Louise's

My roommate Rosi & I were craving bowls of pasts Friday night. In an attempt to eat something cheap, the plan was to get something from the Whitefish Bay Sendik's hot bar but we waited too long & everything was picked over. After naming off several restaurants in the area & driving around for a bit, Louise's was decided!

I hadn't been there in at least 2 years so I was excited for the tasty food I remembered them having as well as seeing if they had anything new on the menu. We arrived around 7:30 and it was perfect - not very many people there. I couldn't wait to get a huge bowl of pasta in my tummy!

We had a huge spread that consisted of homemade bread, mozzarella caprese salad, chicken parmigiana for me and roasted vegetable fettuccine for Rosi. Everything tasted delicious, cooked well and flavors melting together in your mouth. The only disappointing part of the meal was our waitress. She was inattentive and just plain blah. Like I said before, it wasn't that busy. She maybe had 3 tables, and seemed overly attentive to the table next to us but I overheard someone from their table express that she hadn't showed up to refill drinks in over 20 minutes.

Over all, it was enjoyable. And the leftovers were phenomenal as well :) Nice date night with the bestie!

My chicken alla parmigiana

Oscars!

By far the best part of my weekend was watching the Oscars at my parents house with them & the dogs! This wouldn't normally have been my favorite overall, but this weekend didn't exactly go the way I wanted it, to say the least.

I was pleasantly surprised by the fashion, not so surprised by the big winners. I must confess that the only movie I saw that was nominated for best picture was Toy Story 3, although several of those movies are now in my Netflix queue (like most of America who didn't see them before the Oscars). I thought Anne Hathaway & James Franco were decent hosts - Anne was hilarious and had more personality than James. My twitter feed had several people commenting that they thought James was 'high' which I thought was funny. He just wasn't as bubbly as Anne.

LOVED Mila Kunis' dress! So chic.

Best skit by Anne & James. Her sequined heels were fab.

Woody & Buzz steal my heart every time!

Although this weekend wasn't filled with all things fabulous, I do have to say that my friends & family are always there through everything. I am lucky to have a core group of friends that always laugh at my jokes, support my every decision and love me no matter what. Its those things that get you past the bad to see the good, which reminds me of a quote:

"You never see the hard days in a photo album..
but those are the ones
that get you from one happy moment to the next."-Just Married

5th Floor Neighbor

I don't even know how to begin this post because its completely random, but today when coming home from dinner, Rosi & I realized that our 5th floor neighbor who took the apartment we were originally going to rent moved out :( This would be sadder had we actually known the guy's name but we didn't. We just moved in on the same weekend a year ago and passed each other in the hallway/elevators and gave a friendly wave. He was a nice guy who had a nice job (he drove an Audi!). We haven't seen him or his car in weeks so he probably moved at the start of Feb. Oh well. Buh bye neighbor on the 5th floor, hope you're doing well!

Amazing Music

Went to the Joshua Radin concert last night with my friend Madeline and it was amazing! I had never heard of him but when Madeline invited me to go I put him on Pandora and realized he was very similar to bands I already listen to: Death Cab for Cutie, John Mayer, Jack Johnson, Matt Nathanson, etc. Well Joshua Radin is better than all them combined - especially live! There's something about live music that makes you feel alive, like the music speaks to you.

The Pabst theater is a beautiful venue and its great for the acoustic music we heard last night. It was the most calm concert I've ever been to (we sat 80% of the time) and I think that's what made it so great. You could actually sit and listen to the lyrics and hear what the songwriter is saying through the music.

He also had 2 great opening acts: Laura Jansen who I am currently obsessed with & can't wait for her album to come out March 22, and Cary Brothers. Both had very similar music but with their own unique twist.

Here are some links so you can enjoy this fabulous music and discover someone new.

