DPP 19: GO AWAY SNOW!

Not even 10pm and tomorrow is totally ruined by the "Snowpocalypse". Stupid cancellations. Stupid snow. I am boycotting by refusing to post a picture of it! So here is Chloe, one of my parents cat's posing for their birthday gift a few weeks ago. 

For Me?!?!

Last weekend, Tim spent Friday night carving our pumpkin that we've had since September. I hadn't really planned on carving it, but he was dead set on it. So he did, and the kitties of course put in their opinions on it as well.

But little did I know that he had a reason! Saturday night, Tim picked me up from work (UNI football, I was beat) and he turned the opposite way of the house. Told we were picking up dinner, I was confused, because he had been to the grocery store at least three times that week, telling me he was going to make me dinner. Then he informs me there are people at the house, for me, cause they were all there to celebrate my birthday!!!

All Halloween decorated, balloons, tableclothes, little pumpkin tinsel and skull lights. It was absolutely adorable in the house. He'd even completely cleaned while I was at work! The food table had all sorts of snacks and smores and the pizza we'd picked up. The island had been turned into a drink station with hot chocolates and other fun beverages! It was awesome.

And the best part, set up on the porch was a portable little fire pit that he had bought. AWESOME. Smores year round! Right in the backyard!

















It was a great night. Matt was there when I got home. The Day's from Next Level were first to arrive, and Nate came up from Des Moines, Julie came down from Minnesota and brought Nick who also had Brandon show up. Jayson brought a friend, and later Dieter showed up. It was a pretty sweet night. One I havent had in a long time. The bars were far more entertaining than normal (it being the weekend before Halloween and all) so we ended up closing down the bars. Something I havent done in well over a year or two. Craziness. Although, the craziness was only helped by the discovery of the glory of Rumchata.


I hate surprises, but I loved my surprise party. Great great night to remember :-)

Birthday Weekend!

Two weekends ago was my birthday!!! It was a pretty crazy weekend just in general. And I feel like I've been going non stop since. Ill bulletpoint it!

Friday night was spent running all over town between Blaines and Walmart gather supplies, and then proceeding to design and create our Color Run t-shirts of glory.

Saturday:
Tim and I drove down to Des Moines for the Color Run.
Ate a glorious Whole Foods breakfast.
Found the perfect parking spot downtown.
Perfect parking does not equal perfect weather.
Windy, cold (40s), with no sun. Not ideal for running in a specially designed thin tshirt.
Finally got to visit the Lululemon Showroom, disappointing, only three racks of miscellaneous clothes.
Brief walk to Runners Village, freezing.
Saw Ryleah, a former video board kid. Loved it.
Sat in the car making the rough decision.
Cold, had a 2hour wait, still having neck pain.
Decided TOTALLY randomly to drive up to Minneapolis to go birthday shopping!
Got to Minneapolis, straight to the Athleta store.
Shopping efficiency, 90 minutes.
Slightly double the limit spent. Oops.
Thank God Minnesota doesn't have sales tax.
But I did get more than workout clothes! I got some work clothes and holiday options too!
Tim made for a great shopping buddy. He holds AND advises. Without complaint (as long as he has his smartphone).
There MIGHT be a cupcake store between the car and Athleta….but we saved them for after dinner!
Big dinner conundrum of where to go.
Best decision all day, The Anchor.
An amazing dive, packed super early on Saturday.
Best fish and chips since Australia (that's saying something)
Second Whole Foods run for stocking up.
Headed home via the parents house for a quick hello.

Sunday:

Red Velvet & Cake Batter...mmm

Slept way too late. (Yesterday was jam packed!)
Princess delivery service took me to Hot Yoga
First time back after medical issues and injuries.
Been way too long.
Hyvee run for birthday breakfast and a caramel apple.
Nixed breakfast for birthday lunch with the family.
Knee pads, fro yo, and a workout rounded out the hang out afternoon.
Mini fashion show for family at birthday dinner!

