Chow

Last week in KC was Restaurant Week. Around 100 restaurants participated by serving prix fixe menus. And we took full advantage. We ate. A lot.

On Friday night we went down the street to Aixois which is a local french restaurant.

On Saturday night we visited a restaurant from our home state that is located on the edge of the good ole' P&L District. We feasted at 801 Steak & Chophouse.

To say we were fuller than full was an understatement. But we weren't too full to stop for pizza on Sunday at another Iowa based venue; The Other Place. OP pizza is just to hard to pass up.

First Football Game

Last weekend we treked through a lot of traffic and construction to Iowa City for the Iowa/UNI football game with our family and friends.

Ann and baby Evan post-game!

Nate and Jack taking a rare break from playing.

Wendy and me.

Steve's amazing food...and then some.

Friday Food Fest

The markets were closed today, so 99% of Steve's office used it as a vaca day. But not Steve Seiler...he was up and at em' and off to a meeting before I even got out of bed.

Enroute to his second meeting, he surprised me by showing up at my office with two large cinnamon rolls. One for me and one for my marketing co-worker.

And then he called me and asked me to lunch. He took me to Blue Bird Bistro. It was beyond tasty. And except for me choking when I took a bite of Steve's food (which I do on a regular basis; choking, not eating Steve's food). It was the perfect lunch together.

Steve does thoughtful things for me 24/7. So, lucky for me, it's not strange for him to do things like this. But these two things in a row within hours on a work day took the cake.

I really hope he isn't planning to break up with me...because I've got it good.

Thanksgiving KC Style

It was a warm day, so....

did some swinging...

fried multiple turkeys...

hung the turkeys on my dad's old ladder...

and enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving feast thanks to Ann, my mom and my husband!

Chex Mix Gone Awry...

I am yelling the ingredients to make Chex Mix from my computer in the living room to Steve who is in the kitchen.

For anyone who is offered Chex Mix this weekend in Iowa City at the tailgate be forewarned.

I apparently do not know the difference between teaspoons and tablespoons when it comes to bland spices such as garlic powder, onion powder, seasoned salt and worcestershire sauce.

Pinky McGee

I have three cousins (all from the same family). Steve has what seems like 50 first cousins spread out over multiple aunts and uncles.

One of those cousins, David, was in KC for work from Boston so we spent Monday night with him. I had met him once seven-years ago at David's brother's wedding, but I didn't know him. All I remember about him was him jumping in the hotel pool in Boone in his tuxedo. I know it's shocking since he's a Seiler and all.

Well now I do know him, and I like what I know. We had a great time! He is really fun to be around, as is anyone with Seiler blood in them.

We had dinner at 1924 Main. We had a three-course dinner that had a wine flight that went along with it. Well Dave's food choices presented themselves with some girly pink wine. In a nutshell, he started talking about Pinky McGee. We don't know what that meant, but we liked it. And then we went to The Cashew for drinks and they had two-for-one martinis (duh) so next thing I know I have two very strong pink martinis. Lots o' Pinky McGee.

It was fun to get to know him and really funny to hear them talk about stories growing up. Why do the Seiler's have stories that no other family have? Other families don't even come close to what they've got. Not even close!

BBQ Bash

Friday night we headed down to the American Royal BBQ Bash at Kemper Arena with a group of friends.

We had a couple private parties to attend as well hitting up some public ones, too.

KC BBQ joints are solid but nothing compares to the BBQ that is cooked here. Unbelievable.

As soon as we arrived, we ran into AZ! So he joined us in Guy's tent (neighbors of Steve/Ann) for some BBQ, beer and a random margarita.


At the second party, Art Bentley was playing! I was extremely excited considering Ann, our friend Amber, and I had a mild obsession with him in our early-20's whenever he played at Harpos. It's been a while since I've been in my early 20's because I don't remember him looking like this at all. I guess we all grow up.

Yep, just kissing a pig bus with Kellie.

Our pink pig hats Steve purchased for us at the Meat Mitch party!

Book/Seiler Birthdays

Happy birthday on Friday to our sister-in-law, Jamie! We called her Friday night and she was being the mom-of-the-year to her three boys. Never a break...again, why I think aunt may be my calling. :)

Today is my dad's birthday! He got to spend the weekend in Iowa City and with his favorite little guy, Nate.

