Age Appropriate

My birthday is in a few days and I'm not too excited about turning yet another year closer to the big 3-0.

I know I talk about my old lady syndrome, but I honestly don't feel like a 27-year old. Yeah, I've converted from a tube top to a cardigan on a Saturday night, and now fear for my hangover when I'm pressured into taking a jager bomb, but I'm young. I'm hip. I'm not a day older than 22, right?

Of course not, but really, at what age do you wake up and really feel like your age?

Speaking of an age-related topic, my friend and I just couldn't go through with it yesterday. We had a date planned to see the Bieber movie. I've never kept my Bieber crush a secret, but the thought of paying more than $5 (movies during the week are $5) to sit in a theater with a bunch of drooling teeny boppers didn't seem age appropriate.

So, we saw Just Go With It instead. It was cute and funny. A little far fetched kinda story line, but I love me some Jennifer Aniston. She is so hot. Curious though...why can't she keep a boyfriend?

Not that John Mayer can even be grouped into the same category as suitable. He's a little d-baggish. Did you see him at the Grammy's? He was posing like Johnny Depp and looked like he was on something. And for the record, I thought he was a poser before I saw it on Fashion Police.

Man, I'm all over the place today.

So, age appropriate? Thirty years ago, many 27 year-old women would have been married for 7 years by now and have anywhere between two and six children, depending on the religion. Us Catholics like to have lots-o-kids. Joking about the religion part, but there is some truth to the Catholic part...we find enjoyment in creating really big families. My daddy is one of 11.

Well apparently, 27-year-old-women of today like to stay out until 2 am and play flip cups, and snap photos of the guy holding an empty keg above his head.

But birthdays are worth celebrating. And that's exactly what we were there for. A birthday bash.

So whatever age you are, don't stress about the small things. Live it up. Laugh uncontrollably. And make it worth it. Because the truth is, it's appropriate for you and that's all that matters.

This soon-to-be 27-year-old is off to devour a new recipe: Pasta with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Basil. If it turns out tasty, recipe coming soon.

 

 The Birthday Boy

From My Local Daily News Emails

Watch out KC, Kesha is in town this weekend.

Oh my bad, I didn't correctly display her name: Ke$ha. I guess I accidentally forgot to include the money sign she added to her name.

The fact that she added a money sign to her name is utterly stupid and I think her music is equally horrible. Her songs may have a catchy tune, but her half rapping, half singing attempt to make it big just ain't doing it for me.

Tik Tok Ke$ha. I think time is running out before everyone realizes you're not so hot and dangerous after all.

In other news (news that actually means something to me), Hallmark and the postal service have partnered up to offer greeting cards with prepaid postage.

According to my daily e-blast from the Business Journal, the PostagePaid Greetings line is in stores this week, and includes more than 200 everyday and seasonal cards.

The cards will be sold at Hallmark Gold Crown stores, some of which include Walmart, Walgreen and CVS.

I'm not sure about you all, but I think this idea is pretty awesome. I've always been a card person. Even if it might get tossed in the trash. I enjoy spending $2-4 on a card if it brings a smile to the recipient's face.

Now I just have to purchase the card and write a personal message before dropping in the mailbox. Forget worrying about if I have stamps in my wallet or not. I like things that make life more simple.

You can read the full article here.

Any plans for the weekend? Hopefully not going to the Ke$ha concert at the Midland. But if you are, it's OK. We all do dumb things in our life. Like go to the theatre to see the Bieber movie Never Say Never on Sunday.

Yep, you heard right. Me and one of my girls have a date. Oh, baby baby baby, Oh!

TGIF!

Rumble Strip Ready

Next week, we are headed to the Mile High City. And by "headed", I mean road trippin' it.

Flying was tempting, we mulled it over. But once we factored in a car rental, it was a no-brainer to make the decision to spend 18 hours in the car with My Better Half.

Thank goodness he likes to drive. Cars put me to sleep. Plop me in the passenger seat and couple it with warm sunshine beaming in the window and I'm as good as a piece of kale on a dinner plate.

