Chiefs Game

Thursday night Steve and I enjoyed the pre-season Chiefs/Rams football game from my company's suite.

It's great to be in a suite in general (actually better than great), but fantastic when it's pouring rain and thundering!

And, wow, was it doing both for what seemed like a long time.

But then it stopped, and then it started again. And then it was time to go home!

Allison's KC GNO!

Saturday night it was our turn to celebrate Allison's upcoming marriage with what I called her "fake" bachelorette party. I only call it fake because next weekend we are flying to Chicago for the real deal. It was actually very real and fun!

Besides the fact that my stupid dress made me look like Dolly Parton, it was a great girls' night, and I obviously thought everything was really funny.

Thoughts & Prayers

Today one of my closest friends, Jen Spencer Sneider, lost her mom.

Less than a year ago, Gail was diagnosed with kidney cancer that quickly spread to her lungs, lymph nodes, etc.

Only in her mid-50's, she had so much life to live and quickly made the most of it through connecting and spending as much time as possible with family and friends. I was lucky to be included in that group.

I visited her in her apartment, at the hospital and at Jen and Dave's house multiple times where she spent her final 1-1/2 months, and treasured getting to know her better, providing opportunties for her to laugh and to share our lives.

Please keep Jen, Dave and Sydney, her younger brother/sister, and their family in your thoughts.

Friday Night With The Neighbors

One of the cool things about the P&L District is that you can take your drinks from bar to bar.

So after eating at McFaddens and chugging some large beers (that amazingly stayed cold), we were off.

Leslie, Kellie and I got pulled into Vivino for free shots. I think the idea was that we were supposed to stay and actually buy drinks, but we hid from the bartender's view and ran outta there.

Scott was Jo Photo at Mosiac.

And then we were off to PBR where I rode the bull! I haven't rode a bull since the Beaumont days ten-years ago. I want to do it again soon.

Steve then purchased a 40 of Miller High Life which is fitting since we served it during cocktails before our wedding. I mean it is the Champagne of Beer...

Lastly, no, Kellie and I did not drop the Miller High Life as we passed it to each other which caused major foam.

Wheels On The Bus...

On Friday we spent the evening at the Power & Light District with our neighbors, Scott & Kellie and Toby & Leslie.

The night itself was definitely fun and crazy. And getting there fell under the same category because we took the Metro/Max bus from Brookside to P&L which is about 50 blocks straight down the street. The bus picked us up about a block from our house and the $1.25 adventure began.

There were all sorts of things that happened (including getting flipped off), but the funniest part was there was a guy sitting in front of us telling us all sorts of things including, "You don't buy a drink on the street. You make a drink on the street".

Well...a short 24-hours later after Steve dropped me off on the plaza, for he drove past Ruth Chris Steakhouse and who does he see but the above mentioned bus friend panhandling on the street. This is about a block from both of our office buildings so I have a feeling this won't be the last time we see him...

Scott, Kellie, Leslie, Toby and me waiting for the bus in Brookside.

30!

On Wednesday night I celebrated the 30th birthday of my good friend and neighbor, Kellie, with a girls' night out on the Country Club Plaza that her sister, Rachel, planned.

We had cocktails on the deck at Classic Cup and then had dinner on the deck at Baja 600. It was such a fun night with a lot of great wine, sangria and girl talk that would have made the guys just roll their eyes over and over and over again.

I apparently should have put my 3" pink heels back on that I had taken off for the group photo. Kellie really is only a few inches taller than me but you wouldn't guess that by this photo.

And then there are the Mom's...

Our unbelievable sister-in-laws, Ann and Jamie, who let us come in and be a crazy aunt and uncle, rile up our nephews, teach them words we didn't know at their age (that's all Uncle Steve) and then leave.

Although I should say we would take any or all of them in a heartbeat. Many of our happiest moments are with these boys.

Buddies

While the boys worked on my parent's house, the girls hung out with the "little boys". Luke was in Storm Lake but it was so fun to spend the day with three of our four nephews!

Ty is only six weeks older than Nate, and while they've been together a few times, this was the first time they could really play together. And they became instant buddies!

Lil' Steve Seiler

When Steve's brother's middle child, Ty, was born we all talked about how much he looked like Uncle Steve.

And then Cael was born in February. Umm...yeah, not only does he look even more like Uncle Steve than Ty did, but he's got the shape and everything.

If a stranger who was a bettin' man was asked if Steve or Andy was Cael's dad, the bettin' man would lose.

House Help

My parents have lived in this beautiful house the past eight years. It's the house they deserved while raising my brother and I while we sucked them dry. But the fact that they have it now makes up for that, right?

Over the past eight years, it's been learned how stunning cedar houses can be, and how much work it takes to power wash and restain it.

My dad has been working on restaining the house every night after work and every weekend all summer. He's been working non-stop. So we headed to "the set" this weekend. On Saturday Steve, my brother Steve, and Steve's brother Andy worked extremely hard. They made so much progress in a short amount of time.

That Seiler/Book combination just always seems to click... I'm a very considerate daughter to marry into such a handy family that likes to work extremely hard for my family in return for a meal and Busch Light (even when my dad buys Busch heavy).

Steve S. and Andy tackling the garage.

Steve B. staining the west side of the house.

Happy Hump Day

Wednesday after work I coordinated a going away happy hour for Anna who works for me. At the time "works" was correct, but now it's "worked".

