Ghosts and Gangsters~KC Style

As I took this last weekend to catch up on blog posts, more importantly to get pictures loaded to the blog...here we go with the catch up :)

A few Saturdays ago (June 18) the Carter boys and girls finally got to use a groupon that we bought a while back for a bogo free for the KC Ghost and Gangsters tour.  The girls thought this would be an outing that the boys would enjoy because there was talk of gangsters!  Even though it took a while for us to get it on our calendars (with 8 kids it's hard to get all of Jimmy's older brothers in one place at one time) and Bobby and Hillary weren't able to make it - we were excited to all go out and hang out!  It's always fun to get together with just adults and catch up!

We started the night at Harry's Country Club in the River Market for some happy hour specials, which included some delicious sangria!  Then we headed to the West Bottoms of KC to where the haunted houses are in full swing in the fall.  Once we saw this bus, we knew we were in the right place.  However, we were a little sad to see there was no air conditioning because summer was in full swing.  We managed to survive.

We got there around 5 minutes early and the guys realized that there wasn't alcohol.  So after a quick run to the convenient store with a grocery sack full of beer snuck to the back of the bus, we were off on the tour.  3 hours long, so we figured there would be lots to see.

Started off with telling us some scary ghost stories about another haunted house downtown where there have been 2 deaths from falling down the elevator shafts, then off to the Hotel Savoy where we learned about some scary stories about when it was a hotel and the people that haunted the halls....

Next was a church downtown that I drove by almost every day when I lived downtown and had no idea the scary stories that surrounded it.  I was hoping that the picture I took was going to have an orb because I guess lots of people get them.  Huh, maybe next time.  And the picture on the right is of our tour guide who was supposed to be a ghost.

Next up, it was time for a bathroom break at Union Station.  This was when they started talking about the gangsters in Kansas City.  The picture below is Jimmy pointing to a real life bullet hole that still remains there.

While we were stopped there - we got a good group picture...with the tour guide of course :)

There were lots of stops after that, including Union Cemetery, which is part of the Union Hill area and right by my work!  With stories about people living in the nearby condos hearing the sounds of crying babies....that were ghosts....yeah, very happy that I didn't ever live in those!!  And then there was another historic cemetery that houses souls that were disturbed when they put in Truman Road - yep, they literally dug them up and moved them.  Eek....

We then went over to the Kansas side to KCK to see the Sauer Castle, which I had never even heard of! Check out the link above to learn more about it.  Pretty crazy and there is a house next door where someone lives and watches the house.  The fence completely surrounds the house and apparently there are super scary guard dogs too!!

The picture on the left was of the house right across the street from the castle.  Interesting choice of porch decor :) 

At this stop, we had Jimmy jump out and take some pictures of the castle....while the rest of us sat in the back of the bus.  I did have one beer, dropped the can and it rolled all the way to the front of the bus and yep, the tour guide picked it up.  Oops.  So I stopped after that.  But here are both sides of the bus!

And the final group picture, minus the photographer, Jimmy.  

Overall, it was a fun trip.  Don't think I would have paid full price for the tickets, so happy it was a bogo free and we didn't!  But it was cool to hear about all the different parts of Kansas City and the scary stories.  After it was over, we had some more time left before the baby sitters (aka Jimmy parents) were going to leave, so we headed to the Peanut for some late night drinks and bar food.  Yum, loving those BLTs and wings!

Glad we have these Carter "culture" nights!  Can't wait for the next one!!

Happy Fourth of July!!

So this weekend was GREAT!  A full four days off and lots of things to do :)  It consisted of this...

Ripping up carpet upstairs.  Thank goodness my dad did 2 rooms on Thursday and Friday because Sunday when we did our bedroom, I came to the conclusion that ripping up carpet is my LEAST favorite house project ever.

Lots of bottled water.  Why? Because Friday and Saturday, there was a boil order in most of Johnson County because of a water main break.  That was interesting.  It was funny because people went CRAZY and all the grocery stores were sold out almost immediately after the ban!

