6.11.11

gin

On an unseasonably cool day in june, we saw Kenny Chesney, Zac Brown Band and Billy Currington at Lambeau.  Wow.  This was a great concert.  It actually might go down as the top 5 most fun day of my life.  Tailgating started at about noon and we finally made it into the concert at about 5....where we stayed until about 11.  All 3 acts put on a great show and I think everyone there (including Billy Currington, Zac Brown and Kenny Chesney) knew they were lucky to be there since this was the first concert ever at Lambeau.  

4.5.11

On our last day, we went to dinner at our favorite place, Mon Ami Gabi.  The atmosphere is always perfect and as a bonus, the food is so delicious.  It was the perfect way to end our trip.

4.4.11

This was the most expensive meal we have ever had. This restaurant exists in New York and apparently it is super exclusive. It is impossible to get a reservation and there might be people who have memberships there, I think. I had heard about this place and their legendary meatballs on the Food Network and on Top Chef, so I knew we had to go there since I knew we would never make it to the NY one.  I am here to tell you the meatballs were delicious.  I have never been so stuffed in my entire life though...and woah, we spent a lot.

4.1.11

We went to Vegas for almost a week in the beginning of April - sort of as a 30th bday celebration, sort of because we got a screamin deal on a hotel that we felt like we couldnt pass up.  We stayed for pretty much 5 full days, which seems like a long time to be in Vegas, but since we had such a great deal on the hotel, we gladly welcomed the extended vegas vaca.

The first day we were there, we saw Viva Elvis (which was not that great) and as we were leaving the theater we ran into a crowd of people around Toby Keith! Confession: I love Toby Keith. It was he and Tim McGraw that made me cross over to becoming a full on country music fan. I hung out at the end of the crowd of people and was prepared to tell him that he made me love country music.  However, the look on his face as he left the mob of people was not welcoming and he was basically looking past me because I think he knew that I, too, was about to bother him. I still asked if I could take a picture with him, but I decided to spare him the chit chat.

3.26.11

Shari and I made plans to get together at Panera for breakfast and to talk about her wedding this summer. I came armed with my laptop, prepared to talk about invitations and centerpieces.  Instead, we walked in and I saw Lindsey and said to Shari, "oh hey look!  Lindsey's here...wait, so is Lindsay....and Dizzy?"  When I saw Diz (who lives 1.5 hours away and had never met Lindsay or Lindsey), it became clear that this breakfast was not planned to talk about wedding stuff...it was for my birthday!  It was the best.

Later in the day, things just got better.  My mom, Gina and I started off our evening at the spa - massages for them, facial for me....and then we met up with the men and went to PF Changs for dinner.  Love that honey shrimp.

2.19.11

The whole fam at the protest

1.25.11

This is the night before round 1 of my 2 stage knee surgery.  I thought I should take a picture of my knees before they became even more Frankenstein-y than they already are.  Lord, let these surgeries be successful and I'm not handicapped for life!  Ok, I'm being dramatic...but you never know!  Anything could happen.

(I know, nice tube socks.)

1.21.11

Our friends got married in Jamaica and had a reception in town a week later for those who were not able to make the trip.  It was great seeing everyone (it had been a while!) and getting dressed up...even though it looks like I am just wearing a black tshirt in this picture.  I swear it is a dress.  We did the standard eating, drinking and dancing...and somewhere along the line realized there were a fair share of 30 somethings who have Beiber Fever.

1.10.11

I got my eyes dialated at the eye doc on monday and got to go back to work in these sweet disposable shades.

10.31.10

Confession: for the past 5ish years, Halloween was not my favorite holiday. Actually, it was probably my least favorite holiday. I used to work at a place that planned for Halloween celebrations and activities for children for about two months, culminated by a 4 day event. We were also required to work all 4 long days, while dressed in costume. Needless to say, I was pretty much "over" halloween by the time October 25th rolled around.

Finally this year, I turned a corner and decided to embrace the holiday. I even crafted our gnome costumes from top to bottom! Here are a few of my other faves from the party:

and the winner of the costume contest, Ghandi.

