want to know a secret?

k, don't tell anyone, but i am a really good restaurant picker. i mean REALLY good.

picking a restaurant is not just about surfing yelp, finding a five-star review, and making the reservation.  oh no, it's so much more than that.

it's about knowing the composite personality of your group, and understanding that any one person can completely change that dynamic. it's about determining the mood and the tastes of that group and identifying the middle ground.  it's about finding the right balance of ambiance and activity and comfortable chairs. it's about making that choice, in my case very often, without ever having stepped foot inside the restaurant before.

all this to say that tonight was another success story, and if you're ever in ft. worth, make sure you check out h3 ranch at the stockyards.

on the road again

...and back at dfw for the thousandth time this year. this time, i'm sticking around for a couple days.



- Posted from my iPhone

Location:Access Rd,Northeast Tarrant,United States

knee surgery: the sequel

fourteen years ago, when i tore my acl, mcl, and meniscus, i spent six months on crutches, and spent years getting full range of motion back.

while i knew that this meniscal re-tear wasn't on the same scale, i found it impossible to believe the doctors when they told me i would probably not need crutches at all.  but, it has now been almost two weeks since the surgery, and i am happy to report that they were spot on. while they provided crutches 'just in case', i haven't had any cause to use them.

the surgery itself was a breeze.  the nurses were attentive and entertaining, and i was knocked out before i was even wheeled into the or.  i woke up in recovery, and it only took me about twenty minutes to come out of the anesthesia.  jenny and rachel entertained me until they were ready to release me.

i stayed with the donahoos that day waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it never did, and the next day, while in a little more pain, i was still remarkably mobile.  that mobility has continued to improve on a daily basis.  the biggest post-surgical side effect is that i'm exhausted.  i'm still a little limpy, and i suspect it is taking more energy from the rest of my body to balance the 'weak link.'  my routine this week has been that i wake up, go to work, come home from work, go to bed, wake up, go to work, etc.  i've been averaging 10-12 hours of sleep this week, and my body must need it.

all in all though, it's a very minor price to pay and i couldn't have asked for a better surgery experience. stitches come out on wednesday and i can't wait to get the bandages removed so i can wear pants again!

kansas city: wrap up

as i'm sure none of you remember, this conference, in 2009, was a bit rough.  the booth setup was a challenge, the weather (hot and humid) was a challenge, and i remember being exhausted for most of the show.

this year could not have been more different.  the setup was a breeze, and because of the knee, i could not actually work the booth during the show. the combination of these factors meant that i could really enjoy the trip,  and while i don't mean to imply that i wasn't working as hard, things just seemed to fall into place more smoothly.

highlights from my 'play' time for the rest of the trip included breakfast at 39th street mama's, another diners, drive-ins, and dives restaurant, and a wacky bowling game at lucky strike (i watched and laughed and videod).

i was also super-excited that the concert being hosted by the conference was sara evans, a country singer i particularly enjoy.  and thanks to melissa's early arrival, we had great seats.

a little blurry, but an event still worth being captured.
i finally met melissa's husband nick! 

sara sang most of her well-known singles, but my favorite may have been when she covered 'i want you to want me,' and 'suspicious minds.'

and, while we're talking about highlights, let us not forget the scooter.  the old lady scooter that my company allowed me to rent in order to avoid too much wear and tear on the knee, pre-surgery.  the scooter was an absolute lifesaver.  but more than that, it was a lot of fun.  not only did i enjoy (possibly a little too much) wizzing by co-workers on our way to and from the convention center, but melissa challenged me to a scooter race.

i will confirm her version of the race, but ultimately we were both winners!

my trip was cut a bit short by having to return home for surgery, but all in all, it was absolutely fantastic.  i can honestly say it would rank in the top 3 work trips i've had in the last two years, and i've had some great experiences.  maybe the restlessness of having been grounded for the last couple of months was a factor but i was definitely ancy for a good time, and i got one!

kansas city: day 3

it's my birthday....it's my birthday...it's my birthday.

and it was no secret that i wasn't uber-excited about celebrating it in kansas city. on a work trip.  but life has a way of surprising you - especially when you take the proverbial bull by the horns.  and after my first couple of days in kc, i decided to stop being a baby and make the most of it.

i had selected the location for my birthday dinner over a month before and invited a few of my favorite co-workers.  but on birthday morning, i decided that that was just the first step, and i added 'find birthday crown' to my to-do list for the day.

my co-worker, diana, mused that she wasn't sure i was 'that kind of person.'  my response was that i wasn't, and that that was exactly why i was going to do it!  what the heck, right?!

our mission was a success, and in addition to the 'birthday princess' tiara, i also found a birthday princess sash, a set of birthday princess plates and napkins, and picked up a few mini-tiaras for the girls joining us at dinner. diana also bought me a cake, and we were ready to roll!

i and a couple others headed to the airport to make a pick-up before meeting with the rest of the group at oklahoma joe's, the evening's restaurant choice.

now, this choice was made very carefully, with the single goal of finding good barbecue in kansas city.

