Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Cheers to 30 Years

Conor & I recently made a trip to Spokane to help my parents celebrate their 30th anniversary!  Since this is a big milestone, I decided to throw a cocktail party in their honor.  We invited a few of my parents close friends and asked if they would send us some pictures from the last 30 years to contribute to a surprise slide show that Conor & I were putting together.  Wow did we get some great pictures!!!  Conor and I were hysterically laughing as we pieced together all the photos!  Let's just say, my mom has had some awesome hairdos and dresses with shoulder pads, while my dad has apparently been known to wear some of the shortest shorts I have ever seen, my closet included!
The party went wonderfully, and I think everyone really enjoyed themselves!  The old fashions were flying off the bar, wine corks popping around every corner, and people trying not to stab each other with skewers as they really got after the delicious snacks!  The food was particularly a big hit, which made Conor & I happy since we made it all ourselves.  We make quite a good team!  I picked the menu, but Conor made almost everything.  I was just the chef's assistant and mostly did prep work.  In case your curious, here's what we served: chicken, steak, and shrimp skewers with three sauces (chipotle mayo, mango herb, and thai peanut), bruschetta, better cheddar (a cheese dip), guacamole, and lots of fresh fruit and veggies.  We did our best to keep my mom out of the kitchen, but of course she just can't stay away!  Normally, she'll switch into her sneakers, even while she's all dressed up, to get work done in the kitchen.  When I decided to throw the party at their house, it became Conor & my main objective to make sure her sneakers stayed in the closet!  We were at least successful at that!

Here are some of my favorite pics from the party:

the happy couple






The rest of the visit was fun and relaxing.  Conor had to leave on Sunday for business in Alabama, but before his flight, we met up with Ryan, Chelsea, and my parents at Press for their famous (and absolutely delicious!) bloody mary bar.  Since Conor and I have really been lovin the bloody marys lately, this was a hot sauce, vodka, and pickled vegi heaven!  To use a tried and true Simpson Family catch phrase: It was just a "reeeeal nice" little Sunday morning together.  With how busy everyone seems these last few years, it seems rare that we get to spend quality time together like this.  After dropping Conor of at good ol' GEG, I spent the rest of the day with my brother, Ryan. We took the Costco samples by storm as we worked through our list and then headed out to Tonicx for my new favorite cocktail, the creamsicle: whipped cream vodka and orange San Peligrino!  It's even better than an actual creamsicle, but that may be on account of the vodka!  I plan to add this great find to the Keenan bar repertoire back in AZ very soon, yummers!  Later that night I tagged along with Ryan, Chelsea, & Linnea to their friends' (Jon & Shelby) house for a BBQ.  This is where I had my first experience with the X-Box Kinect 360!  We had a blast playing dance central (or at least I think that's what it was called...).  And I don't mean to toot my own horn... but SOMEbody ended up beng pretty darn good (Toot! Toot!). It so much fun playing with Ryan and all the kids.  What a great night!

As always, I was sad to leave Spokane. But lucky for me, Conor & I decided to head to San Diego the following weekend after he got back from Alabama to see TJ, Erin, and Conor's brother, Kyle, who was planning on being in town for an architecture conference. I'm sure we'll have a post up soon about that trip.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Top Bunk is Kitty

April arrived with very hot temperatures: 99 degrees on the 1st!  That's a little hot for April in my book!  I'm sure Conor is thinking..."let the whining begin," but I will try and keep my complaining to a minimum through these upcoming summer months!  Anyways, I was wanting to get out of Arizona, and Conor had been wanting to visit a friend in Palm Desert, so we made an impromptu trip to California.

We went to visit Conor's childhood friend, Kelly, who he hasn't seen in years.  Kelly and her husband Matt have three kids, one of which is only 3 months old.  I was really looking forward to getting my baby fix in!  Kelly told us that we would be sleeping in the kids room which has two bunks bed...I quickly claimed top bunk!  Kelly's response: "Top bunk is kitty!"  I thought this was her way of saying, "Top bunk is really cool," but oh no...top bunk is really kitty...as in kitty bedding!  I was instantly 8 years old again and reliving my kitty pajamas days!

The first morning of our visit everyone was up early, except me, until Conor told me Monte (the 3 month old) was having bath time in the kitchen!  This was enough motivation, so I quickly got out of bed to see the cutest little boy ever get cleaned up.  Our morning only got better when we played a few games of freeze tag and red rover outside with the girls.  Oh my are kids fun, I forgot all about these games!  Then we headed to downtown Palm Springs since Conor and I had never been before.  It was nice to walk outside and enjoy the sun.  Here are some fun pics of us and Sophia (the almost 3 year old).

Next up was a delicious lunch at a Mexican restaurant called Armando's.  The place was packed and the margaritas were stiff...even for me!  Once our bellies were full, Conor & Matt went to buy catch phrase and a kiddie pool, while the rest of us made cookies at the house.  Well Kelly & Sophia made cookies, while I got some quality Monte time!



I had promised Olivia (the 5 1/2 year old) that we could go swimming, so we improvised with the kiddie pool.  They are definitely not built for adults, 'cause once I got in it....all the water practically poured out!  However, it was an exciting 10 minute activity!



The rest of the night was full of a little game Olivia called Hair Stylist, catch phrase (of course), and Despicable Me.  The movie put the kids right to bed, so the adults had a late night dinner of flank steak and chatted over some red wine.

In the morning, the two little girls got up early to watch Despicable Me again.  Conor got up as well and spent some time with just the two of them.  I was enjoying the top bunk and kitty blanket so much that I couldn't bring myself to get out of bed yet.  For the next hour, I could hear Olivia & Sophia coming in and out of the room frequently to see if I was awake.  Finally I hear one of them ask Conor: "Does she know it's 8 o'clock?!"  Apparently my still sleeping at 8am was unacceptable so I quickly joined them for some more fun before we had to leave. 

Before saying our goodbyes, Kelly loaded me up with about six baby books!  Guess I have some reading to do.  She was worried that after our visit, Conor & I would never want kids.  But her little ones were too cute, and we loved playing with them.  I may have a bit of baby fever, but...we are going to wait for a little while...

Next baby fix: a trip to Kansas in May to see my great friend Christina and her 3 month old Tommy!