10.7.10

Meghan got THE CALL on a Tuesday that she had 4 tickets to see Oprahhhhhh! Meghan and I were lucky enough to attend a taping a few years ago, but this was still really exciting. I mean, when Oprah calls, you drop everything and go to her...especially because this is her last season, ya know? Following suit, I promptly and without question skipped class on Wednesday night and took the day off on Thursday to go to Chicago. To get to the 9am taping, it was suggested to us to get there at 7am...which meant we had to leave Milwaukee at 4:30am! If you are doing the math, that meant I had to wake up at 3:30am. Basically, I shouldnt have even gone to sleep because I could hardly sleep anyway from being so anxious!

The topic of the show we saw was the 25th anniversary of Love Story. Ali McGraw and Ryan O'Neal were the guests. It was a sweet, heart warming kind of show....and a great experience. Oprah was as fab as you would imagine.

A really cool part of the day happened after the taping though. We wanted our picture taken in front of the Harpo sign and asked some passerbys to take a picture of us. We made a little small talk with them (2 girls about my age and an older man) and it turned out the man worked at Harpo and offered to take us inside for a backstage tour. Ummm, yes please! We got to see some cool things and got to hear some great stories. I'm so glad I got to go one more time before her show ends!

9.18.10

We headed to our first Badger tailgate of the year a few weeks ago. The weather was perfect. I mistakenly brought a fleece with me that was unneeded for most of the day. I think I ended up wearing it around my waist, early 90s style for a while. We had a fantastic day - hoping to make it to at least 1 more tailgate before the season ends!

In unrelated news, my hair is a little unruly in this picture. Don't worry, I remedied that situation this week and got a much needed cut and color.

9.11.10

So let me get this straight. Just like that, summer is over?? These flip flop tan lines are basically a thing of the past...even though I just got them about 2 weeks ago when I was lounging on the beach in my swim suit sweating my butt off? Is this correct?

This blows.

Oh, and I just saw a commercial for the Trans Siberian Orchestra.

8.20.10

Here I was teaching Jon some things about composition and was modeling for him. Yes, this face and pose has model written all over it, doesnt it??

8.11.10

My dad and I made one of those upholstered headboards that are all over the internet. In a nutshell, it was super easy and now that we have made one, all subsequent headboards should be able to be put together rather quickly. I took detailed pictures of all of the steps. I'll be posting a comprehensive recap of it soon. (but let's get serious, with my track record it will be another 3 months.)

8.9.10

August 9th was our actual anniversary - even though we did our celebrating the night before. 2 years! We have made a tradition of wearing our wedding shoes on our anniversary. Or in this year's case, the night before our anniversary. (I had us put them on again for this shot) I'm liking this tradition a lot. I have to convince my husband this is an awesome tradition every year though. He struggles with it big time because he doesn't want to risk the chance of ruining them. I have to remind him that if there is any time he should wear them, it is this day. I think he begrudgingly agrees...and then probably buffs out the scuffs when we get home. just kidding. he doesnt do that....that I know of.

6.27.20

My first - and probably only - Brewer game of the year! I didn't even get nachos when I was there. Sacrilege!

6.22.10

I have gotten yelled at 2 weeks in a row by a threesome of my nearest and dearest friends for not updating this here blog...and you know what they sort of have a point. It has been a month! This summer is going by so fast, it is kind of ridiculous. So let's take a look back to the end of June, shall we?

On Tuesday, June 22, Jon and I drove to Oshkosh to see the Zac Brown Band at Country USA! Yeeehaw! We met up with my brother in law and 2 of Jon's other friends there. They are old pros at these country festivals - they used to go every year to a different festival in Eau Claire - but it was a first for me. I was warned that I wouldnt be able to see the stage at all, which I definitely couldnt, but I also didn't mind. You see, you bring your own chairs to these festivals, so I was comfy cozy laid back in my own chair toe tappin to Toes and Chicken Fried the whole night instead of being in a tiny chair squished next to a stranger in a huge arena. Great people watching at these festivals too - never saw so many confederate flags in my life! I did not get the memo that the "uniform" for ladies at these events are bikini tops and cutoff shorts though! Geez. I felt so out of place.

5.23.10

The fam on day 2 at the Blue Harbor resort. This place is awesome, btw. It is less than an hour from Milwaukee and about 2 from Madison, but once you get there, you kind of feel like you are at an coastal town in Massachusetts or something. It is gorgeous!

5.9.10

My mom and dad came up to Madison to spend Mother's Day with us! We went out for pizza, got some half priced frappuccinos at Starbucks and went for a walk along the lakeshore path. Great day!