Living Room Update

We've switched some things up at the Line household.  First and foremost, we got rid of our RUG.  Oh how I've been wanting that thing gone for a year and a half.  I've threatened Tony that he's going to come home to it in our front yard.  I just couldn't find exactly what I was looking for.  After ordering one from Overstock.com and having to return it (have you ever tried returning a rug?  I wouldn't recommend it) I was pretty hesitant on doing that again, but I bit the bullet. 

I'm also going to share my end table story for those who haven't heard it.  I was at TJ Maxx and found this end table that was so pretty and matched our dining room furniture exactly.  Had to have it.  Of coarse they only had one, so I waddled it up to the front desk.  After the manager called around to a couple of stores he informed me that the Lee's Summit store had one.  I asked him to have them hold it and we would go pick it up.  I got home with the one pretty, yet lonely, end table and told Tony we had to go to Lee's Summit.  He was thrilled, especially since he had already been there that morning picking up some shirts for work.  Happy hubby and I jump in the car and hit the hwy.  The line in the store was about 27 people deep, so I decided to go to customer service since they were holding it.  My husband, the rule follower, told me I couldn't do that.  I told him he could stand in the regular line and I would go to customer service and see who got helped first... I won.  The girl goes to get it and sets it down in front of me.  It has not one, but two, HUGE cracks in it.  Umm, excuse me?  She's like, 'oh you didn't know it looked like this?' 

'No B, I didn't or obviously I wouldn't have driven 30 minutes out here to get it'

So I'm pissed and we leave without the crappy broken table.  I couldn't get over the fact that when the manager at the other store called to see if they had it, they weren't like 'yes, we have one but it's beat to shit.'  Thanks a lot.

The manager told me to check Marshalls since they are the same company.  I wrote down the style # and started calling Marshalls on our 30 minute drive home.  The guy from Marshalls tells me that they don't have style numbers so I would have to describe to him what it looked like.  That went over well... 'it's uhh brown, has one drawer, and a shelf.'  Him and the other 3 people at the other Marshalls I called said nothing 'fit my description'.  Clearly.

I'm sure I complained about this to about everyone I know.  So I was in a real predicament.  Take back the table or hold out for another one?  I wasn't ready to give up.  I was meeting my friend Megan at the Legends for dinner later that week, so I decided to hold out and check the store out there.  Thursday I headed out to the Legends, walk in and AHHHHHH (heavenly sound).  There it is.  I swear I was like a 6 yr. old on Christmas.  I waddled it up to the check out and told the cashier my whole story...from her eye rolling I could tell she was less than impressed, I think I was cutting into her smoke break.  But I got my pretty lonely end table her twin!!

Here's some before pics of our sad living room.  It was so bare and I hated even walking through it.



Please excuse Margo's toys all over the place



And here's the rug.  Minor wear and tear from a white dog named Margo.  Welcome to my life.

I tried rolling it up to get it out of my sight and she went over and sat on it.  Would not budge.  She must have emotional ties to it.

I literally had to pick her up and move her myself.

And here's the new area, with the addition of a chair and lamps.

Now if I could just get rid of that white dog.

I guess Margo approves of the new rug.  I'm just praying she doesn't think it tastes as good as the old one.

Mr. K's

We had a fun little weekend trip to Manhattan on Saturday.  Not for the game, that would not have been fun, but to celebrate the opening of Mr. K's.  Our friends Lindsay and Scott just bought this little charm in December.  Scott has worked for Rusty at Kite's ever since he was a freshman at K-State and has worked his way to the top.  After Rusty opened this restaurant in the new area of Grand Mere (out by Colbert) he offered it to Scott.  It's an upscale sport's bar (that's also pretty adorable) with amazing food.  Anything from flatbread pizzas to sandwiches and salads.  Next time you are there, you should stop in.  If you need more of an incentive than me telling you to go there, they have a lobster and crab fondue appetizer that is heaven.  Pure Heaven.  Gina and I like to eat it with a spoon.  It's that good.

We weren't there 5 minutes and Meghan was already cleaning up our spilled drinks... she's going to be a great mom.  Someday.

A couple of my Manhattan lovies.  Holy crap, I am so so pale.