Got a new NLXF shirt, massage gift card, a halloween plate and halloween socks!
Grandma and Grandpa came over for the awesome meal of rouladden, cucumber/tomato/mozzarella salad, and spaghetti corn.
Sweet potato cupcakes from Scratch for dessert!
Evening concluded with mom's travel questions from a box!

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!!!!

Birthday Week Boo Boos and Ouchies.

I am an idiot. I was so excited to be getting back in to my fifth Next Level that I HAD to facebook about it as I was walking in. At 5:30am, when its dark, in a parking lot that I THINK I know very well. Next thing I know, I am on the ground. (Don't worry, the iPhone 4s was just fine).

I know my back and neck are jacked immediately. But I didn't notice all the bloody carnage until I got inside. It certainly wasn't pretty. Both knees banged up, shin with the road rash from hell, palm punctures. I was the picture of health to start kickboxing five minutes later (not).  Adrenaline kept the wounds from hurting too much (til later), but my neck was on fire.

I waited the few hours for the chiropractor to open. I get in, tell them the story (which they find hilarious) and then he informs me that I have given myself whiplash. By falling. I am an idiot.

So the past three days have been filled with ice packs, Icy Hot, and gauze. So much fun! Ugh. Sleeping with a neck that hates you and sheets brushing against road rash = not the easiest thing on the planet. 

Here's hoping i'm decently healed for Saturday's Color Run 5k and my birthday on Sunday! No more facebooking and walking until then.....or at least not a 5:30 in the morning. 

Food & Wine Classic (Day Two / Part Two)

Last circle of Grand Tasting got me a picture with Spike Mendelsohn.
Also my first shot of Mezcal (fire starting fuel), a chocolate Patron popsicle, and a duck daikon apple slaw taco (best of the day).

Leaving, there was no line for Gail Simmons, Paul Qi, or Tom Collichio. So naturally we hopped over and got our passes signed.
Tom looked so bored, and Gail made Tim wait so she could put on lip gloss.

Walking out, BEST PART of the day happened.
I got my picture with Fabio Viviani. And Tim asked him about the 5k.

Apparently it only took the guy pulling him in the wagon 40 minutes to finish. Impressive!
More cupcakes OUTSIDE the grand tasting on the way to the car.
Found delicious local Taster's pizza in Snowmass for dinner (I swear a few hours happened between tasting and dinner).
The White Bliss pizza, add pineapple.

Quick visit to the grocery store we wish we'd known was there all week, a mini exploratory drive up the mountain, and a long bike ride at the gym….

Day Two. Check!

Food & Wine Classic (Day One/Part Two)

Afternoon @ Food & Wine Classic: 

Tim refused to go into the Lexus photo booth with me, so I rocked the pink hat alone.

We watched John Besh brutally butcher a whole lamb and it all looked like carnage.

But he served bourbon lemonade while he did it, urging people to shout out randomly stupid questions.

I felt hung over from Grand Tasting #1 the whole time.

Saw Mario Batali & Emeril Lagasse while waiting in line for Top Chef: Sweet & Salty seminar.

Got highly annoyed at volunteers letting people sneak down early for seats.

Even madder when we were FIRST in line and yet halfway back in the room.

We received nail polish goodie bags and cups of Pinot?

Andrew Zimmern sat across the aisle from me, I totally braved up for a picture.

Gail Simmons & Tom Colicchio were a giggly and mess making duo, making sweet and savory peach dishes. 

Tequila and ice cream went EVERYWHERE.

Tom started live Tweeting his food.

Perused the grand tasting for special tastes and ice cream drinks.

Ice cream topped w/ olive oil and salt?

Godiva was promoting their truffle line based off of ice cream flavors.

Free Champion gym bags with goodies.

We didn't last long before deciding to skip the F&W classic t shirts (just too ugly this year), and then headed back to the hotel.

Inbetweener Time:

Making it just in time to get our Snowmass Tshirts.

