Summer BBQ with the Datus-Wards...Fun...Fun..Fun!

Well, summer is in full-swing and I am trying very hard to enjoy every second of it without letting myself get bummed by how fast it is flying by! We have had very good weather pretty much every day I've been in town this summer (I am knocking on wood right now) and I REALLY hope the fabulous weather continues. At the end of June we ventured out to see our friends Geri and Jason Ward, baby Brody, and Emily and Joe Serrano for our second BBQ of the summer. From the pulled pork sandwiches to the YUMMY Cowboy Caviar (we thank Jason for passing Emily's recipe on to us so that we can enjoy again. It was so good!!) we thoroughly enjoyed all the food and ate a belly full for sure. Baby Brody has grown so much since I saw him when he was just a few weeks old. What a cutie!! You can see many more adorable pics of Brody on Geri's Blog (Baby Ward 2009) by clicking on their icon on the right hand side of this blog.

2009 (Belated) Bunny Brunch

I didn't quite get caught up with all my belated posts over the Holiday weekend! This year we took Spenser and Abbie to the 2nd Annual Bunny Brunch at the Golden Valley Country Club. We had such a great time watching the kids pick out their Easter treats, hunt for eggs and interact with the other kids. I might be a bit biased, but they are the sweetest kids! We are looking forward to Bunny Brunch Part III next year!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July!! We had a great day at the Brown family cabin today. I'll write more and post pics very soon, but in the meantime, if you are interested in what we've been up to since I last posted (over one month ago, shame on me...) I am finally getting caught up with seven, yes SEVEN, new posts below!!

Blog Worthy Hotel

Just as a I wrote about the Wigwam Resort that I stayed at in Phoenix for work earlier this year, I think the Sheraton Delfina in Santa Monica, CA is blog worthy! ;-) Now, let me be clear it is NOT on par with the Viceroy down the street which is absolutely FANTASTIC and AMAZING, or The Huntley or Shutters on the beach which are both also awesome...but, for a business oriented Sheraton property the Delfina is QUITE nice and has very, very good food (esp. the fresh chocolate chip cookes and vanilla bean ice cream).

Check Please!

Last month I was so happy to be in town for another Check Please event, this time at Rinata, a cute little Italian Restaurant in Uptown. The Check Please concept was introduced by my friend Anna Lee Wahls as a way to try out new restaurants around town while getting together with girlfriends and meeting friends of friends. About 16 of us showed up at Rinata and I had a great time getting caught up with Anna Lee and some of her friends from Target. The food was yummy and the wine refreshing. I'd like to go back to Rinata on a date night with Paul sometime--very quaint and not loud like many restaurants! Only "downside" was the conversation led to a lively discussion about the fascinating ridiculous-ness going on with the show The Real Housewives of New Jersey and now I might have to add ANOTHER guilty pleasure show to my TiVO list (Paul will not be so thrilled! HA HA HA)

Summer Evening at the Ballpark

While out at the ballpark to watch Spenser play ball Paul, Pat, Marv, Ace and I had a great time goofing around with Abbie!!

Our Little Slugger...

Our nephew, Spenser, is playing baseball again this year and continues to show promise as the Brown family baseball star! ;-) Paul and I always enjoy going to Spenser's games and hope to catch at least one more game this summer during the playoffs!

It's Greek To Me!

The title, of course, refers to my rare appearance as a "cook" in the kitchen. LOL! Despite my reputation (well deserved) as "girl most likely to order takeout", I did manage to do most of the preparation for our May dinner club outing. After some scheduling challenges, we finally got together for Greek Night and the menu was excellent! Katy and Dan Farley's very nice new kitchen/dining area remodel was a great setting for lots of good food and laughs. Pictured is our whole dinner club gang and my contribution, the Artichoke Cheesecake appetizer. It was a unique recipe but VERY tasty!! I also prepared a garlic shrimp appetizer that was messy, but tasted awesome!!!

Memorial Weekend Visitors

I was so excited to have the opportunity to squeeze in a quick visit with my dear friends Becky (sorority sister from Mizzou) and Chad Wood over Memorial Weekend while they were in town for a wedding. As a quick side note: for readers who don't know my friend Becky personally (or Rebecca as many people call her these days), she has been the one to design and create all of the FABULOUS Junior League Transfer Committee invitations for me over the past 2 years! She rocks and her custom stationery business, The Plaid Pen www.theplaidpen.com, has been doing great things in Kansas City and with customers all over the country! The above statement is my personal opinion and not an official statement of the Junior League of Minneapolis (<---newly JLM req'd statement)

Paul and I decided it would be fun to meet Becky and Chad for brunch at Hell's Kitchen on Sunday morning. It was so great to catch up with them and it was a good thing we had lots to catch up on because the wait was VERY, VERY long. I think we laughed and shared stories for at least three hours before we got to eat. Unfortunately, the food was not worth the wait. I am sorry to say I was very underwhelmed and disappointed with Hell's Kitchen. I had been so excited to try it out for the first time as I had heard so many people RAVE about it as "THE" breakfast/brunch place in Minneapolis, but I was NOT feelin' it. Our food was average AT BEST. Oh well, the good conversation made up for mediocre food and I suppose it was still fun to check it out. If you are ever looking for a breakfast/brunch spot I swear by The Bad Waitress on "eat street" as the best brunch spot and this experience just reinforced this. You may or may not agree, but I'm just sayin'...Hell's Kitchen is overrated. LOL!

Celebrating Amanda and Baby Kate Reierson

It was so fun to gather with Amanda Reierson and other friends several weekends ago to shower Amanda with darling gifts for Baby Kate who will be making her debut later this summer! The shower was so much fun and a great way to brighten up a cold and rainy early summer afternoon. We chatted, ate great food and also played some of the best baby shower games I have ever been exposed to (no joke!) I will have to make a mental note to remember them for future showers.