28Jun
Zum Bar Soap
Health + Beauty

Back from the Dead: On Getting Older

It’s weird to be writing again. Well, writing here again. It’s kind of like saying hello to an old friend and things feel awkward because you don’t know how it’s gonna go, but once you figure things out, it’s like you were never apart at all. So a lot has happened since I posted last and I won’t go too deep into it because I’m not trying to turn this post into a novel, but I will give the short version: I was single for a while after my break up and was very depressed, I adopted a dog and started dating again, met a few duds and finally found a guy that I’m still with, bought a house and recently got a new car. Amidst that entire saga, I have been working on the blog in small ways but not as actively or tangibly as I would’ve liked. Because of this, the next few blog posts will be dedicated to catching everyone up on what I’ve been doing over the past year and a half (?).

6 mins read
585 Views
28Jun
Drinks

The Passport Program: All Abroad the Booze Train

passport photo

Life is weird; this is a fact that we are all familiar with. And the first half of 2017 has definitely been interesting from my new job as a resume writer to my break up with Brent barely a month later to adopting a dog about a month after that; there was a point when I thought the dust would never settle. But, the nice thing about life, that we should all be grateful for is that it does go on and things do get better, no matter how much it may feel like it never will.

Since my break up, I did a lot of things; cried, found solace in a wine bottle, watched TV until I passed out, cried on my friends’ couches, joined a new gym, worked on getting my six-pack back (that’s still in progress but it is coming back!) and started dating again. You’re always going to miss your first love, but I’ve finally decided that I’m not going to stop living my life or doing what I love because of it. My happiness is my own, it’s found within me and no matter what happens, no one and nothing can or should take that away from me; and that goes for everyone. And besides, it is summer, no one should be inside moping when almost every day is sunny and sweaty and in honor of reclaiming my happiness (and summer), I’ve decided to do something that has been on my radar for a while: The Passport Program.

3 mins read
486 Views
15May
Health + Beauty

Finding my Zone at Zone 6 Fitness

As an athlete for nine years, I naturally look for a workout that is going to push me to my limits, push me to get stronger. However, by the time I graduated from college, I had stress fractures, falling arches and a possible labral tear in my groin. Needless to say, I knew it was time to admit to myself that I needed a break from sprinting and running all together really—but the idea of never running again scared me if not a little depressed, so I decided to try transitioning myself into distance running (so much for taking a break, right?). But running on the treadmill wasn’t my cup of tea and I knew based on the fact that I never ran more than 200 meters, that I was never going to be into distance running; running a 5k for me was only going to happen under severe peer pressure. In reality, I was tired of running—I had done it for 9 years after all—I wanted to continue being active because it was important to me but I wanted a new challenge.

4 mins read
556 Views
03Mar
Music + Events

Love, Humility and The Greeting Committee

Photo courtesy of thegcband.tumblr.com

The first time I ever heard the Greeting Committee play on 96.5 The Buzz, I assumed they were some band, possibly from L.A., making their run at the big time. Imagine my surprise when I saw them live for the first time and realized, not only were they local, they weren’t even old enough to drink. It has been almost two years since The Greeting Committee got signed and released their hit single, “Hands Down” and while most would think they would have moved to a bigger, “better” city to grow their fan base, the band has remained rooted to their hometown.

3 mins read
611 Views
08Oct
Drinks

Narwhal Heats up as the Temperature Drops

I recently came home from another weekend in St. Louis with my boyfriend, Brent. Since he started grad school we have been through quite the adjustment period with him moving to St. Louis, i.e. The Rival city, coordinating visits and of course just getting used to not seeing each other whenever we want. The good thing that came out of this is that I get to see another part of the state so it’s kind of like a mini vacation and I get to explore another city the way the locals do it.

3 mins read
459 Views
22Jan
Salad
Eats + Treats, Music + Events

Restaurant Week. ‘Nough said.

