Kansas City Girls' Weekend

My mother-in-law came to visit this weekend, and, despite having known my husband for (almost) half my life...this day and a half was the most time I'd ever spent with her! Guess I just like spending time with her son too much!

Jordan's midterm is tomorrow, so he basically spent the weekend studying (with the exception of a couple meals), which meant lots of time for girl activities!

Friday evening, we went to Gram and Dun for Lisa's birthday dinner. This GastoPub (neither-a-restaurant-or-bar, they told us) is holy-smokes amazing. First, we shared the French Onion Dumplings (Gruyère cheese, sweet onion broth & brioche croutons $9) - six to a plate, wonderful little bites of deliciousness. For an entree, I had the Loaded Baked Potato Gnocchi (house-smoked bacon, cheddar curds, sour cream, chive $17) and it was comfort-food-to-die-for. So delicious. Lisa enjoyed the Blackened Shrimp & Grits (served with jalapeño avocado gravy $19 - super spicy) and halfway through the meal, Jordan traded meals with her and she had the rest of his Cioppino (mussels, shrimp, scallops, tomato, white wine, roasted garlic, served with grilled bread $23). As you can see from the prices, this isn't your everyday restaurant choice. It's fantastic for a special evening or with out-of-town guests. I'm putting this on my visit-again list.

Saturday morning we definitely had to visit City Market. It was a bit of a drizzly morning, so the crowds weren't bad at all. For $7, I snagged a 5lb bag of potatoes, 1 pineapple, 1 green pepper, 1 red pepper, 1 yellow pepper, 1 cup chili powder, 1 cup cayenne powder (the spice scoops are huge, people!), 1lb blueberries. A great deal. Lisa got quite a few things, too, and couldn't get over the ultra-affordable prices. I hadn't been in a few months, and remembered why: when I go, I want to buy everything. I really do. It's pseudo-chef's dream (and probably real chefs, too). I also had to hold back from buying the adorable, pre-planted flower arrangements. I thought it would look perfect on the deck. And herbs. And succulents. And more flowers. And then I had to leave to protect my bank account.

After a quick sandwich lunch at the apartment, we headed out to Belvoir Winery. Set in the Odd Fellows Historic District, it was like driving up to an old plantation ... it made me think of Gone With the Wind, but I'm sure the imagery isn't right at all. The grounds were beautiful, and with the little gazebo set up with white chairs all around, I could just imagine spring and summer weddings happening outside. Lisa and I have similar tastes in wine: we love anything sweet. We enjoyed our wine tasting, and Lisa bought the two dessert wines ($13/bottle): 

• Lucky Pierre - Sweet red dessert wine.  Concord is the base grape used for the blend, also a blend of raspberries and cranberries.
• Sorelle Dolci - Sweet white dessert wine.  Symphony and Cayuga grapes are used for this delicious blend.

We finished out our day at The Elms Spa. Every spa service comes with free access to the Grotto (normally $55/person!), which is a steal when you get a $30 basic manicure (like me!) or a $40 basic pedicure (like Lisa!). We arrived 2.5hrs early for our appointments to enjoy the Grotto. Upon arrival, you're given a plush robe and directed to the women's locker room area. After donning your swimsuit, you're led to the Grotto. The room was smaller than I imaged it would be, and I was worried we'd be bored with 2.5hrs to "kill" - I was mistaken though. It was wonderful to lounge, sit in the hot tub, cool down in the Cold Plunge Shower, then make our way to the Steam Shower to use our sea salt exfoliation. Then it was back to the Cold Plunge Shower (they told us to be sure to keep ourselves cooled down between use of the heated stations) and then into the Steam Sauna or the Dry Sauna. While lounging, there was also a large bowl of damp, peppermint-scented washcloths covered with ice.  Just drape over your face, lounge, and drift off for a nap. This is a perfect girls' escape (or a romantic date!), and I'm thinking it would be fun to get a small group together and go for the afternoon. 

Saturday night, we tried a Marty's bbq - a new bbq place within 5mins of our apartment. Jordan was hoping to find a gem in the city, but the food was nothing special (in fact, the meat was pretty tough and everything else was just ordinary). We wouldn't recommend it. (And the website made the advertiser in me cringe.)

It was a lovely, relaxing weekend. (Lisa and I even squeezed in time for some successful shoe shopping!) 

What are your Girls' Night/Weekend recommendations?

