Southbound 35

The Kansas City Power & Light District needs a new marketing department. One of the coolest things that they are doing are all these FREE summer concerts. They do them on Wednesdays and Thursdays, its all kinds of music, and there have been some big name acts. Here's the problem....they don't advertise them very well. Which is how 2 super big Pat Green fans like Ryan and I didn't know about the FREE PG show until the end of last week! But a crisis was averted, we found out about the show, and last night we got a little Texas in our souls.

This was one of the best crowds for a show that we've had in a long time. We stood by really big fans who were all really nice. One of the girls from my gym randomly was right next to us, we had a group of crazy drunks behind us who were nice AND acted as the brut squad for all those people who didn't get there early and were still trying to push their way to the front, and a group on the other side of us who loved Waylon Jennings.

We were were only about 7 people deep from the stage - perfect! Close enough to see but not so close that PG couldn't see us :-)

He put on a really great show! I'm always so impressed when an artist does a free show and still gives it their all - it says to me that the reason for being a musician is still the same even after they've gotten big...they love the music and love the fans. PG definately brought the love last night!

THEN...he signed some autographs! YAY! After getting in a word fight with a super rude girl who cut in line (ugh!) I actually got to meet Pat! He took his pic with me and signed a koozie. YAY!!

Melting Love

Last Friday night Ryan and I got to go somewhere in KC that we've been trying to get into since we moved here. The Melting Pot. Its this great fondue restaurant on the Plaza. Our good friend Veronica had given us a gift certificate (thanks Veronica!) as a going away gift when we left Columbia. Well.....we finally got to use it!
Now let me just say that we'd been TRYING to go. I mean, we'd called several times to get reservations and the answer was always the same. Either 1) sorry we're completely booked or 2) yes, we have a table...at 10:30pm. Finally we caught on and called way in advance. :-)
Let me just say that if you've never been to this place you should go. Now. As soon as possible. It was wonderful! They have this Big Night Out - its basically a 4 course dinner. We started with cheese fondue, then salads, then came the main course. Now....I've never had fondue as a meal. Cheese and chocolate fondue - that's where my knowledge ended. They bring out this fondue pot of broth and a plate of raw food - beef and chicken and pork, along with a plate of raw veggies. We actually got to cook the food in the broth! Stick it on a fondue fork, put it in the pot, wait 2 minutes, wha-la! Its great because you take your time and get to talk. We ended the night with chocolate fondue. Veronica told us to absolutely not skip this part and she was soooo right! A big bowl of chocolate with all kinds of things to dip - strawberries, bananas, cheesecake....it was heaven! You should visit heaven.

Confessions of a 30-Something Wanna-be

Way back in December the HR person, Juanita, at my office started planning a 50th birthday celebration for another woman we work with. Juanita was determined to give Patti a 50th that she wouldn't forget. What's the best way to do that? Make it a surprise. Want to make it even better? Take Patti who is in LOVE with Elvis to an Elvis-themed dinner theatre show.

So for months the all-girl surprise crew has kept it quiet, and last night was the big reveal. We showed up at the dinner theatre early, waited patiently (ok, maybe impatiently) for the birthday girl to show up, and then got all shook up (bad pun, I know...) over some Elvis music.

Now, I have to admit...I don't love Elvis. Don't get me wrong - he's got some great music and he was nice to look at, but I've never gotten the obsession that some people have with him. But I do have a confession to make - I'm in love with the theatre. And an even bigger confession - I would absolutely LOVE to be in musical theatre. Yup. There it is. Everytime I see a musical or a live performance with backup dancers or a show at a resort there's a part of me that wishes that I was one of those performers. So there you have it - confessions of a 30-something wanna-be.

The show last night was fun. Very Grease meets Shakespeare's As You Like It. And honestly...I don't know if I've ever met a musical that I didn't like.

Gold Metal TV

Is anyone else out there as obsessed as I am with the Olympics? Every 2 years I become glued to my television. I don't want to do anything but watch every minute of it. Its killing me that Beijing is 13 hours ahead of us and tons of events are on 1) while I'm at work and 2) while I should be sleeping at night. My bedtime has been pushed w-a-y back every night since they started.

And its not like I just like to watch a few events. Oh no. I have to watch every. Single. One. It doesn't matter if its swimming (holy cow Michael Phelps), track (love it), equestrian (curse work for interferring with this one) or some I never watch except during the Olympics (handball anyone? Fencing?).

And of course there are all the athete stories that go along with the events. You know, the ones that make you cry. What? You don't cry? Ok, the ones that make ME cry. I love them. All of those stories are so inspiring and make me want to watch even more.

Well....I've only got a few more days left to watch. If you need me - you know where I'll be :-)

Pre-season Tailgating

Break out the red shirts, the BBQ grills and the coolers!! Chiefs football is here!! Saturday night was the first preseason home game for the KC Chiefs. Ryan and I couldn't wait to hit the stadium and support our team. Getting into Arrowhead was a little more tricky this year. They've got so much construction going on and our usual sneak-in-the-back-way-and-miss-traffic route was closed. Oh no! We had to go in a different gate - and then try to weave our way to our usual parking lot. We tried to go over a grass median - no dice...the drop off was too steep for our VW. If we'd had a truck... We had to ask a nice woman working there how to get to our spot. She didn't know! Apparently the construction has everyone confused! We got as close to our normal spot as possible and set up camp. Chicken kabobs, chips and dip, a few Cuba Libres, gorgous weather...we were in heaven! The guys behind us provided a great tailgating soundtrack. Thanks random boys! The game wasn't nearlyl as successful. We lost to Arizona 17-27. Ugh! Let's hope we're getting those kinks out now...before regular season starts! The kicker of the night...someone stole the lid (just the lid) off of our BBQ grill. Really? Who steals just a lid? I think I would have rather that they took the whole thing. At least then I would know that somewhere, someone was using the grill. Now I just have a useless grill. You sort of need a lid. I guess we're off to find a new grill before the next game.

Banana Pancakes

Ryan and I bought tickets w-a-y back in May for the Jack Johnson concert, and Friday night I FINALLY got to see the show! That's the worst part about summer concerts...the tickets go on sale in the spring and you have to wait months until the show! Our friends Kathryn and Matt drove in from Columbia to hang out with us, and we all met Tom and Alexis for a pre-concert dinner. The show was awesome! I "heart" Jack Johnson! And the show was everything that I expected - laid back, full of good music and comfy. People sang along, beach balls (Jason Mraz's balls!?!??!) bounced through the crowd and Jack seemed like he was just hanging out with a group of friends and jamming! Loved it! There was even a shooting star at one point in the show!

Well....here I go.

Hello! Welcome to Casa de Lanclos! I've never had a blog before and you might be wondering what on earth made me decide to start one up. Well....a lot has changed over the past year and half. Ryan and I have moved to Kansas City from Columbia. We've both gotten new jobs (I've actually had 2-the 1st one wasn't exactly my cup of tea). We've bought a house (a completely un-planned adventure). So there seems to be lots to talk about. But most importantly - many of our friends and family are scattered across the country. My good friends Misti and Taisia recently started blogs, and I'm addicted to them. I read them all the time. So I thought that I'd start one up too - as a way to keep in touch with friends and family. Thanks for the motivation girls!!