I'm Alive

In case you were wondering... I survived the MS walk.  Now I realize that a lot of people were running marathons this last weekend, but my goals are small and I'm fine with that :)

Here's a breakdown of our day.  Tony said he would drive us all down to the plaza so we didn't have to get there really early and find a parking spot.  I woke up a little late, jumped in the shower and kept telling Tony 'just 2 more minutes and I'm ready'.  Then I started looking for my tennis shoes... 10 minutes later I dug them out of the back of my closet, told Tony they were probably going to give me blisters b/c I hadn't worn them for so long and we were out the door.  We picked up the neighbors, Gina and Emily and were on our way to get Rachel when Tony asked where in the plaza we were going.  We all just looked at each other and shrugged.  Not surprising that we hadn't even thought of this considering we found out how long the walk was on the day before, and 2 out of 4 of us hadn't even registered to walk online.  Just donated.  The actual only thing that matters.  Well, we found the sea of people in tennies and fanny packs, so we headed in that direction.  Tony made some comment that if we were going to jog he would stick around to watch and then go park 3 blocks down to pick me up.  I love him too. 

Here we are all ready to go.

We arrived about 10 minutes before race time.  I say 'race' very loosely.  We did have time to register when we got there, but didn't want to fight the line, so we just jumped in the crowd.  We might have been the only one's without official numbers pinned to us.  Whatev.

It wasn't long before the girls noticed that my tennies don't really 'tie'.  Seriously, what was I thinking?  At least they are pretty in purple!

Off we went, we tried to get towards the beginning b/c all of those people were making me claustrophobic.  I don't know how people run marathons for competition... I would be a huge anxiety ball trying to get through that mob of people. 

Pretty Friends

Mob of people

 After awhile of walking we saw this sign and got a smile on our faces...

You better believe we chose this direction.  We could see the end in sight.

We finished the race, well, made it back to the plaza.  The End.

Oh you thought our day ended there?  Here's the best part.  We spent another 45 minutes walking around the plaza trying to find a bloody mary.  Evidently nowhere on the plaza opens until 11 on Saturday.  Buzz kill.  So we took some pictures with the creepy bunnies.

We made it all the way around and found out that Cheesecake Factory was open earlier, so we dashed in an ordered an early lunch accompanied by these lovelies. By the time we got there we decided we might have well as gone the Long Route b/c surely we had walked 6 miles.

After some places had opened we spent some time on the roof of O'dowds, then went to Kona for their Saturday happy hour to get some more grub.

Those strawberry margs were delish.  Somehow I managed to spill mine all over myself.

I thought the 'Cal and Em drink America' shirt was appropriate for the day.  I was really hoping that someone would see me on the news and decide to sponsor our TV show.  We would like to be the Anthony Bourdain's of the beverage world.  Best job ever.  Someone crushed my dreams when they told me there's a show called Three Sheets and it's the same thing.  Tear.  I still think we would probably bring in a better audience. :)  

Then we headed back to O'Dowds.

And then to Maloney's to meet our hubbys.  And then we went to bed.

Now it's The End.

Walk MS

Tomorrow I will be doing this with Gina, Emily, and Rachel:

Before I agreed, I made Gina promise me that we would not run.  I don't even know how long the walk is... maybe I should have looked into that before now.  I hate admitting I'm that out of shape, but it's the truth.  Anyone want to come carry me past the finish line??  I'll buy you a celebratory beer.

Name Flop

Anyone remember this post about names?

I got home last night, went through the mail, and here's what I found:

I guess I should give them credit for getting one out of two right. 

I realize I probably shouldn't promote my address on the world wide web for all to see, so just remember that I have an extremely vicious dog and a big buff husband.

Spring is Sprung

Attention!  This girl is finally in Spring mode full force.

I painted my toenails for the first time since we went to Mexico in October, and I busted out the peep toe shoes this morning. 

Holllaaa!  Welcome Spring!  I've missed you. 

I just realized that this picture makes me look like I have cankles... please disregard.  Thank you.