Today Steve and I also celebrated my 1/2 birthday (Sept. 16) with our annual trek to Olive Garden. We didn't even talk. We just ate one bowl of salad, another bowl of salad and then another bowl of salad. Best. Thing. Ever.

Just Hanging Out

Steve and I haven't seen each other much the past few weeks. So the plan was to lay low and hang out this weekend.

After returning from Vegas last Sunday night, I pretty much went straight out of town for a few more days. So when I pulled in Friday night, I had hit a wall. A large, painful wall.

Lucky for us, we had plans with Scott and Kellie, so it kept me going. I still call them our neighbors even through they moved from directly across the street to two blocks away.

But anyway...we had some drinks in their new abode, called a particular cab to pick us up and next thing we know we're going 70mph in a 35mph down Broadway from the plaza to Westport. Wowzers... We enjoyed dinner and then realized we were well over 10 years above the average age in the bar we stopped by. One thing about Wesport...venues may change, but the age always stays the same.

On Saturday morning our friends, Joe & Angie, came over with their dog, Wrigley, after doing the Brookside Strut N' Mutt dog charity walk. We don't get to see each other often enough so it was fantastic to catch up.

Saturday night we hit a new neighborhood Mexican restaurant. I chose their special Mission Hills Margarita. Well, for those of you who know Mission Hills you know it's on the fancy side. Well this margarita hit the mark and was so strong I left having pipe dreams we would soon be moving over the state line.

I'll keep everyone updated on that previous sentence. Because I'm sure that will be happening any day now...

Steve's Dinner vs. My Dinner

As I pulled into the driveway from Jazzercise tonight, the grill was out and I knew a good meal was on it's way.

Not only did Steve come outside and "escort" me inside, but an entire meal with all four food groups was waiting for me plated and all.

As we were eating, I mentioned to Steve that I felt really good after dinner last night because I felt like I made and served dinner for us (for once).

It's too bad my meal consisted of heating up pasta in the microwave that was a mixture of his mom and my pasta from dinner Friday night from an Italian restaurant.

It's also too bad that even after pushing 1:00 over and over, the pasta was still a little cold when I served it.

And it's really too bad that Steve ate it, smiled and thanked me for the meal. And then he thanked me again 24-hours later.

If I knew how to cook, I would probably feel bad, because Steve really does take the majority of the burden when it comes to cooking and grocery shopping.

But I can't cook, I don't like to cook and I don't enjoy going to the grocery store. But I'm apparently very good at setting low expectations since warmed-up (but still cold) pasta that was once eaten by two different people gets me two thank you's from my husband.

Neighbors, Vino & Zaa...

There's nothing like drinking 6-7 bottles of wine with neighbors until 11p the first day back to work after a long weekend that consisted of drinking every night.

From the point of view of the "fun factor", I'd do it every night if I could because friends, family and wine are some of my (our) favorite things. From the perspective of working the next day, not so much.

For months we have been waiting for this new gourmet pizza place to open down the street from us. Due to our proximity, we've signed petitions saying it's okay for them to serve liquor, received numerous letters and have gotten to know the owner.

It hasn't yet opened, but last night they invited our street to have dinner there. And since they don't yet have a liquor license, they welcomed us to bring bottles of wine.

And that's what we did. Scott, Kellie, Steve and I brought three bottles. And then some neighbors joined us. And then Steve went to buy more wine. After enjoying excellent apps and pizzas in a very cool atmosphere, we all went to our neighbor Greg's house and drank some more wine and decided we needed to do this every Tuesday night (yeah...I wish).

Around 11ish I finally dragged Steve next door to our house. And yep, he was up and at 'em early this morning ready to start the work day! That husband of mine is amazing (in an extremely crazy/non-human type of way) that I never will or could replicate even if I wanted to.

The Best "Low-Keyed" Weekend

Steve and I have really not seen each other much in the past month. In between my vacation to Napa, Steve moving Jamie/Andy, my sorority reunion, last week's neighborhood festivities and work (that work thing continues to take up way too much time), we really haven't just "hung out".

