dear girl that i follow to work most mornings,

Oh. Hi. It's me! 


That girl that gives you the bitch face most mornings as I drive around you in the right hand lane. 


That would be the lane that is not made for passing. 


Right, because you're trolling along in the lane that's made for passing going about 20 under the speed limit.


Anywho, just wanted to give you a heads up about proper road etiquette.  That lane that you're driving in; that's the PASSING LANE.  Or the fast people lane.  You; you don't drive fast.  You drive like a Grandma.  And I know you're not a Grandma, you're like my age (which is far from being a Grandma, mmmk?).


Also, I don't appreciate your stink eye as I drive around you in the non-passing lane.  People wouldn't be so pissed off at you if you'd learn how to drive the speed limit (or maybe a few over it).


Maybe you can't see that I'm flailing my arms at you or cursing at you or sometimes flashing my lights at you because you have that big stupid decal taking up your back windshield. 


Or maybe you think you need to drive slow because you have a huge crack in your front windshield.  I don't know what your deal is.


Either way, get your shit together and learn how to drive.


Sincerely,
The girl in the Murano that doesn't like you very much.

food on friday

This week is Restaurant Week in KC.  Which pretty much means, pick the most expensive restaurant in the city and go to it because you can eat for cheap!


This year my girlfriends and I chose the American Restaurant for our girls night out. 


I was a little nervous when I saw the menu for the week, since a few of my friends don't branch out in their eating habits and that the dress code was semi-formal (so of course we all wore either a prom dress or an old bridesmaids dress), however we all fell in love with the American Restaurant.


Restaurant week has a three course prix fixe menu (here's what we could choose from):

STARTERS:

POACHED EGG YOLK
Almond tapioca, La Quercia prosciutto, chicharrone

CELERY ROOT SOUP
Pickled huckleberry, salt cod  

ROASTED BEET
Endive, Satsuma orange, goat cheese

DINNER:

SALMON

Rye gnocchi, horseradish

PORK CHOP
Hubbard squash agnollotti, smoked apple, jowl

CAMPO LINDO CHICKEN
Lemon, risotto, leek, chanterelle mushroom 

 



FROZEN "PB&J"
 Peanut butter parfait, gooey peanut butter cake, concord grape sorbet

CHOCOLATE PASSION

Chocolate cremaux, chocolate financier, passion fruit sherbert
  

CARROT CAKE

Spiced carrot sherbert, cream cheese ice cream, walnut gelato

I chose the roasted beet starter.  I wasn't even sure if I liked beets, but I LOVE goat cheese, so that's what sold me on this choice!

For the main dish, I chose the Campo Lindo Chicken.  It was to die for.  Seriously.  It was so good.  The outside was crispy and delicious and the inside was so juicy.  I wish I could have finished this one, but it was too big!

For dessert, I chose the frozen PB&J.  It seriously tasted like a PBJ sandwich, but in ice cream form.  I also wish that I would've been able to finish the dessert, but it just wasn't in the cards!

There was one point in the night where we each had approximately 5 glasses sitting in front of us.  A glass of wine with each course, water, and then the remnants of my gin and tonic from the bar before we were seated.

For our dessert course, we were served different kinds of homemade soda that was supposed to pair well with our dish.  I would've preferred another glass of wine...but it was a cute idea!

The gangs (almost) all here! 

After dinner we went to a bar downtown, called the Cashew where Trish ordered this disgusting drink.  It took our waitress about 30 minutes to get it to her so luckily she got it for free.  I can't remember the name of it but it was hot apple cider and peach schnopps topped with whipped cream.  For some reason this drink had a slight coffee taste and was gritty.  It was probably the worst thing ever.  I decided to play in the whipped cream until my friends took it away from me...jerks.

sek-si.

Wanna know what's sek-si?  Night guards.

Yup, the ones you wear at night over your teeth so that you don't grind your teeth down to little nubs.

I have two. 

One that looks like this:



Wow, (this is not mine) mine is really disgusting.  This one is very clean...



My other one looks like this and only fits over my front two teeth:

Both of them give me a really nice lisp and make my mouth look awesome.  I either have a fat lower lip or I look like I have buck teeth.

Either way you look at it really, they both add to my overall look.  And, for as expensive as they are, sometimes I wish that I could wear them other places besides bed.

proving my dad wrong, yet once again

You all know that I have a tiny baby dog (ok, she's not that tiny and not really a baby anymore), and in the winter it gets frigidly cold outside.

