I made a list of 33 things I want to do before I turn 33 in June 2014.  See the full list here.

29.  Attend at least one show at the Orpheum.  We’re classy and cultured, man.

And look how shiny my hair was!  And sequins!

In reality, it’s a long sleeved tshirt with sequins all over it.  Comfy in the back, party in the front. Which is pretty much my perfect idea of glam, let’s be honest.

Chad and I have never been to a show at the Orpheum together, which tells you how overdue this night out at a show was.  I do love this man.  We scored some great tickets thanks to the generosity of a good friend, and we’re super grateful.

Coincidentally, I have also been reading The 19th Wife lately, a novel about Brigham Young’s 19th wife, so I was all up on my LDS history.

The show was just great.  We laughed and laughed and laughed and I would never recommend it to my parents, hello so inappropriate and so irreverent and SO funny.  BRAVO!

I made a list of 33 things I want to do before I turn 33 in June 2014.  See the full list here.

25. Visit Amish country.  I have a lifelong crush on Amish culture.  Similar to my obsession with Laura Ingalls growing up.

Blame it on Lurlene McDaniel and her sad Amish cancer trilogy.  And Beverly Lewis’s entire life work, really.  I cannot handle another little girl with  bonnet strings a blowin’ getting hit by a car while she’s just manning a vegetable booth.  I mean.

Anyway.  While we were out on the East coast last month, we had business in Lancaster, so of course I got all excited and sweet talked our boss into taking the scenic route through Intercourse and Bird-in-Hand.

It’s funny; admit it.

The scenery was beautiful and the farms were nice to look at and I did resist taking pictures of the people and I’m so glad I’ve been here but there really wasn’t much to see if you didn’t want to go to the quilt shops or museums and please pass the homemade pie.

I made a list of 33 things I want to do before I turn 33 in June 2014. See the full list here.

3. Travel abroad. This girl’s got some wanderlust, and Canada doesn’t count. We’ve been planning a hypothetical trip for a while now and we need to book it!

Tickets booked! Tickets actually booked!

We fly into Dublin on November 20 and fly home out of Edinburgh on December 1.

We’ve got some plans and ideas for the trip, and y’all have been super helpful in sharing ideas and recommendations, but I’ve still got a bunch of research to do.

There’s just so much beautiful to explore.

I’m SO excited, you guys.

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Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4

I made a list of 33 things I want to do before I turn 33 in June 2014.  See the full list here.

8.  Try one new Omaha bar or restaurant each month.  We love our city, but tend to go to our old favorite places all the time.  Time to branch out.

One of my best besties was in town last week and we wanted pizza to celebrate.  Pitch was closed for a private party, so we headed to Baxter’s in Benson.  Baxter’s opened last December but I actually just heard about it, and I’m SUPER glad I did.

(Photos from Facebook)

Baxter’s is named after an old Benson auto dealership, and old photos line the walls of the small tiny eatery.  I’ve read some reviews online saying it was pricey, but Chad and I each got a combo (Slice + Tots or Salad + Drink) plus an extra order of the new mini puffy breadstick bites for $17, which seems like a good deal to me.   The wine was a little spendy but not unreasonable at $7 a glass.

I really liked my mushroom pizza with goat cheese and herbs, and Chad and R enjoyed their slices as well.  The slices are a generous size, but without a side I would have wanted  a second slice.  The tots were good, although we agreed we prefer our home-grilled version better.  The salad was fresh and pretty big for a side portion, with plenty of dried cranberries, croutons and a nice Italian dressing.

However, the breadstick bites were hands down the best part of the meal.  At only $3, they were hot and perfectly doughy/garlicky/cheesy deliciousness.  They puffed up so they weren’t too heavy, and the housemade marinara was great with them.

Baxter’s, we’ll definitely be back.  R, come visit again soon.

See New Restaurants #1 & #2 here.

I made a list of 33 things I want to do before I turn 33 in June 2014.  See the full list here.

32.  Develop a skin care routine.  Or at least start taking off my makeup before I go to bed.  I KNOW.

Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart” – Kahlil Gibran

Despite attending a few Mary Kay & Friends parties a year for the past 10 years, I’ve never had a consistent skin care routine other than washing my face in the shower in the morning, and honestly, I’ve never even taken my makeup off at night on a regular basis.  I know.  I’m a little embarrassed for me, too.

