farewell june.

and hello summer nights in the yard.

summer nights

well, summer is here and there is no denying it.  we're not super huge fans of super hot weather, but on a warm evening, a bike ride to our favorite ice cream spot is a welcome adventure.  surely you've been to glacé - the uber scrumptious ice cream venture from the one and only christopher elbow - kansas city's finest chocolatier...?  grab one of their new malted waffle cones, beg them to bring back the sweet basil ice cream, sit on the patio and let the little one take some silly pics.  

this is as good as ice cream and summertime gets. 

the last day of school

it seems like just a few weeks ago i posted this post about the first day of second grade.  and now, here we are again at the end of the year.  the end of school always sneaks up on me and then, hits me like a ton of #2 pencils.  it's an emotional experience - always has been.  i used to cry on my last day of school every year.  i would always try to be the last one to leave the classroom.  i would gather up all my things, take one last, longing look around, pretend i was in a movie about really deep subjects like "lisa frank stickers" or "the end of fourth grade", and then i would stand in the doorway and have myself a nice little cry.

that usually lasted about 30 seconds until i remembered it was summertime and then that would be the end of that.

but even as an adult, there is something about the end of the school year that really grabs a hold of me and reminds me just how fast time flies by.

and now, all of a sudden, i have a third grader who couldn't wait for the year to end.

when she flew out the door and flashed this last-day-of-school smile at me, i couldn't help but smile back.  i wanted to stop, have a look around and take it all in --- but she had places to be, friends to see and a last-day-of-school dodgeball tournament to dominate.

someone once told me that second grade is the last time they ever have that baby-faced look about them.  i was so glad i could get away from work for a little while to be with her on her last day of school.  she didn't miss a beat celebrating the end of an era.  i on the other hand, may have taken a few extra dramatic moments to soak it all in.

and then, i had myself a customary little cry.
....for old times' sake.

that good.

i want every weekend to be a long weekend.  i'm sure others agree, but it only makes sense.  that one extra day allows for so much more relaxation.  more food.  more friends.  more fun.  i've been trying to think of the best way to sum up our memorial day weekend, and the only word that comes to mind is: perfection.  it was just one of those perfect weekends where we took stock of what and who we had around us and then had enough time and opportunity to really enjoy it all.  whether it was the 10 guys who came out to help us tear down our old garage on saturday morning - a long awaited project that is finally underway - or the friends who we shared brunches, dinners, drinks and laughs with the rest of the weekend, from beginning to end, it was just that good. 

we hope your memorial day weekend was good too.  cheers to long weekends and good friends to enjoy them with. 

a few of our favorite spots we hit over the weekend that are worth checking out:  the rieger.  gram & dun.  the mutual musicians foundation.  extra virgin.  the mixx.  manifesto. 

eat with us: thomas

we are total foodies.  for us, fun equals trying out new restaurants when they come to KC and, if they make the cut, repeating as necessary.  we definitely have a list of local favorites (you can see those here) but we continue to add more to the list as new spots emerge and the olds, solidify their status as repeat offenders.

so when i ventured out on tuesday night to an area we frequent, it wasn't for the usual suspect.
blue koi is my personal favorite in town, but this time i was headed next door to a spot, that somehow in all our visits to the block, we had failed to try or even notice.

thomas restaurant folks.  i mean, where have we been?

there are not enough rooftop patios in kc - let's get that out of the way first.  thomas has a fantastic one along with an impressive menu and creative bar list.  the ambiance is perfect and the piano man - a must see/hear.  tucked away in the northwest corner of the bar, don't discount his ability to completely steal the show while belting out everything from jay-z to james taylor.  a.maz.ing.

sip:  a manhattan & a flirtini
appetize: the scallops & the bruschetta
eat:  the buttermilk chicken & the pork chop
ask for:  andy

it's rare that in a group as large as ours, no one can stop talking about how delicious their drink is or how the meal is a masterpiece.  it was a germ-o-phobes worst fear as forks met new plates and drinks were passed around for sampling, but i was willing to overlook my neurosis in the spirit of fine dining and good fun.

although evan could only join us via phone-cam from arkansas, everyone who did make it out can attest: this is an absolute must-try.  i can't wait to take evan there so he can see for himself what we are all raving about.

this is an evening at thomas, celebrating our good friend anders on his birthday....

thomas lines up with the 39th street parade of local favorites at: 1815 W. 39th, half of a block east of state line rd, next to blue koi.  you should go.  and request a prince song.