Weekend Recap

Here's a few highlights of our weekend...

Friday we attended a happy hour at the Brockus' and I got to hang out with baby Wally.  I really wish I would have taken pictures...  wah wahhh. 

Saturday Gina and I headed down to the River Market farmer's market.  I was a River Market FM virgin, so this absolutely made my weekend.  It was amazing even though it's still pretty early in the season.  I scored 8 japs, 4 limes, a red onion, and a zuchinni for $3.  Deal.  What wasn't a deal was the tomatoes that Gina and I got robbed on.  $5.50 for 2.  Ouch.  Farmer Joe told us that they were the first of the season and those are always the best.  We bit it hook, line and sinker and purchased them, laughing as we walked back to the car about how we just got hosed.  We had BLT's last night and they were actually pretty worth it.  Farmer Joe was right.  I also got some romaine lettuce and strawberrys which made a delicious salad last night with our sandwiches, yum. 

There were lots of stands selling dream catchers or dream weavers whatever they are called, you know the Indian things that look like a tennis racquet?  I didn't know there was such a demand for those in North KC, but I guess I was wrong. 

Gina and I also purchased some very pricey jam.  Some guy had a dip that we tried and I'm telling you it was one of the best things I've eaten.  That's the way to sell jam people... feed it to everyone walking by.  It was Mango Jalapeno jam mixed with black beans and cream cheese.  I bought the black raspberry jalapeno kind too and I'm so excited to try it out.  Who wants to come over for drinks and jam?  I'm thinking it deserves a party. 

Then I bought some herbs... we'll see if I can keep them alive.  You should have heard all the questions I was asking this lady.  'how do you water them? how often do you water them? how big will they get?  what size of pots do they need to be in?'  They were super cheap - 3 for $5.  Then I had to go by the pots which countered out the cheapness, but I had to get the pretty ones.  They will probably end up under our deck with all my other 'pretty' pots I had to have.  I promise I'm going to do better watering my flowers this year. Promise.

They had to make the move inside since Sunday was like a wind storm.  Poor little things were sideways on our deck.

As we were leaving River Market we passed some people sitting outside with a beer tower, so naturally we made a stop by Maloney's patio on our way home for some bevs.  It was so gorg outside, I even got a little sunburnt.  Not hard to do considering I am ghostly white.

Saturday night we grilled out and did some of this on the deck.

We also found out that Margo likes jelly beans.  Of coarse she does.  Pretty sure she hasn't ever crossed anything she won't eat.

She leaves trails of slobber... not hard to figure out who was in the candy jar.

Tooth Fairy

Our receptionist's granddaughter wrote this the other day.  I think it's hilarious!  JB = Justin Bieber

Do you go to mass?  Priceless.  The toothfairy must be catholic since all I ever got under my pillow was quarters.  Who knew I could ask for actual presents?!  My parents had it easy!

Dog Toy Steal

2 posts in 1 day... calm down. 

Just came across this awesome little deal for your fur baby.  If you have a fur baby.  If not, maybe your kid (or you) like squeeky dog toys. 

Right now on this website, you can get these cute little 8" dog toys.  Set of 3.  For $4.99 shipped straight to your door. 
Free shipping code: arcticfs

I've ordered from The Paws before and their toys are durable and are delivered very quick, so I jumped on this!  This is a great deal considering one dog toy at the store runs around $5-7.  Here you get 3!

Just thought I'd share!  Your pup will heart you.  I'm hoping that the moose is in my selection... he's a cutie.

Morning

Nothing new and exciting around here, so I thought I'd show you what my breakfast looks like.  Because that's so exciting. 

Here we have my usual arrangement of bevs.  Water, coffee, and Pibb Zero.  Usually that Pibb Zero would be a Diet Coke, but I thought I'd switch it up today.  Also, I recently just found a love for coffee.  With flavored creamer of coarse.  Just to make it that much more unhealthy. 