Laila doesn't have the longest legs, so her belly gets very close to the frozen ground and snow.

So of course, I have a snuggie, and a few sweaters and coats for her; not for vanity, more for her health.  For real. 

Laila in her pink snuggie, duh.

 Read this article, it even calls out the dachshund breed!

My dad thinks that I baby her and that she doesn't really need the sweaters or coats, but this article just proves once again, that my dad is wrong and I am right.

Also, Laila might be famous. 

We went to a gourmet dinner the other night for dogs and owners at a castle in town.  I had no idea that the people filming were from a local news crew until they were leaving and said to watch Fox news that night.  I was just letting Laila run all over them and was like "oh, sorry, she's crazy!" 

In the video she's the first dog up with her butt in the camera and then makes an appearance later in the clip. 

Don't worry, I'll tell you more about our dining experience later.  Let's just say that Laila couldn't get enough to eat...

wednesday weigh in

After this past weekend I wasn't quite sure how my weekly weigh in would go, I mean whose stupid idea was it to weigh in on Monday nights after eating and drinking whatever I want?

Luckily, things went much better than last week; this week I was down 8 metabolic years and 6% body fat.  Thank goodness.  I'm getting closer and closer to my actual age...

I don't know about you, but I love me some carbs.  Whether it's eating pasta, bread or the good carbs found in fruit, I love them all.  Thankfully, this article lists 10 resistant starches that help you burn fat while eating them.  And, luckily, my old standby-the banana is one of the first ones listed (thankyouverymuch).

this is what happens if i don't eat bananas

If you couldn't tell already, my toenails weren't painted at the time.  I know. I'm gross.  Give me a break, it's winter.  Anyway, I took this picture and sent it to my sister because she has the same thing happen to her feet and her reply was: "Gross.  Eat a banana and paint your toenails while you're at it."  Thanks.  Don't mind that my foot feels like it's going to fall off.  Anyway, to spare you with my ugly unpainted toes, I colored it in myself . Also I hate feet.

I get weird foot cramps and my toes go all wonky if I don't eat bananas.  Weird, huh?


Also, it's probably because I don't drink enough water.

Anyway, back to banana's.  I love them.  I eat one pretty much every single day of my life.  I'm really picky about them though.  If they have brown spots on them, forget about it.  My banana has to be on the green side.  I mean, not really green, but kind of green. 

Some people think that the brown spots give them more flavor.  I think it makes them disgusting and mushy.

One of my favorite snacks lately is little bites of banana dipped in melted chocolate chips.  It's pretty much my nightly snack.

Laila also really likes banana's.  She's a pretty health conscious dog if you didn't already know this about her.

food on friday

Oopsie.  I didn't get this posted on Friday!

OMG. Let me introduce you to the best thing ever: Black Bean Dip from So Long Saloon, Manhattan, KS.

Yes, it looks like there's a lot of cheesey goodness and that it's probably full of fat, but it is sooo worth the calories.

I make my own version that's almost as good:
2 cans of black beans drained
1/2 of a package of low fat or fat free cream cheese
3/4 c of raspberry chipotle sauce
1/2 cup of pepperjack cheese

In a greased 8x8 pan pour in black beans then layer in raspberry chipolte sauce and cream cheese (I also add in a little garlic powder and red pepper flakes). Top with shredded cheese and bake at 350* for 25 minutes.  Serve with tortilla chips.



Let me also introduce you to "The Nancy" or cheap ass beer with some pineapple juice in it.  So delicious.



One of my besties Jess (who lives in TX) came to Manhattan for the weekend to cheer on the cats and go to a fun concert.  Whenever any of us are back in Manhattan, So Long is a must.  Not only do they have the tasty dip above, but their hamburgers are to die for.

Jess and I in Manhattan!

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas...

...even though Christmas happened over a month ago, dammit.

The snow is back. 

I'm sure some of you are looking at these pictures thinking that it looks so pretty (and it does), but it sucks balls driving in it and even worse having to shovel it out of my driveway repeatedly.


As luck would have it, I broke my shovel about a quarter of the way into shovelling the other night.  Perfect. 


And then, like angels, my neighbors across the street (who I thought wanted nothing to do with me) came over and offered to help me!  PRAISE THE LORD.


