Macklemore takes Portland

It's quite possible I mentioned to Rhett five hundred and three times over the past 6 months that I reallllly wished we could go to the Macklemore & Ryan Lewis show.  We've had an expensive year and are rebuilding some cash money funds, so dinero for shows just isn't in the budget right now.  Plus, there was no way we'd be taking in the Macklemore show without Tristen, which meant 3 tickets instead of 2.  Tristen introduced us to Macklemore wayyy before the whole world knew who Mackelmore was and it wouldn't have been fair to go without him.  A few days before the show Rhett got an email from a mutual friend of Macklemore's cello player saying she needed a ride to PDX from Seattle, and would comp some tickets in exchange for a ride. And my fantastic hubby volunteered cause he knew it would make my day.  How cool is that and how awesome is he.   ** insert clapping hands and cartwheels! **  I was on cloud nine to be able to take Tristen to his first big arena show.  And Macklemore was AWESOME.  The energy that comes out of him is nuts.  The guy has a message and he preaches! AND yes, it's true: He crowd surfs every show.  Not once, but twice. Our photos of it are a blurred hot mess, but trust me.  It was supa cool.  ;)

2 dancers tagged along for the ride too!
dancers, Rhett, cello player [Rebecca, she is amazing!]

Best thing about big families: Always a Birthday

Family get togethers are my absolute favorite thing.  They put me on cloud nine.  I get all giddy, and giggly, and just excude happiness.  Rhett must find it entertaining.  Every time we leave a family get together he smiles, leans in for a kiss, and says "baby, you sure like family time, don't you?".  I do.  I love it. And the fabulous thing about big families is that there are a lot of birthdays, which means extra reasons to get together with the fam. Our nephew Jace turned 2 recently and we packed the Old Spagetti Factory with over 20 of us to celebrate.

Rhett's Birthday Dinner and a big ol Chocolate Covered OREO Cake

The Monday following our weekend in Seattle, we invited some friends over to celebrate Rhett's birthday one last time.  I about made myself sick planning the dinner party.  Not a joke.  I straight up had an ear burning, heart thumping anxiety episode right before the first guests arrived.  Riiii ' diculous.  I thought the 3 hours I spent planning the menu, emailing myself the links to the recipes, and this one will kill you - writing out a three page time table of what-to-do-when to time the food (whoooo does that??), grouping and laying out the ingredients for each dish on the counter the night before.. all that I thought might make it sooth sailing.  But nope.  No dinner party smooth sailing happening in my house.  But my saving grace was the BOMB cake we made.  Holy Mother, it was GOOD.  And I have to say "we" cause Rhett threw the two 8 inch devil's cake cake pans in the oven for me so they'd be cool before I got home, and they were perfect.  Thank god dessert comes last, and thank god this one was a Winner.  I didn't take one photo the whole night, I was such a hot mess.  Here are the photos I stole from Instagram from our friends.  

link to: Chocolate-Covered OREO Cookie Cake by Kraft Recipes

... it would be a crying shame if I didn't give honorable mention to the appetizer of the evening, the stuffed jalapenos pepper.  SUPER EASY, and SUPER GOOD.  Link to recipe is below.

Simple Stuffed Jalapenos by Food.com

Birthday in Seattle

My man had a birthday a few weeks ago, and we darted off to Seattle to celebrate. It was actually Rhett's last minute idea and any time he is spontaneous I grab on, hold on tight and say let's ride babay! 😘 I love a weekend out of town. It was just the three of us. We drove up Saturday morning, right after Rhett googled "Free Food on your Birthday", which of course meant Denny's was the spot for breakfast for the birthday boy. Seattle's weather was insanely, uncharacteristically, gorgeous and we wandered downtown, pikes market, did some shopping, swimming, game playing, and museum touring. And took entirely waaaayyyy too many silly pictures.

P.s. If you are ever able to take in the Experience Music Project, do it. Really cool.