Happy Birthday Amy!!

This is Amy (and me):

Amy and I have been friends since second grade when I moved to Naperville the first time. We were in the same class and her mom was our girl scout troop leader. That means we've known each other for 20 years. Which means we are old. But she's older :)

Happy Birthday friend, wish I could celebrate with you!!

3 Days...

...until I am on an airplane flying home for the weekend to hang out with these fine folks:

and this crew:

The last time that all five of us were in the same room was when this picture was taken - at Amy's wedding 2.5 years ago. Now we (and I'm guessing a bunch of other people) are reconvening again for Amy's baby shower. It's nice of Amy to have these milestone moments to give us all an excuse to hang out :)

This weekend could not have come at a better time - I. Cannot. Wait.

Grill Em All

One of the shows my roommate and I watched semi-religiously over the summer was the Great Food Truck Race. Two of the trucks are based in LA, including the winning truck, Grill Em All (which is run by a couple guys from the midwest). Grill Em All's specialty is burgers and their claim to fame is the Behemoth - basically a bacon cheeseburger with grilled cheese sandwiches as the bun. It looks amazing. My roommate and I have been waiting for the truck to pick a spot semi near our apartment so we can try the Behemoth once and for all. However, the event closest to us got cancelled, so we made our own plans.

Last Saturday, we decided to make a mini road trip to Verdugo Bar where there was a food truck gathering including Grill Em All.

We got there too late for a Behemoth (they were sold out), but we did get to try the Witte and the Samoa Joe. Plus fries.

The food? AWESOME. The beer? Not so much. I should have known that a beer called "Lucky 13" wasn't going to be so lucky. Oh well. The food more than made up for it. Now, we just have to find Grill Em All again (and get there early enough) to try the Behemoth. Yum!

Tailgating

This Saturday is the annual family tailgate at Michigan State. My parents, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and assorted family friends invade East Lansing for a fantastic tailgate followed by an MSU game. I think this is the fourth (?) year in a row that we've done this.

Unfortunately, due to work obligations, I will not be able to make this year :( Instead, I hope to catch the second half on television (if they don't air it out here, I will not be happy) and get text message updates from the fam. And since my roommate is a Badger fan, I will be cheering extra loud for the Sparties. GO GREEN!!

Of course I will be rooting for my Hoosiers as well. Because Ann Arbor is a .....

Finally

Alright, time for that update that I gave a sneak preview about FOREVER ago. Once again, I have failed at updating on a regular basis. To make up for it, here is a really long post (maybe) with lots of pictures (maybe).

First up:

A long long time ago (August), Goldstar had a special on tickets to The Groundlings. For those of you unfamiliar, The Groundlings is very similar to Second City - it's an improv comedy theater. The Second City in Los Angeles is much smaller than the Chicago Second City, and not nearly as popular. The Groundlings, on the other hand, is much more well known in LA. In the show I saw, I even recognized one of the actors from his multiple guest spots on tv, such as Friends. Bonus points if you can name the episode this guy was in:

Bottom line: The Groundlings was hilarious. And compared to Second City, there was a lot less political humor, which I enjoyed.

Next up:

That, my friends, is a delicious dessert cheeseburger. My friend's birthday was in August and since both my roommate and I were out of town to celebrate, we had a very belated birthday dinner party. On the dinner menu: black bean burgers and fries. On the dessert menu: burgers and fries. Weird concept? Yes. Awesome results? Yes. Check these out: 

   

This dessert treat messed with our minds. As Paul commented, it looked like a cheeseburger, and he expected it to taste like a cheeseburger, but it definitely did not. All in all a fun dinner, and I would definitely make these treats again. By the way, if anyone knows how to make these pictures show up closer together, let me know.

Finally, this picture:

This is my buddy Makai. He made the rounds:

Once again, these pictures are messed up. Suggestions welcome. Anyways. The pictures with Makai were from the Bahamas. My family took a trip there for the Labor Day weekend. It was AWESOME. We got to hang out at Dolphin Cay, stay at a paradise-like resort, AND eat at Bobby Flay's restaurant, Mesa Grill. The food was amazing, as was the company. Family vacations are way too few and far between. I think it has something to do with my living on the other side of the country, but that's just a theory. For your viewing pleasure, here are a few more pics from Nassau: 

A view of the ocean

Part of the resort we stayed on. It was made up of a bunch of different buildings. This was the main one, home to a casino, a night club, a few restaurants, plenty of bars, and a water park.

Mesa Grill! Delicious food - at least Shawn and I thought so.

Yup, Mom and Dad were there too.

Family pic with Makai

Pretty standard.

Now I am caught up through Labor Day. I think. Stay tuned for more pics from life in La La Land :) 

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy Birthday Dad! Hope you have a fantastic day - I love you!

Tuesday 10...on Monday

Yes, I realize that today is Monday. But Monday 10 doesn't quite have the same ring to it that Tuesday 10 does. So bear with me. This week marks the start of another school year, which means my leisurely work days are over. Bring on the craziness. To begin this week on a positive note, here are 10 things that I'm liking a lot right now:

College football. Go Hoosiers! And Spartans (did you SEE that finish on Saturday?!)

Aarti Paarti - haven't tried any of her recipes yet, but she was my pick to win on the Next Food Network Star. And she won. And she got picked up for a second season.

Florence and the Machine (see old post) - I've been listening to her whole CD and it's pretty much fantastic.

My employees. They've been doing some awesome stuff and working really hard. Could be a great year.

McCabe's - had never been, but after spending most of Saturday there, I'm a fan.

Daily Pint - my softball team goes here on Sundays so I spent most of the late afternoon there yesterday watching the Colts crush the Giants. It was a great way to the spend the day.

AMC Movie Watchers - yes, movies are outrageously overpriced, but I can get $8 tickets from the CTO. Combine that with the Movie Watchers 'rewards' and I'm a happy movie goer. Plus I got a free popcorn the last time I went to a movie - score!

I ran another 5k on Sunday. I use the term 'ran' loosely. My activities on Saturday were not great techinques for run preparation, plus I haven't ran much since the last one. However, I signed up, I completed it, and it's over with. Go me!

Beloit College Mindset List - makes me feel old, but it is kind of funny.

Getting unexpected fun mail. Real mail, not e-mail. Very little beats that.

As I said, let the craziness begin - hope you are all having a great week!