End of August!

As sad as I am about summer ending (I consider the end of August the end of summer), I am very excited for football season to start.  Football parties, chili, tailgating, and the Bill Snyder Family Stadium.  Yes, please. 

We had a fun filled weekend consisting of a great combo of activities and laziness. 

Friday night, we had a girls night to celebrate Gina's birthday and to mourn the fact we should have all been at the American Idol concert that was cancelled.  We started off a RA where we couldn't for the life of us get a table, headed to Paddy's and left after a few drinks because the fans were so loud we couldn't hear ourselves think, and ended up at P.Otts (our love).  We should have known :) 

Christy was in town!!

Emily got the hiccups

In case you haven't heard of this remedy.  If you can't get rid of your hiccups, do a hand stand and have someone feed you beer upside down.  (oh and have someone take pictures)  It really is a miracle worker...

Ta-da!!  Works every time.

View my previous post to see how the night ended :)

Saturday consisted of a lot of couch time, some house work and Tony doing yard work.  We wanted to go out for dinner, and decided on Chili's.  Neither of us had been there for over a year and we were craving their queso.  Can someone tell me when Chili's became the new Montana Mikes??  85% of the people eating there were morbidly obese.  I had to squeeze by this HUGE man just to get to my table.  We were discussing this over our margarita's... and then our food came.  We were laughing so hard and had to take a picture.  Seriously, could we have fit anything else on our table?! 

 After Chili's we went by Blockbuster and picked up the first season of Lost.  Just what I need... another series to get addicted to. 

It was a fun date night that reminded us of college.  Chili's and Blockbuster.  If only we would have finished the night playing power hour it would have been ideal :)

Sunday we met John and Erin at Johnny's for lunch.  Our last lunch without baby B.  He should come this week or next!!  We were debating where the stroller would fit in at the table.  I can't wait to meet him!

Tony and I took Marg to the dog park in the afternoon.  As we are walking up with our crazy and excited  pooch... Tony says, 'look how good all the other dogs are being...they are in for a shocker'  Turns out, she really surprised us.  She only jumped up on one lady and didn't eat any small dogs.  Success!

Then Tony made me pull weeds when we got home.  He thought we should document it since I was contributing to the yard work. 

Mean Monday

I like the title for my new Monday posts.

Gina is the winner this week, after we went out for her birthday and ended up finding her inside like this:

Baby Nivens

Tuesday I went to a baby shower/dinner for my friend Sarah.  She lives in Columbia, MO now with her hubs who was in dental school with Tony.  We miss them!  She was in town for work so we decided to get some people together and go to her fav restaurant - Blue Moose. 

Such a cute little mama!  Due with baby girl Nivens in October, so soon!!

Little Ugg booties.  Seriously, whenev I have kids I have to have a girl at some point.  Little girl things are SO presh!

Sarah and Jess

Me with Sarah, Jess and Natalie.  Notice Natalie and I's wine bottles to-go... $10 bottle of wine night, can't beat it!

Congrats Sarah!  Can't wait to meet the little princess!

Frosty Paws!

For any of you dog owners out there, this is a delish treat for your pup on a hot day!

Ingredients:

1 (32 oz.) container of low-fat vanilla yogurt

2 bananas

2 tablespoons peanut butter

2 tablespoons honey

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together in your blender. Divide amongst some small, plastic cups and freeze. I used some Solo cups I had on hand.  You could also freeze in ice cube trays for smaller treats, but Marg is a fatty so I filled 9-10 cups about 1/3 full.  When you want to use one as a treat, you just pop it in the microwave for about 20 seconds and it'll come right out of the cup and into your dog's bowl.
 
They are super easy, make a ton, and I'm pretty sure Margo enjoys them :)

Hard to tell in this pic, but she had a frosty paw mustache going on...

I ran across this recipe on an old college friend's blog.  Thanks Kellie!  

The Waiting Game

Almost every day I get home before Tony.  Margo meets me at the door with a toy in her mouth and shakes her booty back towards me.  After the excitement of seeing me wears off, she jumps back up on the couch and waits...