That is a bag of pretzels which I dipped in mustard.  I'm obsessed with condiments, you can't stop me.  I'm proud of my breakfast  snack this morning, as it is usually pizza rolls.  Not kidding.  Maybe if I woke up in the morning with more than 30 minutes to spare, I would make something like eggs or toast.  I just don't have time...sleep is important. 

Oh and yes, that is Frank Martin.  I just noticed that he made the picture as well.  He greets me every morning and on Mondays he tells me to suck it up and be a big girl, have another Diet Coke, and wake the eff up.  He might need to give me that speech again this morning.  I'm moving a little slow.

Happy Thursday!  Our beloved Friday is almost here... almost!

Taco Soup

Hi, it's cold here in Kansas.  Still.  Weather guy says it's supposed to snow AGAIN today, but Friday should be 70 and sunny.  Sounds about right. 

While it's cold and yucky out today, I thought I'd share another soup recipe that will warm your tushes. 

Taco Soup
2 lb hamburger
1 onion, chopped
1 (46 oz) can tomato juice
1 tsp cumin
2 cans chili beans
1 pkg taco seasoning - more to taste
2 cups frozen corn
1/4 cup fresh cilantro (I usually leave this out)

Garnishes: Taco chips, sour cream, grated cheese, chopped olives, picante sauce, chopped onions

Brown hamburger and onion; drain. Stir in tomato juice, cumin, chili beans, taco seasoning, frozen corn and clilantro; simmer at medium heat for 20 minutes. Top with your choice of garnishes!

It's sort of like chili, but mexican.  Really really easy to throw together and it doesn't have a lot of ingrediants.  I've also made it in a crockpot, just cook it on low all day while your at work.  Wonderful as leftovers too!

A to Z

I'm stuck with nothing to blog about.  Well, until I get some pictures from the weekend from my friends with the nice cameras.  Gina, Biggs, that's you...

So I'm going to do a random post that I've seen on a few different blogs.  Getting To Know Me From A-Z, b/c I'm sure you all care so much.

Here we goooo...

Get to Know Me from A to Z:

A. Age: 26.  My birthday is in May.  Barely.  May 31st.  I'm a gemini - pretty sure, didn't somebody just change the signs all up?  Who has the right to do that anyways?


B. Bed size: Queen.  I'm dying for a King.  Tony + me + big white dog that feels the need to make herself comfy by laying across us = uncomfortable!!

C. Chore you dislike: All of them?  Is that an answer? Actually, I'll go with laundry.  Tony even does his own, probably b/c he would never have clean clothes if it were left to me. 

D. Dogs: Margo my love bug.  She's a handful, but I love her all the same.

E. Essential start to your day:  The snooze button.  We are friends.  I slam on him at least 4 times every morning.  And then a diet coke on my way to work.  Epidemy of health over here.

F. Favorite color: Green.  Love me some green. 

G. Gold or silver: Usually silver, but I've been going with 'bronze' a lot lately.


H. Height: 5'6", but if you reference the 2001 State volleyball program I'm 5'8.  Intimidating.

I. Instruments you play(ed): I was quite the musician.  Okay, I didn't excel in any besides piano, but I tried my hand at the flute and the violin.  Yes, I was in orchestra until I was a sophomore.  Laugh all you want.  Next to last chair.  Sweeet.

J. Job title: Officially it's the Marketing Director.  Unofficially 'office b*tch'.  Just kidding, but I do a little bit of everything.  It's random, hince me blogging.

K. Kids: Just my Margy baby for now.  I feel like everyone around me is having enough babies for me at this point.
L. Live: OP. Hollaaaa. Originally from the Bend.  Great Bend.  Great Bend, Kansas.  Google it.