 Soon to be Mr. & Mrs. Crupper

Frank was supposed to make an appearance, but considering the appearance that our team made earlier that day, I don't blame him.  His wife Anya came with one of her friends and enjoyed some vino.  I would be 3 bottles deep if Frank was my husband and he was coming home after ANOTHER loss. 

Here we are with Meg... so much for a Christmas card opp.  My face is too white for that anyways.

 Speaking of Christmas cards, maybe I could incorporate this one in somehow...





Then something very funny was said by Meghan. 

'Is Mr. K's the type of establishment that you play Flippy Cup?'

Scott said yes and we didn't hesitate...

 After that, things just got silly...

Meghan dared Dave to eat a packet of mayo.  She said she would give him $5.

Sick

I think this might be his victory dance...

Keeping her word, she coughed up the $5, and Dave ripped it in two and spiked it on the table.  Well, I think it was a spike, it's hard to spike money.

After some dancing and some more drinks it was time to go home. 

Our cab smelled terrible, like a combo of old rotten tennis shoes and a pipe that my great grandpa smoked. Must have been passed Lindsay's bed time, even the smell didn't keep her up.

When we got home Scott pulled this out...  because that was a good idea...

Night cap = Good night.

Group shot in closing!!

Jambalaya Crawfish Pie-a

My parents invited us over on Sunday night for dinner, Louisiana style.  I've mentioned before that my dad is the best cook in the world, and when he cooks he goes all out.  His dinners are normally themed, Itailan, TexMex, BBQ feast, etc.  Sunday it was different. 

Since my dad is a cowboy now (reference this post), the last few dinners have been based around BBQ and TexMex.  I'm so used to walking in the front door and hearing Honky Tonk tunes and my dad's lovely voice, that I just expect it.  So you can imagine my surprise when I walked in and didn't hear the usual belt buckle, bucking bronco, tailgating jingle.  My first words 'so what's for dinner?'

'Cajun!  Can't ya tell by the Louisiana music?' 

Hmmm, yes I should have known.  So, if ya'll are wonderin' there is such a thing as cajun music.  And I have no idea where he finds these multicultural CD's, but if there's a store he's keeping them in business. 

We had an awesome dinner, that started out with a cold beer and some boiled crawfish (my dad calls them 'mud jumpers'... maybe it's a locals term?)  I prefer saying crawfish, it doesn't sound so dirty.  The main coarse was a spicy Shrimp Etouffee.  Man, it was spicy.  And I like spicy.  I use tabasco on everything (i.e. everything like lasagna) and I couldn't put it on this.  It was that hott.  I loved every bite of it.  I'm told I get my mouth of steal from my great grandmother Grace, she would eat japs straight from the jar.  I'm not quite there yet, but close.  My dad had another sauce for sharing called the 'Bayou Butt Burner'.  I didn't even go there...

Great dinner with hilarious conversations consisting of Aggieville when my parents were there.  Something about Mr. Varney's deaf daughter that was in G-Phi with my mom having a vibrating alarm clock that shook the whole sleeping dorm.  Hilar.

I'll leave you with a pic of our Funday Sunday din din.

That-sa mud jumper on top of that there rice

Cheers!

Big Monday!

Marg says....happy game day!!!

GO CATS!!!

 She also apologizes for her hair all over the blanket. 

Whoao Whoao Stuck Like Glue...

...You and me baby we're stuck like glue...

Dave fell asleep on our couch and Margo was like velcro, or white on rice, or whatever other analogy you would like to make.

 I especially love these.  It's like she couldn't pry her head from his ass. 

Presh

I'm not sure she moved all night.  Such a snuggle bug.

Go on and find a snuggle partner and stay warm this weekend!  TGIF!!

Red Red Wine

Our Girl's Night Out's tend to get a little crazy.  I'm assuming crazier than most 'girl's night outs', but maybe I'm biased. 
Before I replay the weekend, I'm going to use last names for Lindsay and Lindsay to avoid confusion...

