Weekend Recap + A Winner!

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Welcome to Monday, everyone.  Not only did my check liver light come on this weekend but my warning light for near-heart attack came on.  Holy crap, college basketball! You never cease to impress me.  Some highlights of the weekend include ::

• Outdoor evening dwelling - tiki torches lit, puppy at the feet, beer in hand.  Check.
• Garden bed building (him) / repotting every single house plant (me)
• Visitors!  Maggie & Jen trekked down from Chicago for a weekend of fun (that's still kickin it til' Tuesday!).  
• Even though the Cardinals lost, I got over it quick.  Because my Jayhawks are going to the National Championship game!!! Rock Chalk! And against Kentucky of all teams...
• Manicures + shopping - such a lovely way to spend a Sunday, especially one that started out stormy and ended so beautifully and warm.

It was a great weekend - but it's still not over (even though I'm at work).  Tonight is going to be crazy and I'm very thankful to have a house full of KU fans and not the other way around (as it tends to go around these parts). 

Now on to the winner of the Kristen Solecki giveaway ::

Susan said...

Love Kristen's work! The vintage illustration 'Kathryn' has always been my fave. I already follow her on FB, just followed you!

March 27, 2012 7:58 AM

 

Congratulations, Susan!  We will be in touch :)

Have a great week ahead, everyone!

Weekend Recap

What a weekend! Man, it was good.  So many good things happened that it was almost magical.  Some highlights include ::

• Friday night dinner with family + friends - I made blueberry pavlova for dessert and it was as if a sugar cloud !
• Car shopping - we've decided on a 5-door Subaru Impreza! I can't wait to go on many adventures in our affordable, safe and stylish car that gets great gas mileage.  Can you tell I'm excited? 
• Best regular season college basketball game EVER - With it being the final border showdown between KU and Mizzou and all, there was a lot at stake.  The game was in my old stomping grounds, Lawrence, KS.  We couldn't let Mizzou win.  So when we were down by 19 points in the second half, I kindly took the dog outside.  I let her play and sniff for way longer than normal.  But when I came in, the game had changed.  The game unfolded in ways you can only dream up and I can't even explain how awesome that was to witness.  I mean, 19 points?  But they did it.  In O.T. and by one point.  I may or may not have shed some tears of joy, and I'd be lying if I didn't say it felt like we had just won the national title.  Needless to say, it was awesome and sums up every little last bit about why college basketball totally rules. 
• Napa River Grill - We dined at the most appropriate restaurant we could think of to celebrate our old anniversary.  I savored my sea bass, had a little too much wine and enjoyed getting dolled up to spend the evening with my husband.
• The Oscars!  Oh my!  I'm so proud of Bret McKenzie! And Octavia Spencer! Christopher Plummer (and his sweet speech)! Michelle, Cameron, Natalie...so beautiful!

How were your weekends? Wonderful?  I hope so.  Here's to a great week ahead!

Weekend Recap

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Good morning, everyone!  Although I wish it was still Saturday morning, it's nice to say hello again to all of you.  The weekend was great - it flew by as fast as possible (as it always does), we had a lot of fun and I'm sad it's over.  Some highlights include ::

• Dinner + high school girls basketball - the in-laws treated us to dinner and took us to see my husband's stepsister beat their rivals in some bball.  It was pretty freaking awesome.
• Lazy Saturday - I wrapped Christmas presents, ate chilaquiles, took a long, hot shower and had a mid-afternoon cocktail.  
• KU victory over Ohio State!  Oh how sweet it was.  Then it was followed by IU beating UK and I was in heaven!
• Birthday dinner! The mister turns 30 on Tuesday so our friends came out to dinner with us and we feasted on deliciousness at Ramsi's.  
• Mini birthday party!  Just the way we like it.
• Christmas shopping - we're getting so close to being done now.  There are a lot of presents wrapped under the tree. Needless to say, there are some lucky family members, ha ha.
• Our Idiot Brother - it's really pretty funny (although, as with every movie in this genre, it gets cheesy/sappy toward the end) and I enjoyed the cast thoroughly.  It's the perfect movie for Sunday nights when you need a good laugh (we did, we watched the Bears blow a 10 point lead in the last couple minutes against the Broncos.  No good, Bears, no good.)

How were your weekends? Excellent, I hope!  Here's to a great week!

