We had the pleasure of being a part of THIS on the way home today.  It took us a painfully long time to get home after an accident on I-435.  

Get 'Em While They're Young

The boys entranced by the gee-tar

 

YUM

I got my tax refund today!  I know I'm spending it on our Hawaii trip, but when everyone was going to Piropos for Robert's birthday (Happy birthday Robert!), I couldn't resist.  I had a delicious steak and asparagus and chipotle mashed potatoes.  Piropos is muy excelente....if you've never been you should go.  It's pricey, but worth it as a splurge every now and then!!  I prefer the Parkville location over the Briarcliff, and that's where we went.  Andy's friend also tends bar there, but I don't know him well enough to approach him when I'm not with Andy....Anyway, that is all for today.

 

Happy Anniversary!

Today marks 2 years since Andy & I got together (read: did it on the first date)

Here's to us!

Let the Light Shine In

 

I got these supersweet curtains off of eBay.  It was hard to get a good picture of them with the light behind it.  Anyway, they match my kitchen wonderfully (it's a dark orange color), and they also match my sweet mushroom canisters.  I love them.  And they were less than $15, which makes me love them even more.

P.S.  You can see my trashy asshole neighbors' car/lawn ornament in this picture - bonus!

Fiiiii-re (dun dun dun)

The weather has been so wonderful this week!  Next week it's supposed to be crappy & snowy again, but to take advantage of this spring teaser (and to get rid of the many boxes we accumulated through online Christmas shopping), we had the family and a few friends over, grilled out, and burned shit.  These are a few of my favorite things!

 

 

I have to get back to being proactive about this blog.  Honestly, I don't remember what we were doing when I took this.  I know that Andy is wearing my Harry Potter readers...

Yeah, crap.  I got nothin'.  I believe we were watching a movie, but I can't tell you what it was.  OH!  We were watching Modern Family.

Hey, be glad I remembered that much.  

 

Happy Valentine's Day

Candlelight & Romance

 I'd love to start this post by telling you how much I hate Valentine's Day.  I really would.  I'm well aware of the fact that it's an obscenely commercialized "holiday", but c'mon, nobody (read: not enough people) hates on Christmas for that!  At least this one has a thinly-veiled genuine reason!  Thanks to estrogen, I love the idea of a day that revolves around letting people know how much you care about them.  I'm a firm believer that you should do that all the time, but let's face it: sometimes the people you love really piss you off.  This one day you can ignore all of that and be cheesy.  And it ain't easy bein' cheesy!  Although Andy & I do make it look so.   I also love holidays that allow me to eat like the raging fatty that I am, and so far we're 2/2 eating like kings on the infamous VD!

For the record, I also loved the holiday when I was single.  

To sum up our evening: We went to the grocery store.  Then I convinced Andy to go to Nick & Jake's to see if they still had some of the highly-coveted Boulevard Chocolate Ale on tap - they did!  I took a picture, but it disappeared from my phone, as if it never happened.  We each had 2, and it was everything I dreamed it would be.  Afterward we went home, cooked dinner, ate until we couldn't eat anymore, and promptly fell asleep.  What's not to love?!

Andy made me a delicious meal - lobster tail, steak, cauliflower, asparagus, AND rosemary garlic mashed potatoes

P.S.  I got a necklace, that has a heart and the band around the heart says 'Love Forever', a heart-shaped box of miniature Reese's, and a shamrock mug.  Good job, Love.  ...AND the BEST card ever: 

On the front it has metallic hearts down the side and says:

 

Words From My Heart

I don't want to control you,

or change you,

or make demands of you.

 

I don't want to be responsible for you,

or cling to you,

or need you to feel okay about me.

 

I just want to watch you smile,

hear your voice,

share with you the simple pleasures of life.

 

I want to touch your face,

hold your hand,

enjoy the comfort of our relationship.

 

But most of all, I want to...

 

And then inside it says:

 

make you my sex slave.

 

Happy Valentine's Day

5 Years

Today was the fifth anniversary of my aunt's sobriety.  To people like you and me, that sounds like a really sad 5 years.  I really don't even like to go 5 days sober, if I can help it.  However, I'm really proud of her.  She's grown up a lot in 5 years, and is a totally different (in a good way) person to be around.  We went and heard her speech, and we all had dinner over at her house beforehand.  She makes a mean soup, yo.