As mentioned in the previous post, everyone came over to watch the Cats play around noon on Saturday.  Siebs played bartender with the bloody mary's and we rooted the cats on to a W.  We had reservations at 5:00 at LaBodega*.  Super early, but they have a happy hour that ends at 6 and we didn't want to miss that!  After some debating on who was going to drive, Emily and I poured ourselves a wine roadie (b/c that's normal?) and jumped into Siebs car.  As we are nearing Town Center... BAM... rear ended by the guy behind us.  He seriously hit us pretty hard.  Please keep in mind that we had 6 people smooshed in the car and Emily and I had RED wine in our cups, that is now ALL over our laps, hair, and FACE.  Siebs said she thought I was bleeding.  Nope, just a little bit-o cup of wine dripping off of my eyelashes and down my face.  Besides my face being stained red for the rest of the night, we managed to be alright.  Thank goodness for black leather interior...  and my selfless act of drink saving - Christy was sitting in between Em and I and didn't have a drip on her (well, maybe a drip but not too bad!).  My face took one for the team.  Your welcome C. 
Sieb's car was fine, minor scratches and thank God the guy had insurance and that Gin knows the ups and downs of fender benders :).  What a way to start out the night huh?

We finally got to LaBodega and they offered us the private dining room in the middle of the restaurant.  Maybe they felt bad for us, or maybe they could tell by looking at my red face us that we were a rowdy bunch. 



Biggsy & Gina



Christy, Em, and I (Surprisingly you can't see the red streaks, but wow I'm pale)

Our private dining room

Dinner was followed by Maloney's where Biggs' sister met us and brought us this:

Confused, we looked inside to find THIS:

Hayyy jello shots!

We would be the people at the bar taking jello shots brought from home...

Then we ended the night at the Red Balloon with some awesome karoke and dancing :)  I love that place. 

I'll leave you with this picture for interpretation.  Who do you think was better off?  Gina and her dancing?  Or me and my mad camera skillzzz??

No clue who the girl beside Gin is, but she was almost better centered

*Found a new fav at LaBodega!  Fried artichokes stuffed with goat cheese?  Yes, please.

Local Celeb

Just taking a second to brag...

Tony made the front page of the paper!

I just spent the last 20 minutes up close and personal with my computer trying to read the article. :)

SO proud of him!

Soup Soup A Loop

Sing it to the toon of Shoop please...

I love love love making soups.  From tortilla soup to chili and anything in between.  Love love love!  Probably b/c soup is hard to mess up and normally you can put it in a crock pot all day long. 

Last weekend some of my girlfriends came into town.  Frank Martin KSU was on at 12:30, so I invited everyone over to cheer on the cats.  Being that it was lunch time, I needed to provide something for our tums...
What's more perfect on a cold winter day than Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese??  Nothing. 

Gina has recently gotten me hooked on The Pioneer Woman's blog.  (I'm going to see how many links I can get in this post).  Her recipe's are pretty amazing and she spells out every single step with pictures.  Right up my alley.  I love pictures.

Back to the soup.  PW posted a Sherried Tomato Soup recipe on her blog, and that sounded about perfect.  My friends totally deserve homemade soup over Campbell's.  Spoiled bias.

Here's the recipe-
Ingredients:
6 Tablespoons Melted Butter
1 whole Medium Onion, Diced
1 bottle (46 Oz.) Tomato Juice
2 cans (14 Oz. Cans) Diced Tomatoes
1 Tablespoon (up To 3 Tablespoons) Chicken Base
3 Tablespoons (up To 6 Tablespoons) Sugar
1 pinch Salt
Black Pepper To Taste
1 cup Cooking Sherry
1-½ cup Heavy Cream
Chopped Fresh Parsley - I used a little less than a cup.
Chopped Fresh Basil - I used dry basil, about a tsp maybe?

Preparation Instructions

Sauté diced onions in butter until translucent. Then add canned tomatoes, tomato juice, chicken base, sugar, pinch of salt, black pepper and stir. Bring to a near boil, then turn off heat. Add in sherry and cream and stir. Add in parsley and basil to taste.

Omheavens, this was so so good!  And it only took about 20 minutes.  It was close to a tomato bisque.  I should probably admit that I couldn't find 'chicken base' or 'cooking sherry' at Walmart or HyVee and contemplated that maybe Campbell's was the way to go.  Is cooking Sherry like Brandy?  I saw that, but the thought of everyone getting hammered off of my tomato soup popped into my mind, and while that would be hilarious, I decided just to leave it out.  Good decision.  I didn't think the soup needed anything else.  Note:  It made a lot.  If you aren't serving it to 8 people you might want to cut it in half.  However, I had a cup yesterday for leftovers and it tasted just a good. 