Tim had the ham & brie, and tomato cheddar soup sitting outside at The Stew Pot. I just ate the fruit off my salad.

Hitting the gym was easy in comparison to getting dressed for the 10pm party.

Last Bite Dessert Party by Gail Simmons & Johnny Iuzzini:

Somehow we ended up parked under the industrial sprinklers. 

You know it's a good party when the front hall is lined with chocolates.

ANOTHER open bar.

Dessert stations were everywhere with gourmet desserts. Chocolates, pound cake, handmade pies, zillions of cupcakes, handmade doughnuts, cheeses, nuts, honeycomb, passed trays of mousses, flans, tapiocas, ice creams, cheesecakes. And so much more.

Johnny's station had a chocolate log, Melon soup panacotta, and strawberry salad. 

There was even a 15 foot moose to take pictures on, to go along with the Harry & David stations.

Somehow there were nail polish freebies?

Stalking Johnny right before we left deemed successful.

Saw Gail as we left, but we were just pooped! An hour was PLENTY of fun and sugar.

DPP #4: Meals and Muppets!

DPP 4: My wunderbar parents got back from Germany late last night. They went for a week of Christmas Market hopping to celebrate both their birthdays.

We celebrated today with family meals and the Muppet movie (at his request).

Cupcakes fix failure.

Clearly I failed on my Yoga Challenge. Oh well, no one seemed to be paying too much attention as it was. So I shall just randomly insert some thoughts on it every once in awhile to scratch that itch and we will all call it good, cool?

In the mean time, I'll get back to the equally boring updates about everything else I do. Which pretty much equates to kitty cats, food, and travel. The trifecta of ClareAwesome.

Ok, this post already has too much ego, so let's leave you with some mouth watering pictures of the cupcakes my Daddy got me for my birthday a week and a half ago. He came into the office with a box of 12, to do with as I saw fit. Talk about handing a pyro some matches.....

Throwback Thursday: Bald Birthday Girl!

You know, I always wondered why people have parties for super little kids. It's not like you remember the party or the cake or the gifts. I mean, yeah, sure there are pictures, but you can totally stage that anyway. It's not like anyone would know, right?

However, when I look at this picture a bit closer, I see why this birthday party for me occurred.

You see, my dad's favorite dessert of all time is lemon cake. Not just regular square lemon cake, but lemon BUNDT cake. So take another quick peek at the picture and notice what kind of cakey goodness that candle has been placed upon. That's right! A LEMON BUNDT CAKE.

And a Mickey Mouse party hat? While I do appreciate that it is covering my still nearly bald head to hide me from follicle embarrassment, Disney is also a favorite of my father....I think I see a theme going here.

Although, my second observation leaves me curious. Who sends that many birthday cards to a one year old? I don't even get that many birthday cards now, and I would really like to think that I am at least slight more social in my mid twenties than I was at age one. Well, maybe not.

Welcome Home Pandora!

Tim and I were at Petsmart on Monday, and saw this adorabley precious kitty for adoption. She was the only one with energy and spunk, even though she only had three legs. Immediately I fell in love with her. But with three furry ones at home, every time I want a new one, I get shot down. UNTIL YESTERDAY! Tim called to ask if we could go get my birthday present after work (three week early, but sounds good to me!) so for the rest of the day, it was all about researching names for the new addition.

Picked her up, immediately purring. Car ride home went well. We holed up the cranky ones in the bedroom while we gave her free reign to explore. She loved it. Every cat before her has been timid in exploring. After five minutes, you would think she had lived here her whole life. Nessa was introduced first, no problems. Chillest cat in the world. Olivia and Myla were a bit slower. We thought Myla would be the hardest, but olivia is the one that is being bitchy. Its been about 36 hours now, and theres a few tense moments. But by the end of the weekend, I predict loving licks between the two. Really, with the energy they both have, they will be soul mates.

So here she is, the newest of the crazy bunch, Pandora.

We got her name narrowed down pretty quickly to between Padma and Pandora. But its pretty clear that this kitty is going to be a total box of insanity waiting to burst out, so Pandora it was!