I'm not a good co-pilot, navigator or car companion. That's just how I roll. Sorry babe, I won't get mad when you purposely swerve to hit the rumble strips to wake me up.

Boy, do we have a lot of people to see on this trip. Not only do we have 12 family members who live in the Denver area, we both have very close friends who also reside there. Including none other than my bestie that just recently made the move from KC.

Source

We will ski Copper Mountain for two days, and spend the other two days with friends and family in Denver. Since everyone raves about the Washington Park area, we thought we would hit up the area for a dinner date with friends. Any suggestions all you Denverites?

So, aside from lots of eating, drinking, catching up and being sore as hell from utilizing muscles I haven't used since 2009, the Mr. thinks we will be house hunting (he loves Denver, like would go in a heartbeat kinda love). He was joking of course, but he did request it to be on the itinerary.

This is also coming from the guy who said he was retiring his snowboard and sticking to skis after his injury four years ago. Do you think he honored his words?

Nope, he's rocked the snowboard every year after his fall. And again, he's talking about ditching the board for this trip. I think his exact words were, "This old man can't handle it anymore."

Old or not, I know my man. Once he realizes the other guys going with us are boarding, he won't be able to forgo the board. And he won't admit it, but he thinks boarders are better eye candy than skiers.

But what he doesn't realize is that a snow hat perfectly covers up his culdesacs*. Completely disguising his age. So either way, he'll look hot.

I'll be sure to report back what accompanies me this trip: Babe on Board or Sexy Time on Skis.

*Culdesacs is the nickname we use for the hub's receding hairline.

Oh Na Na, What's my Name?

Names are supposed to have a finesse about them. An easy flow with a seamless transition that when you hear the first and last name together, they fit perfectly.

Like peanut butter and jelly. Barbie and Ken. Blue Moon and an orange slice.

{we heart it}

Why else would people spend so much time naming their children if it didn't matter how it transitioned or sounded with the already determined last name?

But what about when we decide to tie the knot and don't get a choice of our last name?
Other than Julia Gulia from the Wedding Singer, I personally know only one other person with a similar name situation.

My dearest friend and the maid of honor in my wedding.

Heather Ledbetter*. {Sorry HK, I love you}

If you say it with a pause, it's not so bad, but if you say it quickly, it sort of rhymes like Julia Gulia. Not to mention her kids are going to be called Bed Wetters. :) LOL!

Well, today I'm going to talk about my name: Krista Kutter.

First things first, it's Kutter with a K, not with a C.

I can't believe how many people still spell it with a C after I have told them "Kutter with a K." It's a four syllable name, same as my maiden name. Not too hard and pretty simple if you ask me.

I've also been told it resembles the name of a porn star (the double K), a Nascar driver (not sure where my co-worker got that one), and that I should thank my lucky stars my middle name doesn't start with a K.

While I am super ecstatic that my middle name starts with an L, recent experiences with my name are slowing diminishing the so-I-thought simplicity of it.

On more than two occasions now, my name has been repeated back to me as Kris DeKutter.

See, if I say "Kris-ta Kutt-er" somewhat fast without leaving a liberal pause in between the two, people seem to think my name is Kris and my last name DeKutter. This epiphany brings me to the fact that my name is not uncomplicated, in the effortless roll off the tongue sort of way I would prefer.

I've learned my lesson. Slow down when saying my name. Or they might spell it back to me as Kris DeKutter. And yes, that really has happened.

Oh na na, what's my name?

Krista.....

{pause}

Kutter. Kutter with a K.

So, do you know anyone with names that don't quite go together? OR always get botched? Maybe they rhyme? Let's hear them!

*Heather is my best friend. She and I have joked about this a hundred times. So, as her best friend, I have the right to tell her that her name doesn't go together. Oh, and you better believe that I will the best damn aunt to all those bed wetter children someday.

Oh Happy {Heart} Day!