I seriously could have kissed them both on the mouth (no dad, he's not single or attractive, he's like your age...a grandpa).  I was this close to quitting and just waiting for the snow to melt off eventually (even though we're supposed to be getting MORE).


As I was shovelling I started thinking about how much I loved playing in the snow as a kid and wondered when I started disliking it so much. 


I mean even in college the snow was pretty awesome.  We would skip class to play snow football or to have a huge snowball fight with our neighbors, or to go sledding somewhere.  So apparently my hatred came when I started having to drive in rush-hour traffic in snow storms. 


There's something about going 5 mph in blizzard-like conditions with maniacs on the road that does it to you.  That or the fact that a 20 minute drive turns into a 2 hour drive home.

I will admit that when I'm at home and the snow is falling that it is beautiful.  If only I could stay at home all day to enjoy it.

While this winter hasn't been quite as bad (yet) as last year, I can honestly say that if it didn't snow again for quite some time that I'd be perfectly fine with that.

rice a roni, the san francisco treat!

I'll be visiting San Fran in the near future and would love to hear of any favorties that any of you have when visiting. 

Places to eat, things to see, you get it...just tell me where to go and what to do!

wednesday weigh in

This week sucked.  Maybe it was all the beer I drank?  Or, maybe it was because I weighed in at a different time?  Either way I was less than pleased, but I guess there will be good and bad weeks.  Or at least that's what happens on the Biggest Loser.


I lost 3 pounds, but my metabolic age and fat % went up.  Guh.

Anywho, here's a good article about small changes to your diet that you can make on a daily basis.  I have been an active participant in stepping up my protein recently and I definitely don't eat as much throughout the day; I still love carbs, but adding a little more protein throughout the day helps me eat less!

my house is falling apart.

Ok, not really falling apart, but I feel like it.


First of all, the damn moles are back in my backyard.  And the ground is too frozen to set a trap to catch the jerks.  I don't understand how they can make these terrible looking mounds when the ground is so hard?

 Also, a chunk of my roof came off apparently in a wind storm or something.

So, what's a girl to do? 


Talk to my neighbor, duh.


He volunteered to put shingles back on my roof for me as long as it was something that he'd be able to fix; which means that he will have to climb up on my really high roof and then afix the shingles somehow. 


As luck would have it, he has a huge box of shingles that match mine in his garage, AND he fixed it the day after I talked to him about it!  I can't tell you how lucky I am to live where I live.  I don't know what I'd do or how poor I'd be if I didn't have nice people living around me!


Looks like I'll be having to do a little more than a batch of cookies and beer this time around....

i burp a lot. like, a lot a lot.

It's true, and it's gross, but I burp. 


Like not a little, lady-like, delicate burp.  This is like a huge manly, beer drinking burp. 



But I can't help it.  A wise woman once told me: "Better to let them out than to bear the pain" and I couldn't agree more.  (Of course, this wise woman also has a slight burping problem herself...but who's asking.)



My dad used to tell me when I was interviewing for jobs a few years ago that no one would hire me because of my burping problem.  Luckily for me, I found a job where the people that I work with might just produce a little more gas (and by gas, I, of course mean burps) than myself. 



It doesn't seem to matter what I eat or drink; these monster burps just escape me for no apparent reason. 


Drink Water: burp
Wake up: burp
Go to the Gym: burp


Even with nothing in my stomach! Gaw!


I went to the doctor for it thinking they'd be able to give me some miracle drug to make it stop, but they said that I was healthy and my eating habits are healthy and that there really isn't much they can do.  UGH.



Even when I try to muffle the sound, it still sounds like a lion.


If I were to enter some kind of burping contest I would burp easily win.  Hands down.  I am that talented. 


I'm so gross!


Anymore though, the burping has become a little bit of a trademark for me. 


At a wedding reception recently a party-goer talking to one of my friends referred to me as "that girl who had the loudest burps ever on the dance floor."  Pure classiness right there, folks.

My mom and dad are so proud.

food on friday

I wish you could've smelled this cooking!  If you didn't know this already, I LOVE garlic.  Almost as much as I love cilantro. 


Anyway, here's what I did:


I Sauted 3 cloves of garlic in 2 teaspoons of olive oil
Added a splash of red wine and threw in around 20 frozen uncooked shrimp and cooked until they were pink.


