B-U-N-C-O

...And bunco was its name-o! Oh wait, wrong letters. 

Last night, I attended my monthly bunco group. As always, we had a blast! Bunco, for those of you not in the know, is a dice game designed for 12 players. AKA an excuse for 12 ladies to get together for food, drinks, chit-chat, and PRIZES! The group formed back in September and we each take a turn hosting for the night. I wouldn't call myself competitive in most areas of my life...but games are a different story. I roll those die like a mad woman! There are 5 prizes given out each time, all worth around $10. Prizes go to the person with: Highest Score, Most Wins, Most Losses, Most Buncos, and Most Baby Buncos. I was excited to win a cute picture frame last night. Here are some pictures to let you in on the madness:

The prizes - I love seeing what everyone chooses!

Chatting, lots of chatting.

We keep score and rotate tables. Sometimes we lose count :)

That, my friends, is a Round 6 BUNCO.

Courtney, the shy one, showing off the Bunco Boa!

Brenda won her first prize! WOOOO!

PYAD

Ok, I just stumbled upon this website and had to share: Pinterest, You Are Drunk

Please go click through this hilarity immediately and thank me later. I love me some Pinterest, but some pins just make you go, "huh?"

In other news, I saw Hunger Games last night. LOVED IT! I have a secret theater that does 2-for-1 on Tuesday...no, I'm not telling you where it's located :) Well, we hit the jackpot last night. We walked in at 6:25PM for the 6:45PM show and there were only TWO other people there. By the time the movie started, there were no more than 30 people. That is my kind of movie! I don't like to sit next to people I don't know or feel bad about propping my feet up on the seat in front of me. It's been awhile since I read the books, so I thought the movie hit all the key points. Some things were different, but you have to remember they can only cram so much into a movie. I firmly believe the characters we create in our minds will always be superior, but I was definitely not disappointed. Now Twilight, big disappointment. And Gale is hot, THE END.

Feed ONE

This past Saturday, I served alongside 1,000 of my closest friends to help out with a Family Legacy event. Ok, really I only knew 4 people, but there were almost 1,000 people who volunteered throughout the day. At the Feed ONE event we worked in teams of 12 to mix ingredients for nutrient-rich food packs. These packages will be distributed to children in Zambia. Working in 2 hours shifts, the volunteers had a combined total of 270,000 meals packed. Each package contained enough dry ingredients for 6 servings. According to Family Legacy's fb page, that means approximately 1,000 meals prepared every minute! WHEW! Here's a video about the program:

(So proud of myself for figuring out how to embed this...)

Kids Around the World Food Program from Kids Around the World on Vimeo.

 Here are some pictures from the day:

 

I had such a great time at this event! It was really neat to see the impact you can have in just a few hours. Of course, half the time I felt like an episode of I Love Lucy.

The Odds Are In Their Favor

It's opening weekend for The Hunger Games movie. If you were unaware of this event, you must live under a rock, just not one in Panem. This movie is going to be huge. I heard someone say they are expecting 100 million dollars for opening weekend. Twilight didn't even have that much. Now, I will definitely see these movies, but I'm going to give it a few days. The books were intense and hard to put down, so I have high hopes for the movies. To say there is Hunger Games Mania occurring right now is an understatement. Here are some of the things I've seen online that crack me up:

Leave it to Aggieland Outfitters to make a shirt:

Via Here

 There's an app for that. Hunger Games: Girl on Fire. You get to play Katniss and do Katniss things.

Via Here

China Glaze came out with a polish collection. I like Fast Track & Electrify.

Via Here

 Katniss Action Figure! Peeta & Gale have them too.

Via Here

 Water bottles are funny, because they almost die of dehydration out there. As a carb lover, I always love the boy with the bread!

Via Here

I can't hate on this, because you should see all the NKOTB, N*Sync, and other merchandise I collected over the years. But wow...we thought the vampire craze was bad. Hunger Games is going to be huge.

Dinner Delights

I probably shouldn't say delight, because there was nothing 'light' about these two meals! This has been a weird week to say the least and I've eaten out more than normal. Lucky for you it was at yummy places that I want to share. **Please excuse the iphone pics...I'm just too much of a pansy to bust out a real camera at the dinner table. As a matter of fact, the Bread Winners' waitress totally called me out on taking a pic and said it was "a white girl thing." She then admitted that she does it too. Ummm, ok.

Wednesday night I met my friend Allison at Bread Winners in Inwood Village. I just love that little area. Lots of great restaurants, bars, and cute shops! I've never had a bad experience at Bread Winners and I think their brunch is one of the best. I've only been to dinner here once before, but they recently changed their menu so thought I'd give it a try. I had the Pan Seared Shrimp with Sharp Cheddar Grits (with a honey sriracha sauce) and Allison tried the Turkey Sweet Potato Meatloaf (with leek mashed potatoes, roasted tomato demi). Well....YUM! The portions were huge, so I think the price was appropriate. So many other things looked great on the menu, I'll be back soon!

Look at me...I got both dishes in one picture.

 Thursday was a full day and I didn't eat much, so I wanted a burger in my life! I'd heard lots about Liberty Burger and decided to stop there on my way home. I don't know if it was because they just got mentioned in D Magazine, but this place was packed. As in, line literally out the door kind of packed. I figured this was a good sign and so I joined the masses. You order at a counter and then they bring you the food. After standing there for a while and noticing all these women cutting to meet someone further in line...rude!!...I noticed there was a separate register for to-go orders. Adios! I ordered the Napa Burger (86 the green olives and aioli on the side) and an order of sweet potato fries. The burger came with Gorgonzola cheese, wild arugula, oven-roasted tomatoes, green olives, onion, and basil garlic aioli. The burger was juicy and had great flavor. The fries were spot on. I had to wait 20 minutes for my food and I think it would have been even better if I dined in, but that line was out of control. My total was around $11 and I feel that's pretty average for a "fancy burger place" these days. Their desserts looked amazing, but I had to draw the line somewhere. The elliptical was already calling. I'll be back for you, milkshake.

