birthday, easter, and los angeles...

We have had quite a busy week!

*Friday, April 2nd... Tony's Birthday!
He is now 29. Yikes! We are getting old. We had a really exciting day and he claims this to be his best birfday evah! He received an iPhone (from me!), new bowling ball, a Wii, GQ magazine subscription, and the series "the States" from the History Channel on DVD. I think he did pretty well! Of course Tony, Matt and I went bowling with his new ball and ate some great bar food while we were playing. For dinner, we decided to try something new with tapas. If you aren't familiar, tapas are spanish style appetizers and are FANTASTIC. We tried The 9th Door in LoDo and just happened to be there during happy hour! Basically $70 got all three of us drunk, stuffed and happy! If we went for normal dinner it would have been outrageous. All in all a fantastic day!!

*Saturday, April 3rd... Flying to Los Angeles
We decided to take a vacation just to get away and it was great timing with Tony's b-day. We have so much family in L.A. and thought it was a perfect opportunity to crash couches. I have an aunt, an uncle, six cousins, and many friends to see. We arrived at 8:30am and were ready to go...

-picked up by cousin Bo from LAX
-while leaving Bo and Hannah's house in Silverlake, saw January Jones at a restaurant
-to Chinatown, bought me a fantastic (cheap) oriental robe
-Olvera Street where it was "Bless Your Pet Day" and, yes, we saw dogs, birds, cats on leashes, iguanas, turtles in carts, and even a huge snake on a little girls shoulders
-attempted to layout by the pool at KK and Trudie's house (aunt and uncle), but it was too cold :(
-the Griffith Observatory for sunset with the most spectacular view of all of Los Angeles
-a late dinner at Malo with Bo, Hannah, and our good friends Elena and Shannan

*Sunday, April 4th... Easter
We have so many cousins here that it takes some serious planning to see everyone. We stayed with Bo and Hannah in their crazy house on Avocado St. But we needed to see the others. We decided on brunch for Easter.

-Gladstone's on Santa Monica Beach (very pricey seafood place) for brunch with the Kemm family cousins, Josh, Chiara, and Jessica. And we saw a dolphin!
-driving back from the beach along Sunset Boulevard, through Beverly Hills, detoured to Rodeo Drive, then the Sunset Strip
-an Easter cookout was in order with tons of roommates (from the Avocado house), more family (KK, Drake, Bo, Beata, Josh), Dodger Dogs, and kebabs
-not only did we have a great cookout there was also an Easter Earthquake! Tony's first!
-we met a friend of Bo's named Bill. Now Bill was super familiar to me. Turns out he was on How I Met Your Mother which of course we love and watch religiously and we knew his part very well (and of course we could quote his line back to him)
-apples to apples, a game of celebrity and talking late into the night rounded out the day

*Monday, April 5th... Lazy day
We didn't do much of anything and had no plans.

-got coffee at the Coffee Bean and had to run back to the house in the pouring rain
-had breakfast with Bo and Hannah at Fred 62 and happened to see the kid who played Elliott from ET. He is all grown up with a little girl and a wife. I think he knew we were talking about him. But apparently its his fault for being a child actor.
-the rent was due at the Avacado house and due to roommate drama we were hiding upstairs when I came up with our new names of Anne and Frank!
-to get away from the drama, we got a beer at the Cha Cha Lounge. A rediculously furnished, dank bar with the greatest vending machine items (jiffy cornbread mix, 21 Jump Street trading cards, naked lady greeting card...)
-to Elena and Shannan's for pizza and beer. My Tony got to meet their cat Tony!

*Tuesday, April 6th... To the beach!
-we took off at about noon and headed to Santa Monica Beach for a day in the sun!
-lunch at Hot Dog on a Stick, only my all time favorite corndog eatery!
-a stroll through the arcades and boardwalk
-off to Venice Beach to see the crazies and the drunkies
-dinner at Red Lion, a great German restaurant, with Hannah, Bo, Elena, and Shannan

*Wednesday, April 7th... home again
We had such a wonderful and relaxing trip and we got lots of great family time in. We did come home during the drama with the "Shoe bomber/smoker" on the tarmac at DIA. But luckily we landed fine and all was well!!!

road trip, wedding, birthday, national parks and family time...

All in one week!!

Starting Wednesday, September 23rd at 5:00am we are heading to the great north. To Eau Claire, Wisconsin for the Strozinsky-LaFollette Wedding. Our great friends, Phillip and Alicia are getting married and my husband is a groomsman. Matt and Carly are flying out to WI while we are driving and they are road trippin back with us.

This morning we were planning on running errands when the car wouldn't start. Yes. The very car we are taking TOMORROW for a 15 hour road trip! JEEZ! But, thank goodness for AAA and their roadside assistance for jumping our car and getting us back up and running (literally) for the big day!!!!

Today, I stocked up on great road trip snacks: trail mix, beef jerky, fruit, water, and other sundries. We already got The Lost Symbol (the new Dan Brown book), Animal Farm, Fahrenheit 451, Utopia, and The Great Gatsby all as books-on-CD. We are gonna be getting our read on, or listen to, while we drive.


9.23.9
We are starting in Denver (obviously)
EAST through ALL of Nebraska
NORTH through Iowa
to Bay City, WI (really Red Wing, WI) to visit Matt's (Carly's husband) parents.