despite the cities reputation for great bbq, i'd been consistently thwarted on my previous trip, and i was determined to remedy the situation.  the fact that oklahoma joe's is a bbq restaurant inside a gas station, and that i would be wearing a tiara to said restaurant, as you might imagine, appealed immensely to my sense of irony.  the fact that it was also listed on anthony bourdain's 'top 13 places to eat before you die' list was just icing on the cake. no pun intended.

as expected, there was a line.  but the half-hour wait time gave me plenty of opportunity to catch up with co-workers who had just arrived in town, and whom i hadn't seen in some time.  it also gave me an opportunity to receive a slew of birthday well-wishes from strangers, and one came in the unique form of a 'tip' from an employee, about an off-menu item that was a staff favorite.

i'm no dummy. i took the recommendation, and am happy to report that my mission to find good bbq in kansas city was a resounding success!

after we enjoyed our bbq - and the entire group agreed that it was delicious - we enjoyed yummy cake on our birthday princess plates before calling it a night.

ultimately, what i expected to be a downer of a birthday resulted in one of the more interesting and fun experiences i've had in a long time!

kansas city: day 2

boy was i ready for this trip.  and despite the fact that i was in kansas city for work, i was on a mission to have a good time.  even though i sometimes complain about being on the road too much, travel is addictive.  thanks to the knee, i've been home for a month and a half, and i was in desperate need of a fix.  add that to my impending birthday, an event i always greet with mixed emotions, and all the question marks surrounding knee surgery, scheduled to take place immediately upon my return home, and i was seriously ready to let loose.

lucky for me the 'work' part of the trip went remarkably smoothly, leaving me plenty of time to enjoy myself.  having my little helper along (diana) was a great bonus.  she has been interning for my colleague for over a year now, but she is sharp and hard-working and genuinely pleasant to be around, and we wanted to keep her.  the solution was to bring her on full-time, with her spending half her time focusing on (but amplifying) her current job duties, and half her time helping me with events.  and trust me, i need the help!

diana has no background in events which is kind of fun for me.  she's bright enough and learning quickly, and i'm enjoying showing someone my world from the ground up.  it was also a great help to have her onsite helping me manage the little tasks made more difficult by my physical limitations. and i was glad to have someone to laugh with me and at me as i learned to operate my transportation for the show; an electric scooter.

since i didn't feel it was an option to miss this event, the vp of my department insisted on my renting (on the company dime) a scooter, to help me minimize the pre-surgery wear and tear.  since, in the past, i've pedometered myself, and seem to average about 10 miles per day at events, it seemed like a good idea. in hindsight, i simply could not have managed without it. and while it turned out to be a genuine necessity, it also provided a great deal of entertainment.  one memory etched in my brain forever occurred after i picked the scooter up from the front desk (the mobility company having dropped it off earlier that day).  i carefully cruised my way into the small elevator, and needless to say it was less than graceful.  in fact, it was SO non-graceful, diana literally had to prop herself up in the corner of the elevator to keep from falling down because she was laughing so hard.

and the scooter resulted in a LOT of laughter throughout the weekend. i think i want one for every show from here on out! ;)

me (and my vicodin smile), julie, melissa, and diana

after a relatively smooth conclusion to the first day of setup, we proceeded to the fun stuff, which, in this case of course, was food.  i had scoped out the triple d list before heading to kc and had chosen the restaurant's i wanted to try.  on tap for the evening was swagger, a bar, serving some rather unusual menu items.

woo-hoo! look at this menu!

and lucky for me, melissa was able to break away from her conference duties to join diana, vanessa, julie and i for a very yummy dinner.


melissa went with the suribachi burger, a 1/3 lb. burger patty grilled then tempura battered and fried, with asian mustard, sriracha hot chili sauce, pepper jack cheese, wasabi coleslaw, and boy was it yummy! while the combination of the wasabi and hot chili sauce quite literally made her cry, she let me take a bite, and i completely enjoyed it.  i mean a tempura burger? seriously?!


diana and i both went with the steve martin, a teriyaki marinated chicken breast coated in jamaican jerk seasoning with swiss cheese and topped with wasabi coleslaw.  and holy hannah, i'm still craving it.  it was the most amazing combination of flavors i've had in a really long time.

diana, me, julie, and melissa in the 816 (area code)

while i was mildly disappointed no one opted to try the dead texan (two texas toast grilled cheese sandwiches with a 1/3 lb. burger, 1 egg, 3 slices of bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion, jalapenos, and peppercorn mayo in between) i was pretty happy with my choice, and pretty happy to get another check mark on that ddd list!

kansas city: day 1

well, hallelujah!  it seems as though the universe has seen fit to pause the recent craap-storm of bad luck and strange fortune and offered up a most excellent trip to the great state of missouri.

yep, you heard me.  and it took me quite by surprise as well!

i landed in kc on wednesday afternoon, and after picking up the rental car, getting myself and my co-worker diana (aka 'my little helper') checked in at the hotel, and cleaning the plane-ness off me, i headed out for a very special dinner with some very special people.

