"Once in a Lifetime" - Talking Heads

Hello blog readers!  This weekend marked a very important milestone in my journey towards full-blown womanhood.  I successfully purchased my very own, brand new car!

I’d like you all to meet Kitty Boo, my new Fiat 500 Sport.

ADORABLE, isn’t it??  Kitty Boo is fully loaded with all the creature comforts: moon roof, heated leather seats, Bluetooth, and top of the line sound system.  Look at how cute its little butt is! 

Eric and I basically spent all weekend driving around in the new car and staring at it.  Kitty Boo looks good sitting in front of my apartment, and I look good with Kitty Boo!  

Next weekend Eric and I will be taking the new ride on an inaugural trip to my homeland… the beautiful Central Illinois!  Hopefully, he won’t divorce me after that. 

"Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes" - Paul Simon

Yesterday (July 22^nd) marked exactly ONE MONTH since Eric and I had been married.  And of course, the fabulous-ness that is our lives continues. 

One of the many things that make newly-married life so much more awesome is all the SWEET NEW SHIT.  Gone are the days of chipped target dishes, towels with weird mildew smells, and non-stick pans that would give you cancer.  Now that I am Mrs. Leimkuehler, I am now the type of classy lady that has fine china, high thread count bed linens, a block of fantastic cutlery, and a mahogany box of full of silverware!  

To inaugurate all the new shit, I decided to have a “CHECK OUT ALL MY SWEET NEW SHIT” party on Saturday night.  Because, what better way to celebrate such fabulous home wares than with fabulous friends and food?  In attendance were my friends from work, Sarah and Sara, and their significant others, Chris and Cody.  It was a good time.  We ate, drank, and played board games.

Sarah clearly enjoys drinking out of a fancy Crate and Barrel wine glass much more than a crappy one!

  

We started out with some appetizers, of course.  Sarah provided some meatballs from a local bakery, and I picked up some fresh cheese from Dean and Deluca.  Really the fresh cheese was an excuse to use my cheese knives and cheese board.  That’s right.  I am now so classy that I have a soft cheese knife and a hard cheese knife.  Compliments of my dear friend, Amanda Curtis.  The baguette was from the bakery down the street, Le Monde.  

Also, I am now the proud owner of a STAND MIXER.  I haven't actually used it yet, but it's so pretty...

After that we had a green salad, all with veggies from local farmers, purchased at City Market earlier that day.  Sara brought some Cesar dressing and croutons and I made balsamic vinaigrette in my new cruet.  Also, check out how fierce that salad bowl is!  My mom got that for me.   

It's like modern art!

The main dish was a Rachael Ray recipe from her 30 Minute Meals book.  It’s called “Lazy Chicken,” and it’s one of Eric’s favorites.  Basically the dish is an Italian casserole of potatoes, zucchini, onion, and chicken, in a tomato sauce, baked with cheese on top.  It really turned out well, because of all the fresh produce from City Market.  Sara also made roasted squash and zucchini as a side, and I made a three bean salad.   

Yumm...

Best of all… we got to eat it on the new china from Crate and Barrel with the fine silver!  Check out that spread!  

We used cloth napkins and two different forks!  It was like we were real adults or something!

I really do love having people over.  Especially when I get to fool them into thinking that I’m actually a good cook.  Maybe if you’re lucky enough I’ll have you over and trick you, too.  

"Giving Up the Gun" - Vampire Weekend

Hello friends and other creepers that may be reading my blog!  It’s been a little while since I’ve updated, but I wanted to remind everyone about how fabulous my married life is with Eric.  And this past weekend was the perfect example!  So I’ll give you guys the play-by-play of all the going ons. 

Really Excited for Mini Golf

On Friday Eric and I had another fabulous married date night.  On this particular evening… MINI GOLF!  I’ve always loved mini golf because I am not competitive at all.  Seriously, I do not give a rat’s ass if I win or lose, which is good, because I’m terrible at mini golf.  What really makes for a fun evening of mini golf is the pleasant company, enjoying a nice evening outdoors, and the fact that I have a long stick and some balls.  