I served this with some wild mushroom risotto (from a bag, I'm not that good, yet...) and steamed broccoli.

My cousins gave me this delicious bottle of wine for Christmas and I opened it for the dinner I cooked above.

Aren't these adorable?!  My friend Trish, over at My Path to Travel got me these cute little weiner dog salt and pepper shakers for Christmas!  She's a big dog lover and knew that I'd absolutely love these!

wednesday weigh in.

So I weighed in this week and I'm down 3% body fat, 4 metabolic years and up .5 lbs.  Even though my weight went up a half of a pound (which I'm sure was water weight, right?  I mean it can't help that I weigh in at night...), I'm pretty exicted that the other stuff went down (they're more important anyway, me thinks)!

I used to take Thursday mornings off from the gym, most likely because it's an interval class and interval classes and I don't like each other...but this article confirmed that interval classes are just what I need to be doing.  There are also lots of other good tips included in the article to help your metabolism.

How are everyone else's New Years Resolutions coming along? 

The good news is the attendance in the classes at my gym has gradually been dropping, so that's a positive.  For me at least.  Maybe not for those people who can't get motivated to go the gym...

pay it forward!

My friend Nikki over at Que Sera Sera did a pay it forward blog and I'm following her lead (and I was one of the first 3 to comment on her blog and now I have to...just kidding, I'm so excited to do this!)! 


Doesn't getting something in the mail give you warm fuzzies?  {I thought so.}  And doesn't having someone do something nice for you make you feel like there are good people in this world ?  {Yes, again.}

Pay it forward 2011: I promise to send something

handmade to the first 3 people who leave a comment here.

To be eligible, you must also post this in your blog,

offering the same thing to 3 other people.

The rules are that it must be handmade by you and it

must be sent to your 3 people *sometime* in 2011.

While I am not so crafty as of late, I do consider myself to be somewhat of a Betty Crocker...so, while I make no promises for what I'll make or when I'll send it (or what it tastes like for that matter...), I can promise you that it will be homemade and you will be SO happy when you get a package in the mail from me! 

I mean it's the least that I can do to thank you all for reading my crazy ramblings.  You don't know how much I enjoy reading your comments and emails.  So, be one of the first 3 to comment below and I'll send you something delicious sometime this year.

{hosted by Ambrosia Clark}

new years eve, you totally redeemed yourself

I know this is a wee bit late, but I just wanted y'all to know that my NYE didn't suck this year! There wasn't much for New Years 2011 to live up to and I had no expectations for the night, but this year was awesome. 

Not only did I get to visit some of my favorite people in Texas, but we ate good food, heard and saw some good music, and I relaxed like it was my job.

Our night started out at one of the best Mexican restaurants...their food is good, their margaritas are better, and the atmosphere is the bestest.

Joe T's was where our NYE celebrations started off.  We managed to down at least 4 pitchers of margs in about an hour and tore up the chips and salsa like nobodies business. 

And then came the nachos and fajita's.  Nothing like gooey Mexican food!

After dinner we cowboy'd it up and went to Billy Bob's for the Eli Young Band concert. 

After the concert we ventured off to another bar around the stockyards area of Ft. Worth, where I for some reason thought it to be a good idea to challenge one of the guys in our group to a wall-sit competition in the bar. 

As if we hadn't had enough to eat and drink throughout the night, we concluded the night at Whataburger.  It was my first time at such an establishment and it did not disappoint.

Heather's maybe wasn't as special as she wanted it to be though...

Thanks Matt, Jess, and Jamie for letting me invade your house for the weekend!  It was so fun!

sick of snot.

This is at least the second box of kleenex that I've gone through in the past week.  I'm OVER this cold.  Like over having it, it's still in my body for some reason. 

I even took meds this time around.  I mean I stopped a few days ago thinking that I was done being sick and now it's still here but I refuse to take anything else.

So, in true form, I'm stepping it up at the gym and sweating it out.  Which, by the way, I read this article and they confirmed my theory that working out is good for you to help ward off getting sick.  If you're snotting all over the equipment though, then that's a problem....

food on friday

OMG. I went to the best restauant recently.  I even told our waitress that the food I was eating was like a party in my mouth.  It was that good.

I bought a groupon (if you don't know what this is, you're missing out big time, sign up here for your city) awhile back for a restaurant on the plaza called Cafe Trio.  Upon looking at the menu, I knew that I had to buy it.  My mouth was watering looking at all of the yummy stuff listed.

