fun, fun, fun weekend

i kicked off my weekend of food, friends, and fun on thursday. the monkey had been trying for quite a while to plan a GTG with some new friends, and we were all excited when we finally found a date that worked for a good number of us.

we decided to meet downtown at magnolia, a restaurant i'd heard lots of good things about but hadn't been to yet. until that day!

note: i'd somehow left both cameras at home and had to settle for pics taken with the iPhone. better than none, yes?

i was one of the latecomers, as most of the group had already arrived. but i wasn't the last one! out of all of us, the monkey lives closest, and yet she was the last one to get there. haha!

as is our happy hour tradition, the ladies had already ordered one of each item on the HH menu. hey, when you can't start the party until HH is at least halfway over and the food is cheap, you do what you gotta do.

despite the fact that i'm not a huge fan of some of these things, i decided to open my mind (and my mouth) and try 'em all.

chicken satay and hummus:

although i dig seafood, i've never been a calamari fan. i still picked up a piece and popped it in my mouth, but all that did was confirm that it's not for me. oh, well.

the special bruschetta of the day featured garbanzo beans - again, not a favorite - but i ate a piece and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was really tasty. yay!

sweet potato fries. i'm pretty ambivalent about sweet potatoes, but the few i ate were good.

fried goat cheese. i'm usually down with the first and third words there, but the middle is a sticking point. these, though, were creamy and drizzled with honey and just...mmmmm.

my usual happy hour beverage of choice: a coke and a smile.

baked mac & cheese. gooey, warm, delicious.

a group pic to commemorate the event. it was really fun to meet some new friends.

these are bean pics i'd snapped with my phone last week and kept forgetting to post. she's growing up so fast - she learns new words practically on an hourly basis, and she's also busting out some really funny faces. if you say "frown!" she'll wrinkle up those brows and give you one mean ass look. and then you turn it around and shout "smile!" and she'll give you the happiest, cheesiest smile you ever did see - usually complete with pointer fingers to her cheeks.

we let her run amok at target, and she decided to pretend that she was a dog. the whole pretending thing is new, too - and a source of great entertainment.

she also likes to "sleep" wherever she can. she gets that from her mama.

last friday, with MIL, she also used the potty chair for real - twice. i guess it's a good thing i wasn't around, because you know i'd have taken a picture of that shit. literally.

she's also growing to be very affectionate, with lots of hugs and kisses. and when i tell her "i love you," she'll say "too!" melts my heart.

two more months and she turns 2. holy crap. where does the time go??