Lush o' the Irish

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day twice this year.  On March 17th, we had my parents and Javier over for corned beef & cabbage, potatoes and cornbread.  Beer was enjoyed by all but my mother.
Then on Saturday, the 19th, we headed to Manhattan, KS to party with Doug & Mindy.  We were woefully unprepared for the drunken mess that was about to ensue.  In fact, we'd all (John, Javier & I) said, we wanted to have a good time but not get drunk.  And then I competed in the Belfast Bomber (or Irish Car Bomb) contest and hung out behind the bar at Doug & Mindy's and passed out shots.  Oh!  And let's not forget the Long Island Iced Teas I just had to have at the KatHouse. Quite a few of us spent the night at Doug & Mindy's beautiful home, we were at least prepared for that.  Needless to say, we had a good time.  It was a rough morning and we needed cheeseburgers & Cokes to fully recover...but if they'll have us, we'll go again next year!

Recap

Damn it.  Once again, I've let too many months go in between posts.  Here are some highlights from the past few months.

• We hosted Thanksgiving with my parents, Greg & Kerrice.  Everything was delicious...except for the sweet potatoes I'd never even put in the oven. 
• Christmas was lovely.  We saw everyone and spent the following week together at home. 
• We had another small pajama party for NYE.  It's my favorite.  John says we should make annual t-shirts.
• In January we said good-bye to a dear friend, Ray Galloway.  He passed away suddenly and we were all shocked and saddened.  The graveside service was beautiful, snow covered the ground and many people came to pay their respect.  Reba Russell sang a few verses and we stayed a bit to listen to some blues and drink a beer for Ray. 
• Valentine's Day was sweet & simple.  John sent the prettiest flowers and we had a delicious dinner at home.  A few days afterwards, Mom & Dad took us all out to Chez Yasu for another celebration.
• We celebrated our friend Brenda's 40th birthday in February.  It was quite the week. Dinner on her birthday, margaritas, mexican food and cake on Friday night.  And on Saturday, John, Javier & I took her out for a sophisticated night on the town. Sophisticated meaning, getting fancy cocktails at interesting places and a late dinner in a dimly lit restaurant. 
• John and I started doing some much needed work on our bathroom. We took the wonky glass doors off and replaced them with a shower curtain. I love it!  Now I want to replace the mirrors with medicine cabinets, paint and update some hardware.  
• We reserved "our" house in Albuquerque for a week's vacation in late June.  Cannot wait! 

Blues Fest 2010

Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival celebrated it's 25th anniversary this year and we were there for the celebration! Known as King Biscuit Blues Festival since it's inception, the name had to be changed several years ago. But thanks to a very profitable, successful festival, it's going back to the King Biscuit name!

Dad has been stage managing the main stage for years and years, John has been working the stage crew for 7, and I make my way down there whenever I feel like it. (one of my main deciding factors is if Corrie is going!)



Corrie, Anson Funderburgh and me

                                                  

John and Chad

Kerrice and Corrie

 We had a blast! Music was fantastic, weather was great, and we just enjoyed seeing everyone. Kerrice joined us this year and she made friends with everyone she met!

We saw B.B.King, Dr. John, Taj Mahal, Marcia Ball, Reba Russell, Anson Funderburgh, James Harman, Wolfman Washington and the list goes on.

One of our favorites was Preston Shannan, the first act on Saturday. We were staying out of the sun,

chilling behind the stage, still recovering from Friday...when they started to play. A really solid set...Preston was great on the guitar and backed by a talented band. When they did their version of "Purple Rain", we all just looked at each other...it was really well done. Just a great, great start to our final day at the Blues Fest.

With Preston Shannan

Dad and B.B. King

Exhausted, we drove home on Sunday, talking about all of the fantastic music we heard and realizing how lucky we were.

Ichabods in Colorado

We are pretty involved with Washburn University. John graduated from there and currently works for Washburn, and he was just elected to the Washburn Alumni Board of Directors. For several years now, Washburn's first football game of the season has been against Colorado School of Mines. The game this year was in Golden, CO and we talked about going. Plans solidified when I found out Ray LaMontagne and David Gray were going to play Red Rocks the Monday after the game. I talked John into it and in turn, he talked Javier and Brenda into going with us. We turned it into a fantastic weekend!

Drove to Denver on a Friday, I scheduled a detour at the outlet malls in Castle Rock, everyone bought something at Coach! We made good time and checked into the Sheraton Denver West--we got great rates using Hotwire. That night Washburn Alumni gathered at a sports bar near Cherry Creek for a get together. Our friends Robin & Scott were there and we had a lot of fun visiting and trying new beers. I'd done a little research and read about a burger place in the Cherry Creek area, after hearing some more great things about it, that's where we went for dinner. Cherry Cricket was nearby...food was great and we had a blast hanging out at the teeny bar in the back, talking with the bartender.



Washburn played on Saturday, it was sunny and warm, and we cheered the Ichabods on to victory. Yes, Ichabods. If you need more info on why the Ichabods are the Ichabods, go here. "What's an Ichabod?"
We stopped at a joint right across from our hotel for happy hour...Jose O'Shea's...seriously some of the best margaritas I've ever had. And I love margaritas.





Sunday, we drove to Colorado Springs. We had brunch at the Broadmoor and it was outstanding...gorgeously done, everything you could possibly want. We changed into some casual clothes and took a drive. Patsy's for some saltwater taffy, then checked out Green Mountain Falls, where John and his family vacationed for years. Finally ending up at one of my favorite places, Garden of the Gods. A few hours were spent here...