There was lots of cooking.  Including a trip down to City Market early Saturday morning with my mom, dad and sister....where we had a delicious breakfast and did some shopping.  I picked up this amazing apron for Jimmy.  He liked it.  Our fridge was FULL, as we had some of Jimmy's family over on Saturday night.  Check out all the food!

Jimmy's favorite toy.  Love that smoked meat!!!

There was also so planning for an outdoor makeover of our bottom patio.  Plans on that coming soon!

And don't think we didn't take some time to relax.  We did!!  Lots of Friday Night Lights too...

And I mentioned that some of Jimmy's brothers came over Saturday night.  Oh my goodness.  We turned on Toy Story 2 in the basement and they were hooked.  Look at how sweet and innocent they all look on the couch together.  They continue to make me laugh every time we hang out with them!!!

They love Woody from Toy Story!!

Oh Sunday - we were going to do a surprise date, but part of it was outside, and it was raining, so we had to postpone.  Instead, we used a Plaza gift card and headed to Kona Grill for some sushi and drinks. So fun.  I had a completely DELICIOUS drink with some of that new sweet tea vodka and blackberries.

Jam with his standard Sapporo.

YUM!  Look at all that sushi.  It was SOOOOOOO good.  Also, the avocado egg rolls were yummy! 

With the long weekend coming to a close, just some family time left....very thankful for the wonderful country that we live in and all the luxuries we are so blessed to have.  Hope everyone had a great long weekend!!

Fast.Easy.Healthy.Delicious

Four words to describe a recent e-mealz recipe I made last week.  I should have added "cheap" to the list too.  And really...put those 5 words together and it doesn't get much better than that :)

So without further ado - here it is.

Ingredients:
1 lb tilapia filets, cut into small pieces (I actually just bought 2 of the individual tilapia filets on sale for $1 at the grocery store, instead of the full filet)
2 yellow squashes, sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced (I had a green already, so I just used that!)
4 oz whole mushrooms (I sliced these too)
2 T red wine vinegar
2 T olive oil
2 t garlic powder
2 t oregano
1/2 t salt

Directions: 
Combine all ingredients and place into a microwave dish or large Ziploc (I used the Ziploc) bag.  Shake or stir to mix ingredients.  Microwave on high for 4-5 min or until tilapia flakes easily


Serve with brown rice (I get brown rice packets from CostCo and they take 3 minutes to heat up - so delicious and easy!).


And there you have it - 8 minutes of cook time and probably 4 to prep.  In 12 minutes, you have a fast, easy, healthy, and delicious - don't forget cheap if you use my idea to buy the individual frozen tilapia!

YUM!

This is a much needed recipe for my weekly meals after all the food I have eaten this 4th of July weekend!

P.S.  For the summer time, we are back to using e-mealz vs. cooking 30 meals in one day and freezing.  This mainly because I feel lots of the 30 meals that I cook are soups and hot dishes and in the summer when it's like 100 degrees, that is the last thing we want to eat!  So e-mealz has been amazing this summer and I can pick and choose the recipes that are easy and fast to cook :)  We are loving it!

Happy almost Friday

As it's my today and I'm dying for this 4 day weekend to get here for some time off work and fun with family and friends, and yes, getting my pictures (not of the house, Lyndsay) loaded on the blog and maybe to facebook (don't want to aim too high....), wanted to show you a funny picture I snapped in the morning.

This my friends, is the reason I get up in the morning (Milly is somewhere under the covers and Toby is off wreaking havoc with our crazy backyard squirrels...).  Love my little family, dogs and all.  Hope everyone kicks the 4th of July weekend off right!

P.S. if you look closely at their hair color, Jimmy and Willy could be twins.  

