20 paper hearts cut from this super cute scrapbook paper found @ Hobby Lobby for like.. 30 cents for Ryan's Valentine's day TREASURE HUNT!!! He'll be all over the apartment building...in the lobby, in the parking garage, etc. I wrote 20 little riddles he's got to figure out in order to find his next clue. There will be little treats hidden here and there and a surprise at the end! YAYYYY!! I probably had more fun planning it than I think he'll have actually doing the treasure hunt
.
In other treasure hunting news, we found a new happy hour place yesterday- The Community Bar in Midtown.
OHHHHH WOW
the food... this was no "bar food".. it was absolutely
amazing food. We split 2 appetizers, Bangkok ravioli (dumplings) made of chicken and mushrooms in a green curry cilantro sauce and the goat cheese and pork egg rolls. I mean... I love goat cheese... you could put it on a dog biscuit and I'd call it a delicacy...but they were out of this world. Check out a
review and photos here. Apparently Chef Bob does alot off the menu too. You can ask him to whip up a snack for you...whatever he's feeling..and he'll make you something unique and fantastic. The couple next to us were eating ribs which I didn't see on the menu. I was being nosy... telling them they smelled amazing... and the guy actually put a rib with BBQ sauce on a plate and gave it to us. HE GAVE US A RIB. LIKE ADAM GAVE TO EVE. How nice is that?? FOOD SHARING.
The drinks were great, too! We had a Moscow mule which is vodka and ginger beer (something Ryan and I drink often at home with Goya ginger beer, the spiciest we're found aside from Beaver's homemade) and a Moteato, tea vodka with mint, lemonade and soda water.
We'll definitely be back! If you're in the area, it's highly recommended.
It's the little victories, you know? 
[Adjustment note: I don't have paprika or dry mustard...but what I do have is crushed red pepper. I threw about 1.5 teaspoons of that in there and it worked out great. Also used 1.15 lb chicken tenders instead of just 1 lb. I thought i would have enough "batter" mixture for all of it, but apparently I was coating the crud out of these chicken strips and had to make a 1/2 batch more. I had a total of about 10 strips.
[ Adjustment note... 475 degrees is hot. like.. holy smoke...literally we had to open the doors because smoke filled the kitchen... I guess something was stuck to the oven rack and burned to a crisp when i was pre-heating. These directions tell you 475 for 20-25 minutes but I cooked mine at 400 for about 30-ish minutes. At the 15 minute mark I flipped them. ]
Here they are 1/2 way done, at 15 minutes.
We played a little air hockey
...listened to a little Chevelle (The Red, to be specific..to really date this situation)
[all photos via weheartit]
Today, I am so thankful for coffee. Especially super hot black coffee with a dollop of cool whip on top. You have to have the cool whip. (have to). 
Pretty much ready for some weekending. 
Erin from Sunshine and Carousels posted this little photo and I was like "must.... do...". I've never tried to use felt applique on any embroidery project, but now that I'll be finishing my owl today, it's a good time to try!
[ source ] 
Fancy ladies! 