So this weekend we decided we were going to have a low-key weekend. I told Steve I was all about a low-key weekend as long as we did not stay home both nights and had a lot of fun. I'm getting better, but I'm still not good about just hanging out at home for long periods of time.

Friday night we hung out with Steve/Ann/Nate which is one of our favorite KC activities. As always it was fun and entertaining!

Nate and Dalton "not wrestling" on Nate's race car bed.

Saturday morning Steve and I were out to secure my birthday present which is a bike. My birthday was in March, and considering I got my 2007 present in late June, we thought we were tracking well ahead of schedule for 2008.

We've been searching and researching for some time (with Steve spending many a late nights on his phone looking at Craig's List for the "dream bike deal of all time"). We visited a cycle shop in the River Market and found a nice entry level woman's bike that actually seemed to be made for a 5'-2" woman. Late Saturday afternoon I officially became an owner of a bike for the first time since early college. Steve is still on the search for a $100 bike for himself, so Steve will continue to stalk Craig's List.

Saturday night we took advantage of a Christmas gift card from my Aunt Pat, and headed down to Overland Park to Bonefish Grill. The wait was long which worked to my advantage because I had two of the tastiest martinis ever! I'm normally a dirty vodka martini girl, but they had the most unbelievable blueberry martini and raspberry martini. Thanks to my trusty hubby for being the DD and allowing me to enjoy the most outstanding martinis.

For us not having kids, Steve and I have enjoyed a packed-full day of Mother's Day festivities today.

This morning we joined Steve/Ann/Nate early for a Mother's Day breakfast at Eggcetera.

This afternoon and evening we cooked out to celebrate Mother's Day with the Friedmans (Mark, Barb, Nina and Julia) and the Regas' (Matt, Jen and John). We always have so much fun with them all and today/tonight was no different!

And, like everyone, it is now necessary for us to have an extra day to relax and rest from the weekend in preparation for the work week.

Vino, Vino and More Vino Trip II (Day 4)

Monday came and it was sadly time to go back to reality. But on our way back to reality we walked around the University of California at Berkeley.


We found a French restaurant near campus for lunch. I even was wearing Fleur-de-lis earrings which I'm sure the staff noticed.


And back to KC we went.

When I got home I found out Steve had gone out with our sister-in-law, Ann, and her friends on Friday night. He bought the tiny, tiny sister-in-law of one of Ann's friends (who happens to work out where Ann and I do) enough drinks that she couldn't take care of her nieces the next day. Nice. And then he inadvertently had a $14 beer when he was out with my brother on Saturday night. Very thrifty if I say so myself. Ahh...I really do love my reality.

Vino, Vino and More Vino Trip II (Day 3)

Sunday was our day to do what all sane people do who visit the area. We went wine tasting.

Thanks to some superb driving skills from Michelle (She must really be skilled as I've mentioned this twice.), we made it over the mountain from Napa to Sonoma. You would think there would be a wider-road, less-windy route to get over the mountain, but evidently there is not.

By the time we arrived, we were in prime wine tasting mode! We started at Imagery Winery. Rod, our handy dandy wine server, provided us 15 wine tastings for free. In fact, we never have paid for a wine tasting on either of our trips. Having a friend in the industry is the way to go.

After about seven servings, this wine bottle said it all: Wines Gone Wild.




We then headed over to Kunde Estate Winery for a picnic and more wine tasting.


A lot of tasty things happen behind these doors.


At Chateau St. Jean Winery we had our family-looking portrait.


This is a dangerous sign.


At Mayo Family Winery we experienced the coolest thing. We drank wines that were served with food to compare and contrast tastes. The executive chef, was at our table most of the time telling us things we didn't understand (except for Michelle, of course).


For our second dinner of the night we went to the restaurant at the Napa CIA (Culinary Institute of America). The building itself was stunning. It looked like an old castle. On those plates, were food some of us had never heard of, let alone eaten before. But our parents would be proud, because we all tried everything (even if we didn't like it).


The bar for Sundays have forever been raised.

Vino, Vino and More Vino Trip II (Day 1)

While Steve worked, finished our taxes and did lots of laundry (that I "get" to fold), I was having a blast with my girlfriends.

For the second year, Allison, Jen and I flew out for 3-1/2 days of sun (drinking wine), fun (drinking wine) and good times (drinking wine) with our close friend Michelle who lives in Napa Valley.