9.24.9 - 9.27.9
NORTHEAST to Eau Claire, WI for the wedding and all that entails. Dinners, wedding celebrations, breakfasts and Phil's b-day!

9.27.9 - 9.28.9
WEST to Minneapolis, MN for some IKEA time!!!
Then WEST to Brookings, SD to see my mom for the night. Pork tenderloins, Geoffrey, and homemade sugar donuts!!!

9.28.9
WEST to Rapid City, SD to visit the Black Hills, the Badlands, and Mt. Rushmore. I have been to all 3 places but Tony, Carly and Matt have not!

9.29.9
WEST to Wyoming
SOUTH to DENVER!!!

WOW! Its gonna be a really long week with too much car time, but it will be so great! I must say that I truly love road trips. ANYTHING to get me off a plane every once in a while!!

More than anything I am soooo excited to spend the entire week with my husband. Sadly it has been a while since we have had a week together and it will be fabulous.

Here's to wedded bliss, great friends, family, and a safe car ride. CHEERS!!!

NO DOUBT!!!

YAY for birthdays!!! Although its still a month away, Carly got me No Doubt tickets for the big day! I have been working like crazy and the concert was such great break. 5 days gone, one day off for the concert and another 5 days on starting today.

The concert was such high energy and so fantastic. They sounded even better live. I saw Gwen by herself two years ago and it was magical as was the No Doubt concert. They only played things from their older CDs and they are hoping if the turn out was good enough they will put out another album. Well, since the concert sold out in the first hour, I am positive they are back with a new CD. And you better believe that I will be there at the next concert!!!

The Sounds, one of my favorite bands, and Paramore, suck-fest, opened for No Doubt. The crowd was such an odd mix of No Doubt fans, Gwen fans, Paramore fans, Twilight fans (Paramore's single played in the movie) and the parents tagging along. It was mainly girls, and since all three bands have women lead singers, it fit the bill.

GOD they were fantastic!!! I would go see them every night!!!

updates. always updates.

So, apparently I have become quite lackadaisical in the posting department. I have been busy lately and that's probably the main reason. But, where to start...

(since I have been so busy, I cannot even remember the order of these events)

*a visit to Portland to visit my dad since he just moved there. Including a dam, fish hatchery, beautiful waterfall, and lots of rain. Oh, and the best... IKEA!!!
*tony's bday celebration. One whole day at breweries, fancy dinner, cigars. Basically 2 full days of drinking!
*i bought "Yes Man" (which I just love, by the way) so matt and carly came over to watch. Dinner included pasta, chicken, salad, delicious angel food cake with strawberries. It all ended with a home made bonfire in our little pit in the backyard.
*a visit to okc and tulsa for a few days. Lots of family and quilting (thanks kathy and grandma)
*hot dog on a stick in Sacramento!!
*yard work, shoveling, clearing weeds and more yard work. I also bought tons of wildflower seeds and herb seeds. Time for gardening!!
*day trip to ABQ to search for a house with mom (for her, not me)
*a couple of blizzards
*wonderful chicken enchilada with the in-laws and the movie "Next"
*while visiting my sis in Norman, Ok - drag queen show at a dive bar, medieval fair, and the OKC bombing memorial.
*installing new lights under the kitchen cabinets and a lovely wine rack above the kitchen sink
*delicious mac-n-cheese at matty and carl's house
*snow + airlines = delays! 1 lightning strike, 4 gate changes, 1 bird strike, 1 broken jetway, 2 broken engines,3 de-icings, 1 sick flight attendant, 3 screaming babies, 4.5 hours on taxiways, and i cant even remember if I forgot something!! (and, yes, it all happened in about 10 hours)
*hot dogs, chips, "Gray Gardens", and a tri-bday party in stupid DTC with masses o flight attendants
*bought new beautiful weber charcoal grill with propane start and had our first cookout with Tony's family and Matt and Carl!
*we now have 2 new screen doors to make the house cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter!
*one more stupid snow and a cold to go with it
*"Adventureland" @ Brewvies in SLC!


Man, I have been busy! And super lazy posting!

carly's b-day

Happy belated birthday Carly!! The big 3-3 on the 22nd!

We celebrated with fancy lunch at Tamayo, wii bowling and boxing and a super fancy night out to the Nutcracker!!

To finish off the night, we had drinks at the Cruise Room in the Oxford Hotel.

colorado casino fun...

Oh yes, after returing home at 2 in the morning, I have to say that the casinos in the mountains are certainly a blast. And the fact that there is a shuttle to take you there for only $18 round trip is even more appealing. We, as in my sis (for her 21st birthday celebration), the fiance, and I, went to the Lodge Casino in Blackhawk, CO.

Of course, we had to hit up the buffet. Plates and plates full of crab legs, milk/white chocolate fountains, sushi, and more food than the eye can see! We then went a-gambling. Oh we didn't really win anything more than 10 dollars on one hand, which was thrilling. That is until we saw a trashy middle aged biker with bandannas win $12,000. We decided he has spent half his life and thousands of dollars trying to win that money, so we were just fine with our winnings!

These casinos were the last resort after not being able to get on a flight to Vegas! Boy oh Boy was it fun, though!

If you are in Colorado and wanna get to the mountain casinos, call Colorado Casino Express 303.288.8700!