Fancy picture. Watch out, food stylists. HA!

"I don't share drinks or dessert."

Two weekends ago, I went to Chicago with my friend Dominique. The two of us first met in an insanely hard honors math class our freshman year at A&M. I laugh thinking about my final grade in that class. Even though she claimed to hate sorority girls, she moved past my Theta t-shirt (and Theta rain jacket, bag, pen, you get the picture). We became close through hours of studying which including a lot of me saying, "I'm just going to take a short nap, then I'll keep studying." Remember that final grade...yeah, that was thanks to those naps. She now lives in Austin, welcoming babies into the world as a L&D nurse. Neither of us had been to Chicago, so we planned a weekend and it was a BLAST! Here's a recap:

Thursday: We went to The Purple Pig and enjoyed some tapas & wine. I convinced Dominique to try the fried brussel sprouts...delish! We then headed to the Billy Goat Tavern, a hole in the wall made famous on an old SNL episode. The bartender couldn't have been nicer & gave us these cheeezy hats to really highlight the fact that we were tourists. We ended the night at a piano bar called The Redhead, so you know I loved that.

Friday: We lounged around in the morning and then headed to the Art Institute. I bought groupons for half price admission and we got our $9 worth! There was a guide in the lobby listing out 10 or so things to see in an hour. It took us close to 4 hours...we did see lots of things in between, but still. One hour? Are you expected to sprint? I loved seeing everything though. Fact of the day: In the painting American Gothic, it is father and daughter, not husband and wife. I had no clue!

The Bean! The girl taking our picture also made us lay down and do awkward pictures. Don't even think I'm sharing that craziness.

This was as close as we got to ice skating. I can barely walk without falling, I don't need skates involved!

What was left from some delicious brie fondue at The Gage. This restaurant was wonderful & where this post's title originated. Story: I was looking at the cocktail menu & told Dominique what I was going to order. Her response, "You know you're going to have to share that with me, right?" Without a hesitation I replied, "I don't share drinks or dessert." She was talking about the menu, not the cocktail. Oops! We got a good laugh out of that one.

Late night Chicago dog. I left this one to Dominique, considering I don't care for anything on it. She said it was a great, so we'll go with that!

Saturday: We started off with breakfast at The Bongo Room. Oh wow, some of the best breakfast food I've ever had. That is saying a lot, because it's my favorite meal. We then went to the Field Museum, Navy Pier, and Gino's for authentic deep dish.

Pumpkin & Chocolate Chip pancakes with some delicious cream on top. YUM!

Fact of the day: Africa is BIG. The US, India, Europe, China, Argentina, & New Zealand can all fit inside.

Navy Pier

The weather was perfect on the trip, except for this very moment. As we were walking up Navy Pier, Chicago lived up to the name "The Windy City" & I literally thought we might not make it to a cab.

The deep dish pizza was surprisingly good! As a thin crust lover I was skeptical, but it was really a nice balance of everything.

Basically, we ate tons of great food and then walked around to feel better about all the food we ate. I'm a huge fan of Chicago...it was clean, the people were friendly, and there is lots to see & do. Once Dominique sends me her pics, I'll do an update..try not to lose too much sleep until then :)

YouTube Gold

I don't know about you, but I love YouTube. The things people video and then show the world is insane to me. Here are some of my favorites. Some old, some new, all humorous.

Her focus is to be admired. I guarantee her hubby will get hurt for this video. 

 

This girl takes her song dedications very serious. I want to be her Stickam friend!

 

Flula records in his car. His take on American sayings is hilarious. I don't even care if they are exaggerated, I can't stop watching.

If you've ever had a manicure, you can appreciate this one. Anjelah Johnson also does Bon Qui Qui and what is not to love about that fabulous mess.

Ta Da!

Welcome to Red Velvet Revival -- my slice of the blogging world. I'm an avid blog reader (seriously, my Google reader is a mile long) and thought, "Hey, I can do this!" This blog will be random. You've been warned. There are 4 exits on this page if you chose to leave. Did you just look for 4 options? This isn't an airplane..you're stuck! My posts will be about restaurants I try, trips I take, funny things I see online or in the real world...you get the picture. Speaking of pictures, I promise to have lots of those. I don't promise they will be high quality and breathtaking, but I promise they'll be here. Reading a blog without pictures is like cake without frosting, to stick with my blog theme. As for the picture above, it was the only one I had on my computer so I went with it. Hilarious, right? I think this pose is a combo of the excitement of a "bra" and just seeing the Power Team perform at church. Remember those guys?

How did I come up with the title Red Velvet Revival?

Glad you asked. In short, too many tapas at Cafe Izmir with friends. I had been thinking about a blog and brought it up to Megan & Courtney (you'll hear a lot about them) over dinner one night. We were trying to come up with a name, based on what makes me "me." I'll spare you this dialogue, but some things stuck:

1. I love red velvet cake. Not any red velvet. My mom's is the best. Really. When I turned 16, I cried because she ordered a red velvet from Stein's Bakery (literally, one of the best in Dallas) instead of making me one from scratch.

2. I have red hair. I've never died my hair - a straight up rarity in Dallas.

3. Revival - I live in Texas. We go to church. It just made sense. And really, who can pass up some good alliteration?! 

Well, here goes nothing! Enjoy...