Making Time for Friends

A few weeks ago, I was sharing with one of my med student wife friends how, first semester, I felt like I had a lot of friends that were fellow med student wives, but that now I didn't really feel like I was friends with many of them at all - I hadn't seen anyone, I hadn't heard from anyone, etc etc. God has given her the gift of tact, and she lovingly questioned if I had made an effort to see anyone. Hm. Good point. I had, 2 times....in about so many months. Not exactly a great track record. And, I'm one of those type A introverts that likes a routine, and likes to plan in advance, and doesn't mind going home in the evenings and on the weekends and having time to myself...and it won't bother me for months that I haven't really seen anyone, and then suddenly something will trigger a harsh light that shines on my reclusive relationship tendencies...and being a recluse never looks pretty in harsh light.

So. I made an effort.

And, lo and behold, I HAVE FRIENDS.

(I know. What a shocker.)

Here's what I've been up to in the past week:

Weston, MO
Jordan and I visited Weston the weekend after his GI final with 2 other couples. We had a great time poking around the shops, having $0.25 shots (limit 2) at the McCormick Distillery Country Store, sampling fondue and chocolate (from the same company that does Scentsy), sampling scotch at the Irish store (that was hubby, not me), dining at O'Malley's Pub, and playing up and down the river (a card game) in the underground pub. An all around good evening.

LuLu's Thai Noodles
I enjoyed the Yellow Curry lunch special with a med student wife this past week. This restaurant is now directly out the back door of my office, and their lunch special is $8 - a great deal (when it comes to going out for lunch, at any rate!). We had a great time catching up and made plans to get together again in May.

KCKS
I've talked about Emily, Rachel and Jenny before - we try to get together every other Monday, just to be intentional with our friendship. It's always refreshing to see these girls, and now half of us are pregnant! (I'm not in the pregnant half, fyi. Don't spread that rumor around.) It's fun to celebrate with each other and be honest with each other about our lives. So thankful for these girls.

Cosentino's Market
Another friend and I made plans to meet up and use a groupon that was expiring soon for The Drunken Fish, but when we were told the wait was 3hrs, we walked around and decided to get a hummus tray from Cosentino's Market. This is the grocery store for the people that live downtown...and it's priced like you can afford to live downtown. We had a great time discussing frugality and our frugal habits...it's nice to know that there are others out there as crazy as me!

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
I joined a friend for spaghetti and movie night at her apartment and we watched the cutest movie. I'm not going to spoil any of it because you really should go watch it yourself. It was darling. And worth seeing.

Swagger
Jordan and I split a groupon with another couple and checked this place out last night - it had to be good: it was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. The groupon included 2 appetizers, 4 drinks, and 4 entrees. Bring on the grease. Beer-battered onion rings, loaded baked potato fries, deep-friend burgers (for the hubs, not me), a mound of fries with your burger...so delicious. (And so unhealthy.) Another great evening out with friends.

The Croods
I am a sucker for animated movies. So when another med student wife suggested we go to a movie, and that this would be her 3-yr-old's first movie, we naturally had to pick the only kids' movie in theaters. It was very cute, and I'm still amazed at how far animated movies have come just in my lifetime. It's pretty impressive. Afterwards, we went over to Zona Rosa for ColdStone Ice Cream. That place will also be fantastic to me...mostly from working there all through college. Great ice cream.

Yogurtini
Tonight, while Jordan grabs coffee with our biblestudy leader, I'm meeting up with the biblestudy leader's wife for frozen yogurt! She's a wonderful woman, and I'm certainly thankful for friendships outside of the med student wife circle.

It's been a busy week full of the blessing of friendship. And I'm so very thankful for that.

I think this introvert has her friendship tank filled to the brim - and that's not a bad thing.

How do you stay intentional with your friendships?

Quick, Affordable Meals

This week, I made 2 quick and easy meals for us to enjoy and take for lunches.

The first was Loaded Baked Potato Chowder, which I've posted about multiple times before. It's just delicious, easy, and hearty. It's definitely on the go-to meal list.

My second meal came from Today's Creative Crockpot Cookbook (which I got for $2 from Kohl's after getting a $10 free coupon in the mail while we were living in Sioux Falls). One of my favorite sections in it is "5+5 Recipes: Five-minute prep & five easy ingredients". I've made the Pork Chile Verde a few times now...it's just so simple and I usually have all the ingredients on hand.

Pork Chile Verde

2tsp salt
1tsp ground cumin
1tsp garlic powder
1tsp pepper
2.5lbs boneless pork roast, fat trimmed, cut in 1in cubes
16oz jar salsa verde

Combine pork and seasonings. Place in crockpot and cover with salsa verde. Mix well. Cover and cook on low for 6-8hrs (or high for 3-4hrs).

I made a few modifications: 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp garlic salt and I added 1 tsp onion powder. I also just use whatever salsa I have on hand. And this time I used the 2 butterflied pork loins that I bought earlier and froze when they were on sale for $4.

