"That's Amore"

Brent and I celebrated a belated Valentine's Day since I was gone last week. Flowers and a card were waiting for me when I got home and I presented him with a Cubs' souvenier from O'Hare that was purchased during my layover in Chi-town. I am just the best wife, aren't I? So much thought and preparation...but he liked it, and in my mind every day is Valentine's Day! haha

On Sunday night we went to St. Elmo Steakhouse for dinner which was just so fun! If you've already heard this story, prepare to be bored, but if you haven't you'll think it's maybe cute. The first time Brent and I ever met was almost a year before we both started at BKD. The firm had a dinner for all the students who had accepted offers. Brent and I sat across the table from each other at St. Elmo's and shared a shrimp appetizer. I remember him as the boy who loved the hot cocktail sauce so much that he ate it by the spoonful long after the shrimp was eaten. Apparently Brent went home that night and told his roommate (our best man) that there was a girl at dinner who was really flirting with him. (Who, ME?!?!) I didn't remember Brent as the Cocktail Sauce Boy when we first started working, but we do count that as the first time we officially met. It had been more than three years since we went to the restaurant (which is basically about as often as we can afford it), so it was really special to go back and enjoy a great meal.

We've had some excitement recently as we learned that there would be an article in The News-Sun about our wedding. Okay, so maybe it was mostly excitement for Mom and I. The article is entitled "That's Amore" (how appropriate). I knew my 15 minutes of fame was coming, and was hoping that it wouldn't end with the 30-second news clip of me dancing like a fool at the office Christmas party on the Channel 8 News this year. In the article, my name is Lindsey Pillars-Stevenson and Lucy and I are cousins. Hahahaha, I love that. I bet some people were just as surprised by that as I was, since Lucy's family owns the paper! I really appreciated the article but I wanted to clear up those two things for anyone who maybe saw it (anyone? anyone?) When an electronic copy is posted to the KPC News website I'll throw it on the blog. Pretty cool!


Mmmmmmm, 32-oz. prime rib


I hated asking the waiter to take our picture in such a nice restaurant...so we were creepy and just took pictures of each other.

What a Month for Birthdays!!

On Saturday we celebrated Rachel's birthday with drinks at The Fox near our house. We've only eaten there once and I wasn't overly excited about it, but we gave it another shot and came up with a winner. Rachel's birthday was actually on Monday the 11th. There are so many February birthdays! Next up is Ashley on the 22nd, Carrie on the 25th, and Jill's is in there somewhere (I can't remember the exact day!), and Laura and Emma were on the 6th. If I've missed any February babies not before mentioned in a previous post (BALEIGH), I am terribly sorry.

Oh, another soon to be birthday...my boss and his wife are due with their first baby on the 27th. Maybe a Leap Year baby?? I think that would be cool.

Let's toast to all the February birthdays!

New York Trip

I'm home from New York! I spent a week in Rome and Utica for work and got back on Friday. There's not too much to report, really. Other than the entertainment created by a Rome employee's intense crush on one of my Indy co-workers, the only other excitement of the week was a co-worker getting hit with the automatic rear door of the van. She was fine. I do have to say that I love all the cool restaurants in that part of Upstate New York. We ate at Teddy's in Rome and Delmonico's in Utica. I tried some of my travel companion's Steak Riggies, and they were delicious. Riggies are a signature dish, apparently, so I guess I should have tried a whole order myself. I also have to say that the people who work at DFAS-Rome are all so nice that I would go back in a heartbeat.

The only picture I have is of me standing next to Carla from Cheers on the wall at Delmonico's.

The Most Expensive 9-Volt Battery We've Ever Purchased

So here's our funny story from today. Brent and I went for a walk this afternoon and shut our garage door using the keypad like usual. We aren't in the habit of carrying keys because why would we when the keypad always opens up the garage? Well, 99% of the time.

We get back, and nothin. We can't get the door open and we never leave any doors unlocked. We spend the next hour trying to break into our own house, which is very hard to do when your only tool is a paper clip that was found in my fleece pocket. We have no phones, no money, no keys, no nothing. Finally, I tuck my tail between my legs and go to the neighbor's house to use the phone and a phone book. She felt sorry for us and insisted we stay, so we spent an hour in their house chatting it up. The locksmith turns out to be some 21 year old kid driving a Lexus SUV. He immediately looks at it and says, "Oh, your battery is probably dead." DUH. I pop open the case with my fingernails, he drives to a store to buy a 9-Volt battery, and eureka...our garage door opens.

We are sure glad we didn't force open a window or the garage door, because that was my plan. I guess all we're out is 2 1/2 hours and a $99 battery. Next time I'll carry my keys!

Weekly Happenings

Which is better...not post anything at all, or post about nothing? I think posting about nothing is the way to go, because the blog will be stale either way, and you may as well try.

We had a totally relaxing weekend. We made Corn Sausage Chowder on Friday and hung out. I hopped on the treadmill and chatted with Emma for about an hour while I walked. You know the Biggest Loser competition that Big Lou blogs about? Well as you probably imagined, I am one of those anonymous contestants she mentions. We have weighed-in for four weeks, and so far I am NOT the Biggest Loser. I'm only down 1.4 pounds (waaa-waaaa) but I'm expecting a big loss this Wednesday. I guess I shouldn't jinx myself though!

On Saturday we went to the wedding of some work friends, Alejandro and Cynthia. Their reception was at the Skyline Club at the top of the OneAmerican building. The reception was a nice afternoon hors d'oeuvres reception and we were home by 5:30 even after driving the groom's brother (and best man) back to the church to get the caterer's check from the car.

We were lazy on Sunday and didn't make it to church. Good thing there's an Ash Wednesday service this week so I can make it up! I tried to rationalize that the full Catholic mass of a wedding we attended on Saturday must SURELY make up for it, but I'm not sure if it works like that.

January and February are birthday months on Mom's side of the family. Lori's was in early January, Rob celebrated his 19th on the 30th, and tomorrow is Baleigh's 9th. To celebrate she is going to see the 3-D showing of the Hannah Montana concert in Champaign. Her poor mother shattered her finger yesterday playing volleyball. She is a wild woman! If there was ever a portrait painted of Lori, it would be called "Woman in Motion".

News on Dad's side of the family is that there is now a great-grandchild! My cousin Jared and his wife, Amy, welcomed Alexander Joseph on January 31st. Congratulations!

Since there's not much going on at our house right now (except a work trip to Rome, NY next week), here's what we're looking forward to in the coming months:

mid-February - a make-up Valentine's dinner at St. Elmo (since I'm gone on the 14th)
March - March Madness; the Blind Melon concert; Big Lou's birthday
April - tax refund; cousin Melissa's wedding in St. Louis
May - the mini marathon; Cabo!!!; Lucy's shower and Beckner's wedding; work conference in Disney World on my birthday

I will leave you with pictures from Baleigh's birthday last year when we went to Chicago to enjoy a trip to American Girl, lunch at the top of the Hancock Tower, and a stroll through the Museum of Science and Industry.

I'm not sure why they're so small!!






In front of Kit's display at American Girl