Happy Weekend : Date Night at Justus Drugstore

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Megan

{Photo via Flickr}

Last weekend I was lucky enough to meet up with a fun group at the wonderful restaurant Justus Drugstore in Smithville, Missouri. Our good friends live in Smithville, about 30 minutes north of Kansas City, and they have raved about this place since it opened. The chef, Jonathon Justus, transformed the space where the old Smithville Drugstore was housed in to an incredible place to eat and commune with friends. The meal is an experience in itself, with up to five courses, and lasting at least 3 hours. We sat down at 5:30 on a Saturday night, and didn’t leave until around 10.

The menu at Justus is seasonal, as one of their biggest focuses is delivering food fresh from local farms. The highlight of my meal was either the amazing goat cheese salad or my main dish of stuffed rabbit. Holy moley, it was good. Oh, and the jasmine tea rice pudding with lemongrass ice cream wasn’t too shabby either.

Justus is a wonderful place to host a celebration meal, and I think it was even better with a medium-sized group. We saw plenty of two-person parties, but we had a total of six. A little tip, if you’re going to have six or more at your table, on Friday and Saturdays you must make your reservation either at 5:30 or 9 p.m. But trust me, it will be worth it.

Date night with the Umbrella crew at Justus Drugstore in Smithville (with bonus bachelorette party photobomb)

{Me and my cute date at Justus Drugstore, via the iPhone}

Kansas City Doing Good : HappyBottoms

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Megan

Being a mom can be so very hard. As a mom of two, I can tell you that one of the hardest times as a parent is when your kids are in diapers. Sure, I haven’t been through those teenage years yet (knock on wood!), but I know that for me, the newborn and toddler years were/are pretty darn difficult. I am so fortunate to have had a ton of support and cheerleaders as I dove headfirst in to motherhood, but there are so many moms out there that aren’t so lucky. One in six children in the Kansas City metro area lives in poverty, and one of the most fundamental needs that is overlooked for the kids and moms is access to diapers. Imagine choosing between diapers and paying your electric bill. Or putting gas in your car. Clean, dry diapers are important to the health and well-being of growing babies. It’s not uncommon for babies to be left in a diaper for an entire day (or longer) or for parents to re-use a disposable diaper, leading to possible urinary tract or skin infections. There is also an increased risk of child abuse when parents and caregivers lack a supply of clean diapers. Without regular changing, dirty diapers can be a source for the outbreak of viral meningitis, dysentery and Hepatitis A throughout the community.

This is where the fantastic non-profit HappyBottoms comes in! HappyBottoms is the only diaper drive in Kansas City, and provides free diapers to an estimated 1000 children every month. I was unaware that diapers cannot be purchased with food stamps or through the WIC program, two main monetary resources for those below poverty level in our community. So for some families, buying fresh diapers just isn’t an option. Isn’t that insane?! I can’t imagine not being able to change my baby’s diaper as he wailed and fussed because I didn’t have a new one to put on him. And the stress that a crying baby puts on a new mom, especially one who is already dealing with the daily stress of living under the poverty line, must be horrific.

HappyBottoms works with 18 partner agencies throughout our community to distribute diapers to those who need it most, but the demand far outweighs what they can currently provide. I was able to visit HappyBottoms’ headquarters and warehouse and was so inspired by everyone I met. Diapers are collected via donation, either through diaper drives, corporate donations or private giving. HappyBottoms takes any new diaper, even if the package has already been opened, and repackages them to deliver to their partner agencies. So if you’ve still got an extra pack of diapers in the house after your youngest was potty trained, you can drop if off at any of their donation locations, regardless of if you already opened the package. Pretty cool, right?!

Another way you can contribute to HappyBottoms is monetarily. Currently, HappyBottoms is partnering with Huggies, who is providing a number of diapers to the organization. They also hope to have several more large donations this year, in order to serve our community. But to do this, they need certain things. More warehouse space! A delivery truck! Staff! A new computer system to track the huge numbers of diapers that will hopefully be coming through the door! So to do that, they are doing some big fundraisers this year, including the upcoming “Make a Difference for Mother’s Day” campaign.