Served with provolone, pepper jack, and chedder grilled cheesies on Italian bread!  DeLish! 

Do yourself a favor and try this!

Lay Out

Ahhh!!  Seriously, bare with me.  I'm trying to switch up the design and clearly this one is a little over the top.  I'll fix it tomorrow morning... remember I only blog at work.  Shhh...

Veggie Tales

Recently while reading my college friend's blog about 101 things she wants to accomplish in 1001 days, I came across something I would like to try.  Yes, out of the 101 things I want to do one of them.  I think that is reasonable :) 

She wants to eat vegan and vegetarian for a month each.  I heart cheese so there's no way I can do Vegan, but I am going to eat Vegetarian for one month.  I'm picking February since it's a short month, duh.  I'm not doing this to be healthy or drop a few pounds, I'm doing it b/c it interests me.  It's gives me something to focus on.  Most people would start working out or something.  I decided to take it a different direction.  I think it will be fun.  I've said many times that I could totally be a vegetarian.  I don't eat that much meat as it is, but I do love turkey sandwiches....and BBQ.  However, my fav sandwiches are the veggie ones from Quiznos and Subway, so I'll be fine there.  I'm also pretty obsessed with the tomato & mozz panini at Panera. 

I've ran this by Tony and he thinks it sounds fun (for me), I assured him that I will feed him meat occasionally, just so he doesn't jump off of our deck.  Then I asked him 'can vegetarians eat fish?'  He said 'depends on what kind of vegetarian you are...'  Which I don't think is correct.  Can vegetarian's eat fish??  If so, great! If not, then I'll suck it up and make it work.  I like veggie burgers and tofu.  Another question, how in the hell do you cook tofu??  

Any suggestions are helpful!  Chipolte has a veggie bowl right?? :)

Loving Life

My weekend was wonderful!  Got to see some friends I hadn't seen in awhile for a crazy girl's night out.  Post to come on that once I get the pictures together. 

In the mean time...


Margo had a nice relaxing Sunday watching Animal Hoarders....

TGIF

Happy Friday!!!

Love, Margo



Hungry Much?

Oh my lanta...
If you are debating the thought of getting a dog, just keep reading my blog.  It will most likely change your mind.  Or make up your mind to kennel it.

Here's the latest disaster in our house.  We came home to this the other night.

Yep, She went ahead and pulled the cushions off and discovered the metal springs.  Why wouldn't you eat them??

 Whew did she get her arse spanked for that one!  So happy I caught it on camera.  (Please don't turn my hubs into animal control, it's not his fault we have an out of control dog...well, not completely his fault) 

Uh-Oh

Seriously, she is 1.5 years old.  I keep thinking she'll grow out of it.  She evidently thinks the opposite.  Turns out, that is her spot on the couch, so maybe she's just trying to make it super uncomfy for anyone who tries to sit there.  Or she's just a pain in the ass.  Yep, I'm going with that.  Pain in the ass.  

Game Day

I rushed home from the store on Saturday just in time for the KSU bball game, and just in time to see this:

Tony was suited up, ready to go in.  Marg even had on her game day bandana.  I love the KSU support we have in our home... until about 6 minutes left in the game.  If we had a swear jar, Tony would have owed it a pretty penny(ies) on Saturday. 

Hope we foul way less play way better tonight.  We'll see how things start out, I might inforce the swear jar at half time.  However, my sailor mouth isn't much better.  I like to think of myself as a mini girl version of Frank.  I'm working on 'the stare'. 

GO CATS!!!!

Tuesday's Thoughts

• I should not live in Kansas with how much I despise winter.
• Since I do live in Kansas, I should have been a teacher to get those glorious SNOW DAYS people speak of.
• It's effing COLD outside.
• I'm thankful for my 4 wheel drive.
• I'm not thankful for the idiots driving without 4 wheel drive.