So currently I'm a one person department that a year ago was made up of three people. Good times.

The work/home balance has been pretty out of whack lately, but after conducting over 10 first interviews, Friday I'm bringing back two talented people for second interviews so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

We received close to 500 resumes. I like to think it's because these people just had a feeling the job was connected to a really cool boss. But in reality I know the job market is tough and the idea of doing marketing and working in the beauty industry is the thing that sounds really cool. Which it is. But from first hand experience I can say it's much, much cooler with a full team!

Allison's Bridal Shower

Sunday afternoon I got to celebrate the upcoming marriage of one of my closest friends, Allison.

Her bridal shower was the first of many celebrations...

Girls Night Out in KC is in a couple of weeks, and then we're headed to Chicago the first weekend in September for the bachelorette party!

Most of the bachelorette party is a secret for Allison (that's the only way to do it in my mind) but I've promised her it's going to be F-U-N.

And then, of course, we've got the real reason for all of this frolicking...KP and AP are going to become KAP!

Saturday Night When You Turn 35

When one's birthday actually falls on a Saturday, one has to make the most of it. And I'm pretty sure we did.

Steve got all sorts of useful birthday presents such as a hot dog hat, Best Choice 59 sauce...you get the idea. Adding on to these beauties he got tons of great gifts from Steve/Ann/Nate. I also got him things "I like" as my gifts. He just asked me where I got one of the things so I have a pretty good feel for how much he liked them.

And then the Steve's, Ann and I went to Cafe Trio for dinner and drinks. And then we went to Boozefish. And then we went to Charlie Hoopers (where all drunk dialing calls occurred). And then we went to Brooksider, when we should have just kept walking one more block to our bed.

And then Steve's birthday was thankfully over, because I don't think we had any celebration left in us!

It's Steve's Birthday!

Today is Steve's 35th birthday!

It's actually the first birthday that may be freaking us out a bit. Not in a bad way at all; just kind of in a weird way. It must be because it's officially no longer early 30's which always seems to be halfway associated with the 20's.

My 34-1/2 birthday isn't until September 16 so it's almost like he's rocking the cradle. Now that's freaky...

But so far he's had the perfect day.

• he's been to multiple hardware stores


• he had a "Costco date" with Ann (that he let me come along with, but I had to sit in the back seat)


• he got to literally tear apart part of Steve and Ann's neighbor's house


• I walked into the kitchen a little bit ago to see the Steve's choosing from a wide variety of imported beer on our counter that was enjoyed on our 76 degree front porch (yes, in KC in August)


• He is currently enjoying a cigar, a beer and a 4 lb. bag of pistachios
  

And it's only going to get better from here tonight when we celebrate with Steve, Ann and Nate and then hit Cafe Trio...

Happy birthday, Steve!

At this point, most people would post a nice picture of the birthday boy. But this photo is more fitting and realistic since he hates having his picture taken (even at 2:30 a.m).

Just Can't Get Enough

Thursday after work Steve and I drove up to the aiport to deliver Steve's Aunt Sally's car to her at the airport so she could head straight back to Dez Monez.

I've always been a bit obsessed with ABBA and have been listening to the Mamma Mia! soundtrack that my friend Kurth bought for his wife and me pretty much like all the time since I've returned from Phoenix and since I saw the movie (which was 12-hours apart) two weeks ago.

It takes about everything in Steve (and now that I think back, Kurth, too) to listen to this soundtrack. So when Steve pulled up next to me at the airport in his aunt's car it was only fitting that the Mamma Mia! sountrack was playing simultaneously in both his aunt's car that he was driving and my car.

It was playing when he started the car and apparently he didn't want to break anything or maybe there's was another reason. Hmm...

Inquiring Minds Want To Know...

A house on our block has recently gone on the market. Another house has recently sold.

Steve has spent many a minutes at the computer on various websites trying to figure out what the asking price is for the newly listed house and what the other house finally sold for.

Tonight we went to pick up warm subs for dinner. As we were walking in the house, he stopped, handed me the bag and took off after spotting another neighbor who is usually in the know. He said, "Oh, there's Dave. I'm going to ask him about the houses. Do you want to come?" Um...that would be a negative.

So it's been 30-minutes and Steve's sandwich is now the temperature of our A/C. And he's still not back. And for some reason my gut tells me he's going to come back with nothing more than a cold sandwich calling his name.

** Steve returned with 1/2 the information and 16-steak filets from The Kansas City Steak Company as a thank you for letting them store their things (that are still there) in our garage. It's ironic because before dinner Steve was actually watching The Kansas City Steak Company being promoted on QVC. I guess dreams really do come true... **

Friday Night Festivities

Friday night we went out with our neighbors, Scott and Kellie. We ended up doing a very mini-pub crawl throughout all the finer neighborhood establishments.

Yep, More Babies!

Congratulations to Megan and Todd Wilshusen on the arrival of their first child and son, Troy! Megan and Steve grew up across the road from each other and their families are like family to each other. One of my favorite things about the holidays at the Seilers is hanging out and playing board games with the Bellcocks!

Congrats to our friends Rob and Steph Goley (and Kai) on their second son, Liam! Steph is my sorority sister and one of the most genuine, sweet and giving people I've ever met. Steph is an amazing person in so many ways... And Steve and I always have fun with Rob which is easy to do!