Laura Jansen - Single Girls

Joshua Radin - You Got What I Need & Brand New Day

Cary Brothers - Belong

Brewers

The drab weather we've been having on top of the recent snow fall has made me thinking about spring and all that it entails - BREWERS SEASON!! So excited for another great season with my favorite MLB team :) To kick off last season, the roommate and I managed to get Opening Day tickets and had a blast. Tailgating, jello shots, margaritas - just to name a few of the things we did. We only watched a total of 1 & 1/2 innings because we were either waiting in line for something or running into people we knew. This year, unfortunately, I don't think I will be going to Opening Day :( I know so depressing but I have my reasons! First, its a Monday & second, I'm saving the little bit of vacation I have until my first yr anniversary at Gossen (I'll get 45+ hrs once I've been here a yr) for my best friends wedding in June. I will most likely have the game playing on the radio in my office. I am planning on attending at least 10 games this season! Get a group together and just go - even if its a random Tuesday night. The stadium food, atmosphere, everything is what makes it a great time. Baseball = America.

The pictures uploaded are from a few of my favorite games with some of my favorite people.

Once a Brewers fan, always a Brewers fan!

Tailgating is the best part

Showing my pride all year long :)

Snacking

I work in an office and people are constantly bringing in treats. Either their wife demanded they take it to work or they deliberatly made us a treat, or the occasional gift from a customer - there is usually always something in the lunch room. My office mates & I came up with a top 5 list of things we like to snack on while at work:

1.) Cheetos
Even though the orange powder gets everywhere & you have to lick your fingers to get it off, nothing beats a handful of cheetos.

2.) Brownies
A lady in customer service makes the BEST brownies and tops them off with cream cheese icing. Delish.

3.) Beer Dip
If I haven't refrenced him yet I will at some point in a post regarding to work, but my most fun work mate is Robert & he makes a killer beer dip (not better than my roomies tho!). There is something so easy and free as a coupld fritos with dip. Kinda make the day better.

4.) Carrots

This is my personal fave because carrots are so delicious and the crunchy-ness is like eating a chip but healthier!

5.) Bagels
Bagels are the easy, no-fuss, toasted or non breakfast food everyone loves. Its even better when the 'shmears' aka cream cheese comes in good flavors like sun roasted tomato or garden veggie instead of just plain. Who wants to be boring?

I realize our top 5 list is not healthy, but you can let yourself indulge once in awhile. Not every day do we have brownies or cake. Today for instance, theres nothing in the kitchen but I brought cheetos and shared. And when any of us do have any snacks, we share (if there not for the entire community in the kitchen). Such nice office mates I have! Happy snacking!

Library & Pasta

So the name of this post is a little weird and probably caught your attention. I thought I'd post a picture of my outfit (at least the top half, I'm already in sweats!) because I thought it was sorta cute today. But I also thought I looked like a librarian - which I'm not saying is a bad thing haha. As much as I don't like the way I look because I'm not smiling in this picture, you can see the embellishment in my top.




Now for the next part: my dinner! I LOVE chicken & pasta and they are probably the 2 easiest ingredients to work with as well as add anything to. I sauteed onion and mushrooms in a little grape seed oil before adding the chicken. While the water is boiling and chicken sauteing, I brought to a boil about a 1/2 cup milk with 2 tablespoons butter. I then whisked in Wildtree's Alfredo Extraordinaire mix because I didn't have any home made ingredients to put in (i also added a tablespoon of flour to thicken). The chicken should be pretty much done by now so the heat can be turned to low, and pasta al dente. To get my veggies I added frozen sugar snap peas but broccoli, sweet peas, stir fry mix - anything basically would do. Once those are warmed, you can drain pasta and add to chicken and onions. Pour the sauce over, sprinkle with a little fresh Parmesan and presto! Instant dinner that's satisfying and not too high in calories or fat. I used whole wheat mostaccoli rigatti so it would soak up the sauce.

YUM - O in the words of Rachael Ray

The finished project!

Let me just say that it tasted as good as it looks! So easy! If you don't have a healthy Alfredo mix like Wildtree, here is an easy at home sauce that I have made before.

Brewfest 2011

Every year Milwaukee Ale House hosts its annual Brewfest. This year was the 14th annual and they hosted over 20 different breweries with 60+ beers to taste. This was my 4th year attending; my parents' 10th (you could say they are some serious beer lovers).