...waits for her dad to get home.  Every. day.

Then when we hear the garage door open, I say 'dad's home!' and she jumps off the couch and wiggles her booty some more.

She loves her dad :)

Something New

I decided that I wanted to do a weekly random post.... at the expense of my friends of course. (you guys will love it)
I'll post a random humerous picture each Monday to start everyone's week off with a smile.  They may or may not have a brief explanation :)
First up - Christy
C- I hope you feel honored to be the first of this wonderful tradition...

Manhattan 09' after 3 trays of jello shots.

Anniversary Pub Crawl

Since our real anniversary was on a Wednesday, we decided that we wanted to actually celebrate on the weekend.  The original plan was to go to Topeka to the Japanese Steakhouse where we went on our first date. (Hubbys idea, adorable right?)  On Wed. dinner over some drinks we started talking about how it was a long drive there and back so we should just go to one here.  Then we decided that it might not be fun if we got stuck at a table of loud idiots, or worse, boring mute people that refuse to catch the shrimp in their mouths.  So the idea of a pub crawl was born. 

Saturday around 2:00 we headed down to the plaza.  We don't go there often so we thought it would be a fun and different area, plus we wouldn't have to drive place to place.  First up, Kona Grill.  I almost started jumping up and down when they told me it was happy hour.  Happy hour on a Saturday?!  From 1-5?!  Best discovery ever!  Tony ordered a beer.  I had a marg.  Not the best marg, but it was refreshing.  Our plan was to get a drink and and app at each place we went and then head on.  Happy hour threw a kink in our plan.  It was like we couldn't get out of our chairs.  Some sushi and some more drinks came and went.  Then we managed to exit.  On to O'Dowds.  I wanted to sit on the rooftop patio, and Tony looked at me like I was crazy.  It was only 98 out and they had fans up there... I lost the battle.  We both had Harps, my favorite Irish beer.

Here we are at Fred P.Otts

On to M&S grill.  Random I know, but we had heard good things and had never been.  We had Sangria, it was great.  Then we looked at the app menu.  Crab Tator Tots.  Oh My Lady Gaga. I ordered them immediately.  Everyone needs to experience these, seriously go.  So So So So good!

Next stop Brio.  Tony let me sit outside here.  He didn't melt.

More pics - I think these are from O'Dowds...

We ended the night at ReVerse and had a light dinner and some wine.  It was such a fun day!  I highly recommend it. 

We didn't get any pictures together on Saturday, so here's one of us from Friday night however, I kinda look preg in it.. that is not the case (reference post above about pub crawl). 

Cheers!

Change of Taste

When I first met Tony, there were two things that he would not touch, let alone eat.  Tomatos and cheese.

Look what we had for our dinner salad last night...

And he loved it!

Caprese salad is the best thing to eat in the summer when you have fresh tomatoes (imo).  Here's how I made it.

Slices of tomatoes

Fresh Mozzarella cheese (in the deli section)

Drizzle with a little olive oil and balsalmic vinegar

sprinkle with salt, pepper and basil

De-Lish!

Manhappy :)

Spent a weekend in Manhattan last weekend.  It made me even more ready for fball season.  I love that town! 
Friday night we had a late dinner out at Mr. K's.  It's a new restaurant bar out in the new Grand Mere area by the golf course.  It's a branch of Kites and Lindsay is the assistant manager.  It's a cute little place and the food was amazing!  Lobster fondue appetizer was maybe the best thing I've ever tasted.  Gina and I were eating it by the spoonfuls.

Friday night at Porters

We see this guy.  Biggs asks him 'did you seriously dress yourself?'  and he's like 'ya' in a tone that's saying why wouldn't I have?  Biggs responds with 'oh, that's a lot of plaid...' 

There was a huge fight while we were waiting for our ride.  This guy got knocked out cold right in front of us.  Lindsay and I decide to run after the cops to tell them this was happening right around the corner and they start walking away from us.  We are yelling 'cop!' 'police officer!' I even yelled 'blue!'  they continue walking.  They don't stop until Lindsay catches them and grabs the guys arm.  That's Manhattan for ya.  More concerned about MIP's that people getting their ass kicked around the corner.