I served this with the pictured Spanish Rice side ($1), to which I added a (drained) can of black beans ($0.88) and a 1qt bag of (thawed) frozen corn. Sprinkle with cheese and enjoy! SUPER SPICY! (To a wussy SD girl like me, hehe.)

Three Years of Marriage: A Bit of What We've Learned

A couple weeks ago, we passed the three-year milestone of marriage. Yeah, it's not that long, but I think it's safe to say that we've found our married groove. (Which I hear gets totally disrupted when people decide to have a baby. We haven't made that decision yet.)

As we dined out at the lavish Piropos Grill (thanks, Groupon!), we talked a bit about what three years had taught us. 

So fancy! The waiter even referred to me as "the lady" all evening, hehe. "And what may I get for the lady?"

We knew before we got married that we were both stubborn. 

I don't think we realized just how stubborn we were. 

Yet, after three years, we're actually thankful for that stubbornness. I appreciate having a husband that doesn't let me mow over him with my stubbornness. My husband tells me he appreciates that I don't let him get away with things. 

We challenge each other - in a good way (now, lol). 

Thanks to hubby, I've discovered I enjoy life with a lot more flavor...if not for him, I'd still be eating Seafood Sensation on white bread at Subway. Long ago he convinced me to try the Italian BMT with chiptole sauce, black olives, green peppers, etc...much to my surprise, I liked it. Let's just say he's got me out of a lot of "boxes". 

He's opened my eyes to people that aren't like me. I grew up around people who are very much like me. Jordan is caring and compassionate to people from all walks of life. If there's someone I feel uncomfortable around (b/c they're not like me), he probably wants to have a conversation with them to make sure they love Jesus or find out what makes them tick or more about their life...so on and so forth.

He's taught me compromise. Just because I don't think coffee falls in the grocery "need" category doesn't mean it's not there. 

He's taught me to slow down. It's okay to sleep in. It's okay to not be going going going and doing doing doing 190% of the time. 

He's showed me I don't have to eat the cheapest lunch meat, cheapest cheese and cheapest bread to pay off student loans. I don't have to live completely bare bones; a little fun is allowed. A little fun is on the "need" list, too. 

I won't speak for him as to what I've shown him in three years of marriage, but he might tell you he's heard me say a lot of "everything has a home" and "is this a want or a need?" (or "we don't need that") and "Dave Ramsey says..."

Three years has been good to us. It's been an adventure. And I'm still pretty darn stoked that this is who God gave me as a partner. 

Enjoying a delicious cup of tomato basil soup. 

Jordan's steak with lobster and hollandaise sauce, served with mashed potatoes and sautéed mushrooms. 

Seafood ravioli with roasted poblano cream sauce. Yum.

The fancy table: empanada, soup, bread, garlic and herb dipping sauce, wine...

Meal Planning: April 1-7

This month, I'll try to keep track of what we're eating so you can see how I'm spending so little on groceries and still feeding my hubby appropriately, hehe. Here are the meals I packed up Sunday evening for our weekly lunch/dinner enjoyment:

To these lunches, I'll add a fruit (this week I have oranges, bananas, and pineapple on hand) for each of us, plus a yogurt for Jordan.

Let's look at them left to right:

• That 1st column is 3 meals; the top 2 are ham and asparagus (leftovers from my aunt when I went to their house for Easter) and the bottom one is spinach linguine with zucchini (also leftover from my aunt from Easter). 
• 2nd and 3rd columns are pork loin, asparagus and a little container of bbq sauce. The pork loin is from a med student friend, the asparagus is from Easter, and the bbq sauce is leftover from J's favorite bbq place.
• The 4th column is pork loin (leftover from the bbq place), corn (frozen from last summer when we picked it, shucked it, cleaned it, cut it off the cob and froze it at mom&dad's house) and another little container of bbq sauce.
• 5th column is 2 meals of asparagus (from Easter) and mahi mahi (cooked with lemon pepper and garlic peppercorn rub). The mahi mahi is from HyVee - 2 frozen packets, $1 each (on sale, of course). 
• The 6th column is boring, but it's for me so it's okay. It's leftover spaghetti noodles + asparagus (I plan to mix them together, with a little butter and parmesan, guess I could do that before I take them to work...). I have another container of the noodles, butter, and parmesan at work, so I plan to bring a little container of asparagus with me tomorrow, too. (Not pictured are 3 "extra" asparagus servings.)

Nine meals pictured, plus a non-pictured duplicate of the last meal. 10 meals...basically for free!

For dinner this week, we've had....

• Grilled PB&J
• Tomato soup and grilled meat&cheese (twice)

What's your lunchtime meal philosophy? Do you always pack the same thing? Do you always eat out?