Cocktails on the Farm

We have so many cute farms around Springfield, MO.  You may remember my post about Millsap pizza night a while back.  They take ingredients from the farm and allow the community to come out and enjoy pizza and music.  Another favorite place of mine is Urban Roots Farm.  This farm is located within the city and they make stellar use of the land.  Cocktails on the Farm is an event they host and it is so much fun!  I had the pleasure of meeting up with some friends for the last one and we learned how to make some delicious cocktails using, you guessed it, produce from the farm and locally brewed beers!


The "full circle" was possibly my favorite.  I never would have imagined tequila and onion shrub in the same beverage but it was so good!  Also, how cute is Jacki?  Geez.  She is a friend I don't get to spend a ton of time with, but whenever we do it's like we never missed a beat.


This event was ladies only which is always a great excuse to round up all the lady friends and enjoy the evening.  I seriously have so much fun and learn something new every time I attend!  I'm hoping to start volunteering when my schedule will allow, but for now I'll just enjoy the event when I can!

  

Weekend Snaps

We had a pretty eventful weekend this weekend.  My friend, Jess, came to town from Atlanta and stayed with us, so we did our best to show her more Springfield goodness that we didn't get to the last time she visited.  There were brunches and plant shopping and karaoke and lots of food and gatherings and, well, you get the general idea.  Here are some peeks at our weekend:


(This is the Lebanese place right up the street from us called That Lebanese Place.  It's one of our very favorites!)

We did as much family stuff during the mornings and days as possible, but we went out for the grand opening of The Golden Girl Rum Club and karaoke one night, and then Johnny and I played a show with our band the next.  Luckily, my girls adore their babysitter, so no one (mainly Poesy) was too upset that we took Jess with us.  ;)


It was a fun (extended) weekend, and now I'm ready to get back to the daily grind!  Happy Tuesday, friends!!  xo.

Our Little Knitting Group

It's been a long time since I've been a knitter.  Actually, once I found crochet, I sort of just abandoned knitting altogether.  It's a shame, really.  They are both lovely crafts in their own right.  I've been feeling like it was time to get back in the game lately, so I decided to start hosting a knitting night at my place.  I've been to other knitting groups in the past, but everyone worked on their own separate projects and chatted, which is great, but I had a hard time staying on track.  A) I didn't really know what I was doing, and B) I'm often too social when there isn't a lot of structure.  Let's just say I'm quite the Chatty Cathy (or Katie... whatever).  I wanted this group to be different.  Socializing and bonding was still very important to me, but the learning/crafting aspect was the main goal.  I met an incredibly talented lady named Lauren at a local craft show last year and she agreed to be our sweet, patient teacher.  Here's a peek at our very first knitting night:


We even Skyped in my friend, Jess!  So fun.
I seriously adore this new group we have.  There are new people every week and everyone's just so happy to have a reason to carve time out of busy schedules just to gather.  I would highly suggest a group like this to anyone.  Good vibes and laughter filling our house is all a gal could ask for.

**If you're a Springfield, MO local and would like to come over for a knitting night, shoot me an email and I can get you all of the details!

Happy Friday, friends!

Kansas City Girls' Weekend, Part 2

(*Photo by Allison Marshall.)
As promised, here is part 2 of our girls' weekend in Kansas City, MO.  If you need to catch up, you can see my first round of dining and attractions right here.  Okay.  Here we go!

After we left the craft fair, I took my ladies to 39th street to do a little shopping and eating.  Our first stop was Donna's Dress Shop.  Jess has never been there before and I knew she'd ADORE it.  I was so right.  She was basically in heaven.  Donna's is where I found that magical mint dress, btw.



We got some very pretty things at Donna's and by that time, we were all ready to sit down, cool off, and eat!  I was excited to take the girls to Blue Koi while we were close by.  That place is my FAVORITE and I knew they would have great vegetarian options for Jess and Amber.  I basically don't visit KC without eating at Blue Koi at least once.


My favorite things here are vegetarian dumplings and tofu lettuce wraps.  So, so good!

Once our bellies were full, we headed down the street to Mud Pie Vegan Bakery for treats and coffee, and then popped in Retro Vixen for just a little more shopping.


Isn't that place darling?  Jess found the cutest retro bathing suit and Amber found a dress that looked like it was made for her body.

Once we were pretty much shopped out, we headed back to Hotel Sorella for some quiet time.  I LOVE shopping and I LOVE being social, but I was in desperate need of being alone and zoning out for a short while.  I'm sure many of you can relate.

Hotel Sorella is so beautiful and peaceful.  I had no problem plopping myself into my big comfy bed to rest.  Thankfully, my friends were ready for a bit of down time, too.

  Once I regrouped, we got dressed and headed to a pizza place called Coal Vines for dinner. I mean, you can't really try a bunch of new restaurants and not throw at least one pizza place in there, right? Well, I can't anyway.


Coal Vines was delicious.  We got a cheese pizza with basil and ate the whole thing.
After dinner, we hit up a cute whiskey bar for cocktails called Julep Cocktail Club.  It was a nice way to end a busy and exciting day.

Jess and I went to Hotel Sorella's breakfast cafe for coffee and chatting the next morning, while the other girls got ready and packed up.  We decided to try Bluestem for brunch and then wrap up the rest of our trip with some antique shopping!

 
(I'm not the best food photographer, so this is where you get to use your imagination and picture a delicious omelette full of broccoli.)


Allison met up with us for some more photos at a place she suggested called River Market Antiques.  She was SO RIGHT about how great that place is.  It's 4 floors of beautiful vintage treasures!  Jess found the sweetest dress for Fall that we basically wouldn't let her leave without.


(Almost all of the antique market photos are by Allison Marshall.  You should definitely check out her blog Wonderlass-- it's so good!!)

We had such a great girls' weekend, but it was time to wrap up and head home.  Getting back to my family felt wonderful.  I'm so thankful to have a husband who's so good about taking care of Hope and Poesy while I go and explore with my friends.  He's a keeper.

There was so much more we wanted to do in Kansas City that we didn't even get to!  I can't wait to go back soon.  Another giant THANK YOU to Visit KC for sending us on such a fun trip.  You can visit their blog to read about more awesome places in Kansas City, and see more photos of our trip!  xo.