Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Day 181 - mmmmm . . . Pretzel m&m's

Have you tried these yet?!?

Tonight, I did and I recommend you do too.

The balance of pretzel to m&m flavor was minimal, but you could tell it was there. I wouldn't mind a little more pretzel and a little less m&m. Either way they are good.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Day 180 - A First & Last at Rosenblatt

This afternoon I drove up to Omaha to be at the 'potential' final College World Series (CWS) Championship game between UCLA & South Carolina.

I have never been to the championship game before and tonight's was extra special because this was the last CWS to be played at the current Rosenblatt stadium.

The whole theme this year was based on the fact that this was the last year the games were to be played st Rosenblatt, here is what our parking pass had written on it

"Last bash at the Blatt"

My sisters Janelle, Michelle and my brother Nick and I all went to the game together and had tickets to a fun pre-game tent for food & drinks before heading into the stadium.

(this is the only picture we took in the tent, no one really looks ready for a picture - ha! but that kind of makes me like it more.)

Of course once we were inside we had to share some cotton candy & dip-n-dots and to top it all off a blooming onion (another first)

It was such a beautiful evening!

And just in case the baseball game wasn't interesting enough . . . there were even a couple of streakers

The South Carolina Gamecocks ended up winning it all tonight and it was so neat to be there with so many of their fans surrounding our seats cheering for their team.

Even with all the excitement, it was hard not to notice that there was a strange feeling as we walked out of the stadium knowing that after 60 years, there will never be another CWS game played on this field. Next year the new stadium will be finished and I am looking forward to seeing the new set up and starting new traditions.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Day 179 - LIAM Letters

Tonight I worked on a project for my godson & nephew Liam. My sister & brother in-law (Liam's parents) bought letters to decorate Liam's room before he was born and they told me they didn't love what they found, so I decided to make some custome letters for him.

Here are the supplies I started with:

(I ended up using a regular office stapler - the other one was too heavy duty and the staples were all too deep. I also used Sobo craft glue that is not pictures either)

First I trimmed a piece of white felt and wrapped each letter using a combination of glue and staples

The backs of the letters didn't look too impressive, but once I had them wrapped and turned them over everything looked great

It took a bit longer than I anticipated to get this first step done (about an hour for all 4 letters). The 'I' obviously went much quicker than the 'M' so depending on the name or word it could take more or less time.

I repeated the same process with the fabric I found to coordinate with Liam's room

A few tips here are to make sure, if the fabric has a pattern, that you place the letter the same direction for each one. Also, I held first glued each section and held it in place for about a minute before placing a staple to secure the fabric

I also have some ribbon to hang the letters and will attach that to the back of the letters. The final step will be to trace another piece of felt to back each letter - this piece won't wrap like the 2 front layers, but will just cover the back and give a nice finish, plus protect the wall. The reason I am waiting for this finalstep is because I want to see how these work first (we may decide to do a different fabric and once I see them in the room we can decide what color of ribbon to hang them from).

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Day 178 - Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Shop and Dinner in our front yard

My favorite way to eat ice cream is when it is a banana split :) I probably only have about 1 year, so when I do - it's a big deal! Today, one was sounding really good - so Quinn and I set out to find the best banana split in Kansas City.

We decided on Ben & Jerry's. I had never been to one of their ice cream shops before, but know their product in the grocery stores is a good one - so we headed south to Ben & Jerry's

I went with regular vanilla & strawberry for my first 2 flavors, but for the chocolate decided on New York Super Fudge Chunk (. . . mmmmm)

For the topping I went with hot fudge

And of course had to top it all off with peanuts

The end result was a perfectly delicious banana split, that made me so happy & in such a good mood . . .

I decided to share with Quinn too

It was so yummy, right down to the last drop!

Another satisfied customer :)

Other Firsts: I didn't get a picture to capture the moment, but we also ate dinner in our front yard tonight - for the first time. Quinn recently placed a couple of our Adirondack chairs in the front to reseal them and we got so many compliments and liked how it looked that we kept them there. So tonight we placed a couple lanterns from our back yard in the front and sat in our chairs to enjoy our dinner and the beautiful night.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Day 177 - Michael Buble (Nara & Bulldog)

Tonight we went to see Michael Buble in concert - It was wonderful!