Anyway, it was a nice evening with the family.  My cousin Sean stayed at my house afterward.  He mostly played video games while I worked on Andy's Valentine's Day gift.  I think I got in over my head with this gift idea, but so far I'm happy with how it's turning out!

What Sara would look like with bangs, sort of.  She'd kill me for posting this, but it's the only picture I took all day...

  

Wherein I Discuss Desserts. Sort of.

Today I introduced some coworkers to Lucia's, an Italian restaurant that is a favorite of Andy & I.  It's possible I've mentioned it in this blog before, but I don't have much luck when I search it to find these things out.  In any case, we had a nice lunch.  I had the eggplant parmigiana, which is what I always get.  It's done just right, which is hard to find with eggplant dishes.  They have great homemade salad dressings, and we've always had wonderful service.  Once we were all done, he tried to coerce us into some of their homemade desserts.  Sarah started to cave when he mentioned tiramisu, and then he said something about a huge chocolate cake, and Mike decided to order it for us all to share.  Between the 4 of us, we didn't finish it. 

Booty Blaster

The frosting was like fudge.  It was SO rich, and SO chocolatey.  And I then entered a chocolate coma upon returning to work.

Moving along, Andy and I stopped at the grocery store to get some things, and I wandered to the bakery to see what kind of treats they had dreamed up for the impending Valentine's Day holiday.  I found this gem of a cookie cake:

"I'll always forgive you don't worry"?!?!  What the hell!?  It's like, 'Here baby, take this $5.99 cookie cake, which is also a free pass to do whatever shitty things you want to me and know that I won't mind one bit!'  I thought it was just the strangest message to put on a cake ever, and it was surrounded by 'TXT ME' and 'LUV U' cakes.  I should have bought it; $6, what a steal!!

Update

While I admit that I haven't been getting pictures every day, I do have several to post since my last entry.  Unfortunately, my phone is once again on the fritz and not letting me view my gallery, which I have to do in order to send pictures that are in it.  Between that and being busy with the Valentine's Day craft I dreamed up (which will likely end up a disaster), I apologize for my lack of posting. 

I hate you.

This is both how I spent my evening, and also the bane of my existence.

What is it?

Here is my latest cross stitch project, and how (not) far I've gotten thus far - can you guess what it is?

The Decemberists/Mountain Man

Months ago, I heard a rumor the Decemberists were coming to town.  That was on a Friday.  The following Monday it was made official, and the date was announced - Feb. 7 at Uptown.  Prior to the date announcement my friend Katie (who lives in St. Louis) was talking of coming up to see the show, but when it turned out to be on a Monday she couldn't justify the 4-hour drive and/or missing work for it.

I was still bound & determined to go, until I got a bill from American Family for my homeowners' insurance.  I'd never gotten a bill from them, as it is supposed to be billed to my mortgage company.  I had to pay it in order to make sure my house stayed insured, and they are supposed to reimburse me after Wells Fargo pays them, 'within 3 weeks or so'.  Basically, I had no spending money.  So when The Wayward Blog posted that anyone could comment on their Decemberists Facebook post with why they should give you tickets, and they'd pick a winner, I figured I'd give it a shot.  I posted about the insurance mix-up, AND I WON!  WOOHOO!


So Jenny & I went.  AND THEY WERE AMAZING LIVE.  Also, Mountain Man was the opener.  It's 3 ladies and an acoustic guitar that 2 of them pass back & forth.  I really really enjoyed them.  I planned on buying the LP on my way out but they didn't take cards, and I didn't know my PIN to get cash out of the ATM (long story). 

So Mountain Man came out and wowed with their vocals.  They all had kind of old-fashioned voices, but in very different ways.  They were also great as far as crowd interaction.  They ate up the crowd's energy.  It was just a fun, light-hearted show.  The people behind me were making fun of them, but you know how hipsters are.  If they haven't heard of something, it's obviously because it sucks.  Before the show, I read a quick review of them that compared them to Fleet Foxes.  My first reaction was skepticism.  I love Fleet Foxes, and wasn't sure that anybody quite compared to them...but sure enough, it was a pretty apt comparison.  Only the female version.  Mountain Man's Facebook page lists their genre as night music, which is also pretty appropriate.  Check them out!

