Officially a Missourian

This weekend, after much frustration and effort, I officially became a Missourian...and what an ordeal it was!!!  The amount of hoops that one has to jump through is ridiculous.  However, it is much cheaper to transfer everything over to Missouri (as it should be due to personal property taxes) than it is for IL.  I think Chad paid close to $200 when he switches his registration and license over to IL two years ago.  I paid just under $60 to transfer mine.  However, it did require:  
** A minor odometer inspection on my car (from the local Valvoline shop).  
** A trip to the courthouse and several pieces of paper to prove that we were not residents of MO in either January 2011 or January 2012.  (This is necessary, so that personal property taxes do not have to be paid.)  
** Finally, a trip to the DMV...many of which, in this area, are contracted office and not actually employees of the State of MO.  This means that they can be open the hours that they choose.  This we found out after running around Saturday trying to find one that was open.  The DMV wanted the above two pieces of paper, as well as your insurance, passport, proof of current residency, money...and your first born.  Ha!

I was finally able to accomplish all of the above.  Chad's still working on his.  Here's the end result.  Not too bad of a pic!

After that exhausting trip, we decided to head out to Manhattan, KS to Tallgrass Brewery, which is about a 2 hour drive from KC. This brewery is new to us since our move out West.  They don't currently distribute in IL but will be soon.  They make some pretty good beers.  We read that the brewery is pretty low-key and they weren't kidding.  Manhattan is a college town, and the brewery feels like the local college kids are running it.  Ha!  

When you arrive you must purchase a glass for $5, and that comes with 6 tastings.  The tasting pours run anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 of the glass.  Here's our first taste.  I got the Buffalo Sweat, a smooth oatmeal stout, which is their #1 seller.  Chad chose the Velvet Rooster, a Belgian Tripel.

They give tours on Saturdays only.  The tours are only about 30 minutes long, but the tour guide was fantastic...very funny!.  The owners are big fans of the first two seasons of the American Gladiators.  So all their tanks are named after the gladiators.  Hilarious!!!!

Another unique factor about this brewery is that they use cans instead of bottles.  They stopped using bottles two years ago.  They say that they can "can" faster than they could bottle, and there are less reason to shut down the bottling line for reasons such as a broken bottle.   Here's is a write-up on the whole concept...interesting.  They only use the "tall boys"...the 20oz. cans.  Here's stockpile of empty cans...

On our way out we got glimpse of the brewmaster who had come in on the weekend, as he is often said to do, to homebrew.  Guess he can't get enough!  We really enjoyed the beer!  Mine and Chad's favorites were the Buffalo Sweat & Velvet Rooster.


On the way home we drove through a small town that we've seen advertised on many billboards in Kansas...Wamego.  Their claim to fame is the Wizard of Oz museum, which opened in 2004.  There doesn't seem to be a reason why it's located in Wamego, but since the opening of the museum other "Oz related" businesses have opened...Oz Winery, Toto's Tacos.  So since it was the on the way, I had to drive through!  It was quite a disappointment.  Ha!  Here's a couple of pics of the businesses...

On the way back home we swung through another KS town...Lawrence.  They have a Jefferson's here!!!!!  Yes, you heard me correct.  Jefferson's!  Just like back home!!!  The food was just as we remember it.  Hooray!!  Here's a pic of the inside...

Yesterday, we headed to Columbia, MO to hang out with Ben, Calyn & Lehni.  Mom, John and Jerod met us there.  What a fun and relaxing day!!  Lots of eating and drinking, of course.  They just built a deck on the back of their house, which went to great use!  Here's mom play with their two dogs...Darwin & Winston.

Ben set up a Slip 'N Slide for Lehni.  Whoa!  What memories this brings back!!  Lehni had never been on one before.  She kept running, stopping just before the slide and then plopping down on it.  She couldn't see to grasp the concept of running and sliding on her belly.  Ha!  She eventually got it, but here's a couple of cute pics of her practicing!

We spent the night in Columbia and then headed back home this morning.  Today we just took it easy.  I even managed to get a little shopping in and spend the gift cards that I received for my birthday.  Here's one of my many purchases...new kicks!

It's back to work tomorrow.  Makes me wish I would have taken an extra day off.  Ha!  Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!!!

Bday, Beer and Big Pancakes

I typically love my bday.  I admit it is harder to love as I get older...but I always love the prizes.  Lots of great prizes this year!

• Gift cards for clothes and shoes from the parents
• A Rachel Ray garbage bowl from Chad
• Jewelry from Chad's mom, Sandi  (They were so cute, then went right into my jewlery box...sans pictures.)
• Beer from our new friends, Jeff & Jen
• Beer and goodies from my MOH, Jude  

That weekend we tried a new diner on Sunday morning, The City Diner.  It was a hole but the food was good.  Check out the size of Chad's pancake!!!!

 

Last weekend we hit up the 2012 HopFest in the Waldo neighborhood.  We sprung for the VIP tickets which got us in the door an hour early.  During this hour each brewery had a special beer that they didn't offer the remainder of the afternoon.  Boulevard offered a Love Child #2 sour beer, which Jeff, Jen and Chad loved.  The jury is still out on if I like the sours or not.  I'm not quite there but the rest of the fest was yummy!

