Another Year Come and Gone

This past Monday was my 25th birthday, a quarter of a century, apparently still a baby by my friends and family's standards. Last weekend my Mom,Dad & Tessa, Tony & Jacki, and Tim, Sarah, Kellan & Hugo came to Appleton for the day to celebrate! Lola was in doggy heaven running around all crazy with Hugo, and poor Tess (who just had surgery on her ACL) was not feeling the love with the other two, but still was wagging away that stubby little tail all day.

Then we went to Joe's.....back story.....My dad's grand parents use to have a cabin in Duval, WI and when they would go to visit they would always go to Joe Rourer's Bar and Grill. BEST BURGERS AROUND! They use to have the their own cattle farm right outside the bar and process their own meat which made the burgers so fresh. When my brother and I were little, and well into high school, our family would take a lazy Sunday and drive the scenic route from Milwaukee up to Joe's Bar and Bay Beach. So many great memories from those trips, and above all, great burgers! It's been years since the whole family was there, so we kicked off the day by making the quick 45min drive to Joe's. Another great memory forever stuck in time.

With a good greasy burger in our tummy's we headed back for home to hang out, have a few brews, shop, check out Tim's handy work (he built a shelf for our basement while we gone) and of course....cook more food! Chris and I wanted to grill-out and seeing as we just had burgers for lunch we didn't think the typical brat's and burgers would do, so we came up with this......


Deconstructed Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad




It was something new to try/make and something light enough for those who just pounded down a double cheeseburger AND two regular cheeseburgers....TONY...and heavy enough for those who didn't come with to Joe's. We made a homemade dressing complete with anchovies and we had no idea but the recipe actually called for raw egg. I was kind of weirded out but no one got sick so it's all good! ;) For a side I cut up some fresh fruit and mixed it with a container of Pomegranate Greek Yogurt. Later we got all dolled up and went to the comedy club for a show, good times.

Sunday was a visit from Eric, Ashley & Leighton to chit chat about our yard and adding some rain gardens and a rain barrel. It was pretty informative for us and has really kicked Chris and I into gear about getting our landscaping going! Of course there were more beers shared.....No worries, no Leighton's were harmed in the filming of these photographs!





And lastly Monday night, my actual birthday, Chris and I went out to dinner downtown at Casa Blanca's a Latin restaurant and had some yummy tapas, so good! Chris surprised me beforehand with a little shopping spree for a new camera!! Ever since someone (i.e. ME) got a little tipsy from sake on the honeymoon and knocked the camera off of the hibachi breaking the latch that holds the batteries in.....we've been thinking about another camera. We are currently trying to get the latch fixed so it can go with Chris on his man trips to the lake...or on the road. Here is one of the first photo's taken with it....Chris is going to kill me for showing this! So DAMN CUTE.....and manly! ;)