Lovin' Me Some Five Guys

We took the opportunity this weekend, while my brother and his fiancé were in town, to try a new restaurant in Albuquerque. We chose a restaurant that was not only new to us, but new to the 505 as well.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries recently opened their first store in New Mexico and Albuquerqueans have welcomed them with open arms. Wondering what all the fuss was about, we headed on over with our guests. At 8 O'Clock Saturday night, the place was still packed with a line almost out the door.

Matt had already been there, so he adviced me on what to order so I could avoid the “do you know about our menu” question. We snacked on peanuts as we waited for our food and when it was ready, I realized what everyone was raving about. You could see the grease through the brown bag! Check out the yumminess that was inside.

 Somehow I ended up with the short fry.

So good, but so so bad for you! Since that wasn't the only thing I indulged in this weekend (My brother and his fiance were kind enough to bring us pizza AND Krispy Kreme donuts for dinner on Friday night), I will be trying to make up for it all week by eating more than my daily portion of fruits and doing a few more sit-ups.

Thanks to Perry and Nicole for making the trip up to the 505!

Have a great week!

Water for Elephants

I finished reading my Valentine's Day gift from Matt the other night; Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.

I couldn't really decide if I liked it, but then I went to the author's website and found out she's Canadian. Since I've been infatuated with Canada and all things Canadian since the Olympics, I decided that I at least like the author.

Miss Gruen's book is about a 93 year old widower named Jacob. When the circus pulls in across the street from his nursing home, his mind wanders back to the day that he joined the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular after his parents were both killed in a car accident. During his stint with the circus, Jacob falls in love, gets the crap beaten out of him and acquires a polish speaking elephant named Rosie. My favorite part was definitely the ending, but not because I was anxious for it to end. It was a happy ending to what seemed like a depressing life for an old man.

I've never been to a circus like those of the Benzini Brothers, so the whole time I was reading this book, I kept thinking about a movie I saw when I was younger called The Greatest Show on Earth.

I can't remember that much about it so I am dying to Netflix it. What I do remember is that that clown is not really a clown at all, but a murderer! He killed his wife and joined the circus to hide from the FBI. I'm pretty sure this is where I gained my fear of clowns from.

Next on my reading list is The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. I've heard it's great and it has caught my eye the last 3 times I've been to the bookstore. Our local library currently has 268 copies on hold so I'm either going to have to wait till next year to read it or break down and buy a copy.

What have your been reading lately?

A Homemade Chalk Board

Lately, I have been neglecting my 101 in 1001 list, but this weekend I was able to complete another item.

(40) Find something to put on that bare wall in our dinning room)

We've lived in our current home for almost a year and our dinning room has been somewhat bare this whole time. We have a rather large wall that we struggled to decorate until my sister-in-law had a great idea that we totally went with. We decided to hang a black chalk board, much like ones used as menus in small restaurants, to go along with the french/country/bistro theme we think we like.

I did a little shopping online and found out that decorative chalk boards are not cheap. Pottery Barn had one for $150.00, which is just a little ridiculous, so we made our own! On Saturday morning, we headed to Lowe's to pick up our supplies.

• 3x4 inch piece of wood: $5.00 (There happened to be a piece of "scrap" hanging out by the wood cutting place and we were able to have it cut to the size we wanted and ended up paying less than half the original price)
• 1 qt of chalk board paint: $12.98
• 1 qt of water based primer: $5.98
• 2 foam brushes: $0.89 each
• 1 Package of wall anchors: $1.90

Total with tax: $29.26

Take that Pottery Barn!

After a very successful trip to Lowe's, (the people are just as helpful as they are on the commercials!) we began our project by applying a coat of primer to the wood.

Did you know primer was white? Apparently, I've never used primer before, because I was expecting it to be clear. Anyways, after we added a few more coats of primer, Matt filed the rough edges down.

Can I just say that I am so thankful for a husband who not only knows how to use tools but who is very meticulous too. I would have never thought about, known how to or had the patience to do this part.

Our next step was to add the black chalk paint and let it dry for 24 hours.

The next day, we hung the board using 6 screws and anchors. We then covered the screws with the paint and wa la! We had our chalk board!

My next task, which I thought would be easy, was to buy white chalk. I couldn't find it anywhere, so I settled for a box of colored chalk. When I got home, we finally got to do what we had been looking forward to during this whole project; Make an NCAA bracket, of course!

When all the "madness" is over, I plan on finding fun quotes and verses to write on the board. We're pretty excited about our homemade chalk board and how our dinning room is starting to come together.

Snow and Upsets = March Madness

On the first day of Spring we woke up to snow.

Like most of the snow we get here in Albuquerque, it melted quickly. The weekend turned out to be a cold but beautiful one that we spent working on a fun project and watching so many March Madness upsets that our brackets are done for.

The Kansas Jayhawks, who I chose to go all the way, were beaten yesterday by a team from "nowhereswille" Northern Iowa. It's frustrating to see my bracket go up in smoke but you really can't beat a good Cinderella story and I'm excited to see how long Northern Iowa can stay in it. If only the Aggies could have pulled something like that off. They were so close!

Even though I have a loosing bracket, I've really enjoyed following the teams and watching the games with Matt and friends. I can't handle more than 7 games in a 24 hour period, though. So, Matt's on his own for these couple of games today. I'll get the recap from him later.

Whether you've had snow or sunshine, a winning or a losing bracket, I hope you are enjoying the first days of Spring. Happy Sunday!

Selection Sunday!

Today is Selection Sunday and that means that I get to cross another item off my list!

20) Fill out a well researched March Madness bracket

(Click photo to enlarge)

 

After a busy weekend filled with family, basketball and baby showers, Matt and I got to work on our brackets. I filled mine out with a little help from Matt and the guys on ESPN. I hope they know what they're talking about and Kansas doesn't let us down!


This is an exciting year for basketball fans all over New Mexico because the I-25 rivals are both going to the dance! That's right the NMSU Aggies (Woo! Woo!) and that other team from Albuquerque will be competing.  Although I would love to see the Aggies go all the way, the reality is, that they don't have a chance and UNM will probably make it farther. So, I have NMSU making it past the 1st round (Fingers crossed!) but losing to Maryland in the 2nd. I have to admit that it would be cool to see a New Mexican team make it to the 3rd round, so I have the Lobo's beating Marquette and losing to West Virginia. Our other rival, the UTEP Miners, are supposed to be good this year as well. I'm predicting another upset with them beating Vanderbilt and also making it to the 3rd round.

I'm excited to watch my teams play and am hoping my predictions are not that far off, even though I might have picked Kansas over Kentucky because I like their mascott. Rock Chalk, Jayhawk!

Who do you have going all way?

Well Hello March!

Wow! March is already underway and that means that I need to get to work on another item from the 101.

20) Fill out a well researched March Madness Bracket

I did this last year and it was a total joke. My teams didn't make it very far at all, probably because the only information I had to go off of was the teams mascot. But this year I am in it to win it! I won't be betting any money on it, but I would like to have an intelligent conversation about the games with my husband, one that doesn't involve me saying how funny their mascot is or how ugly a team's jerseys are. No doubt, I will point these things out but hopefully that won't be all I am capable of talking about.

From what I understand, the teams are announced on the 14th and the first round begins on the 16th. So that means, that I have less than 16 days to read up on the teams, watch some games and pick some favorites.

So tell me, who is your favorite NCAA team and why? If you sell me on it, you might just get another fan cheering for your team and I am VERY loyal.