients.  I would make them again and vary the recipe even more (different kind of box cake mix, different chips, etc)

Weekend in Review - Summer's Here

Another weekend gone and passed...

My weekend started out by going to the dentist.  It may surprise you to hear that going to the dentist does not bother me.  Normally shots of any time - terrify me and I faint, when the dentist gives me a shot - doesn't bother me at all.  I don't know what it is... but the dentist is not a place I get nervous of anxious... I just lay back and hope for the best.  Which this time was good!  I have no cavities or any places he is concerned about - holla!!

On Friday I headed over to Dan's place - then we did some running around and ended up at Hot Shots in Fenton where we drank some pitchers, ordered some food and played some darts.  My cousins and their friend showed up for awhile.  I really do love Hot Shots.

On Saturday we went over to Art on the Square in Belleville.  I've always heard that this was a great art show - and it really was.  There were so many interesting pieces there.  A lot of stuff was expensive, but fun to look at.  It was also really hot... and I got a sunburn (first of the year)... but oh well, it was fun seeing what they had.

Here's some things I saw that I liked - from their websites

Tattoo Dreams - reminded me of Day of the Dead or New Orleans in a way - I liked the symbols and bright colors.

One of the things I really liked was Scissor Drawings - I noticed on his website he'll be at the St. Louis Art Fair in September, I might get one of his pieces then.  He just uses black paper to form an image on white paper - love the simplicity and intricacy of his art.

 

David Bjurstrom - I loved this guy - his drawings were all graphite pencil and amazing.  While horses really aren't my thing - his tree drawings were amazing.

 

Wayne Trinklein - This guy made some amazing tree sculptures (I'm a sucker for trees I guess) - they were stunning... if only I had the money... and the place to put it.

 

There were some more - but I'm having trouble matching them to what's on their website.  I really liked this one that were big outdoor sculptures that moved with bright colored glass and such - I'm pretty sure it's this guy - they were awesome!

 

After we were sufficiently hot and sun burnt we leave and on the way home randomly decided to stop by the Science Center and see Air Racers in the Omnimax.

 

Looks like it would be pretty cool huh? Honestly, it was a bit of a let down and I wouldn't spend $9 a ticket on it.

 

We went back to Dan's place where I proceeded to take a nap - the sun really takes it out of me... but soon got up and headed over to my cousin's place so we could watch the Nascar all star race or something... We also got to sit outside for awhile which was really nice... the weather in the evenings is so great for that!

 

The weirdest thing there was I got out of my car and locked it like I normally do.  When I got into the house I walked downstairs and sat on the couch and put my purse down.  A bit later Dan went up to Little Cesar's to get a pizza... so I went downstairs grabbed my keys and noticed that one of my key rings was all stretched out.  I handed the keys to Dan and he noticed that my key fob wasn't on there.  I just figured it was in my purse.

 

A bit later I went to look for it and could not find it.  It basically looked like the key fob had gotten caught on something and ripped off my key ring... but it seems like I would have felt something like that happen.  We looked everywhere for it and could not find it.  Dan thought up some pretty interesting stories of what happened (someone came in the house and only stole that... right... or Andy's keys ripped it off and were hiding it somewhere... also very likely... [note the sarcasm])

 

I was pretty weirded out that I we couldn't figure out what happened... but Dan assured me we could get a replacement and I figured at some point it would turn up.  Two days later on Monday, Ashley (cousin's wife) texted me and said that a neighbor found it - hallelujah!)  I'll just have to get it back from them at some point... still confuses me what actually happened, but glad to know it was found.

 

Sunday I didn't do much of anything... I don't make good pancakes (what's new?) and made sloppy joes which were good... that's about it... (oh and something else I'll put in a different post)

 

All-in-all a pretty nice weekend.







Fantasy Survivor - Winner!

Last Sunday was one of the best nights of the year... and that's because there's THREE HOURS OF SURVIVOR!!

Of course when it's over it's all sad because I'll have to wait until September for a new season, but three hours of amazingness trumps that.

Before I get into the meat of the post, Survivor is really one of my favorite shows on TV.  I have watched every single season, and I believe I've seen every single episode (maybe missed one in a time before DVR).  It really is the greatest reality show on television.  Survivor truly changed the way people think about television shows.

I could make the argument that Survivor really brought on the reality TV trend - and I could make that argument, however Real World was around before Survivor... but Survivor really did bring out the competition reality shows.  Before Survivor there wasn't any (or any famous ones) and after Survivor - well that's a lot of shows.  I don't know if you can remember but right after Survivor premiered in 2000 the competition reality show was on every channel.  I think it's relatively cheap to produce this stuff.  Survivor has stood the test of time and just completed it's 26th season.

If you go back and watch the first season (which I have) it's quick a stark difference from today's episodes.  I mean for one an alliance was looked down upon.  How it's shot (cinematography-wise), what they concentrated on (story-line wise) and competitions are all so different than today's Survivor.  I wouldn't recommend going back to that first season b/c it's slightly hard to watch.  It's like watching an old movie that's been parodied a thousand times so the original seems like a parody of itself when in reality it was around first... if that makes any sense at all which it probably does not...

I am a true fan of the show, and I get that some people don't like it... but honestly I don't get why.  I think a lot of it has to do with preconceived notions or ideas about the show.  But whatever, it's a great show, easy to get into and fun to strategies and discuss.

Which brings me to Michelle and my competition!  This year we did a Fantasy Survivor competition which I talked way back in February about.  We didn't really have a prize, but bragging rights will do and it just got us more invested quicker in all the players.

This past season was great - lots of moves and likable people.  It was one of the better seasons!