Happy HEART day everyone!

I'm not much of a Valentine's Day person, as evident here, but everyone deserves a little love. It doesn't necessarily need to be on a particular day of the year for me, but I'll go with it.

Me and the Mr. have never done much to celebrate this day, but we did incorporate the signature V-day symbol in our meals for the past few days. Ok, not Brian, just me:).

I'm a sucker for love. And for practicing my photog skills on my food. If I only had a better subject than food and my dog. Someday.

Dinner on Friday night. Chicken with vegetables on the grill. Mmm...sweet potatoes.

Saturday night dinner: Heart shaped spinach and feta turkey burgers.

One of my favs about Valentine's Day. Conversation hearts.

Tonight, we cooked dinner together, one of Pioneer Woman's recipes. Three Cheese Stuffed Shells. Pair any pasta with cheese and basil and call it a day. They were super yummy.

 I didn't take too many pics of the entire recipe, because PW's are much better. You can check them out here.

Pasta, the key to my heart.

Dinner wouldn't be complete without wine, of course.

 Cabernet Sauvignon, delish.

We always exchange cards, trying to find the most fitting card for each other. He was spot on this year. I have saved each and every card we have ever exchanged. Someday, when we are old and wrinkly, we will rummage through the box of cards and get a good laugh.

One of the many names I like to call Brian. Somewhere along the lines, he caught on. :) 

And I couldn't forget dessert. Only Brian's fav: Lemon Bars. I pulled this powdered sugar stencil trick also off PW's blog.

Love. Love. Love.

And now, it's half time of the KSU vs. KU game and we are winning. Did you just hear what I said?

We are winning! All I can do from allowing my emotions to rip out of my skin is sit here and blog and try to stay calm. It would seriously be the best V-day present ever.

{Fast forward 1 hour}

OMG! We just won! I can't believe it! What a great ending to Valentine's Day!

Well peeps, I think I might have just changed my mind how I truly feel about this holiday.

Happy heart day to all my fabulous readers! Mine is filled with EXCITEMENT!

Weekend Recap Countdown

It's Sunday, which means tomorrow is Monday and time to go back to work. Blah.

However, I'm looking forward to warmer weather and glad to see some of this ugly snow finally melting away. C'mon sunshine, I need some Vitamin D and my car is in dire need of a good wash.

I had a great weekend. My usual relaxing Friday night while Brian went to happy hour, some retail therapy and my allotted one-night out a weekend. What can I say, I'm old.

Ok, time for a weekend countdown.

5: the number of movies I watched this weekend
The hubs doesn't really like chick flicks all that much, so I took full advantage while he was at happy hour. Oh, did I mention I "rented" all of these from the public library for free? Awesome.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 - I loved the first one, so I had to see the second. Cheesy and very typical, but I liked it:).
Valentine's Day - Cute. Glad I never saw it in theaters. Enjoyed all the stars that were in it.
The Other Boleyn Girl - Watched on Saturday afternoon. A little slow, but good.
The Secret Life of Bees - Really enjoyed this one. A feel good movie with a touching story line.
Machete - Only lasted 15 minutes before we turned it off. And that's 15 minutes I will never get back. SO stupid. Anyone see this movie? Should we have given it longer? Does it get better?

4: the number of hours I spent at the mall
I haven't spent this long at the mall in ages! I normally dread the mall because of the crowds, but this trip was pretty successful. My friend and I went with a planned itinerary, but got sucked in by the retail therapy. I just love shopping with the girls!

3: the number of sandwiches ordered at Jimmy Johns at 2 am
We drove to Lawrence on Saturday night to see some high school friends that were in town. The night would not be complete without late night grub. Duh.

2: the number of seconds I was away from knocking this bia out at Dillards
We were simply browsing fragrances when we were bombarded by a crazy sales lady. I told her three times we were "just looking" and she still insisted on trying to sell me a damn gift set. It was seriously exhausting and totally annoying. Change your approach lady and you might actually sell something.