Something old, something new

As I am getting very very excited to co-host Katie's bridal shower this weekend at our house, I was getting out my punch bowl from the basement storage.  But I must tell you about this punch bowl.  It's special.  Instead of registering for a punch bowl like I was going to do, my dad had told me that my grandparents had lots of stuff that they were wanting to pass down to their grandkids at their house.  So when we made this trip to Iowa after our wedding, I picked up a gorgeous punch bowl set.  It was in the original box and everything.  How neat and special that I get to use it for the first time to host a shower for my good friend.  I love things like this that are passed down because I will keep this forever and every time I use it, think about my wonderful grandparents - and how lucky I am to have them still in my life :)

See that....the order slip was still on the box even!  How amazing!!  And check out what it looks like below.  I didn't get the hooks and cups out yet, but wanted to set it up and see how it looks.  So pretty!

Here is a close up of my grandma's order form....from MARCH 12, 1961.  Oh my gosh.  My dad was only 8 years old when they ordered this.  How crazy and neat that they passed something special like this down and kept it in such great condition.  Isn't it sad to think that we'll not have anything like this to pass down to our grandkids...unless we fork over to them our email addresses with the order confirmation :)

So that's the something old.  And I love it.  And the something new?  Well - I finished the valance last night.  Remember the valance that I hated because it wasn't long enough, but really I was just ready to be done with it.  I swallowed my pride and added the remaining fabric I had left to the end - and it turned out so much better I think!!!

Oh and did you catch the pillow that I made in the picture above?  Well there it is...the bad is the red chenille fabric.  I like it.  So that was my final thing to check off.  I still have another one to make, which I'll finish up, but I think that deserves a "complete".

(1) Recover the bench that was in the family room (and just white) and put it in the hallway

(2) Make some pillows

(3) Make a valance to go in the family room and keep the red panels underneath with the main print

(4) With my other creation, the console table, use it with the baskets I put in there

Wahoo!  To do list, crossed off.  Ready for some fun in the family room :)  Now we just need some new carpet....haha.  One thing at a time, Brittany.

Finally, check out a close up of that gathering ....just what I was hoping for.  And you can't even tell where I added the fabric.

Happy Friday!

Views of the valance

I felt like trying to get clever with the title.  I don't think it worked.  Well here you have it folks.

Here is a shot from this post, of our "naked" windows (naked is defined as no valance in this case)

And here is a collage of the valance.  

I think I'm going to take off the little hook things on the side.  I don't like the panels pulled over.  Do you??

Also.  They don't match the curtain rods.  I know, but I'm running out of time and money on this project - and I caved and bought the double curtain rod.  And that was all Target had at 8:30 on a Monday.

However, bad news.  I hate the valance.  Yep, it's true.  It's not long enough and there is not enough gathering.  See the protege that I am judging it off of.   Take a look at this and then back at my valance.  Nope, this valance wins just because of the gathering.

 So now what happens??  Um - I hurry my little butt up and figure out how much fabric I need for these accent pillows and make sure I have some extra fabric left.  But I think I'm in trouble.  I don't think it's long enough.  Not sure.  But if so, I will cry.  And I don't cry.  So pray there is enough fabric.  In the mean time, I think I can cross it off my list.  Because it's "done" even if I need to change it - I might run out of time before Saturday!!  I got things to do people!

(1) Recover the bench that was in the family room (and just white) and put it in the hallway

(2) Make some pillows

(3) Make a valance to go in the family room and keep the red panels underneath with the main print

(4) With my other creation, the console table, use it with the baskets I put in there

Only one to go.....but there was something to cheer about Monday night!  THIS console beauty is completed.  All ready to be fully used.  Want to know what this started out like?  Oh, you can just go to your local lumber store and pick up some 6X8's (or something like that).  Yep people, this was lumber at one point....and now it's my console table made especially for my family room with the perfect measurements.  And then instead of buying baskets and in an attempt to use some of the wood that was left over...the blue "baskets" made of wood were born.  Yep, those were lumber too at one point.  Now they are blue "baskets"...but wood baskets.  Ana White.  I love your website.  I'm officially obsessed.

Here is a link to my next Ana White project - check it out.  A nice little outdoor sofa...chairs...and a table.  Ahhh...summertime on these is calling my name.  Maybe this lounger too....

PS This is what my console table looked like pre-console table.  