14 or so years ago, my career in event planning started at the salt palace convention center in salt lake city.  while i was originally hired on as the receptionist, it was only two months before my boss and i both realized i had outgrown the position, and i was offered a different one, serving as the assistant to our director of events.  to this day brett remains one of my all-time favorite bosses (and i've had some good ones). he had high expectations but he also really liked to have fun, and we had a lot of it in the year and a half i worked for him.  he set the tone for the department, and i found that most of the event managers followed his lead.  one of the best examples was kenny, who always had a smile, a thank you, and a 'good job' on his tongue.  i adored them both.

kenny, denise, me, and brett

i've kept in sporadic touch with brett over the years, though mostly in the context of letting him know that he might be getting a reference call when i was on the job hunt.  i knew he had moved to kansas several years ago to serve as general manager for a convention center, but it took me awhile to figure just how close he was, to where i would be.  and it was only recently that i learned that kenny had gone to work for him, so i scheduled a dinner back in june, and i have literally been looking forward to it for months.

they chose a restaurant brett referred to as 'a kansas city institution,' called stroud's.  and as an added bonus, it was also featured on the travel network show man v. food.  in fact, now may be a good time to mention that in addition to my penchant for getting national park stamps during my travels, i've recently begun making an effort to patronize restaurants featured on various food and travel network shows...man v. food, diners, drive-ins, and dives, and anthony bourdain's various and random shows.  much like the national parks, it forces me to explore my surroundings a little more, and i've been pleasantly surprised more than a time or two.

how great for me that i got to check a restaurant off the list while enjoying delicious fried chicken and waffle fries and cinnamon rolls with brett, kenny, and denise (kenny's wife, who i also worked with at the salt palace).  as so much time had passed, we had a LOT to catch up on.  yet, it was also one of those experiences where you settle right back in as if no time has passed at all.  i think it's fair to say that that effortless ease for picking up where you left off is largely what makes my favorite people my favorite people!

but my wonderful dinner with old friends was not nearly close to the end of the evening.  when i got back to the hotel, i hooked up with diana, julie, and vanessa to head over to the power & light district.  the show didn't start until saturday, but we were all in town early for different reasons; diana and i for booth setup, and julie and vanessa for clinic visits.

vanessa, diana, me, and julie
(and random old dude, and nick, jason's friend)

i've mentioned my semi-addiction to dueling piano bars in the past, and power & light (a neighborhood of restaurants, bars, theaters, and other entertainment) has one called howl at the moon.  as it was a wednesday night, things were pretty quiet, and while the place had more empty tables than full ones, both pianos were being utilized and we settled in for a somewhat relaxing evening of entertainment.

but we expected to be a relatively quiet night turned into a quite interesting and quite entertaining one when a totally inappropriate suitor took a liking to the lovely diana and a totally darling suitor took a liking to me.  long story short, i didn't know that my 'suitor', jason, had any interest in me until hours later. initially i thought he was simply trying to be a stand-up guy in helping diana fend off the much too old and far too inebriated man who wouldn't leave her alone.  the 'fending off' involved a ruse that included diana as his sistah (i'll explain THAT in a moment) and me as his wife.

this is sometimes what happens when i introduce someone
to 'the stick'. i end up laughing, they end up pointing or
grabbing their friends. 

the ruse served it's purpose for the most part, and i enjoyed getting to know my new 'husband,' who, it turns out is a bahston boy.  a southie in fact. so if you've seen good will hunting, you'll know what i'm talking about.  you know that movie the departed?  well it's actually the depahted.  and it's kinda retahded.  and it was all super cute.  of course the fact that he had dark hair, blue eyes, and seemed to be a pretty stand up guy didn't hurt, but again, i was completely clueless until the end of the night when he verbally expressed his interest and asked for my number.

see here's the thing:  i'm not that girl.  according to diana, he walked into the place, saw me, and 'picked me.'  he sat down next to me despite the multitude of empty tables, and according to my co-workers, i was somewhat of an idiot not to reacognize his interest from the get-go.  but i'm not that girl!  i'm NEVER the girl who, when a guy walks in a room he thinks; 'that girl. that's the girl i want.'  i'm always the girl they get to know and THEN they think 'that's the girl i want.'  and trust me, i'm so completely okay with this (most of the time anyway).  but the concept of a guy 'seeing me across the room' yada yada yada is so foreign to me that it never occurred to me that he had any interest until it was almost too late.

if i knew then what i knew later, i would
have made him take a 'normal' picture.

the upside is that, as i was completely unaware of his intentions, i was totally natural and me and enjoyed a no-pressure fun evening with a cool guy, and the downside is that none of it really matters anyway.  because, despite the fact that i met a cute boy with whom there was a mutual attraction and who actually attempted to DO something about it, it doesn't really matter because he's a cute boy that isn't mormon.

is it any wonder i spent most of my dating years with non-members?  of course, that may be a contributing factor to my current singlehood, but seriously, non-mormon boys are just so much more NORMAL! buggah.

but, all that being said, it was a pretty phenomenal way to start the trip.  i took it for what it was worth and had a fantastic evening.