Saturday we slept in and headed to Rockabelly for lunch.  Just as good as I was hoping.  Plus, their bloody marys are my new favorite.  We had no plans in the afternoon and had thought about going to Tallgrass brewery, but it was closed for an event.  Evidently they didn't know we were in town.  Then we thought about going to the Wamego winery, but that changed as we walked by Pats and the patio called our name.  Just like in college- Heading to class and then you pass Pats (or Porters) and it just pullllls you in.  Granted Pats has changed... it's gross now and smells.  Well, it probably smelled when we were there too, we were just acustom to it.  And the waitresses told us if we sat outside we would need to come inside to order our drinks b/c it was too much work for them to walk from the front to the back.  I'm not kidding.  Those were their exact words.  What???  I thought Lindsay was going to punch her.  We had a pitcher of summer beer (did you know Pats has summer beer?  Well, they do), the bartender told us he couldn't make it b/c it wasn't on special.  Again what???  We assured him that it was fine if the pitcher was $5 instead of $2.  Interesting employees we ran into.  But we had some good convos there, including Lindsay and Biggs talking about their track days.  Biggs says 'I sucked so bad they didn't even put me in the home meet.'  I thought I was going to pee my pants.  We also met these guys that were telling this story about their friend getting his ass beat knocked out last night... hmmm, ya we saw it.

After bar hopping a bit we headed to Kites and discovered these:

The top one is some sort of bomb that we did not participate in.  The lovely sand pale is called a bucket, that we did participate in.  They have about 8 different kinds you can get.  We chose Monkey Nuts (obv).

In college all we had was beer towers... and I'm thankful for that.

Below is my fav pic of the weekend... please reference the background and take note that it is still daylight outside.

Some sort of common sense came upon us and we decided we should go home and change out of our sweaty clothes.  Then on to The LOU! 

$3 schooners - awesome.  $37 worth of juke box music?  Totally worth it.

Then Gina went to the gas station and brought back this:

Advil, Rolaids, gum, and 5 hr. energies.  We just can't hang like we used to...

Such a fun weekend!!  My Saturday night ended with Jimmy Johns and then we all got our fill of PHB (pizza hut buffet) on Sunday.  Can somebody tell me why KC doesn't have one?!?

Bach Pad Recap 2

Well, we are 2 for 2 episodes where Ten Ten has cried like a 6 yr. old.  She really does need to live in a cartoon, I'm not sure how she handles the real world. 

Pie eating contest - sick.  I'm not sure where all of that pie was going in Gia.  Obviously it wasn't her stomach... maybe her boobs?  I found it funny that the two skinniest girls finished 1st and 2nd.  I was also shocked that the Weatherman won for the guys!  Poor little guy loves Gwen and her interview was hilarious. 'People say that he likes me... but that's not going to happen.  Ever.  No chance.'
Gia messed up on not giving Craig the rose, so she really couldn't be mad at Nikki for changing the vote.  Wes was already safe and she should have stuck to her word.  Btw, did she not watch Jillian's season??  Everything he was saying to her was a direct repeat of everything he told Jillian.  Omg, and did you see previews of him singing to her next week!  Exact same song he sang and 'wrote' for Jillian... get a new song Wes you look pathetic.
I'm totally for the underdogs.  They had a chance and blew it.  Hopefully something will change, but I am glad sweetie Kiptyn didn't go home. 
Jessie needed to leave.  Anyone playing both sides like that in this game is going to get sent home.  Nikki, you might wanna rethink your strategy. 

Also, can I take back my opinion about Natalie from last week?  I don't think I like her anymore. 

Thoughts?

3 years?!?