M. Mom’s name:  Lynn.  Love my mama!

N. Nicknames: Cal.  Everyone is so creative.  Well, I guess Lacey did come up with Schmal at some point.

O. Overnight hospital stays:  None.  Knock on wood...

P. Pet peeves:  When bikers ride in the middle of the street like they are cars.  When people let their kids run a muk in nice stores, or the grocery store, or really any store.  When people are selfish.  (i'm going to stop before ya'll think I hate all people)


Q. Quote from a movie: Well, the latest is from Tosh's standup.

I love it when people say they are bad test takers... 'you mean you're stupid'. 
I'm just not good at taking tests... 'oh that part when it comes down to finding out what you actually know?'  You're just stupid.

OR -  'if you are an ugly woman, you're like a man.  You're going to have to work.' 

R. Righty or lefty:  Righty. 


S. Siblings: Brother Mack.  He's 21.  The whole family was relieved.  Can't believe he's that old though!


T. Time you wake up: Weekdays - 7:10, 7:20, 7:30, 7:40, 7:45.  Remember my friend the snooze button?  Weekends it's free game... usually by 9:30 though.

U. Underwear: Thongs. Occasionally boy shorts at night.


V. Vegetables you dont’ like:  I think I like all veggies.  Oh no, beets, I hate beets.  And prunes. Sick.  Actually prunes might be a fruit.  Are prunes a fruit?  Well, I hate them just the same.

W. What makes you run late:  I'm usually always on time, but if I'm late it's b/c Margo decides she needs to walk around smelling the yard for 10 minutes before she pees. 

X. X-rays you’ve had:    2 (excluding teeth xrays).  One for my broken foot.  One for my chest last year when I had pluritis...wth?  I still don't know what it is, look it up if you care that much :)

Y. Yummy food you make: I'm a big fan of my lasagna recipe, as well as some chili and soup recipes I have.  I've really branched out on cooking lately and I'm loving it!

Z. Zoo animal favorites: Monkeys hands down.  Any kind of ape.  They are too funny!

Puppy & People Muffins

So Marg has had a rough week.  This weekend her ears seemed like they were bothering her, so on Sunday Tony cleaned them out with this solution we got for free from Petsmart in October to do a trial/report on.  We didn't really follow through do it at all which turns out is probably the reason for this whole situation.  Well, she hates this solution stuff and was still shaking her head after Sunday's cleaning, so Monday when Tony dropped her off at daycare he asked them to clean her ears out.  I picked her up and they didn't charge me for the ear cleaning.  Tony and I looked in her ears and they still looked waxy (sick), so we figured they didn't do it.  So Tuesday morning I took her to the vet.  They called me to report that Margo has an ear infection in one of her ears*.  They need to do a deep clean and give her medicated ear drops.  Great, just please fix my suffering dog.  I was super sad at this point thinking that we should have taken her in a lot earlier.  Then I was checking my banking online and noticed that Puppy's Playpen charged me twice for Monday's daycare, so I called them and was told one charge was for her ear cleaning.  Oh my.  Poor Marg got her ears cleaned Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.  Needless to say that she sprints in the other direction when she catches a glimpse of me with the drops.  I don't blame her. 

I was feeling really sorry for her (probably b/c she has the sadest permanent facial expression ever), so I broke out some of my Rachel Ray magazines and was on a mission.  I heart RR's mags b/c they all include a fun recipe that is safe for your pet to eat too.  And since we find no problem in feeding our fur baby lots of things we probably shouldn't because I have a problem with discipline**, I wanted to make her something.  Ya know, something with love.  So I decided on Peanut Butter Banana Muffins.  Mainly because I had everything in my kitchen already. 

Here's the recipe:
2 bananas  - mashed with a fork
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 Tbsp. honey
3 cups water
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1 egg

Mix bananas, peanut butter, honey, and egg together.  Stir in water and mix until smooth.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and cinnamon.  Mix all together.  Pour in muffin pans and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until done. 




Mini muffins for Marg, big muffins for people



Consensis:  Dog likes the muffins.  Husband was not impressed.  Let's just say I didn't take the leftovers to share at work.  They were pretty bland, but not inedible.  I've had a couple of them, just because this recipe makes like a hundred.  No regrets though, anything for this puppy face. 

