Pregnancy Cravings

Frozen custard. Specifically, vanilla concrete with hot fudge and bananas.



Or any frozen treat with hot fudge!






Pancakes!

MMM.

We're having a BABY!!!

Yep! It's true. Baby Z will arrive around July 27th!!!

Oktoberfest Zinzinnati

Long time no post! I could blame it on being busy, but since my sister has 4 kids and updates her blog daily, I thought it best not to blame it on that. Instead, I'll go for just laziness!

So here are a few pics from the last time I posted. I had a conference with work that sent me to Cincinnati, Ohio. I talked Eric into joining me, he did not enjoy the flight:

But, once we landed, we were off to a fun weekend.

We walked all over downtown.

Saw the Bengals stadium while they were practicing.

And headed over to Newport, Kentucky - via the "Purple People Bridge".

And, since Eric is part German, we decided to try out a cool German restaurant called Hofbrauhaus. This is our German sampler, featuring fried zucchini, soft pretzels, potato pancakes and sauerkraut balls. I liked the pretzels and zucchini.

And, this is Eric dancing with a German woman. I asked him what they talked about and he said he had no idea because she didn't speak English! Apparently she did a lot of "ooooohing."


I had conferences all day but we ventured out to Oktoberfest during my lunch break - the world's second largest Oktoberfest was going on the weekend we were there. 500,000 people in a 7 block area and our hotel opened up to the heart of it all! It was nutty, even at 12pm!

Some sites we saw:

And, the crowd from above:


I had a blast and I think Eric had fun too, just not so much the airplane part!

Our Kansas City Adventure

Eric and I took a weekend trip to Kansas City this weekend in search of good food and free fun...mission accomplished! As you know, when we go on vacation food is usually the main attraction so the hunt for the best barbeque began. I did a lot of research before we left and found our top two places to try. I narrowed it down to Oklahoma Joe's and Fiorella's Jack Stack, although Gates was highly recommended, their's is supposed to be more Memphis style so we nixed that one.

First on the agenda was a stop in Kansas City, Kansas at Oklahoma Joe's Barbeque. Anthony Bourdain (No Reservations guy on tv) wrote an article in Men's Health, "13 Places to Eat Before You Die" and OK Joe's came in at #13. He also stated, "It's the best BBQ in Kansas City, which makes it the best BBQ in the world." That said, we had to try it. We waited in line for about an hour, oh, this place was located inside a corner gas station, and the wait was well worth it. The ribs were the best restaurant/gas station ribs I've had to date. This place lived up to the hype. The other bbq place we ate, not so much.

My meal:

Then is was off to Kansas City, Missouri.


We happened to go on the weekend of an art festival downtown so we checked that out (free).


Then we went on a photo adventure through downtown. Eric in front of the AMC followed by the legendary Drum Room.

Then we headed off to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (free). This place was awesome. You could spend hours in this place and not see everything. I'm a big fan of sculptures and oversized art, so I had a blast with the shuttlecocks!

We also did some shopping (not free) in the Crown Center and there just happened to be a LEGO exhibit going on so I had to check it out for my nephews (free). There were over 30 sculptures completely made out of LEGOS!

Then it was off to try the second barbeque joint, Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbeque. This place was voted Best in 2008 by VisitKC.com. I thought it was good, not the best. It was a fancy restaurant (nothing like a bbq joint) and had fancy prices to match.

For our final day, we hit the Crown Plaza shopping district and picked up a new car.

Okay, we didn't get the car but the owner did let me hop in it for a photo op after he saw me through the restuarant window posing by it. (free)

So, if you haven't thought about Kansas City for a weekend getaway, I'd say it's worth the drive.

Stuff the Bus

Fishing at Flint Creek

Eric and I took advantage of the beautiful weather and headed out to Flint Creek for a day of fishing. We caught crawdads, sunfish and smallmouth bass - it was a blast.

This is where we fished: (see eric in the lower left corner?)



A little sunfish





Me and my fish. I think this picture is funny because it makes my arms look massive, watch out!





And the snake with his prey:





I wish I would've got a picture of the crawdads, but oh well, maybe next time.

Sketch-A-Day

In an effort to de-simplify my life (can you feel the sarcasm?), I decided to try to do a "sketch-a-day". I am almost finished with my photography adventure of a photo-a-day, today is day 357, and as I near completion, I decided to challenge myself with a daily sketch.

According to many people that do this, it's supposed to stimulate creativity as well as keep your mind sharp and you may find that you become a better artist after all's said and done. By definition a sketch isn't supposed to take more than 15 minutes so they are supposed to be quick and painless. I've decided to sketch something I come into contact with on that specific day.

Here are some of the first attempts...try not to be too critical, they are merely sketches (some colored sketches!)

You Grow Girl

I came across a really fun gardening site: yougrowgirl.com. Not only is it super informative, they also have a store where you can buy...wait for it...


That's right, Garden Hoe t-shirts. I need to set up a wish list on this site.

So, since I'm a girl that grows things, here are some pics from the garden.





And, totally unrelated, a photo of the Mother's Day Meatfest

Spring Garden Salad

Spring Garden Salad - 334/365, originally uploaded by lesleyraez.

I love spring! With spring comes fresh veggies from the garden! Here's a simple salad recipe that's sure to please.

Ingredients:

• bowl of mixed greens (cut into strips)
• sliced radishes
• sliced green onion
• shaved carrots cut into pieces
• quartered grapes
• crumbled feta cheese

Top it off with the dressing of your choice, I'm quite fond of White Balsamic dressing.

Enjoy!

From the Garden

It seems all that early planting has paid off! We are now eating fresh salads every night from our backyard! We started all our greens indoors and then transplanted them.




I never really liked radishes before, but I really like these pink ones.





Happy gardening.