- Daniel and I fully intended to go to the movie theater, as we do on many Friday nights, but we inevitably parked ourselves on the couch and watched a move OnDemand.  Drive was interesting.  The movie swings between low-key, sweet scenes with very little dialogue to BOOM Ryan Gosling is crushing a guy’s face with his bootheel. 

- I baked coconut macaroons for my dad and a chocolate chip pie for Daniel, and we all, plus my mom, watched the Mizzou vs. KU game.  The good guys won.

- We ate Sunday brunch at Julian with our friends Jon and Heather and their kids, Gabe and Hadley.  Gabe is 2.5 years old and a complete wise guy.  His classic phrases are so grown up and stolen from the mouths of this parents.  Hadley is 7 months old and a delight.  I hadn’t seen her since she was three days old.  We toasted Jon’s new job at The American Restaurant with mimosas.  Considering I can name five former chefs from The American who have gone on to do great things in the culinary world, I know he’s going to make a name for himself.

- Half of the Super Bowl was spent with Daniel’s high school buddies, and the other half was spent with our friends Matt and Robin.  I care for neither team and only paid attention during the last 3 minutes of the game. 

- On the homefront, I’m trying to love our existing desk instead of buying a new desk.  My heart warmed a little when I replaced the drawer pulls with dandies from Anthropologie.  However, the desk chair, an awful piece of work from OfficeMax, must go.

- On Friday night, our friend Logan invited us and two other couples to a wine tasting at the Cellar Rat.  We enjoyed four wines, cheese, cured meats and crostini.  All were delicious.  I reached optimal tipsy level, and my DD even swung by the store for me to get Lucky Charms and waffle fries before the party continued at our house. 

- I painted our hallway green.  It’s pretty bright, and I don’t believe Daniel is entirely sold on it.  For now I’m giving it a shot.  If we still aren’t both members of Team Green once I’ve transformed the space into an art gallery of sorts, I’ll bite the bullet and repaint.  I’ll post a picture once the photo/art collage is in progress.

- Daniel and I had a lovely dinner at the new Mexican place on the Plaza, Zocalo.  Definitely affordable, and I must recommend the margaritas and the tres leche cake.

- We watched Super 8, and I LOVED it.  Reminiscent of Stand By Me.  Mom and Dad, you will like this one.

- I started reading Hitch-22 by Christopher Hitchens.  My copy as a new foreword that was written after he was diagnosed with cancer.  His knowledge of literary works is astounding.  So far, I highly recommend it.      

I feel like I haven’t posted anything inspiring or interesting lately, and this week is going to be just as bad.  I leave tomorrow for a 10-hour trip to Kentucky to electroshock fish at a power plant intake and return on Wednesday.  I understand that that means nothing to some of you.  Which is fine.  In fact, it still surprises me that even sentences like that even come out of my mouth.  Anyway, let’s touch on the weekend highlights.

- I made 200+ whoopie pies for the wedding of our friends Jill and Rob.  Now you’re right.  We don’t run a catering business here at thebeeandthebud (see above), and I may never take on such a hefty task again.  But, I was happy to help out friends, and I’ll be honest, the compliments at the reception were quite nice.  Now I’m one of those people that typically don’t enjoy their own culinary creations.  Usually by the time I finish baking something, I’m over it and don’t even eat it.  So, I was more than happy to pass over the pies and eat more than my fair share of Christopher Elbow chocolates.

- I got googley-eyed and danced my butt off at this wedding.  The DJ played Ignition Remix.  Can you blame a girl?

- Winsteads with one of our favorite couples really is better at 1:30 in the morning.

- Amy at the Beauty Brands on the Plaza does a really good manicure. 

- I moved buildings at work and now have a new cubicle.  Hopefully the newness doesn’t wear off too soon.  I needed a change.  Perks in this building include a cafeteria, free coffee, and a workout facility.

- The new Kate Spade store on the Plaza is lovely.  Go in there just to see the gorgeous gift boxes on the wall behind the checkout counter.  I imagine it’s a dream come true for Ms. Spade to have a store in her hometown. 

On Saturday morning, I met my in-laws and their general contractor for a Condo Committee meeting regarding the redesign of the condo they own downtown; the same one I lived in for two years until just recently.  Now that the space is vacant, Daniel’s parents want to update the space to serve as a place for family get-togethers, parties, and a place to sleepover after late nights downtown or inclement weather (my father-in-law works downtown but lives in the ‘burbs).  

The bones of this place are really great: sky high concrete ceilings, exposed duct work, and a great view of downtown KC.  However, some of the materials used to convert the space from offices to homes were relatively cheap: carpet, tile, etc.

Because my in-laws know how much I enjoy interior design, they asked me to share my input regarding color and material choices and anything else I would change based on having lived there.

I had a blast sharing my ideas and making suggestions.  Even the contractor was asking if I agreed with his suggestions.  In the end, my in-laws decided to purchase my tile suggestion for the bathrooms and are taking my advice to rip out the existing mirrors and lighting in the bathroom. 

After the meeting, my father-in-law were talking about the overall aesthetic of the place, and he loved my idea to make the space clean and crisp with a masculine feel: a place where a lady would feel very comfortable but also a place a man would feel like he could crack a window and light up a cigar.  I suggested crushed leather couches and a giant photo collage on the giant living room wall - an ode to family past and present and a tribute to old Kansas City. 

