Roughly, 8 years ago, I attended Symphony in the Flint Hills. It's such a cool event, the Kansas City Symphony is essentially picked up and placed in a tranquil, prairie setting. Between the music and the scenery, it's an unforgettable experience. What's also interesting is that it moves locations around that state.
This year, it was roughly two hours from Manhattan, KS at Rosalia Ranch in Rosalia, KS.
Along the way, they had related events in Cottonwood Falls, KS. We stopped and got this great photo of their courthouse.
Cottonwood Falls was cute and quaint. At the Vintage Bulldog, I found a super cute, turquoise, glass fruit bowl. At Salty Cow Mercantile, I found a new K-State bracelet.
The music and scenery didn't disappoint. My dad took a gazillion photos. Here are my best photos:
We finished off the weekend, eating brunch at my beloved, Coco Bolos. My dad ordered and loved their Stacked Enchiladas. I super enjoyed their Baja Chicken & Shrimp Wrap! A great end to the weekend!
Our Arts in the Park Summer concert series is cool. I've been impressed by the caliber of performers. The Manhattan community really shows up for these.
New to Manhattan, as of this year is a Thai rolled ice cream place, called Pandora Rolled Ice Cream. This was my first time trying out this particular place and my second time eating Thai rolled ice cream. The process is neat to watch. The ice cream was pretty good, though the employee was not engaging at all.
Another fun summer event was Concert on the Patio at Liquid Art Winery. They always have a food truck. This time they had my favorite food truck, Smokin' Wille's BBQ. So good!
My dad and I wanted to travel together, but financially that wasn't feasible for me. So, he said he could come visit. So, we had a staycation in Manhattan, Kansas.
We started off at the Chef Cafe. It was rated the top breakfast place in Kansas and I could see why.
My dad enjoyed their Classic Breakfast and I LOVED their Dang Quesadilla with bacon, potato, scrambled eggs and cheddar-jack cheese grilled in a large flour tortilla. Served with chipotle sauce and sour cream.
We also took a morning 4.5 mile hike around the ever-beautiful Konza Hills.
I love the song, Reckless Love by Cory Asbury. The lyrics remind me of the goodness of God and His deep love for us. Something that I need to reminded of often.
While in KC, (which I'll save for another post)I saw the movie, Ocean's 8. I'd seen the previous Ocean's movies and was interested in seeing one with an all-female cast. Like a lot of movies, most of the good scenes were shown in the previews. Womp-womp!
I was pretty impressed with the 8: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, and Awkwafina. James Corden and Dakota Fanning were also in the movie.
The premise is that Sandra is the sister of the now-deceased Danny Ocean and is on her way out of prison. She plans a heist at the Met Gala and slowly starts building her team. As always, things don't go as planned, but they carry off the heist.
Day 2 was a hot day. After working outside in the heat, we had a couple of hours free. I made a friend and convinced her to go exploring. We were going to go to the river, but it was too hot. We walked around Mass Street, downtown. Got a frap at Starbucks and explored stores. We looked at clothing stores, bike shops, book stores, and running shops.
We checked out a cute shop called, Eccentricity. They had jewelry (my weakness) and clothing. I found two bracelets to add to my collection. The clothing prices were high, but the jewelry prices were reasonable.
After that, it was time for dinner and we ate at Free State Brewing Co. I had a really good Apple Walnut Salad and added chicken. It was light and refreshing, since I had to go back out in the heat later. After dinner, we walked around more. Eventually, we ended up at Ten Below Zero for Thai frozen ice cream. So good!!! It was like watching an artist at work.
Then it was back to the track for us for more work. It sure was beautiful out.
Last meal in Lawrence was at Salty Iguana. The hamburger meat in my burrito was unseasoned and ground too finely. Wouldn't eat there again, though their cheese dip was good.
Even though I've lived 1.5 hours from Lawrence, Kansas all my life, I've never spent much time there. They are the location of our rival school, so maybe that's why.
Anyway, earlier this month, I went to Lawrence to work the Western Athletic Conference Track and Field Championship at Rock Chalk Park. That was the first conference meet that I've worked.
The hotel they had us at was the DoubleTree by Hilton Lawrence. I was impressed with the hotel; the staff were great, the rooms were nice, and the bed was perfect. Would definitely stay there again.
To get me started, my friend gave me an intensive list of her favorite places in Lawrence. After a day in the heat working in track, I changed at the hotel, and headed to Mass Street. Mass Street was really eclectic and fun. They had restaurants, clothing stores, dessert shops, as well as running and bicycle stores.
I started with dinner at one of the recommended restaurants, Port Fonda. It is just off of Mass Street. I actually found parking right in front of the restaurant. I was super hungry, so I ordered their shrimp tacos and a roselle margarita. The tacos were fantastic and the margarita was too strong (the bartender watered it down for me). I would recommend that restaurant and can't wait to go back.
From there, I walked around Mass Street and went in to a few shops. I ended up at the Burger Shack at the Casbah for their highly recommended milk shakes. I ordered and loved their Cinnamon Toast Crunk shake. It very much lived up to the hype. I want another one now!
Thus completed my first day in Lawrence; successfully!
Two weekends ago, my Zumba group went together to see Amy Schumer's, I Feel Pretty. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I really like it. It was killer funny and had a good message about loving yourself.
The movie introduced a few actors and actresses I never saw before:
Tom Hopper played the easy-on-the-eyes, Grant LeClair.
You're welcome...
Rory Scovel plays Amy's love interest, Ethan.
He grows on ya!
Aidy Bryant played one of Amy's close girl friends.
There were many other veteran actors in the movie in addition to Amy Schumer: Busy Philipps
Michelle Williams
Naomi Campbell (also a model) Emily Ratajkowski (also a model)
Last month, I finished the uber long book, All The Light We Cannot See. Within the book were three parallel story lines; 1) a blind girl named, Marie-Laure and her father who works at a museum; 2) a German officer who searches for rare gems; and 3) an orphan boy named, Werner with a knack for fixing on radios and transmitters.
In addition to the parallel stories, the chapters are not laid out chronologically, they flip back and forth in time. The book is a daunting, 544 pages.
The story is set during World War II in Germany and France. It took me about 30 pages to get hooked, but once I did, I couldn't wait to see how the three stories would connect.
I will say that I was disappointed with the ending; it wasn't a happy ending for all the characters. Read it and let me know what you think.
Growing up, I was into arts and crafts, mainly cross-stitch. I finally took an art class my sophomore year of high school, just drawing. I really enjoyed it and got decent, but like all things, if you don't it, you lose it.
Long before meeting my mom and I, my dad was a painter. Our home and the homes of my dad's siblings feature his paintings. He mainly did landscapes. He sold them for years. As long as I've known him, he hasn't painted.
Since finishing my MBA in May, I've finally had time to think about what I want to do. For some reason, I've been feeling artsy. I started with making wood block signs and then hand lettering. I asked my dad about painting and if he'd teach me to paint. For Christmas, dad got me painting supplies: a table top easel, a canvas, practice paper, brushes, paint thinner, a sample of oil paint colors, and palette paper.
Supplies:
Over Christmas break, I was able to start painting. I used the book in the last photo and painted one of the paintings featured it in. My first painting took a solid SIX hours. I let it dry for a week or two and then I touched it up for another hour or so.
Here's the finished product:
I'm super proud of my very first painting ever. It can only get better from here. :)