Are you looking for a special way to honor your mom this Mother’s Day? Why not donate to HappyBottoms in her honor?! Head over to the HappyBottoms website to donate, and HappyBottoms will recognize your mom on their Honor Roll on their site and Facebook page. They will also send you a certificate that you can present to your mom. Your donation will directly impact moms and babies in our area that need our help! Or, if you’d like to donate diapers directly, HappyBottoms is creating a REALLY BIG Diaper Drive in honor of Mother’s Day. They have joined with Price Chopper to hold a diaper drive from Friday, May 10th from 4 to 7 p.m. and Saturday May 11th from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at four Price Chopper locations in the metro area (click here for participating locations). And don’t forget, they take open diaper packages too!

I love Kansas City. This community is a giving one, and people here really do what they can to help others in need. I hope you join me in supporting HappyBottoms this Mother’s Day! Let’s help provide life, liberty, and diapers for all!

For more information on HappyBottoms, please visit www.happybottoms.org or click here. Special thanks to HappyBottoms Board President, Liz Sutherlin, for showing me around HappyBottoms HQ!

On Happiness, Calm and Being Myself

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Megan

This week was a little gloomy in my neck of the woods. After we finally had a full week of sun and sandals, this week it snowed (WHAT? KANSAS YOU ARE DRUNK!) and rained pretty much the entire time. It was chilly, but I refused to get my winter boots back out and spent most of the week shivering in my springtime wear. It was totally worth it.

On Wednesday Tate and I were starting to get a bit crabby after being stuck inside, so we packed up and headed to the Nelson Atkins Museum here in Kansas City. This is the kind of thing I used to dream about when I was stuck inside my dark office at a job I hated. I dreamed of having the freedom to wander a museum during quiet hours and taking my kids with me on adventures around the city, without the rush of packing everything in during the few free hours we had together. Tate took the museum just you’d imagine a two-year-old would…half loving everything and half hating it all while laying on the floor in the galleries.

Someone is taking this "art is life" thing a bit too seriously... #toddler #art #museum #kc #drama

I was talking to a very old friend yesterday who I haven’t spoken to in a while and she mentioned that this blog has seemed very different lately than in the past. She said that when she’s read what I’ve been writing here, it sounds like the “me” that I don’t usually project out into the world. She said, “It’s the side of you that I have always known, but not the one most people see.” She’s right. Lately I’ve been annoyingly happy and content, and I’m sure that’s been reflected here. My trademark sarcasm has been a little lighter, but I promise, it’s still me. Things aren’t perfect, I still complain and moan way more than I probably should. But for the most part, I just feel calmer. More grateful. Slower.

#fmsphotoaday #aplace #nelsonatkins #museum #kc

I hope you all have a happy weekend, and enjoy some slowness yourself.

(For reference, we’ll be attempting potty training this weekend, so if you think it’s all sunshine and roses around here, you’d be VERY wrong.)

I Heart KC : The Great Wolf Lodge

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Megan

As a part of our “at home” Spring Break this year, I thought it might be fun to try and take the kids somewhere overnight here in the city. That way even though we weren’t going somewhere foreign and tropical, they’d still feel like we “got away.” And I wouldn’t have to travel for hours with a crabby two-year-old. Win/win.

Since it had been so snowy and grey for the past few months, we decided to hit up the Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City, Kansas. The Great Wolf Lodge is a hotel that features a massive indoor water park and is about 20 minutes from our house. The minute we walked into the building, the kids started freaking out, and for good reason. This place completely caters to kids. From the hula hooping in the lobby to the bedtime stories told every night by the hotel’s mascots to the huge arcade, it’s a child’s paradise.

We stayed two nights, and while that was PLENTY, I’m sure you could spend a whole week there and not run out of things to do. We spent the days at the waterpark, but Lulu’s other favorite part was the Magiquest, a game set up throughout the hotel where kids used a magic want to open up treasures and secret powers. It’s hard to explain, but you can learn more about it here. It was nice to have something Lu was so excited about that was outside of the pool area, just in case we needed a break or were trying to get back to the room so Tate could nap a bit.