Quinn's Brother Kyle and his wife Tiffany joined us and we all had such a great time!


The opening act was a group called Naturally Seven - I had never even heard of them before, but they were pretty amazing.

Each member of the band not only sang, but took on the role of an instrument too - every song they sang was only vocals, but sounded like a full band

Michael Buble exceeded all of our expectations!

He put on a great performance, not only his vocals were terrific, but he had such a good sense of humor and was very engaging


He also, did something, I had never seen before (well maybe by Garth Brooks, but that would be it) - he sang the last song with out a mic, just belted it out - him alone on the stage singing with all he had - it was a fabulous finally to an amazing concert!

Other Firsts: Before the concert we had a lovely dinner at Nara. We tried some of the Japanese Robata (another first) items and lots of sushi. Everything was terrific and I am sure we will be back soon.

After the concert we went to Bulldog, a bar & grill and had a fun time winding down our evening here. The most memorable thing for me was the $5 soft pretzels that each came with 3 large pretzels & nacho cheese, yummy!

Friday, June 25, 2010

Day 176 - Dunkin' Donuts

I love donuts! (In case you didn't already know this).

There is a new Dunkin' Donuts shop in our neighborhood, so today, Quinn and I thought we would give them a try.

There were lots to choose from :)

We went with a maple long-john, a strawberry glazed, a sprinkled and a Boston cream. (don't worry, I only had a bite of each - I like to try lots and they all looked so good!)

They were all pretty good - not the best donuts I've ever had, but the maple long-john was pretty great and the Boston cream was my favorite.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Day 175 - Quinn's Soccer Game

I headed back to Omaha early this morning and tonight I went to Quinn's indoor soccer game for the first time! Yes, I have never seen him play and I am so glad I finally made it out to see him tonight. He did awesome! His team won and Quinn scored 3 goals - needless to say, I was impressed.

I was having so much fun watching Quinn play and chatting with my sister-in-law Tiffany & the kids (Quinn's brother Kyle is on the team too) that I didn't even think to take a picture of him in action. So after his game, I was sure to get a shot of him before we headed out in the Jeep.

The facility he plays at was pretty interesting - it not only has an indoor soccer field, but a whole gymnastic/climbing/kids fun space too.

Great game Quinn! Can't wait until I get cheer for you again soon, xoxo.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Day 174 - Tale as old as Time . . .

Beauty & The Beast

Tonight, to continue Michelle's 21st birthday celebration, all of the woman in my family went to see the traveling Broadway production of Beauty & the Beast - it was phenomenal!

Mom & Nelly, just before the show started :)

A quick shot of my sisters and I at intermission

Thanks Michelle for having such a wonderful birthday week!! I am so happy I was able to be in Omaha to celebrate with you :) xoxo!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Day 173 - Hiro 88 (plus Naked Sushi & Blood Orange Sorbet)

HAPPY 21st MICHELLE!!!

Sisters :)
We had dinner at Hiro 88 downtown with about 25 of Michelle's friends - It was my first time here and the restaurant was great to us, I was impressed with how well they treated our 21st birthday celebration and the food was terrific.

The menu had many classic Chinese options and some Japanese selections plus tons of sushi.

I also had 'naked' sushi for the first time. Incase you have never heard of it - they use cucumber to roll the sushi instead of seaweed - yummy!



My sister Janelle & I also shared the Snow White Chicken - it was delicious.

As dinner was winding down - I said a little toast and then it was saki bomb time (what would a 21st birthday at a sushi place be with out them?)

Cheers!

Nelly even did one (I passed)

But I did not pass on dessert :)

The restaurant gave Michelle this decadent cake (that I volunteered to help finish)

And I ordered a scoop of sorbet for my self. They had several int resting flavors and I decided to try the blood orange one, since I had never had anything made with blood orange, but have heard of it on cooking shows before.

A perfect sweet treat - to top off a wonderful dinner celebration

. . . Then we headed off to the bars :)

The shot I bought for Michelle was a lemon drop (it was #21 . . . continued from the power hour the night before)