This year was the most fun yet for many different reasons. First off, the weather was bad and it was snowing pretty heavily before we got there. For the past couple years, my parents had made pretzel necklaces for everyone in our group - something to munch on while drinking. Last year was the first time one the Ale House owners suggested we make them for the general public and donate all proceeds to the MACC fund. This year, while making the pretzel necklaces, the power went out (due to the weather)! It was out for over an hour and half before it finally came back on. Due to fire codes, Ale House was not allowed to let any more people in, so for over an hour people waited outside in the snow to get into Brewfest! We also celebrated my dads birthday so while the lights were out we lit the candles on the cake & sang happy birthday. TheI'm so thankful we were inside warm and drinking already :) I think each year gets more fun because of the people in our group, the vendors and other patrons. Its always a good time with good friends and good beer.

Nana selling the pretzel necklaces!

Erik & I

The 2011 Brewfest crew! (minus my dad & I)

Weather Advisory

Southeastern Wisconsin has been under a weather advisory since last evening. 2-6" of snow across Milw. county with a mix of snow/sleet/rain during the early morning hours. I'd estimate where I was we got 5 in. but this morning my windshield had about 1/2 inch of ICE on it. My arms got a work out from trying to scrap it off! This is the most annoying thing about winters in Wisconsin.
I realize its only the end of February so spring really isn't within reach yet, but the nice 50 degree weather we had last week was fabulous.

As I write this, the snow isn't falling yet but we're anticipating another couple inches :( More than likely tomorrow will not be a snow day like earlier this month, which was great until our parking lot wasn't going to be towed until the following morning and we had to literally dig each others cars out. I thought living in an apt. building meant you didn't have to shovel but I guess not. The only thing about the snow that is a plus is when its still fresh & compact, it fills the pot holes that lay all over the city :)

Pretty In Pink

I love pampering myself. I regularly get my eyebrows waxed, hair done and tan, but a manicure is a treat to myself. There's a nail salon right by my apt. that one of my girlfriends took me to a month ago. Gloss is a small salon that opened about a year ago with a full line of services. The staff is super friendly and they're reasonably priced. I wanted a spring color so I chose Lovie Dovie by Essie

I love this color - its very bright and reminds me of Easter eggs ;)
I love anything pink and Essie has a huge collection of pink hues in any and all colors & shades of pink you can think of.
Someone else cleaning your cuticles and painting your nails is so relaxing and stress free. The perfect way to start a Saturday :)

TGIF!

Friday night we went out for my dads birthday! We went to one of his favorite places, Crawdaddy's located in West Allis. Its a Creole/Cajun/New Orleans style restaurant with a Mardi Gras atmosphere. The food was great and the service was excellent. It wasn't too busy which made the service that much better.

I got the Chicken Oscar which was amazinggggg.
Grilled chicken served with house carrots and angel hair pasta topped with crawfish, asparagus & hollandaise sauce. DELISH.



It was a fabulous night out with my parents as well. Theres just something so comforting about having a nice dinner out and talking about work and life like an adult with your parents. I'm glad I got to celebrate with my dad and have a great night out.

Words with Friends

I love my iPhone. Its sleek, sexy and I surprisingly don't have many dropped calls!
The apps on a smart phone are the best, especially games you can play against others. Words with friends is currently my top fave.


Its scrabble and its amazinggggg. The best games are played with people you know, but the random games are fun too - more competitive to beat someone you've never met! So if you have an iPhone download & play - its free :) My name is Arose55 .
It just came to Android phones but there's still a few glitches. Happy scrabbl-ing! haha

Top 5

I have always loved traveling. I was lucky enough to see most of the US on summer trips with my parents growing up. Some of my greats memories are the ones when we're on vacation. I am a firm believer that once you start traveling, you never want to stop which is how I've come up with my top 5 list of places I want to go in my lifetime.