Last week, Kansas Citian’s open tabled like they never have before in anticipation of the 7th annual Kansas City Restaurant Week, myself included. The fundraiser/restaurant expose benefits prominent local charities while feeding adventurous foodies for reasonable prices. If you weren’t making reservations or at least looking through menus before the start of restaurant week last Friday, you have probably set yourself up to miss out on a lot of those “hot commodity” restaurants. But, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t plenty of amazing alternatives to choose from. Or if you are from the camp of why go to restaurant week, which I can’t imagine anyone saying, there are a couple of reasons why you should. 

3 mins read
477 Views
20Oct
Moisturizer
Health + Beauty

Fall makes for thirsty skin

With Fall finally gracing Kansas City with its presence, things are about to get ugly for your skin and none of you are immune. Dark and pale people alike are afflicted by dry skin during the colder months and it always seems like you can’t put on enough lotions/oil/other moisturizing products to keep that beautiful skin from chapping. But, you shouldn’t panic because there are plenty of people out there that know and feel your pain. I recently found a local artisan who makes a fantastic body butter that your skin will drink up like you suck down cocktails on a Friday night. I found Suz soap while sampling wines at Independence uncorked. 

  
Quite frankly Susan, the owner, caught me at a good time; not only were the wine samples starting to get to me but, I will put money down on handmade product pretty much any day. I didn’t spend much time at her table, it really only took me a few seconds to decide I really needed her amazing butters in both lavendar and eucalyptus mint and I’m extremely glad I gave them a shot.

2 mins read
432 Views
27Aug
Marketplace
Health + Beauty, Music + Events

The Strawberry Swing: No strawberries but lots of crafts

So, I have been AWOL on the posting game, I’ll admit. Lots of things have been going on for me from my computer crapping out on me and I having to take it in to be fixed to getting a new job. While I did still have my iPad to blog with, my pictures from this event were on my camera and I had no way of tranferring them. Fortunately, I now have my computer back and we can return to business as usual! But, you aren’t here to listen to me give lame excuses for why I’ve have been “behind on the city”. You care about the good stuff, like the Strawberry Swing at the Alexander Majors Barn on State Line Road. Founded in 2011, the Strawberry Swing is all about supporting handmade crafters. 

As a huge supporter, lover and buyer of handmade goods, I was all over this fair. From the moment I arrived, there were quite a few people buying various wares. There was a heavy population of jewelry crafting tables, including Opal and Gold, a local jeweler I discovered at First Fridays. While I do love jewelry (I mean, next to diamonds, they’re a girl’s best friend right), I was on a mission to find a few specific goods.

5 mins read
555 Views
14Jul
Natural deodorant
Health + Beauty

Wild Wash Deo Tempers the B.O.

I’ve tried a lot of alternatives to regular antiperspirant/deodorant and very few of them have yielded long-term success. You name it, I’ve probably tried it; Tom’s of Maine, Lavanilla, Naturally Fresh’s deodorant crystal, I’ve even used men’s deodorant—because apparently men are the only sex that wants just a deodorant—and of all these, I had the longest run of success with men’s Old Spice deodorant. Now I’m sure a lot of you are wondering what all the fuss is about with using a natural deodorant and I’m sure you’re expecting an all-chemicals-are-bad agenda rant. But, that wasn’t necessarily the case for me when I switched to natural deodorants, though it did play a small role.

8 mins read
483 Views
16Jun
Bags
Health + Beauty

My mini-haul at the Crossroads

This past week, I took a trip down to the crossroads to pick up a tube of my favorite lip balm, or “lip embellishment” as it’s printed on the tube. While I was there, I decided to step into Raygun to try another lip balm I had been eyeing that was made by another local company; Messner Family Farm.

The Messner niche is their five beehives, most of which are completely funded by their kickstart backers. Now, I have to admit, upon buying their tinted lip balm, I was little skeptical about using a balm that consisted of primarily beeswax. I don’t have anything against bees or honey, but the last time I used a beeswax based balm, it was Burt’s Bees and it made my lips so raw, they were bleeding most of the time. Hence my apprehension.

5 mins read
523 Views