At the end of the day, we were finally hungry again and I casually mentioned that there was a good German restaurant nearby, Edelweiss. So happy that the gang said that sounded good! Oh my goodness, I was in heaven...gemichste salat, rahmschnitzel, spatzle.

On Monday, we touristed up and got out to see a few things. Breakfast at Snooze in Denver was a very wise decision. So was the Denver Museum of Nature & Science--it was free that day to Colorado residents. We tried to pay but they waved us on through. Then back to Golden to tour the Coors Brewery. Time was running out but we stopped at another place I'd read about, Empanada Express, right there in Golden. Venezuelan empanadas and arepas, some fried yucca and plaintains...all good!

Breakfast nirvana...


Beer(!!)Tour...


We were worried about getting to Red Rocks on time...we had general admission and wanted to make sure we got there to have seats together. I was warned about the trek to the amphitheatre but I truly had no idea. Combine the altitude with my general outofshapeness, and I was wiped out by the time we made it to our seats. Brenda thinks they should take pictures of us and put a sign at the bottom of the steps..."If you look anything like these two women, don't attempt".
It was worth it, the show was great...beautiful setting, gorgeous night.



We packed a lot into that long weekend! I love Colorado and hope we can go back soon.

My kind of town...

Chicago is. We went for a long weekend in July with our friends Javier, Cheri, Scott & Robin and had a blast. It was John's first trip to Chicago and I hadn't been in over 15 years. The trip was planned by Washburn Alumni, but it was very much a do your own thing kind of trip.


We started off with a Chicago architectural boat tour and I highly recommend it! That night we went to a great cocktail party hosted by Washburn for us and Chicago alums. We drank all of the free cocktails we could, then walked to the original Pizzeria Uno where, amazingly, our group of 7 got right in and ate ourselves silly.



The next day was spent in Wrigleyville. Drinks at a friend's apartment, Cubs game, and more drinks at Murphy's Bleachers. Again, we found ourselves happy & hungry, so we trekked all the way to a Costa Rican restaurant we'd heard of, Irazu in Bucktown.


Saturday was spent negotiating Michigan Ave. where Transformers 3 was filming. We had breakfast at a place we'd spotted the day before, e.leaven, delicous! We made it through the crowds and did some shopping. We ended up on the 96th floor of the Hancock Center for two and a half hours drinking the most delicious mojitos we'd ever had. Then we hit Tiffany's where Cheri did some major damage and John bought me the sweetest pair of earrings. I've decided that we should always have cocktails before shopping for jewelry! Again, happy & hungry, I dragged us several blocks to get some food at Portillo's.
That night we went out for Italian at a place Cheri's friend had recommended, Rosebud on Rush. We went for a long walk afterwards and ended up stopping at Billy Goat Tavern to pick up a cheeseburger for Robin. (I think she and Scott were suffering from too much fun)




Sunday, we were a little lazy and walked to Millenium Park and grabbed some breakfast on the way. We'd flown out but were taking the train back, so we ordered pizza from Gino's East to take on the train with us. I wanted Lou Malnati's but was talked out of it. I really didn't care for Gino's East, especially when compared to the Pizzeria Uno from Friday night. Next time, it's Lou Malnati's!


It was our first time on Amtrak and we loved it! (Except for Cheri, I don't think she liked anything that day) But John, Javier and I would definitely do it again! It was a long trip, but time flew and we spent most of our time playing cards in the observation car.



We can't wait to go back!

JulySuperFunTimes

A belated post with July goings on. 4th of July party at Javier's house! A little rain, lots of beer & food and more fireworks than should be allowed. (Children pictured are courtesy of our friends Shayne & Autumn)






Soon after, it was time for Fiesta! We'd be on our way to Chicago a few days later, so we only had one night to hang out in North Topeka, eating tamales, drinking beer, eating tacos & tortas, drinking beer, eating enchiladas, drinking beer and drinking beer.

Kunst und Bier

Art and Beer. That pretty much sums up our weekend. It was a nice start to the summer, I can't believe it's June already. Friday night was spent with my family. Uncle Robert was in town for a golf tournament and we spent a fun evening at Mom & Dad's. Saturday morning, we got up a little early and hosted a breakfast for friends. Cheri brought the champagne! After a few cocktails, we headed over to Washburn and the Mulvane Mountain Plains Art Fair. This is one of my favorite events in Topeka. We always see fantastic pieces in all price ranges. Several pieces in our home are from past years. This year we came home with two Asian prints for our upcoming master bedroom makeover, a few pieces of jewelry and two prints from an artist I've admired for a while. Check out her etsy store, Rural Pearl.



The first weekend of June also means it's time for the German Fest! Javier and Cheri came over & we left for North Topeka about noon and got in line for lunch. Sauerbraten, bierocks, German potato salad, etc. The line was a little long but moved quickly and we were happy to buy a couple cold beers for appetizers. Afterwards we found a shady spot in the biergarten and settled in for a couple of hours. We remarked that we hadn't run into any friends and then we saw the Ybarra family. John Ybarra brought a pitcher over to our table and we helped him drink it. I discovered that mixing a little frozen margarita into my beer was delicious! It reminded me of one of my favorite summer drinks, wheat beer & lemonade.
John even found time to fit in nine holes late afternoon!