Today was the best day ever!

Today I got in two separate fender benders, scratched my side car mirror while entering a parking garage, and threw up all over a $600 gown I was supposed to wear to a work event tonight . . . in front of all my co-workers and boss.  To top it off, I worked 24 of the last 48 hours.  To some this is normal, to me it is border line torture.


Today=Awesome. 

Dallas 'Til I Die

Saturday night we drove to Frisco, TX for the FC Dallas home opener.  The Dallas exurbs still manage to take our breathe away- Nick due to the amazing infrastructure and massive highway system, me because well I think they are scary.

When we left the house Nick asked me to wear sneakers because we were "going to a soccer game".  Seriously?  Just because I am going to the exurbs don't age me into a soccer mom prematurely.  Sneakers are exclusively for working out- my ballet flats will do just fine.

The slogan for the FC Dallas team is "Dallas 'Til I Die".  Maybe a bit dramatic for a MLS soccer team? However, the team means business and is actually quite good.  We had an excellent time munching on stadium food and watching the action on the field.  After a tie to the Chicago Fire, we left to a firework show and a beautiful full moon.

We had such a good time that I am willing to go back to the exurbs for another game, as long as I don't have to wear my sneakers.

Nick doing the finger tip test to confirm his shorts are of appropriate length

Posing in front of the team shop at the stadium

Notice the Dallas Til I Die banners at the end of the field

Sunday Crepes

Nick's mom, Jann, is an amazing chef.  Me? not so much.  I try to humor Nick and make some of the Lardo family recipes once in awhile with varying degrees of success.  Last weekend we made crepes.   Thankfully they were easy and turned out delish despite my involvement.

This recipe is from Nick's grandma in Argentina:

• 4 eggs
• ½ cup milk
• ½ cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons butter gently melted
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 cup  all purpose flour

Easy ingredients

Place all ingredients into blender container.  Blend on medium speed until just combined.  Preheat an 8” sloped pan. Grease pan lightly.  Pour a scant ¼ cup batter into pan to coat interior.  Fry until edges turn light brown and batter no longer steams.  Using a fork or spatula, gently loosen edges.  Remove from  pan.  Stack on plate.  When cooled, fill with dulce de leche, sliced sweetened strawberries or sautéed apples and roll into a cylinder.

 

My sous chef measures ingredients EXACTLY

We filled our crepes with dulce de leche.  Yum.  Dulce de leche only came into my life after I met the Lardos.  It is one of the many reasons I am thankful for them.

Nick's sister Alison gave us this bottle of yummy goodness for Christmas.

I ate two crepes, Nick ate eight.  I guess this means they were a success.  Now if I could only figure out how to fold my empanadas like Jann.

Happy {almost} St. Patty's Day!

St. Patty's Day = Green beer

Surprisingly Nick had never had green beer until this past weekend.  We changed that pretty quickly at the annual Greenville Ave St. Patricks Day parade in Dallas.  Donielle was in from Chicago and we enjoyed the perfect 78 degree weather, sun, live bands, block parties and beer along the avenue.

Happy St. Patrick's Day friends!

Vail

I love Vail.

Not only is it home to my brother and cousin Cam, but it is also home to many happy memories.  I tried to count how many times I have been there and I can't.  This is a sign that you really like a place or that you have a family who likes a lot of forced family fun on the slopes.  This trip added many moments to the ever expanding Vail good times list including:

• Dinner at Vendettas with Juan and his roommate Michael
• The Igloo Party (reference below)
• A leisurely day on the slopes skiing at my own pace without anyone yelling at me to go faster or "challenge" myself (reference forced family fun on the slopes above)
• Lunch with Cam and her boyfriend Matt at Blue Moose Pizza in Lionshead
• Dinner at Beaver Creek Chophouse with Donielle, her husband Mike, and an assorted crew.  Donielle is one of my oldest friends and coincidentally was in town the same weekend
• Skiing with my college roommate, Marisa and her fiancee Pat up from Denver on Sunday

Marisa and Jane after a hot chocolate break at Two Elks Lodge

Juan and Jane post lunch at mid- Vail

Sunday night Marisa and Pat drove me back to Denver for my early morning Monday flight.  Unfortunately Marisa got a flat tire on the way to the airport, causing me to miss my plane.  The good news is I got a ride to the airport in a cop car.  Hopefully the first and last time I see the inside of one of those.

Igloo Party

When you go to a party in an igloo it deserves it's own blog post.

My much cooler and slightly younger brother Juan lives in Vail, CO.  I took a trip to visit him at the end of last month.  When I asked what the plans were for Friday night he informed me we would be going to a party in an igloo.  Yes a real life igloo.   My first thought?  What should I wear.  Needless to say I was one of the few party guests in fur and North Face.  Next year remind me to get a new wardrobe before pretending to be mountain cool.

Juan works at Buzz's Boots and Boards in Vail and the 8+ guys from the shop spent 3 weeks and countless hours building the giant igloo.  I have been to a lot of parties, but can honestly say I have never seen anything like this.

Nick, our host, working on digging out the yard several weeks before the party.  Picture stolen from Igloo Party fan page on Facebook

The boys dug 300" of snow out of a 1/2 acre backyard.  They built 20Ft high ice brick walls, a fire pit, mens and womens restrooms, a beer pong table, couches, chairs, an ice luge, a bar, a cooler for extra beer, a giant snow jump for sled/snowboard/ski tricks, and a dance floor all out of snow and ice.  The main attraction was a full igloo with two entrances and capacity for 15 people.  It was actually quite warm in there, but that may have been from the smoke.  After a quick survey of the crowd, I passed on the trays of brownies circling the party and made my exit around 1am- late for me, but apparently early for everyone else.

The entrance to the party- twinkle lights under the snow= nice touch gentleman!

The party at the beginning of the evening, notice jump in upper left hand corner, built in furniture, and igloo entrance marked by tiki torches

 

The entrance to the igloo

Thanks Juan for reminding me how square my social life is- the party was a blast.  Yes I know "blast" is a dorky word.