Then the Decemberists took the stage.  Having never seen them live, I wasn't sure what to expect.  My first impression was that they were a tight band, but didn't do much to engage the crowd.  A solid show, but a tad stuffy...which would have been disappointing after the humorous, if somewhat goofy, introduction from the mayor of Portland.  Luckily, I turned out to be VERY wrong.  After a few songs, Colin Meloy started talking to the audience more, and he and the drummer John were funny.  By the end of the set, when they closed with a version of  The Outfield's "Your Love" (You know it - 'I don't wanna lose your love, to-niiiiight'), with Colin on drums and John singing, I was smitten.  I wanted to take Colin home with me (not in a dirty way!  although that'd probably be okay too), and be best friends with Jenny (Conlee, the keyboardist/accordion player).  They were incredible live, I can't say that enough.

At one point Colin ended up in the right balcony, a la Ben & Tyler, with the owner of the Uptown and his family.  He stood above the crowd and played the guitar behind his head, showing off just a little bit.  Oh!  And Sara Watkins, that was a nice surprise!  Nobody is quite like her on the fiddle!
  
Anyway, I'm told they did 2 encores, but I had to find Jenny after the first one and we ended up leaving.  But I left happy.

Little Drummer Boy

It was a good weekend.

Andy is in Nashville, and I miss him, but I got to spend some time with the fam which is always usually good.  I played Rock Band with my parents.  My dad still refuses to sing, but they're both getting better at drums and guitar.

Dad & I had a 6-beer lunch (that's 3 each, not 6 each...should I have said 3-beer lunch?) at Grinder's.  If you've never been there, do yourself a favor and head to Crossroads.  It'd been far too long since I had their wings and Philly cheese, not to mention they have great beers on tap.  We met up with Mom and Krista afterward at Paul & Jack's in North Kansas City.  Their beer selection is not so great, but we tried 2 other bars before it which were both closed.  Mom had some food, and a family friend bartends, and they're pretty cheap, so it was a good time anyway.

Sunday was of course the Super Bowl.  Before that we made it to Agave to try their new breakfast menu, which we thoroughly enjoyed.  Krista came over and brought the boy, and he played in the music room.

He's pretty good, I think, as far as 2 year olds go.  I don't know the capacity of the average 2 year old for a drum set, but he was keeping steady rhythms, AND he had a drumming face.  My friend Jake, an excellent drummer, once told me that the first step in becoming a good drummer was having a 'drumming face'.  You have to screw your face up, close an eye, stick a tongue out, and look as weird as humanly possible.  Apparently this helps you keep tempo...Maybe not, but in any case, the Z Man had his tongue stuck out and his face all shifted to one side.  I don't think I've ever seen him concentrate on something for so long, or maintain interest in any one thing for that long.  It was entertaining.

So the Super Bowl....we went to the aforementioned bartender friend's house; they have a party every year.  I don't remember much of the game, but I had a blast!  Also, I've always thought the Packers were my second favorite team, but I have to mention I found myself rooting for the Steelers.  Perhaps just because they were behind, and I like both teams.  I'd decided beforehand to root for whichever team was on defense.  Anyway, the moral of the story is that Andy and his black and gold blood seems to have rubbed off on me.  I'm still happy for the Packers, though, so - Go Pack Go!

I took this one on the toilet.

I thought I felt some civil unrest coming from my lower half!

Procrasturbator

Really I just like that word.
I have been sucking about taking pictures this week.  My main goal in life has become hiding from the cold, and there's just not much that's picture-worthy in that, unless you want to see pictures of Star Trek reruns and the many blankets on my bed.
In an attempt to make up for my shortcomings, I will share with you an excerpt from an email thread (loosely edited) between me and Andy from last Friday.

*Disclaimer: I should warn you that it is not in any way PC, and might offend some of the gentler folk out there.*

From: Angie
Sent: Friday, January 28, 2011 1:41 PM
To: Andy
Subject:

Ok.

I am having SERIOUSLY STANKY gas.  FYI.

From: Andy
Sent: Friday, January 28, 2011 1:43 PM
To: Angie
Subject: RE:

Fed (Ed.note: The person in the cube next to mine) must be your biggest fan right now.

