Okay, so a friend of mine is going to try this in February, so I thought, hey, why not?
I’m going to attempt to only eat out at local establishments — no chain restaurants — in February. Can I do this? I think I can. I pretty much avoid chains for the most part anyway. Sooo … here I go!
I should maybe attempt to blog about the different places I try, but we’ll see how that goes.
Read about my friend swearing off chain restaurants for a month.
My friend Molly had her annual Christmas party this year and I was lucky enough to be invited to the festivities. Molly makes the most awesome food and it’s always fun to get together with these girls — usually full-on crazy.
I was really excited to go because I finally got to introduce my fabulous beau to all my friends. Granted, he’s met most of them before — just not in boyfriend context. We’ve been good friends for years so our circles have overlapped already a bit anyway.
Anywho — I made a giant spinach/spring mix salad and an awesome Better than Robert Redford cake. (yes, robert redford — because of the mixed bag that reads my blog!)
It was a fun time. We had a lot of wine and a lot of good food. Lots of good conversation and fun times with friends!
Here’s a few photos from the event … I’m hoping I captured the crazy as well as the cuteness of all the adorable people there! (I can haz cute friends?!)
I’m not quite there yet, but the 25th birthday celebration has begun (also known as Calee’s 25th Birthday Parade of Awesomeness).
The official 25th birthday celebrations began a few weeks ago with Kelly’s celebration. For her birthday, we did cake and wine (MollyCake) at Molly’s place. Molly made an amazing raspberry lemon cake that was beautifully decorated.
Gorgeous!
Eloisa and I eating the leftover frosting. Yes. Leftover frosting. Amazing. 
Kelly and Molly cutting the cake.
inside … YUM
me n shelly — tallest person in the room + shortest=epically cute.
AND the birthday celebration continued on Kelly’s b-day at Olde Main Brewery in Ames for dollar pint nights. Mmmm … Off Kilter.
ridiculously cute as usual.
Yay… Kelly, Maria and I. I <3 my girlies!
And now, for my b-day celebration!
On Saturday we went to the Appare Steakhouse in Des Moines for some sushi and steak (mostly sushi). And then we went to the Blue Moon Dueling Piano Bar in West Des Moines.
Kelly, Feleecia, me and Maria at Appare
Me and my boys, Mark and Matt. Related: I am ridiculously short.
Molly and I (pseudo roomies!) — I’ve been hanging out/staying at her place some of this month. Molly is awesome!
Steph and Nathan — the cutest awesomest couple EVAR. Seriously. Look up “made for each other” in the dictionary and you see their picture (not that you can look up a phrase in the dictionary, but hey, you get my drift).
Annnnndddd… no night would be complete without making out with some inanimate object.
This was just at the sushi place. The piano bar was far less interesting. We got there and had nowhere to sit. So we ended up on some couches by the bathroom. Kelly and Danielle got a fish bowl, which ended up being given to a bachelorette party. BECAUSE because because … some girl was waiting in line for the bathroom (which was being occupied by a couple that was getting busy) and TOTALLY puked all over herself and the floor right by where we were. Although it was hilarious, it was also disgusting, so we promptly left.
More is to come for the Birthday Parade of Awesomeness ™. Thursday we shall have cake and some awesome TV watching (the office, project runway, sunny). For my birthday cake, I requested a Cake Wreck. Molly and I have something reaallllly awesome in mind.
Wow that is a cheesy title, but it’s true!
I finally took the plunge and tried to eat a banana a couple weeks ago for the first time in at least 10 years. When I was younger I couldn’t eat bananas because they made my stomach hurt — which is ironic because it’s one of the things doctors always tell you to eat when you can’t digest much else.
Anyway, after a dormant period without bananas, I’m totally crazy about all things banana! (well, not as much as my friend Niki I suppose).
My absolute favorite thing and new obsession is making frozen banana custard. I found this “recipe” on Iowa Girl Eats’s blog. This was actually what prompted me to try bananas again. I have a huge ice cream obsession and a few weeks back had an issue with stress eating (ie. pints of ice cream) lead to an unhealthily quick weight gain. So, I thought, if I could replace the ice cream with something healthy (ie. frozen banana) then I would be set.
AND yay. It worked. Those 7 pounds gone in a flash (gained ‘em one week, lost ‘em the next). They say that bananas are bloat-fighters, and I must agree. Because I’m going to throw it out there and say that 5 of those 7 pounds I gained in a week HAD to be water weight. (right? right.)
Anyway, here is my cleverly disguised banana for the day: 
I will say that the trick is to cut the naners into smaller pieces before freezing. Also, I’ve been doing mine in the blender and using the “ice crush” function to get it going. I add a little bit of soy milk and some vanilla to the mix to get things going. I’ve also thrown in some chocolate ovaltine for a chocolate version of my faux ice cream.
Another thing that’s awesome about the banana obsession (aside from the health benefits) is the fact that they’re way cheap. I can make 3 pints of frozen banana custard using 4-5 medium bananas. That is roughly $1.50 for 3 pints. Compare that to the price of one pint of Ben and Jerry’s. Just try.
Hopefully I don’t get sick of bananas because so far they’ve been doing wonders for me and my pocket book!
…as I sit and eat my makeshift Co-Co Wheats (read: whole grain Cream of Wheat + 2 T ovaltine)…
I found this freaking awesome recipe on Bakerella’s blog. It’s for Chocolate Chip cookie dough brownies…which entails using both a brownie AND a cookie mix from Betty Crocker.
Anyway, I’m totally satisfied with my CoCo Wheats so I won’t be making any of those brownies today…but I’ll keep them on the backburner for our next girlie get together (which my girlies will probably kill me for).
Warning: totally cute boyfriend stuffs ahead. If you think this may gag you, don’t read on.
teh be eff frosted it for me.
Those of you who know me probably hear me complaining about how my boyfriend, Kasey, doesn’t do cute stuff like he used to. Well I guess that happens after 3 years in any relationship, but nonetheless, he used to do ridiculously cute stuff for me constantly…like at least once or twice a day. He’d write notes, make stuff for me, write songs for me, etc.
Anyway, this Tuesday was our 3 year anniversary. The forecast called for a giant snow dump on Tuesday, of course.
Monday night I came home from work and went to Target to get a few last minute things before our potluck at work…and took forever. I got back and Kasey was sitting on my couch in my apartment. He drove down to see me since he figured we wouldn’t see each other with the snow coming. Totally sweet.
Thursday night we had planned to go out with some friends to celebrate their graduation, but then I got really sick with a 24-hour stomach flu or food poisoning or lord-knows-what. He went out but took care of me when he got home in his drunken state. I was so out of it I had no idea he was drunk, but last night our friend Drew asked me, “So was Kasey pretty bad when he got home?” I guess my normally 2-beer-boyfriend had an irish car bomb and a few more beers than usual. He stayed up to take care of me and to sober off, he confessed last night.
Well, Friday night I finally felt better and was able to eat again after lying in bed all day and drinking 2 gatorades and eating a bowl of ramen (yes, ramen.). We somehow got on the topic of deep fryers and how he’d deep fry a poptart and maybe some cereal (since that’s about all he knows how to make). Then he mentioned toaster strudels, and I was like, “OMG I love toaster strudels!” Anyway, next thing I knew, he brought me in my gatorade with a toaster strudel frosted all cute with a heart on it.
It was as if he’d given me a dozen roses. The little things I guess are what matters.