I was blessed with good genetics and pretty good skin (Thanks, Mom!) It’s not fairy-twinkle luminescent or anything, but it’s acne-free for the most part and doesn’t get too gross in the summertime.  But, I know in the long run it’s better for my skin if I take care of it and go to bed with a clean face.  

So since making my 33-before-33 list, I’ve been trying.  It’s not every night that I remember to wash and moisturize before I go to bed, but I’m up to probably 5 or 6 nights a week now.  And yes, I SPF at night, too.  Pale is the new tan, people.

Honestly, I don’t know if it’s making a difference or not.  I haven’t really noticed any changes over the past couple of months.  I’ll let you know when I’m 80 and wrinkly.

I made a list of 33 things I want to do before I turn 33 in June 2014.  See the full list here.

8.  Try one new Omaha bar or restaurant each month.  We love our city, but tend to go to our old favorite places all the time.  Time to branch out.

It was high time for a date night.  A perfect opportunity to go to try a new restaurant.  I keep a list on my phone of restaurants I want to try (and books I want to read and movies  I want to see and…) but I was torn between 3 new-ish places that have opened up downtown:  Wilson & Washburn, Kitchen Table and Block 16.  Part of the problem was that on the surface, they seem pretty similar – part hipster, part hyper local, part new American and part good online reviews, and they’re all within 1/4 mile of each other.

I couldn’t pick just one, so we thought we’d try all three, progressive dinner style.  Start with appetizers at one, then move on to dinner, then dessert.  I turned to their online menus for direction.

Appetizers were an easy pick – Kitchen Table has a great happy hour from 4-6 PM, so we headed downtown right after work (or maybe a tad early).  Half price apps and $3 select wines are hard to beat.

Kitchen Table is exactly as hipster as I thought it would be, with teeny flowers and wine served in Mason jars, natch.

Their menu is small-ish but interesting.  They have a few staple items, plus a menu selection that changes weekly.  They also have a few dishes they offer just that day.  We were there early – a little before 5, so it was pretty quiet.

Their appetizer selection is unique, but AWESOME.  I wanted to try it all.  We settled on popcorn & pickles (homemade giardiniera – delish!), ricotta & berry bruschetta, and a housemade pimiento cheese spread.  I wasn’t as impressed with the cheese spread, and kind of wished we’d had went with the caramelized onion dip instead.  Serving sizes were shareable but not large.  But, during happy hour, 3 appetizers and 3 glasses of wine only ran us $20 including tax & tip (which was maybe unnecessary/overdone since we ordered at the counter?  I never know what to do with that.).  We’ll definitely be back for HH.

Despite our sort of large first course, we headed to Block 16 for dinner.  We’d heard great things about their food from friends.  We got there just in time – tables filled up just after we ordered our food and sat down.

Block 16 definitely caters to a vegan/vegetarian crowd but has offers meat entrees as well.  Plus, they have pig art on the wall.  Love it.

I forgot to take pictures of our food, but Chad had salmon and veggies en papillote and I had a spare rib french dip sandwich and side salad.  Both meals were definitely good, but didn’t live up to the hype in my opinion.  Our dinners and one bottled cider ran us $40 after tax & tip (again with the counter ordering and the not knowing what to do) and that felt a little pricey.  We’ll probably keep it in our rotation of downtown restaurants and I’m definitely going to use Block 16 as a resource to find a vegan to have coffee with, but Block 16 likely won’t become a regular of ours.

There are very few days of the year when Chad and I both enjoy being outside.  He has a low tolerance for humidity, and I get cold easily.

Our date night was perfect weather for Team Wastell and it was nice to walk around downtown and in the Old Market after dinner.

La Buvette – site of our first date.  No turning around!

Wilson & Washburn didn’t have much on their dessert menu that sounded good, so we headed back to Brix in midtown for their strawberry shortcake and drinks – coffee for her and whiskey for him.  We’ll try W&W another evening.

I love this city of ours.  And my husband.

I made a list of 33 things I want to do before I turn 33 in June 2014.  See the full list here.

13.  Go wine tasting locally.

To be honest, I’m not a big fan of Nebraska wines.  The soil here grows super sweet grapes, and the wine from local wineries is often overly sweet and jammy.  Not my favorite.  But I’d heard good things about Whiskey Run Creek Winery, so we headed down to Brownville.

Corn was tasseling in fields along the way.
Mark and Sonja joined us for an afternoon of tasting and snacking on the porch.

The wine was more enjoyable than expected, and we were happy to bring home a few bottles with our Living Social credit.