(Ed. note: From this point forward I am just going to continue the color scheme and get rid of the headers to make this shorter...)

Hellllooooooo Milk Belly! 

He wasn’t here till a minute ago, but he’s about to get a facefull of rejected dairy. 

I am having DANGEROUS rumblings.  I’m a bit worried I’ll soon have a shart story too…..

 Use the handicapped stall.  That handle can come in real handy when you’re passing paddy water.

Such sage advice.  Thank you.

I'm here all week.

I LOVE YOU!

LMFAO!

Is that an Elmer’s glue bottle?  Who’s the irresponsible adult who left Elmer’s sitting around this pair?

The recipe card would look something like this:

DISASTER

Serves 8

2 mentally challenged adults

1 can cream soda

2 12-oz packages Tums

1 industrial-sized jar applesauce

1 bottle Elmer’s glue

Combine all ingredients.

LOL!

I can see that conversation starting with, “Let’s make a pizza!”

HAHA!  Ohhhh yes!

… It’s hard to tell what the one is doing above the bowl.  

Crushing a cigarette, looks like.

 LOL I thought the same thing!  Or rollin’ a j.  There’s just so much to take in.

The more I look at it, though, the less it looks like Elmer’s glue and the more it looks like a nasal decongestant inhaler.

Retard meth lab?

Yeah, and the Egyptians had flying saucers to build the pyramids.

A White February

We, like a large part of the country, got slammed with this crazy winter storm. It didn't really kick up until the afternoon, so I went in to work. The problem was, once I got there, they weren't being very accommodating of people who wanted to leave early. Eventually I did anyway. Andy said it was starting to get bad, and he didn't feel comfortable waiting any longer, so I left work about 1:15. I should have left sooner...or about 15 minutes later. Long story short, the roads were terrible. This mixed with rear wheel drive doesn't make for a pleasant trip home. It wasn't TOO bad until we got almost home. The state highway we live off of wasn't really plowed, and we got stuck in the turn lane. I had to get out and push, and eventually we made it through there. We then made it to the street we live on, which hadn't been plowed at all. We tried and tried to make it up the hill, and we were about to give up and park at the bottom, despite the fact that we'd get plowed in. We decided one more try, and ended up in the ditch.

A neighbor and I tried to push out, but the way the wheels were stuck it just made things worse. I called a tow truck, and they said it'd be 30 minutes. As I was on the phone with them, here comes the plow. They did a round and then stopped and said they weren't allowed to hook up chains but they'd help try to push. As I was explaining that only made matters worse, a neighbor stopped on his way home and said he had chains and would run up and get them. He got back and started talking to Andy. He said, 'I'm no physics major, but I don't think I can pull you guys up the hill....', which was pretty true. They decided to pull us out of the ditch down the hill. After a lot of flopping around in the snow, they found something to hook onto under the Mustang and they were off. I stood in another neighbor's driveway and we watched.

Andy & the neighbor, hooking up ;)

He got him out, and the neighbor I was next to said something to the effect of 'All right, he got him out!', and I was watching and replied, "Yeah, now if Andy can get his car stopped before he hits the truck," which was punctuated by the sound of the 2 cars hitting. Our neighbor, who we think is named Justin(?) pulled Andy out & stopped and Andy had too much momentum and not enough traction and sailed right into his trailer hitch. Luckily it didn't do anything to the truck, but the hitch mount poked a square hole right in Andy's rear bumper. Definitely a huge bummer. Come to find out, the tow trucks were gouging people for $300/ditch, so in the grand scheme of things I guess it's alright. The bumper will surely cost more than that, but it's not money we have to come up with TODAY, so that part is at least a relief. Even after all of that, we had to push the car up the hill to my house, and at that point it had been plowed.

When we got home I was exhausted and dirty and freezing. We hunkered down in our pajamas and just hid out from the cold. In the early evening we heard something outside, and another neighbor was blading the driveway for us!!!

Neighbors make rural living preferable.

So now we're trying to figure out something to make/buy for them. Andy's thinking of smoking some stuff. Shocking, I know, but I think that would be pretty cool - way better than baking cookies or something like that...

Be safe out there. Or better yet, don't go out there.