Merry Christmas!

We're spending Christmas in Chicago this year, and after a hair-raising drive back from Iowa City due to snow, wind, and more snow, we decided it would be more fun to play in the snow, rather than drive in it.

Hope all of you are doing well, have a Merry Christmas!

"Song of the day":

A Frozen Lake MacBride

Boneless Boob

This year Thanksgiving was fairly small in the Barwacz household. Emily was forced to work Thanksgiving day, and the friday that followed, so there really wasn't much for Chris to do. Chris' parents decided to make the trek out to Iowa City and keep Chris company while his woman slaved away, and of course help him cook a respectable Thanksgiving meal.

Chris, deciding that a full turkey sounded like too much effort, decided to buy a 4 lb. turkey breast from a local butcher and call it quits. Never before has so little effort been rewarded with such great taste. The boneless boob came pre-brined, seasoned, and nicely nipped & tucked in string (sexy...right?). About the hardest part of preparing this mini feast for Chris was pre-heating the oven, getting up to unwrap the meat, and then using the electric can opener to open the canned cranberry sauce.

Luckily for Chris, Emily had already made a pumpkin pie ala the "America's Test Kitchen" recipe, her family's world famous green salad (not really salad, more like green jello with lucky charms and other marshmellowy things in it), while Chris' parents contributed the staples such as stuffing, mashed potatoes, and other Thanksgiving-ish items.

The best part of the weekend was the chance to spend some time together, go for some hikes, take some photos, and of course to attempt to put up what remains of the ancient Barwacz X-mas tree. Who knew duck-tape could hold up so long, now if only the lights could follow.

Saturday was spend in Michellville and Des Moines visiting Emily's family and grandmother, respectively, for the Thanksgiving holiday, and driving through our first snowfall since leaving for Texas over a year and a half ago...oh how we wish we were back there now during this cold weather. And so goes the beginning of the holiday season here in Iowa!

Never to old to party

As usual, my perpetual state of procrastination overwhelms me and I often never get around to writing a post. So, I thought I'd surprise even myself and write about the happenings of early November. Ok, so nearly a month late, but here I type...

My best gal-pal Johnette and her husband Brooks traveled from North Carolina to suffer through one of the coldest, nail-biting games of Iowa vs Penn State football. I shouldn't need to mention that Iowa kicked some butt (finally) and pulled a much needed win out of their lazy asses. But, that is beside the point. The point being that I had my BFF with me for 2 days.
Friday we thought we'd relive our old college days FACing. This generally involves drink specials at local bars designed for college students to consume large amounts of alcohol Friday After Class. So, we thought, why not, you're only young once. (or twice, err....how old are we?) Well, we feel young damn it! Anyways...

Who would have known that Iowa City doesn't allow drink specials aimed at college students anymore? I mean, isn't that a staple of college life? $1 cups at the Q-Bar (which changed names) or $3 long islands at Brothers were our reward for a week well done. Come on! So, instead we settled at Atlas for a mohito and margarita as well as some great food. We decided to walk around and see what "deals" we could find and came across 808. Did anyone know that it's supposed to be a Hawaiian themed restaurant? (what?) As much as the atmosphere sucked (nearly as much as the burger baskets) they had $4 martinis. Who can pass up a martini called Slippery When Wet?

After too many drinks to count, we went next door to Joe's Place and drank a pitcher of beer (or two?...I'd lost track at this point). But Joe ripped us off when we thought we had purchased a domestic pitcher of Boulevard Wheat beer ($4) and instead were charged more like $14 for the damn thing. Isn't that beer made in Kansas City?

We then went back to 808 to meet up with some more friends. Then hit Bo James for the Big Girl beers. Finally we ended our night at Brothers with a little dancing. Ok, so I've now bored you with a play-by-play of the evening, but too bad for you. :( The grand finale was eating pokey sticks when we got home. All that fatty, salty goodness. It's just so good.

Now the reason I gave this boring replay of the evening was to validate why I could not get up to tailgate on Saturday. Power to the people who can drink all night then get up at the crack of dawn to start all over again. (which Johnette and Brooks did) But, no, I stayed in bed, or in the chair for the entire day. But, at least of crappy antenna received the game. And I'm glad we stayed at home to watch instead of buying tickets. Holy crap was it freezing...like 20's with 30 mile per hour winds. I'm cold just thinking about it.

Maybe on second thought, I am too old to party. After all I think I proved that to myself a few months back...

So, that about sums up the month of November, oh wait, Thanksgiving... I guess we'll publish a post about that soon. I'll let Chris elaborate about that later.