Whoa, time has flown by!  Tony and I's 3 year anniversary was yesterday.  I can't believe it has been that long!  I can honestly say that they have been the best 3 years of my life.  I am so lucky to have such an amazing husband who loves me for me and puts up with my shananigans :)  Apologies for the bragging in this post, but it's my blog and I can brag if I want to...
We are really celebrating this weekend, but here's a little recap of our evening.  (without too much detail - ha!)

Yesterday I received these at work -

Aren't they beautiful?!  Lilies were our wedding flowers and there are 3 of them for year #3.  I didn't get that right away... Tony had to clue me in. 

We went to dinner at this new cute little cajun restaurant called Cafe Roux.  It's in Park Place, the new area by Town Center.  I had been wanting to try it for awhile and I'm so glad we went.  It was DELISH!

They have happy hour until 7 which includes 50 cent oysters.  Most of you are probably thinking that's disgusting, but I love them.  Just add lemon and tabasco, or cocktail sauce.  Tony even helped me eat them... this kid has come so far with his food :)

They also had the best fried pickles I've ever had, and I've had them a lot.  I usually get them every time I see them on a menu, so it was no surprise that I had to have them here.  Tony was drinking margaritas and said that they were the best he has had in Kansas City.  We've had issues with finding good marg's around here, so if anyone has suggestions we would gladly test them out.  We had planned to order actual entrees, but after the appetizers we decided to go a little lighter.  So we both had a cup of gumbo that had just the right amount of spice to it.  I added tabasco - love that stuff! Tony had the shrimp po' boy sandwich with coleslaw and potato salad.  I had the Crab Louie salad.  To die for... 

I'm not sure I've ever been so full, but we managed to walk back to the car somehow.

A couple of weeks ago we decided we were going to do the anniversary themed gift this year.  Tony looked up what wedding anniversary year 3 gifts are ... annnnd wait for it...... leather.  What the hell?  That's tricky. 

Tony got new leather shoes.  And I got this beaut!!

Tony is the best gift giver and the worst at the same time.  I forgot to mention that we had set a budget for our gifts.  I stuck with that budget and then he buys me a Coach wallet.  Oh I'm not complaining!!  I just feel bad that he always gets the shaft.  However, it's his fault for not following the rules.  Sorry babe, hope you like your new kicks!  :)

Grand Lake

Tony's cousins invited us to Grand Lake for a weekend.  It was basically the same people we went to Chicago with last year.  We had an absolute blast! 

Quick run down. 

This is the only picture I took on Friday.  After being out for hours on the boat we came home, ate dinner, and played shuffleboard in the garage.  Then before bed Tony and I must have missed Margo... I tried to get their dog Scout to sleep with us.  He wouldn't get on the bed and I kept putting him up there and he kept jumping off.  The next morning I was telling Kim this and she's like 'ya, Scout doesn't get on furniture...'  Haha- Whoops! 

Tony & Scout

Saturday we got up and around, started the morning with mimosa's, and headed out on the water.  Some pics from Saturday.

Tony, Joe and Kim

Tony and his cousins.  Tony, Joe, Jake, and Frank

Joe and Jake - the birthday boys!!  Yes, they are twins if you couldn't tell.

We sort of look naked in this pic.  I promise that we were not.  See following picture.

See?  Well, Tony still sort of looks naked...

Yep, there was some icing going on.  Some people were sort of new to icing so it was hilarious.  Everyone couldn't wait to ice Tony when we got there and sure enough, we hadn't even been there an hour and it happened.  This is Joe getting iced... he had been getting everyone all weekend and eventually it backfired on him :)

Oh and some shot-gunning of beers.  I love shot-gunning beers, except for the fact I am horrible at it.  I wish I was better.  I mean I try, but usually 3/4 of the beer ends up all over me instead of in my mouth.  And I still always lose.  Maybe it's my technique... obviously I don't do it properly as shown below.  Jake and Steph have a whole different form going on.  I think I'll try it next time.

And... my favorite picture of the weekend.  If only this picture had sound.  I'm 99.9% sure that everyone was singing Forever Young considering we basically had it on repeat the entire day. I am very happy that I am not in this shot :)

Love the lake!!