Eric is one of those people who takes mini golf way too seriously.

Oh, and don’t forget that loser always buys a round after the game is finished.  Did I mention that I’m terrible at mini golf?  Therefore, in order to avoid losing, and thus paying for said round, cheating is necessary.  My never-fail tactic is to wear short shorts and shake my butt at Eric while he takes score.  Then I tell him whatever score I want.  I don’t think I’ve ever lost a game.  

Don't give Eric the camera and tell him to take your picture during mini golf. 

I won’t go into too many details about Saturday night because frankly, it was an embarrassment.  We were all having fun and it was a great night, then I became THAT girl at the bar.  So, my apologies to Jon, John, Manabu, and Bethany.  And thank you for continuing to be my friend.

So, needless to say, I woke up on Sunday and felt like hell.  It was like I was hit by a truck or something.  But I pulled myself out of bed, took a cold shower, slammed an entire liter of Power Aid, threw on a pair of sunglasses and went to JoAnn’s.  Because what better thing to do when you’re hung over then crafts?    

Because I already felt nauseous, I decided to conquer the part of my apartment that I usually feel like vomiting when I look at it.  I’m talking, of course, about my linen closet.

OH THE HUMANITY!

 It didn’t used to be this bad, I promise.  But after the wedding we got all these fabulous new towels and sheets.  My tiny closet became inundated with linens.  So after a good hour of folding and organizing (and a LOT of aspirin), here’s the after:   

OH DANG.  You could Pinterest that shit.

Here’s what I did: The little organizer boxes I got from target.  The signs were basically plywood scraps I got from JoAnns.  I spray painted them with chalkboard paint and glued some ribbons to the back. 

Crafty, I know.

Here’s some more shots of the finished project.

There’s actually extra space in that closet!  You could practically fit a dead body in there!   Or it can just be a good place for me to curl up and hide in a dark space the next time I’m horrendously hung over.  

I had some extra chalkboard paint, so I painted the glass of an old picture frame to make a chalkboard for the kitchen.  That way I can write love notes to Eric.

Yes, Eric and had pizza last night and you weren’t invited.  It was fantastic.  Be jealous. 

Overall, it was a weekend success!  

"First Date" - Blink 182

Happy Monday!  Well, honestly, I’m really not sure that there’s such a thing.  I had a particularly rough Monday at work, so I decided to reminisce on my weekend festivities in longing of what is still but four days away.  

This weekend Eric and I went on our first “date” as a married couple.  We were excited for it.  It had been a long time since Eric and I had time to just relax and spend time together in Kansas City.  And what better things to do in Kansas City then go to a Royals game!  

It was a great night for it… it wasn’t too ungodly Missouri hot, and we had a lot of fun.  After we got off work, we tailgated a little before the game.

Yes, those are Cheetoes Puffs.  They go perfectly with my margarita.  And are so healthy...

We were kind of in the nose bleed section, but whatever.  I honestly wasn’t too involved in the happenings of the baseball game (which is a good thing, because the Royals kind of sucked it up.) 

Let’s be honest… I really went for a hotdog and nachos.  And don’t forget: a margarita in a Royals novelty cup.  Oh and I guess the pleasant conversation with my husband.

Yumm...

This margarita was budget buy at $12 a pop! 

Check out that lady behind us totally photo bombing. 

Eric is working with this intern (who’s about 20) and when Eric was talking about our weekend plans for a date, the intern told him “Well, good luck tonight, dude.” Eric was like “Uh, good luck?” The intern dude goes: “Yeah, like what if it doesn’t go well?” Eric just kind of laughed.  “Well, I think it’s going to go alright.  I mean, we are married.”  So all night Eric and I were joking: “So, I think this date is going pretty well… don’t you??” 

Well, I guess there were fireworks.  Date success overall!