*Tony was on his way to put drops in her ear and said, 'I don't remember which ear it is!!'  I replied with 'her brown one.'  He looked at me like I was a genious.  No right and left for this girl, I'm totally color coded.

**Seriously, my kids are going to be so fat. Anytime I try to sooth Margo, I give her food. I may have brought her a McD's cheeseburger when I picked her up from the vet...

D.U.

Otherwise known as Duck's Unlimited.  Emily's fiance is one of main guys in charge of the annual Duck's Unlimited Event each spring and if you remember from last year, we were volunteered to bartend. 

This year's event was a Mardi Gras theme, so we contemplated how to incorporate that in with camo.  Needless to say, we decided to just dress normal and Biggs picked up some masks. 

Last year we had some issues with pouring liquor.  Evidently we made the drinks too strong and that's the reason we ran out of booze.  The man in charge was sure to tell us about seven different times to not pour the drinks half & half.  Taking all the fun out of our lives for sure.  One of the members came up to the bar and in front of everyone said (while pointing at me) 'that blonde is the reason I got so hammered last year!'  My bad.  If you can't hang, go home.  So we eased up on the pours, and I was put on beer duty...  back by the box of Franzia.  I didn't complain.

There was over 400 men there this year, and some supporting wives, who I'm sure just came along so their hubby's didn't come home with another shotgun, or duck poster, lamp, table, china, necklace, silverware, etc. I don't blame them, they had it all folks.  There was seriously a swarovski crystal necklace with a glass pendant that had a duck etched into it.  We tried talking Emily into getting it for her wedding day, and then she spent the rest of the night talking Dave out of it. 
A lot of their auction stuff was actually really awesome, including multiple trips and a few buckets of wine.  My favorite was called a 'Man Table'.  It looked exactly like an end table (nice and pretty) and opened up like a mini fridge to store beer.  Genious!  I would definitely let Tony have one of those, or two, or one in each room. 

Here we are in all our glory...

Afterwards we headed to Maloney's, but not before Biggs almost talked herself into going on a trip to Jamaica with the guy who won it.  And not before she stood on the bar and poured whiskey down a drunk hunter's throat.  Like I even have to say it... Best Bartenders Ever. 

Crock Pot Potato Soup

Weather.com lied to me this week with talks of storms, rain, and tornado warnings (well, they might have been close with that one).  I have been wanting to make this recipe I came across in Taste of Home...crock pot potato soup.  What better way to get over an annoyingly rainy day than to come home to potato soup??  Fail.  It was gorgeous yesterday.  Hot and sunny.  After tasting the soup though, I didn't regret it one bit.  It was delish.  I'm a sucker for potato soup and this easy peasy recipe, compared to Panera... in my opinion (and my husbands).  Thick and cheesy.  Yum. 

Here it is:

1 bag (32 oz) frozen southern-style diced hash brown potatoes, thawed - (mine were frozen b/c I forgot to take them out of the freezer...)

1 cup frozen chopped onion (from 12-oz bag), thawed (see frozen potato comment)

1 medium stalk celery, diced (1/2 cup)

1 carton (32-oz) Progresso® chicken broth

1 cup water

S&P to taste

3 tablespoons Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 bag (8 oz) shredded American-Cheddar cheese blend - I used a ColbyJack blend

1/4 cup real bacon pieces (from 2.8-oz package) - optional for topping

4 medium green onions, sliced (1/4 cup)  - optional for topping

In 3- to 4-quart slow cooker, mix potatoes, onion, celery, broth and water. Add salt and pepper to taste. I added a lot. It's my thing.

Cover; cook on Low heat setting 6 to 8 hours.  Add more S&P if you wish.  I did.

In small bowl, mix flour into milk; stir into potato mixture. Increase heat setting to High. Cover; cook 20 to 30 minutes or until mixture thickens. Stir in cheese until melted. Garnish individual servings with bacon and green onions. Sprinkle with pepper if desired.

Serve in a bread bowl if you wish

With a salad and some vino

So next time it gets cold out, which I hear might be this weekend (wtf!), or if you're like me - on any nice and sunny day, whip this up.  You won't regret it. 