1: the number of baskets KSU lost by
Can you believe the outcome of that game? McGruder's last second winning 3-pointer...so we thought. So disappointing.

I'm now watching the Grammys. I missed Gaga's and Bieber's performances, I'm sad. I have always liked Lady A, but seriously, I feel like they are so overdone.

I'll leave you with some pics from Saturday night.

My friend Sarah from high school

Me and Mark

Janea aka Sha-nae-nae.

This girl is hilarious. Check out her over sized lighter that she bought so she would notice if anybody tried stealing it. Only her!

Love me some Jimmy.



Peer Pressure's a Biotch

I am once again a victim to peer pressure.

Pressure to push myself, do something I don't necessarily want to, and work. Work really hard.

I'm not sure what possessed me to sign up for the Triathlon again this year, but I bit the bullet. The only thing going through my mind right now is, "Oh crap. How the heck am I going to prepare for this?"

Last year was a completely different story. I had Mexico to look forward to and a beach body to strive for. This year, the only trip to look forward to involves me dressing in a parka while being a top a mountain with high hopes of an injury-free ski trip.*

The only thing working for me right now is time. Good thing it's months away. I just fear all the things that come with summer...sunshine, poolside, lake trips and Summer Shandy will keep me from doing bricks and getting my ass in gear.

But folks, it's Friday and not time to stress about something that's in July. So, tonight I'm going to relax over a bottle of wine and make a point to finish off my girl scout cookies.

Happy Friday!

*The first time Brian and I ever went on a ski trip together (2006), he was showing off his totally rad boarding skills the first hour in. Well, he bit it and ate snow, which resulted in a separated shoulder. Needless to say, he was out the entire rest of the trip! It was sucky.

Pre-Injury:

 Post-Injury:

Also, I only have my high school friend Jamie to thank for this little star thing (*) I have started. She uses it quite often in her posts, and somewhere along the lines, I picked it up. Only hers are way more funny than mine.

Happy Hour, Yes Please

Double Fisting at Happy Hour is always a great idea.

Half price drinks and appetizers.

Kona Grill, I love you.

Gina

Callie

Moi

Friends, fun and a glass of wine...in each hand. What more could a girl ask for? Had to get our money's worth!

Happy Wednesday! Hope you all had as much fun as I did!

The Taj Mahal of Steakhouses

There's this restaurant that me and the hubs like to go to occasionally. It's a nice atmosphere, the service is superb, and the food always more than pleases my palette. And their Cosmo will make you wish you never tried it. It may be a pricey cocktail, but it's that good.

This place is only one of the many steakhouses in Kansas City, but in my opinion, it's the best. I haven't even tried many of the other popular spots, but I'm convinced I have found my favorite.

It's also the place we had dinner the night The Better Half proposed and our 1st Anniversary.

Roses on our table when we were seated

Ok, I'll stop gushing over it and get to the point of this post.

The Capital Grille. It never disappoints.

And it didn't today.

Source

I attended a work luncheon/presentation at The Capital Grille today. It was a 50 person luncheon, so I expected a preset menu with minimal options and prepared myself to be disappointed that I couldn't order my go-to dinner only menu dish: The Sliced Fillet.

Well, the sliced fillet wasn't an option on the limited menu, but there was one item that kept calling my name: the Lobster and Crab Burger. I was hesitant because this isn't an item I would typically order.

Wowza! I couldn't be more happy that I branched out of my comfort zone and tried something new*! It's a make your mouth water kind of burger. Yummy.

And my fav appetizer, the Pan Fried Calamari with Hot Cherry Peppers was served. Delish! Super spicy, but I love me some heat! As usual, the Grille impressed me. Even for a somewhat large lunch event, where I most often expect a buffet with a piece of rubbery chicken.

So I love Capital Grille. Try it if you haven't. It's grand.

*I don't typically like seafood. Only Shrimp or calamari. I know, I'm weird. I can't believe I loved this menu item!