Neighborhood Adventure

It was the end of last week and it had been raining for 4 days straight. On Friday afternoon at 5 pm the sun came out. Finally! Some friends and I had cabin fever and it was the perfect opportunity for a little neighborhood adventure on the way to see Andrew Bird at the Uptown Theater. We began at my house with some cocktails and the evening progressed from there.

Locations are very, very approximate.

           

Cocktails + Adventure at miniBar

1. A visit to the soft opening at miniBar- It will be a great bar and I like the sign  
2. Fitz's Blarney Stone is apparently one of the oldest bars in Kansas City, and I believe the gentleman sleeping at the table behind us has been there since opening day
3. A wonderful concert at the Uptown Theater
4. One for the road at News Room
5. Snacks and nightcaps at Beer Kitchen

I can hardly wait for more neighborhood adventures this summer.

Succulent

I've always loved succulents, cacti, and air plants-- but unfortunately so does Robert the cat. Today, however, I came across an abandoned bell jar in the basement of my building. Perfect luck. A cat-proof bell jar terrarium!

Before:

After:

I cleaned it all up, and painted the ugly wood base a high gloss black. I'd like to find more interesting plants and make something like this. But still- not bad for 15 minutes and $10.00.

A sneak peak of our new living room- I'll post a new house tour very soon.

Hello Springtime?

Springtime!

I love how appreciated springtime is in places that have hard winters- for the past past three days Kansas City has been such a party-Tuesday night I walked to Country Club Plaza, Wednesday night was rose wine on Sabines gorgeous porch, and tonight a happy hour (and then some) with co-workers at Cafe Trio.   CNN says warm weather is here to stay- I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Dusk over Country Club Plaza

Cafe Trio

March Lady dinner

A special edition of Lady dinner- a wine tasting class at Cellar Rat! While I (obviously) love eating and drinking deliciously, I am pretty unschooled about wine. This two hour class really helped. For example- I learned that I like Riesling and Merlot! I was just drinking the wrong (read: cheap) ones before. I'm looking forward to a summer of Riesling discovery. 

Sabine, the other Lady in Lady dinner has more photos and a great description of the evening here.

Some other valuable information we picked up- the iconic American Restaurant now has both a bar menu and a happy hour. April Lady dinner, anyone?

The setup

We took many notes- this was after tasting 3 white wines- wheee!

Hello, again

I lasted posted on February 18th. On February 20th we moved into our new apartment and it was smooth and easy- the weather was great, Matt got all the furniture moved by noon, and by 8 pm that night we were exhaustedly eating Middle Eastern food and watching Friends With Benefits (it was really funny! A great movie for when you don't want to think very much). 

The next day, however, I woke up with a Terrible Awful Cold. I don't think I've been so sick since I was very little. I was sick for ten days and then Matt got it. Awful. We both recovered just in time for Matt to leave to begin training for his deployment. He'll be gone for two months but at least he'll still be in America...

In the brief couple of days that we both were better, we did manage to have some fun. Notably, dinner at Sabines house and and very strange, but funny and oddly romantic dinner at the Kansas City landmark Savoy Grill (Savoy, I love you for cocktails but your dining room and service need a spiffing up!). We said goodbye (for now) over brunch at Westport Cafe and now I'm on my own for the next bit. 

I miss Matt already but I'm trying to stay on the bright side of being on my own- doing whatever I want to. Yesterday this meant mooning over one of my favorite 80's movies and this morning it meant community yoga class at Maya Yoga. 

Our Kansas City museum

In the afternoon I walked over to the Nelson-Atkins Museum for a concert by the chamber music group eighth blackbird. It was wonderful- and free! One thing I thought of on my way in- so often we enter concert halls and museums from the bottom or the side because of where the parking lot is located. The experience is so much more impressive when you enter where the designers intended. 

Some other small weekend things:

My boss gave me some delicious soup in this mason jar- I'm returning it with a batch of savory cookies. Some past gifts from my boss- homemade pate and various mustards and pickles. He's the best. 

I brought some more cookies to a gathering at a friends house- her grandmother recently gave her a haul of vintage jewelry, so she invited some of us over to share the bounty. I scored an amazing cuff and an Indian-inspired necklace.