Oh and it makes enough for leftovers... one batch is probably enough for 6 people.  I'm totally guessing on that by the way, but that's what I'm thinking.

Restaurant.com

I love me some restaurant.com.  You can get a $25 gift certificate for $10.  Or a $50 gc for $20.  In some cases they will send out promo codes and you can get them much cheaper.  That's where I come in :)

Right now if you enter the promo code SPRING at checkout, you will get 70% off.  So you'll be getting a $25 gift cert. for only $3.  $50 gc for $6 and so on.

You can enter in any zip code and it will bring up the restaurants that participate in your area.  Here are my fav restaurants that are listed in the KC area.

Waldo Pizza
Willie's
Kennedy's
Maya's
Twin City Tavern

And some more upscale ones that would be for a special occassion and nice to have a gift cert:
The Majestic
Peppercorn Duck Club
Pierpont's
The Skies
Melting Pot

Also a ton more that I'd like to try...  check it out here! 

Make sure to read the restrictions for each.  Some you have to have a minimum purchase, some are good with booze, some not (I'm not a fan of these), and some are only valid Sun-Thurs.  All of them either expire in one year from purchase or do not expire at all. 

Happy Eating!

KSU lost, but we made up for that

By the way I'm feeling this morning, I'd say this weekend was a success.  I'm exhausted! 

Friends came in town on Saturday for Lacey's sister's baby shower and then we all hit up the town afterwards. 
The weather was rainy and gross, so what better of a way to pass the time than happy hour?  LaBodega's started at 2, so that's where we went.  Tony and I had been there the day before after work, so I felt a little silly when our waitress from the day before came up to our table.  I like happy hours... deal with it. 
To continue the HH trend, we headed to RA for dinner.  Everyone seemed to be in the sushi mode.  I also remembered to snap some pics.

You can't leave a sushi dinner without sake bombs.  It's illegal.

Then we headed to Paddy O'Quigs for the KSU game.  Tear.  That was so hard to watch and I'm still moping around over here. 
Here's Lindsay when there was about 2 minutes left and we were basically tied.  She says to the waitress, 'bring me a starburst aSAP'. 

Cheers to herself

Ahh, super blurry.  This was taken before the end of the game.  We were not smiling afterwards.

After the game, they broke out the kareoke business... I usually like this sort of thing b/c good songs are played and it's fun to sing along.  Well, between the lonely mexican lady singing ballads by herself in spanish, and the group of 15 girls in a bach party singing Forget You all at once at the top of their lungs, we decided to peace out and head back to my house.

Linz missed the memo.  Priceless.

That's when things got out of control...

Someone came up with the marvelous idea to shot gun beers.  This is Lindsay preparing.

Someone said, maybe we should do this outside on the deck.  Thank you to whoever suggested that.  Best idea ever.  Our floors thank you. 

Then there was some sort of dance off between Meghan and Lindsay...

While the rest of us did this:

And then Lacey broke out 'The Move'.  It's her signature dance move from high school.  I'm not sure why it hasn't become famous yet.  It should beat out the Dougie, hands down.  As you can see below, it's quite entertaining.

Start low, arms crossed



Fan your arms to the side and tilt your head



All while stopping your right foot.

I really hope J.Lo doesn't read my blog b/c she will totally steal it for her next music video.  I'm sure of it.

I'm not sure what this next thing is called.  I just know it's not part of 'The Move'.

And I have no idea what we had on the tv.

Evidently Linz must have stolen Lace's moves and she needed to be tackled.  Actually, I have no idea what actually happened.

 

But Margo wanted in on it.

Sunday I was worthless.  Around 6:00 I got a call from Lace.  She missed her flight.  Only Lace.  I drove out to get her and she stayed another night with me.  I was secretly glad that I got to spend more time with her, even if all we did was sit lay on the couch :)

It's probably a good thing we all don't see each other more often.  Mama's gettin' old.