Weekend Recap

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While we may not have actually done much over the weekend, it was still enjoyable.  That is, if you look past the sneeze machine that was my husband and the absurd amounts of Kleenex we both used up.  Goodness.  Gotta love those almost spring colds, right?!  Right.  Anyway...some highlights of the weekend include ::

• A KU victory + drinks + pub food at Lotties with other KU fans!
• A Saturday in pajamas, spent drinking water and herbal tea like it's going out of style
• A KU Big 12 Championship!  Sorry guys, it is March...this is only going to get worse
• Zach Galifianakis in his Annie costume on Saturday Night Live.  Whoa.  Yes!
• A clean apartment!
• Last but not least, RAEGAN IS HERE!  Hooray!!

How were your weekends? Wonderful, I hope.  Happy Monday dear friends, I hope you enjoy every last bit of extra daylight we've all got!

Brace yourself, this could get sappy

So, these last few winter months have turned me into a NCAA basketball fanatic, like, dude style.  Say what?  Yeah, it's true...but the boy quite enjoys it.

It's strange to say that it's true, I'm a huge fan of the KU Jayhawks EVEN though I grew up hating them and loving the other Kansas team.  But then I went to school at KSU for a year, absolutely hated it and then moved to Lawrence where I finally felt at home.  And now, here I am in Chicago, finally following the Jayhawks' every game with my man fully supporting them as well. 

They're currently ranked # 2, which is a shame as they have been in the #1 position throughout most of the season.  But that's not stopping them from winning the championship like they did in '08 (man, that game was so intense and nail-biting, but they won and it was FUN to be at the KU bar in Bucktown).  They're totally going all the way, and I can't wait for March (mustache) Madness to seriously kick in. 

So what am I getting at with all this blabber?  Well last night's game was an important one.  Not only because they defeated the KSU Wildcats (in a blowout), but it was senior night.  The team only has one senior...Sherron Collins.  They've got a bunch of seriously super talented youngsters who know how to play together, but the reason they work so well as a team is definitely due in part to Sherron's leadership (not to mention their coach Bill Self, a real stand-up guy).  He is their go-to guy for every situation and when he's not having a good night the rest of the team feels it. 

Last night was an emotional night in Allen Fieldhouse.  Seriously, it's not every day you see a bunch of 6' something grown men shedding tears and sharing embraces. 

They won the Big 12 championship and secured their solo spot with last night's victory. 

Collins' family took bets last night over how long it would take him to break down and cry during his senior day speech, but he didn't even make it to the speech without some tears pouring down his cheeks! 

# 4 Collins will go down as the winningest player in KU history.  Which is awesome as he is in competition wth some NBA greats such as Paul Pierce, Kirk Heinrich and the legendary Wilt Chamberlain.

I'm always impressed when outstanding players choose to actually stay for four years in the NCAA.  All of KU's team have amazing academic scores and that makes me proud.  Last night was a night full of love and that is why I'm sharing this with you.  I'm full of sap right now, apparently. 

My favorite quote of the night:  "You cannot help but love a place like this." - Collins

Ok, sorry for the sports post.  But this is a blog about things we love and I do love KU basketball.  Please keep reading the blog!!

(photos via SI, here, here and here)

So exciting!!

Last night, my parents and I purchased my dream wedding dress for 50% off the retail price!  What a dream come true!  We quickly left to go celebrate down the street with a bottle of Sonoma wine and delicious pasta.  I'm so blissful right now.  50% off, I just can't believe it!  Buying the sample gown seems to be the way to go.  It's so strange that it's just hanging in my closet. 

On Saturday night, I surprised my parents with tickets to see Young Frankenstein at the Cadillac Palace Theater.  When my mom came with my niece last December, we managed to get some cheap tickets to take her to see Wicked.  We all three had so much fun that I thought, I should do it again!  I've really been wanting to see Young Frankenstein and I knew that my stepdad would be thrilled, knowing he's such a Mel Brooks fan.  Thrilled they were. 

So so so good!  Go see it if you get the chance.  It's worth it!

Tonight my stepdad and I are looking forward to watching our first KU basketball game of the season.  They're # 1 and tonights game is a rematch of the 2008 championship game (the Jayhawks won in OT after Mario Chalmers hit the 3-pointer at the last second).  I'm pretty excited about it.  And tomorrow Badge comes home from his first business trip (haha).