Wheeee! #swim #slide #greatwolflodge #springbreakin

Skeeball wizard. (Sidenote: I just played appx 1 million games of skeeball) #springbreakin #arcade #greatwolflodge

My only gripe with the Great Wolf Lodge would be the actual rooms. The walls were thin, and when you’re in a hotel full of kids, it can get pretty loud, which made it hard for my little guys to get to sleep. Also, we decided on a suite with what we thought was a separate room for the kids, but it was more like a divider with no door or full walls, so getting the kids in bed was a challenge. They loved the bunkbeds though, and thought the whole thing was a great adventure.

If you’re looking for a fun, easy, indoor getaway in Kansas City, the Great Wolf Lodge is an awesome idea! The location is pretty rad too, right in the Legends area, next to a huge outlet mall, the Kansas Speedway, Sporting KC and a ton of other activities.

Most of my photos from the Great Wolf Lodge were taken with my iPhone (hard to juggle a DSLR camera and a toddler in a swimming pool!), but I was able to shoot a bit of video in the waterpark. I hope you enjoy! Special thanks once again to Grammy who came with us on this adventure!

Giveaway!!! : Kansas City Home & Garden Show

Posted on March 9, 2013 by Megan

Hey, Crazybananas readers, I have a great giveaway for you this rainy Saturday! Today I’m giving away two tickets to the Kansas City Home Show and Flower, Lawn & Garden Show on March 22nd thru March 24th! Founded by the Home Builders Association of Kansas City, the Home Show has been a tradition for sixty five years. Bartle Hall in downtown Kansas City will be teeming with hundreds of exhibitors to showcase new opportunities and choices for homeowners to get a jump on spring home and garden projects.

The headliner on the Spaces Stage will be Lonni Paul, HGTV Design Star Finalist and designer to celebrities. She is a contributor to the Style Network’s Giuliana & Bill show (!) and designed their Brentwood home. Lonni is known for championing purity, clean lines and a refined modern vision with understated elegance. She also created an infant and children’s furniture collection called PetitNest, that she co-created with actress Tiffani Amber Thiessen (yes, from Saved by the Bell and the original 90210).

Along with tons of amazing presenters and vendors, there will be lots to do for the whole family! The Kids’ Corner will be hosted by KC Bricklab, which is the LEGO® user’s group for the Kansas City region. They will have custom LEGO® creations (called MOC’s in LEGO®, which stands for My Own Creations) on display including a replica of the Seville Tower on the Country Club Plaza. Children of all ages who attend the Home Show are invited to come to the Kids’ Corner booth and design their own LEGO® creations with the help of KC Bricklab “Buddy Builders!” You can also enter to win a large LEGO® building set.

To enter to win two tickets (which will work for all three days) to this awesome show, please leave a comment under this post saying what you’d love to renovate within your living space if you had all the money and resources in the world. I’ll start…I’d renovate our backyard, which is currently such a WASTE of a huge space. I’d add a playset and a huge garden, along with a BBQ pit and outdoor chimney. I’d also renovate our weird back porch area in to an outdoor play area for the kids/greenhouse. So, you know…nothing too big. I’m sure it’s totally do-able!

The giveaway will be closed at midnight on Thursday, March 14th, and the winner will be announced on Friday, March 15th. Good luck, and I hope you win!!!!

The prize for this giveaway is provided by the Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City and the presenting sponsor MattressFIRM. All opinions are my own. For information and tickets, go to www.kchomeshow.com, or pick up tickets at Hen House, Sun Fresh or Bank of Blue Valley. Children 16 and under are free. On Sunday make a donation to Harvesters of 5 non-perishable items or $5 for a 2-for-1 admission. Show hours are Friday, March 22, 10 AM to 8 PM, Saturday, March 23, 10 AM to 8 PM and Sunday, March 24 from 10 AM to 6 PM.