Banana Pepper Roast

Ready for the easiest recipe ever??  Easy and SO good.
Tony's cousin Kim made it for us at Grand Lake this summer.  Threw it in a crockpot in the morning and it was ready when we got back from drinking  boating all day*. 

1 lb roast
1 jar banana peppers (with liquid)
1 pack of italian dresing (dry mix)
1 can beer
Put everything in crock pot 6 hours on low. Shred meat in liquid and serve on toasted hoagies with provolone cheese.


* I have since made this recipe and it's just as good as I remembered even while slightly pretty impaired. 

Seriously, try it.  I love crockpot recipes that you can come home from work to a dinner waiting for you!  This is also good for a crowd of people watching a game.  A good alternative to the chili I usually make.  However, if your feeding a crowd, you might need more than 1 lb. roast.  Obv.

Not in the Job Description?

I just ran across this picture I had forgotten about and had to share.


My mom watched Margo a few months ago and I got this picture on my phone from my aunt...

I've been there done that, but I'm not sure my mom was expecting this responsibility.  She should just be glad it wasn't like this time.

Ready to Have Kids?

I read this today and I think my uterus froze...

Lesson 1
A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...

1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)

2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.

3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.

4. Set the alarm for 3AM.

5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.

6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.

7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.

8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.

9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive)

Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.


Lesson 2 (I think Margo is preparing us for this…)

Can you stand the mess children make? T o find out...

1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.

2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.

3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.

4. Then rub them on the clean walls.

5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.

6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?


Lesson 3

Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.

1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.

2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.

Time allowed for this - all morning.


Lesson 4 (My car might look similar to this already)

Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.

1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.

Leave it there.

2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.

3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.

4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.



Lesson 5

Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.



Lesson 6

1. Hollow out a melon.

2. Make a small hole in the side.

3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.

4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.

5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.

6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.

You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.



Lesson 7

Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

2011

I'm not much of a resolution person.  Mainly b/c I always break them... Like on January 5th. 
I'd like to say I'm going to attempt to work out this year, but I'm 99% sure that's not going to happen, so I'll stick with something easier.  Something I can maybe accomplish. 

1.) Take more pictures. (see previous post) This would really help if I had one of those snazzy nice cameras that people keep getting.  I'm feeling a bit very jealous of you all. (Tony- if your reading this, my birthday is coming up...in May.  Or if you love me, Valentine's Day is next month.)

2.)  Spend money smarter.   Yep, I still use coupons every time I go to the store.  However, I get into a bad habit of justifying spending the 'money that I saved' on other crap.  Like my gorgeous new brown boots... and maybe those fab new black ones too.   Oops! 

Last year I said I would be a better blogger, and I think I've done a good job with that.  Tony said he wouldn't eat french fries, and actually he did a pretty good job! (except when we go to So Long, ya gotta eat those babys!).  We'll try to carry on those this year as well. 

Margo said she would try not to shed as much.  Totally setting herself up for failure.  I told her she should work on not jumping on everyone that walks in the door also.  She laughed snorted and told me that she hasn't been impressed with my training tactics the last year we've been working on this, why should she start now?

Fail.

Hello 2011.  Happy New Year everyone! 

I'll start this off by saying I was the worst picture taker over the holidays.  I'm not kidding.  Try finding anyone that was worse.  I have not one picture of anything.  Not. One.  Let's recap all that has happened:  Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, KSU bowl game, NYE, and our party on New Year's Day. 

I blame it partially on being way overserved on Christmas Eve.  Way overserved.  Guess the wine was making me feel extra festive.  I think it was all down hill from there.  Literally.  Right after I fell over backwards getting out of the car when we got home...

Gina and I even took off half day on Thursday for the bowl game and headed to Maloneys.  Even though that didn't end well, we had a blast and no pictures to prove it.  However, anyone that knows Gina and I knows not to doubt that. :)

I thought I might have taken some pictures on New Year's Eve at Kirk and Gina's house, but after checking my camera I realized that was false hope. 

Here's what I did find...

Have you ever done the Saltine Challenge?  Try eating 7 Saltines in one minute.  It can't be done.  I think Tony and Chris got through 4. 

This is what watching endless episodes of Tosh.O on New Year's Day will lead to.

Glad I caught the important things on camera during the holidays of 2010.