Crazy, I know.  I learned how to use a saw, bought an electric sander, used oil based primer, used polyurethane in my house and gave myself a huge headache (bad idea...) and now here it is.  And thanks dad for the recommendation to put furniture pads underneath them so they don't scratch.  They work great!!

Trip up "north"

Ok - so last weekend, I headed up "north" (in Erica's language) to visit the Wassinger's in Omaha.  They moved up there in March and we have been trying to plan a weekend to go up there forever.  However, it is apparently harder than we thought because the second weekend of June was all we could find.  And then Jimmy had Jay's bachelor party - so I went solo.  Which was so fun and a much needed girls weekend :)

When I arrived, we got ready and in the midst of that...Erica's crazy/funny neighbor comes pounding on her front door telling us to come next door to partake in the neighborhood progressive dinner.  So we finish getting ready and head over there to mingle with her neighbors, which we wonderful.  They all spent lots and lots of time reassuring me that they would "take care of her" and had lots of stories to tell about the neighborhood.  It reminded me so much of Brookside in Kansas City with older houses that were SOOO cute and had so much character and the friendliness of the neighborhood also!  I know they will be very happy in their neighborhood and house!  

So after that fun fiasco, we headed to the Holiday Lounge for some good old fashioned Omaha fun.  Erica's friend Brian was the bartender, so it made for a cheap date and some great conversation.  Here's the only picture I got of us that night.

But don't worry - there was some interesting entertainment in the form of an old couple that came into the bar, proceeded to instantly start making out (and a little bit more...yuck) at a table...which is very hard to see in the picture on the left below.  At that point, they pretty much had the whole bar's attention.  Then the picture on the right was all I could snap of them (without being super super creepy) driving off.  Yeah, that's really safe.

We got to see Andrew that night when we got home and chatted a bit and then went to bed.  It was up around 9 and Andrew went to the store to get us some delicious breakfast food.  Then it was girls time that was shopping.  In particular, Erica was nice enough to go on a shopping escapade with me to look for these curly hair products that I had gotten recommended the week before.  So after we shopped and spent some money on new products, we met her hubby at none other than VALENTINO'S.  Oh my gosh.  These in Nebraska don't even compare to the one in Manhattan.  I had to go.  And I will go back every time I'm in Lincoln or Omaha.  Yum.  If you don't know what it is...here is a glimpse.

The menu and us waiting for Andrew, posing in front of the menu!

Oh and Erica made me take these pictures.  She thought Andrew and I were nuts because we pretty much got the most food you can possibly imagine...from all different cuisines.  And then after only ONE plate, she was ready for dessert - Andrew and I looked at her like she was completely nutso.  No way, we were going back for more...which is what you see on the right.  Mix of dessert and pasta.  I will tell you that when I do buffets, I do it right.  

Then we went to see Super 8, which Andrew perfectly described as the E.T. of 2011.  It was at this super swanky all digital theater that they have the hook up for free tickets to because they are friends with the owner.  Um, so awesome.

Then we hurried home and got ready to meet some girls out for dinner.  I was excited to finally get to meet Erica's high school friend Elizabeth and a girl that Erica worked with in Dallas and was cousins with Erica's now-neighbor in Omaha...Kate...did I lose you?  Anyway, we met at a restaurant in Mid-town, Loft 610, and had the best dinner.  It surprised me because the only person that all of us had in common was Erica, but everyone hit it off great and it was wonderful conversation.

We were going to meet our friend Van and her bf Cortney in Old Town..but everyone was pretty beat at that point, so we stayed in the area around where they live and then went back to Erica's house to hear some pretty hilarious/mortifying stories about Elizabeth's pregnancy---well just pregnancy and giving birth in general.

Sunday morning - after a fun weekend....I left Erica and Andrew's house to this beautiful picture.

Their two adorable dogs, Della and Dieter (the puppy) wishing me off in my drive back to KC!  Here's a close up.  But seriously, how cute is their house??

AND - how cute is their neighborhood!?  I cannot wait to come and visit again and drag old Jimmy along next time to join in the fun :)  But overall, a fabulous girls weekend in Omaha.  Glad they are closer to KC now!!