Chad and I also signed up for the UFO Beer Club at the Flying Saucer, a tap room and restaurant a few blocks from here in the Power and Light District.  They have tons of craft beers on tap and even more by the bottle!  It's a fun place to go with several events each week.  Tuesday's are Old School Trivia Nights, which we have yet to try but sounds like a blast.  Wednesday's are Take Home the Glass Nights, and Thursday's are Rare Beer Nights.  Recently we went on a Thursday to try the Schlafly Dark Cherry Saison...very good but not enough cherry.  Once you try 200 different beers, which they keep track of, you get to have a party there where they pick up $100 of the tab...and you get a plate on the wall with your name on it.  Only 196 beers to go.  Ha!  I'm not sure we'll even achieve it but it's fun!  It took our friends, Jeff and Jen, about two years to get their plates.

This weekend we don't have much planned other than heading to Columbia, MO on Sunday to visit with the family and obtaining our MO driver's licenses at some point!  Hope everyone has a safe and fun weekend!

 

Happy Bday to me!!!!

Wow, what an exhausting...but super productive weekend!  Friday night, Chad made dinner reservations at Michael Smith's restaurant in the Crossroad's neighborhood.  

Michael Smith is a James Beard award winner, so I was super excited to try the restaurant.  The staff was super friendly and accommodating.  We opted for the 4 course Chef's Tasting Menu...which was basically 8 different courses that Chad and I shared.  They brought you each different appetizers, different seafood entrees, different meat entrees and different desserts.  If you get bored with food pics, then you'll definitely want to fast forward through the next handful of pics.  Ha!

The first course was appetizers...Braised Rabbit with Gnocchi and Maryland Soft Shell Crab.  This was my first time having rabbit.  It was surprisingly pretty good.  Chad says that it tastes like dark meat turkey.  It's close, in my opinion, but it's just a slightly bit game-ier.

The second course was the seafood entree...Seared Sea Scallops and Pan Seared Monkfish...both extremely tasty!

The third course was the meat entree...Grilled New Zealand Lamb Rack and Braised Boneless Shortribs.  Aren't these dishes lovely???

The dessert course was also lovely...Chocolate Macaroons with Homemade Ice Cream and Lemon Chiffon Cake with Homemade Lemon Sorbet & Ice Cream.

Well, needless to say, we were both ridiculously stuffed after that tremendously yummy mean...one of the best I've had in a long time!


Saturday we had a packed day planned.  We started out the day with lunch and then a trip to the Coach store.  Believe it or not, we ventured there for Chad as his wallet was coming apart.  Coach is great with their customer service.  I've had a purse restitched in the past.  So we walked out with them agreeing to give Chad a new wallet and new sunnies for me thanks to Chad's coupon!  Woo hoo!  I finally have Big Girl sunnies!

We then went to the travel agent to decide on a honeymoon.  We've been trying for months to decide where to go.  We've considered destinations from Bali to Bora Bora, from St. Lucia to Turks & Caicos and even the Bahamas.  The meeting was quite helpful.  Stay tuned for the decision...


Then we headed to the jewelers to pick out our wedding bands, which we were quite successful.  Finally we ended the day with our friends, Jen & Jeff, and some Indian food...Chad's first "Indian experience".  

Today we tried out a new diner in the area for brunch.  Check out the size of Chad's pancake.  It was about 1/2-3/4 of an inch thick!  I think Chad ate barely over half.  Ha!

It was a super fun and super exhausting weekend.  No wonder all I wanted to do today was veg out.  I was able to accomplish a few things today though.  Now on to another week!  Cheers!

Go Yankees!

I can't believe the weekend came and went already!!  Is it really Sunday night already?!?!  I'm dreading this week at work.  Friday was probably one of the most difficult days that I've ever had at work, and the beginning of this week proves no different.  Oh well.  Let's suck it up and get on with it!!

We had a busy weekend filled with Yankee's-Royals' games to keep my mind off of everything.  Friday night our seats were in the Diamond Club.  These are the seats directly behind home plate.  They are not all-inclusive seats, but one does have access to an indoor area with better food.  Here's the view from the indoor area just above our seats...

...and another from our seats. 

We had tickets or Saturday evening's game also.  We tailgated before the game with our friends, Jeff and Jen, who are meteorologists and work in the same building as Chad.  It was sooooo hot that afternoon, which is ridiculous for May.  However, I still came away from the game as white as can be.  Ha.  Here's a pic of Chad before the game.  We unpacked the beer before we unpacked the rest of the car!  We knew that we weren't going to be able to celebrate Cinco de Mayo this weekend, so we did it up the best we could...Negro Modelo with lime!

Jen and I acting a bit goofy!

Today we took it easy.  We started off the day with brunch at The Farmhouse, which is a farm-to-table restaurant just down the street from us.  We'd been itching to eat here and so glad we did.  Lots of yummy options.  Chad got some French Onion soup and a BELT sandwich on sourdough.  I ended up with corned beef with potato & butternut squash hash and a fried egg.  Yumm-o!

To end the weekend right, we finally got the envelopes printed for our Save the Date cards which arrived this week.  They turned out sooooo good!  I can't wait for everyone to see them  So fun!  

I hope everyone has a better week than I'll be having!  Cheers!