Here are a few pictures of the place when I lived in it.  All of the paint colors were left over from the previous owners except for the bathroom.  I can’t wait to share the after photos.

Friday

- Dinner at Blue Koi and a movie on my couch.  We watched Crazy, Stupid, Love which I recommend.  Emma Stone’s character is really great.

Saturday

-  I bought lampshades that were probably way too expensive.  I’m returning them today and having custom navy linen lampshades made from a gal on Etsy for half the price.  I scoured the entire internet.  Navy drum lampshades don’t exist. 

-  For some reason after just running 3 miles, I’m convinced that I do want to try a marathon next year. 

Sunday

-  Daniel and I had the pleasure of babysitting our nephew Austin so that his parents could celebrate their 6th anniversary.

-  Listening to Austin tell his puppy to “Walk away” cracked me up everytime. 

-  Austin says my name really well now.  When Daniel left for the Sporting game, Austin said his name no less than 1000 times. 

-  Austin was pretty miffed when I cooked his meal on high power instead of medium power (Don’t worry.  I discovered this before I gave it to him).  When I put his meal in the freezer, he looked at me like I was crazy and then whacked the table with his spoon for emphasis.  If he could have, he probably would have mumbled to himself, “This is why she doesn’t have children.”  The pudding was like lava.  It went in the trash.

-  I would gladly leave and return over and over again just to receive his goodbye hugs and kisses. 

My two favorite guys watching WoodyBuzz (Toy Story).

This weekend was spent with my parents and brothers’ families.  Here’s some highlights:

-  While the ladies, children, and Daniel went to Zona Rosa for lunch and what turned out to be a children’s dance party nightmare, my brothers picked up Dan’s new puppy, Augustus.  Poor Gus was put through the ringer that afternoon.  He was ridden like a “horsie”, picked up by his head, and had his tail pulled all in the name of love. 

-  My mom and I played soccer with Austin in Old Navy while his mom shopped.  We probably set a bad example. 

-  Daniel and I snuggled Ellie through Game 7. 

-  It’s always a pleasure to eat dinner from my mom’s kitchen as she works her way through her Lidia Bastianich cookbooks.  Pesto stuffed chicken thighs wrapped in prosciutto.  Delicious.

-  A visit from Chris, Kim and Ellie to see our new home.

-  Walk to the grocery store with Daniel.  Fall in KC really is the best.

Dad with the new additions to the family.

 - Daniel and I went to RA, a sushi place in Leawood, because we had heard great things.  Except all of the recommendations failed to mention that it’s essentially a dance club parading around as a sushi restaurant.  As we were waiting for our table, three twenty-something guys walked in, and one said, “Oh yeah.  The vibe is a lot better here.” 

-  Franzia chilled red wine is gross.  No two ways around it.

-  Raise your hand if you’ve lived in your house for less than a month and have already had to fix both of your toilets?  That’s what I thought.  Just me.  Yesterday Daniel found water all over the floor in our upstairs bathroom, and it seemed to come from the base of the toilet.  So we decided to replace the wax seal as we had two weeks ago on our other toilet.  This particular toilet is located in a tiny space; the base of the toilet is about 6 inches from the wall on either side.  Getting the toilet lined up so that the screws fit through the base properly was to-date the greatest challenge of our marriage.  Daniel almost trashed his back, and I almost lost a few fingers.  As of today, there is no water on the floor, but the flusher is acting a bit wonky.  Let’s hope Daniel can fix it tonight. 

-  The squirrels in our front yard have almost finished eating the two 10-15 lb pumpkins on our front porch.  They have until Wednesday night to finish the job.  Two squirrels in particular are nearly the size of cats now. 

The first half of my weekend was spent in St. Louis with my family to visit my new niece, Ellie.  Bea and Josh came down from Madison, and we spent the day with my brother Chris and his wife, Kim.  In addition to holding the baby for nearly 12 hours, we watched football and Federer crumble, ate a delicous meal on the back porch, and put up some bird cage decals on Ellie’s walls.

Nobody has quite decided who Ellie looks like yet, but I’ve come to the conclusion that we have the same heads.  One of her temples is just slightly more concave than the other one, just like mine.  I’ve never been told specifically that I have a weird head, so she has nothing to worry about (I had other issues growing up that I hope she escapes, i.e. car-wreck bangs as nicely described by my sister, caterpillar eyebrows, and a guy in college once told me I have really long arms.). 

She really is perfect.   

The second half of my weekend was spent with my nephew Austin.  We celebrated grandpa’s birthday.  More on that tomorrow.  I left my camera at home.

On Saturday morning, Daniel and I went treasure hunting at Good JuJu and the other fine flea markets in the West Bottoms.  As soon as we walked in the door, we found our piece: a bigger-than-most sideboard/buffet.  I think she’s grand, and I can’t wait to put a fancy bar set-up atop her.  She cost x amount plus 80 bucks.  The 80 bucks is the amount Daniel bribed the tow truck guy with to release our car after Daniel ran after him and banged on his door.  We learned an $80 lesson on Saturday which could have been a $230 lesson.  You guys know how much I hate learning lessons.

We also found this rug at Anthropologie in the sale bin.  I originally thought she’d be lovely in the living room, but now I might love her under the dining room table.