It was truly an unbelievably wonderful trip.

After waking up in KC at 2:30a (PST), we arrived in San Francisco late Friday morning and went directly into the city. Our plan was to spend the day walking around San Francisco.


We walked around Fisherman's Wharf and went to lunch at Pier 23 so we could sit outside on the water and eat seafood. We didn't know it, but when the weather is super nice, Pier 23 is the place for the party people. And the weather was extremely nice.

And who are we to go against the grain?
So we ate, had drinks, found some straw hats, rolled up our sleeves, got sunburned and enjoyed a day on the water meeting all sorts of new friends (Steve will shake his head after he hears about all of these people we met; especially about the Vegas trip we're taking with a couple from Phoenix - yes, riiiight..., the Canadian "The Bachelor" - uh, huh and the body shot girl).





No, my chest is not red in the least.

After eight hours of "happy hour" we hit a tasty sushi restaurant called Tokyo Go Go that one of our new friends recommended. It was a cool place. Late Friday night headed up to Napa Valley to Michelle's house. After being up a short 23 hours, it goes without saying that bed was definitely our best friend!

Meat

I mean like over 200 lbs. of meat in our freezer in the basement...for the two of us.

Last year Steve purchased a quarter of a cow (around 100 lbs.), and we supplied every type of meat for anyone and everyone willing to eat with us.

Besides hamburger, it's rare for me to take more than a couple of bites, so it only makes sense we would double our tiny order from last year of 100 lbs. to 200 lbs. this year.

The meat is excellent, and the cost per pound is a great value, if it's humanly possible for Steve to eat three meals a day of red meat for an entire year. My money's on him...

Parade Party

Before and after the parade on Saturday we had family, friends, kids, food, beer, superheros, shots, fried food, fireworks and more food at our house.

It's A Good Thing We Have Our Own Basement.

On Wednesday night, Steve and I joined our good friends Jack/Beverly for dinner at the Cactus Grill in "The Village" (Question for other KC dwellers...have you noticed that Prairie Village is now called The Village?).

Since Cactus Grill has AWESOME food, it was predictably packed. So people were continuously walking past our table.

Toward the end of our meal, I realized our former downstairs neighbor from when we lived in that house in the West Plaza was walking by our table with a newborn baby.

I immediately ducked in my seat. And then I started frantically trying to explain to Steve who I was looking at. I'm not positive, but I think Steve may have ducked a little, too, when I told him!

Granted we were not "Bosom Buddies", like the TV show, with these neighbors, but we did share a basement for a year. And although we had nothing in common with this couple, they were nice and the newborn was the perfect opportunity to walk over, say hello and congratulate her.

But instead, the mature people that we are, we kept randomly staring (and perhaps even ducking).

I'm proud to say that small town Iowa "you know everyone, and everyone is your neighbor" type mentality we both grew up with served us well into adulthood.

And You Thought We Only Ate "In Bulk" At Home.

Sunday night we checked out Grinders, a quasi-new pizza joint in the Crossroads District.

My husband took full advantage of their Sunday night specials.

Steve enjoyed:
- Two super large pieces of pizza (2 for 1 slices)
- An order of fries (he had to check them out for future visits)
- *A glass of Natural Light ($1)
- *A Pitcher of Natural Light ($3)
* When the waitress "suggested" a pitcher of Nat Light was only $3 (versus that expensive $1 draft he had just consumed), Steve could not resist. I mean, who could pass that up?! It's important to note Steve didn't finish the entire pitcher. It was Sunday night after all.

At one point as I was staring at him in some sort of disbelief, he said to me, "You're in awe." At that moment, that was an understatement!

Baptism & Birthday Festivities!

Saturday night we got to celebrate the 1st birthday and baptism of our friend's Chris and Renee's son, Peter.

The Gartelos' celebrated with a Greek food fest. Steve has been looking forward to real Greek food from either the Gartelos' or Regas' for some time, so it was a big night. The food was stellar. So good!

And of course, it was fun to hang out with our friends. We even met a guy whose friend had dated our sister-in-law, Jamie, in high school in Council Bluffs! Oh wow, how we'd love to meet that guy :)