1.) Australia.
I have wanted to visit the beaches of Australia and see kangaroos and koala's for as long as I can remember. I have a savings account my dad & I call the 'Australia Fund' that's been around since about 8th grade. Australia is so appealing with those cute aussie accents everyone has. Hopefully if I go I would pick one up :) haha

2.) Greece
Greece has so much history and is so beautiful (from the pictures). A huge seafood loving country, I can only imagine all the delicious fish I would be eating while looking at the deep blue oceans.

3). Italy
I am a HUGE pasta & wine lover so Italy has been calling my name since I knew what vino was. So rich in culture, Italy has so many beautiful things to offer a tourist: the arts, Catholic faith history, gorgeous natives... :) My family recently found out we were Italian, which was surprising since my parents were in Germany searching for family, so going there could open new avenues of my heritage as well as good food & great scenery.

4.) Ireland
Irish accents are SO hott! But besides cute Irishmen, Ireland also has great views. A small country in Europe, it has a rich history & huge love for beer and good music. The small corner pubs and friendly atmosphere make Ireland an ideal travel spot. Many museums to visit as well as kissing the blarney stone is something I definitely want to do!

5). Hawaii
Paradise. This picture basically sums up what I'd love to do in Hawaii: sitting on the beach with a mai tai catching some rays. I've never been close to a volcano which would be cool to see or worn a hula skirt, both of which I would do if I ever get the chance to visit America's paradise!

Friend or Foe?

I recently was asked to accept a friendship via Facebook. This would be all fine & dandy since I know the person, but they de-friended me over a year ago. So, why ask for my friendship again? We didn't run into each other nor have said 2 words since we became non-friends via fbook (as I like to call it).

It makes me ask the question of why we clear out our social networking page and de-friend people. Do they keep popping up on our newfeeds too much? Did they do something so unforgivable the only thing you know that would hurt them more then not talking to them is to de-friend? Or do they simply not mean anything to you because you had a class with them once and decided to become Facebook friends. Whichever the case (I am guilty of de-friended for all of these reasons), can you redeem your self and ask for the friendship again? I say no. There is a reason I didn't want to be your friend anymore or if you deleted me as a friend, I will firmly not accept. Our first friendship was a sham so why would I want to be your friend again. Try another deleted friend, I'm not interested.

Bed Head

I love the way a new hair cut makes you feel. So fresh and fabulous. I just got a trim because I'm growing it out for a wedding I'm in this summer, but still. You can't beat a new hair cut!

My hairdresser is so great & I feel so comfortable with her. She talked me into buying some new shampoo which was worth it because my hair feels even better today than yesterday! The salon recently started promoting Bed Head which is a brand I've only used through samples. I bought the recovery set since I color my hair & straighten/blow dry almost every day and don't want it to be any more damaged than it already is. Its got huge moisturizing amounts in each use and really gets into the hair to get the dryness out. It also has a great smell! New shampoo always makes you want to wash your hair like 3 times a day because its so awesome (please tell me I'm not the only dork who thinks that!).

Let me just say that I love the stuff I bought and just needed to have a little PSA about Bead Head products!

Latest Obsession

My latest obsession are these peep toe heels from
White House Black Market.
I had been eyeing these babies up since about August but couldn't bring myself to buy them once I saw the price tag. Last month, however, they went on $ale & I couldn't pass it up.
They are SUPER comfy and the 4in. heel make feel like a model I'm so much taller!
The black color and chic bow tie in front make them ideal for any outfit.
Currently obsessed and plan on wearing them to work and anywhere else that's fabulous :)

Valentine's Day

Ahhhh Valentine's Day. The day lovers around the world profess their love and affection through cheesy cards, over priced flowers & decadent chocolates. The time of year when (unfortunately) commitment-phobes break up with their significant others simply because the pressures of this hallmark holiday are too much. I, for one, have never been into this holiday because I think that if you love someone, you should show it everyday. Or at least on a random Tuesday in April, instead of the dreaded 14th of February. But, to each his own.



I happen to have a Valentine this year, and he did very well. Sent a fabulous bouquet of assorted roses to the office which you can see above. Flowers always make a girl feel special, even if they're not a fan of Valentine's Day.