busy weekend

The past week of my life has been crazy. I am still trying to catch up on sleep from it all! In the course of this past week, I've made dessert 3 times and then proceeded to inform people that I will not be making dessert again for at least a month. First was coffee cake, literally (thank you PW), then was Julia Child's Chocolate spongecake with chocolate icing, and finally I made "Go Army, Beat Air Force" cake balls courtesy of Em & Bakerella. All were tasty, but very time consuming. Here's a picture of the Julia Child's cake. I forgot to take pictures of the others.


Another part of the weekend was a dinner party to celebrate Eva & Laurel's birthdays. Here's a picture of the lovely birthday girls with their cake! We had such a good time with our small dinner party!


The next morning was tailgating for the Army v. Air Force football game. I might also add that they started doing flyovers at about 7:45AM while I was out running. The tailgate was fun & the half of the game that I stayed for was great! Too bad that Army apparently didn't show up for the last half of the game & lost 35-7. Here are some pictures from the game!

Nicole & me right before the game started. We may have actually missed the kick-off by taking this picture.

Amanda, Nicole & me during one of the many media timeouts we had in the first quarter. We look like we're having so much fun - mostly because Army was actually playing ok at that point!

Tom is doing the double V's with Nicole & me. Guess it worked in Air Force's favor!

Now last, but not least was the military ball that Grace & I went to on Saturday night. This event was probably the most entertaining & interesting of the weekend. Grace & I got ready at her place & the guys came to pick us up there. To avoid this totally feeling like prom, we only took pictures of us beforehand. The evening exposed Grace & I to many of the "traditions" of the Army, to include Artillery punch, toasts, long speeches in circles, awkward people & some inebriated people who were very entertaining and at times antagonistic. We had a great time and now I am completely exhausted. I'm pretty sure that all I want to do next weekend is sleep in!

Grace & me before the guys came to pick us up. We had a hunch that one might be early, so we booked it to be ready a little early.

We look pretty awesome, if I do say so myself! We were ready for whatever was thrown at us!

Grace & Schnells after Grace almost became part of a bar fight due to two guys deciding to argue back & forth standing at our table.

Taylor & me - after all of the events of the evening - hanging out at Jack Quinn's. What an entertaining night!

kansas city weekend & dress vote

Well, it's been a while since my last update, and much has happened since that post. I did manage to come up with 2 different Halloween costumes for work & a costume party. For work I was forgetful - I taped sticky notes all over me with reminders, put my sunglasses on top of my head & tied yarn around my fingers. Unfortunately I don't have a picture to post. For the costume party I was Audrey Hepburn from Breakfast at Tiffany's - I wore a black shift dress, a tiara, sparkly earrings & necklace, big black sunglasses & long black gloves! Once again, I forgot to take pictures.
However, here's a few pictures from the pumpkin carving party last weekend in Kansas City! I had such a good time at my friend's wedding in Leavenworth and spending some quality time with my dear friends in Olathe. I also had some quality time with my Mom & brother. I miss them so much!

James - my adorable "nephew" in a panda costume!


My pumpkin - Charlie Brown! Thanks for the idea, Mom!

My brother, Kyle, & me with our pumpkins! He always has really goofy faces for pictures.

Amanda & me - it's tradition to take a picture of the 2 of us!

On a different note, I need opinions & suggestions. I am attending a formal ball on Saturday because friends here know someone who needs a date & I'm it. I raided Eva's closet & came up with 2 options. Keep in mind when looking at these pictures that I'll be wearing makeup & my hair will be done & not thrown back & I'll be wearing pantyhose, which will help everything look smoother. In other words, I personally don't look awesome in these pictures, but focus on the dresses. Several people have suggested that I find out what uniform is being worn & base my dress choice on that. Either dress is great, but I'm looking for your thoughts!
Option #1:


Option #2:


Now vote & leave me your recommendations in the comments!