I took one of my BFF's Scott with me since he likes trying new places almost as much as I do and both of us raved all night about how good the food was. 

BEST DISH EVER: Prince Edward Island Mussels.  I didn't think that I even liked mussels, but these were amazing.  Seriously amazing.  They were cooked in a white wine garlic cream sauce (100% healthy), pancetta, tomatoes, and fennel.  There was also some crusty bread that we sopped up the amazing sauce with.  When I go back, I will be ordering these again.

Our meal came with a salad and at first I ordered a vinaigrette.  Then opted for some blue cheese.  I mean my diet was already screwed for the night so why not add to the damage?  I'm glad I went with the blue cheese though, it was a-mazing.



And then, the main course: Cowboy Bone-N-Ribeye Steak (KC's Best according to the menu) (cooked medium), aspargus and mashed potatoes.  We split the steak a) because it would be cheaper; b) because I only ate half of my portion and c) because we had a crapton of food. The steak had a yummy sweet onion glaze on it.  It was delightful.

And to top off the night a lovely text from Scott (which completely sums up our friendship):

Thanks for the asparagus pee.  I had fun.



wednesday weigh in.

I haven't quite decided how I'm going to do this yet...I mean the Lord knows I don't want ya'll knowing how much I really weigh...however, I'm really trying to be more mindful about what I'm eating and how much I'm working out, so I feel like if I broadcasted all of my business out for everyone that you'd all keep me in check, right?

In one of my Health magazines, one girl blogged about her weight loss by including a picture of herself in a bikini every week.  I will not be doing that, thank you very much.  BUT, it kept her on track.

Last week I mentioned that my gym was doing a fitness challenge, which runs for 12 weeks.  On Monday I weighed in at my gym and it was NOT pretty.



I mean I kind of expected it to not be so great since I'd been eating whatever the hell I've wanted for the past oh, I don't know how long, but I felt like my workouts would've counter-balanced things a little better (maybe my little gym hiatus played a part in this weigh in...). 



It wasn't so much my weight that I was shocked about but more my metabolic age (whatever that is...) and my percent body fat.  I'm still in the healthy range, but it just sounded high!  Yikes.



Anyway, I don't know exactly what my goals for the weight loss portion of the challenge will be (except to win a free year of membership at my gym) but I am doing a few things differently about what I eat. 



For example, I am writing down everything that I eat on this website: My Fitness Pal.  They even have an app for your phone.  I've done this in the past and it really helps you see how many calories you're actually eating every day and not how many you think you're eating.

Today sucked.  It was my off day at the gym and so my calories for the day were substantially lower than the past few days...I even ate a salad for lunch, and special K for breakfast, but somehow...I only have a few hundred calories left for dinner (which sucks because I'm going out to eat at a new place tonight.  I'll probably eat whatever I want though...)


I've also made it a goal to get up at least 4 out of 5 mornings to work out and then at least once over the weekend (depending on my schedule). 


AND FINALLY, I'm making it a goal to only eat out 3 times a week; and that includes the weekend.  I wish I hated trying new food and restaurants.

Anyway, be looking for updates about this fitness challenge that I've put myself on.  Hopefully I don't gain any more--that would suck to post about that.

i've been busy.

Painting and stuff.  And travelling. 

Also, my computer at home doesn't like the Internet.  Which poses a small problem in trying to write a blog post.

Anyway, I thought you'd like to see some of my painting skillz.

I finally got around to painting my office.  It was a project that I started about a month ago...and then I decided to change the color of the room completely.  So that took some time to figure out.

Anyway, I was lazy and didn't take the covers off of the outlets in my office and just taped over them.  It worked when I did this in my basement...so why wouldn't it work this time?  It appears that a small child snuck into my office while the paint was drying and then removed the tape from the outlet cover and finger painted all over the cover. 

That, or I'm horrible at painting.  It's probably the latter now that I think about it...

I'm happy with the color and still have to move all of my crap back in, but here's what the color looks like on the walls (this makes it look a little neon green...it's not, I promise.  It looks gooood). 

When I opened the paint can a little spilled out on my hands and when I wiped it on a paper towel the color looked like baby poop.  But it doesn't on my walls I don't think. 

Anywho, I'm alive and kickin, I just am slacking on posting stuff.  But don't you worry, I'll have something up real soon.