Welcome to the crazy family, Pandora. Even with three legs, you’ll fit right in.

Birthday Rock Climbing and Mexican Delicious.

As I am laying on a hotel bed in Fargo, not really wanting to go to sleep quite yet, despite needing my beauty rest for Greg's wedding tomorrow, I figured a mini post from Colorado might be a good way to postpone slumber.


A week or two before we headed to Colorado, Chris had his 21st birthday, and that kid is the hardest person on the planet to shop for. It's virtually impossible to get a good gift for him. So when we had the idea to give him the gift of rock climbing while in Colorado, we were quite pleased with ourselves. Copper Mountain has the nation's largest outdoor climbing wall, so its the perfect place to start. Rock climbing on real mountains was pretty much out of the question since none of us had ever climbed before.

We got our tickets and scooped it out the day before we actually did it. Tim went first and scaled up the 35 feet like a spider monkey. He was half way up the wall before most of us realized he had even started. It was insane. He got all the way to the top, rung the bell, and gave me absolute determination that I was getting to the top too!

I was successful in getting to the top! Despite some major shaking calf muscles. Chris had some other issues. Not a fan of heights apparently. Oops. Guess it wasn't the best gift ever, but we tried! I think we all still had fun though. I hope.

And now for the obligatory food photo. We had Mexican one night in Dillon, and holy wow. This was my grilled veggies with rice. It was delicious. I thought I wouldn't be able to eat my entree because I ate so many chips. But trust me, I had no problems consuming way too much of this dish....

Throwback Thursday: Birthday Brother!!

Moving away from the bruises of the last post...and into the long overdue Throwback Thursday picture!!

Today is this little boy's 21st birthday!!!
Oh Christopher. May your birthday weekend in Chicago be glorious.

PS: He's kinda rockin the Harry Potter glasses ahead of his time....

May Mayhem!

In a matter of a week or two, its as if I ate my weight in badness. Tasty delicious badness. But, it was all for celebration! And celebration eating doesn't count, right?

Mother's Day. How adorable are they? Brunching at the country club.

Tim's 29th birthday. Monkey Bread beats cake any day!

Pella's Tulip Time. Now, it was nowhere near what we expected. We have heard so many awesome things about it, maybe we got a little over excited, but a two hour drive there wasn't worth it for the tulips, parade stuff, dutchy things, and whatnot. But it is debatable on if it was worth it for Jaarsma's bakery. Blueberry bars, Dutch Letters, Beehives of frosting, an almond crunchy thing, cinnamon roll, this is why the scale hated me this weekend. Tim definitely enjoyed his bologna on a stick though. Good lord, the concept of that title is disgusting. And then came the Poffertjes as he went back to the car. There was powdered sugar EVERYWHERE. But nummers. Times 10.

Throwback Thursday: Birthday Boy!

Saturday was my Daddy's birthday. This picture describes him perfectly. Although I'm sure the look of terror was quite magnified when the tractor was upgraded to a big kid car.

But I'd like to think of all those tractor rides did me lots of good. My record is nearly clean as proof! Yeah, I have to say nearly clean, but my ONLY speeding ticket was captured by a plane. Yes, a plane clocked me, and the trooper caught up to me. I boo this. But its my only one, in almost a decade. Good enough if you ask me!

Happy Birthday Oh Wise One! (Yes, I still know you are younger than mom)

Throwback Thursday: Self Promotion.

Total self promotion today, my day of uterine escape. I am two hours old in this picture. My mother doesn't look too thrilled with her picture being taken at the moment. I, however, remember being super pleased to be out of my uterus jail. I mean really, it was all wet and cramped up in there. I wanted FREEDOM! That's why I was 3 weeks early. I just wanted fresh air and dryness.

Sidenote: Mom, I am not saying that your uterus wasn't more than habitable, I just, I like my space. Ya know? Those fallopian tubes were crampin my style....