The vote out order was this (I put who had this person in parenthesis)

Francesca (neither - we picked after the first episode)
Allie (Michelle)
Hope (me)
Shamar (me)
Laura (me)
Brandon (me)
Matt (Michelle)
Julia (Michelle)
Corinne (Michelle)
Michael (me)
Phillip (neither - he was an extra since we picked after the first episode)
Malcolm (Michelle)
Reynold (me)
Andrea (Michelle)
Brenda (me)

So going into the last episode Michelle was up 3-2... and wouldn't you know about 5 seconds into finale Erik got hurt and medically evacuated from the game... so it was down to 3-1... sheesh

Eddie went next - which was Michelle's

The final three was Cochran, Sherri and Dawn...

And at that point we knew who was going to win... and if that person had not won I would have been irritated at the season... not from this competition standpoint but from a Survivor fan standpoint.

The winner was clearly COCHRAN.  While I technically picked him third in our choices, I knew I was going to and played the odds that Michelle would not pick him.  (My first choice was Brenda)  I'm really happy he won b/c he's a big fan of the show too, and I just love that.  And he's fun to watch, and a seemingly nice guy.  Plus this season he played a great game, and was actually good at challenges... a complete 180 from his last season (I liked him on his last season too)

So that wraps up another season of Survivor... I can't wait until September to do it all over again!!

Weekend in Review - Mother's Day!

Honestly... I put off writing this post for a bit... I've just been having a rough time lately...  I don't really know how much I want to put it all out there... maybe in time, but right now it's just not blog worthy...

On Friday Dan and I went to Gringo Jones near the Botanical Gardens.  His friend Kyle had told us about it, so we checked it out.  They have so much stuff there... it's pretty incredible.  I really enjoyed looking around, but there was nothing that I particularly wanted/needed.  Dan ended up getting a cast iron bottle opener and a Mexican blanket for Daddy (his dog).

love the giraffe - this is the outdoor part...

That night we went over to Fairmont Park to go to the horse races.  They do something called Party at the Park which is $13 entrance fee and included a buffet and cheap drinks.  It was a lot of fun... I didn't bet anything, but honestly I'm not a gambler.  But it was fun cheering for the ones others selected.  The food is pretty mediocre... but cheap drinks and good company is always nice.

Skip ahead to Saturday night... I went to dinner with my dad to celebrate my birthday (hey only about 2 months late), Sarah getting a job in DC and Connor being in town... and hey, why not Mother's Day as well.  We went to Three Kings Pub.  It was really delicious.  Very good food and very good company.  I liked that they had hard cider on tap, which I love.

On Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day.  Our original plan was to go to the Laumeier Art Fair, but it was really crowded (hey, what wasn't?) so instead we ended up at Grant's Farm which was a lot of fun.  We got a funnel cake, watched the elephant show, fed the baby goats and mom even got a camel ride!

She looked a bit scared

Next we went to lunch and ended up at City Diner on South Grand... and believe it or not, I did NOT get the french toast.  I know you're shocked, but I didn't want the sweet, I got a fried egg sandwich and it was yummy!

We finished off the day by going to Ted Drewes.

Lindsey and I got the new s'more concrete and mom got the lemon crumb... Mom's was better in my opinion.

We had a lot of fun and great weather.  I always love hanging out with my mom and sister.  I really have a wonderful family and especially a fantastic mom.  Also, a big thank you to my sister for doing the driving!

Sunday night I'll tell you about in a different post!

Number 5 - Fifty Shades Freed

Finally finished the trilogy...

I finished the book yesterday... yes it has taken me awhile to get through this series, but I've really only been reading them at work... so that would explain it.

I did like the third book, but really I found it much more enjoyable b/c I skipped over the sex stuff every time (learned that from the first book)... it just got sooo repetitive.  Also with this series, which we know is fiction... but really do things like this ever happen?  I'm referring to a rich, attractive guy being attracted to normal girl... wouldn't it be nice if they did?

The third book had more drama, which I enjoyed and felt like there was a more over-arching plot line, which I felt like the second book lacked.

The series was good, and it kept me entertained.  I think I'm going to miss the easy-ness of the books that I could pick up at any point and not feel lost... it's definitely a quick, easy read... you just can't expect Pulitzer writing or anything :)

Weekend in Review

During the weekend I started it out pretty irritated/annoyed/depressed.  I had found out that a house I thought would work out to rent wasn't going to happen, some fighting with the boyfriend, deciding to finally put a status on Facebook looking for a new home for my cats, and another thing just compounded to just feeling irritated and sad and all that jazz.

Luckily Friday night was just what I needed.  Dan and I met my two cousins/friends (friesins... cousends... no neither of those sound good) Dave and Andy and one of their coworkers at Hot Shots in South County.  We drank pitchers of beer, played darts, picked weird music for the jukebox and just had a good time together.  It was the perfect relaxing evening I needed.

The very full beer I poured for Dan... he's hiding from my picture taking...

Love these guys!

On Saturday I was admittedly hungover... being old does that to you me thinks... After Dan forced me out of bed we went over to Andy's to hang out and watch the Cardinals game, Kentucky Derby, NASCAR race, and Blues game (a lot going on.)

Dan even brought presents for Andy's two kids - a plastic bead kit for Abby and a Nerf gun for Ari.

It was a nice evening Andy and Dan bbqed.

I may have had one of each :-/

On Sunday I was supposed to go to a family picnic for my mom's work group, but probably one of those things above just made my stomach all uneasy... I'll spare you any details... so I mostly just stayed close to the bathroom... very exciting I know.

While I'm still in a bit of a funk... I'm hoping that it will go away soon and I'll be back to my normal self.  There's been a lot of drama (for lack of a better word) and I just haven't been able to get fully over anything when the next thing hits.  Hopefully the rest of this week will be relaxing.