FF & RPC

We meet again, Friday. It’s so good to see you! Here’s a little sumpin’ sumpin’ for this week’s Friday Funk that I thought was hilarious:

If you stick your head in the sand you risk being kicked in the ass.

Love it!

And for those of you scratching your heads trying to figure out what RPC stands for, I’ll clue you in. It’s the Riverwest Pub Crawl, and tomorrow’s the day! Good lord, SM, do all your weekend plans always revolve around beer? Possibly. 😉

The Riverwest Pub Crawl is only the funnest (yes, i know it’s not a word, but i like it) pub crawl EV-AH, and it has become an annual event for us and some of our friends. It’s always held right around this time of March, so it helps us get outside, shake off the winter blahs, and usher in Spring as well (even though it’s only supposed to be 48 tomorrow, but whatevs). A little history on the RPC for those of you still confused…

R discovered this pub crawl back in 2005 and roped two of our good friends L and A into going with him, despite a strong lack of desire on their part due to significant hangovers from the night before. Funny how R has a way of generally getting anything he wants. Weird. But I digress… I dropped the trio off at the starting bar to begin their journey through the Riverwest neighborhood, which was pretty much completely unknown to us at the time. I was heading out of town for the weekend, so was unable to partake in that maiden saunter. Long story short, after over a dozen bars later (a few of which require a buzzer for entry and get quite sketchy after dark), a pile of garage sale records that were purchased/lost/and subsequently found, and a cab ride home for R from a corner on which he had never been before, they were hooked. And every year since our group has grown and fallen more in love with the RPC. One of my sisters, A, joined us for a couple years too, which was great fun. There was even a year or two in there where the *official* crawl was canceled, so we used prior years’ maps and just made our own. ‘Cuz we can, and we’re cool like that.

I’m especially looking forward to tomorrow’s RPC since I had to sit out last year while D cooked. Walking around all day and night while 4 months pregnant, unable to drink, and dealing with everyone getting more and more intoxicated and ridiculous isn’t exactly my cup of tea. So tomorrow I’ll be right back in there with the best of ’em. It is an official crawl this year, and so far there are 23 bars on the list. 23?! Good god. I hope we all survive. I looked at my map from 2009’s RPC, one of the years when we made our own, and R only put 17 bars on that one. Needless to say, 17 beers results in sufficient drunkenness even with all the walking around in between that you do. I’m almost afraid to see what will happen if we try to make it to all 23 this year. Not that I’ll really remember #23 if we get there… 😛

R suggested that I post along the way tomorrow to document the RPC live and in-person, but I said I’m not so sure I want my increasing intoxication publicized. 😉 So too bad, so sad, you’ll just have to wait for a recap afterward. But I promise to take pictures and copious notes along the way so I can give you a full run-down, assuming I’ll be able to read said notes when the time comes. I guarantee there will be plenty of shenanigans and hilarity throughout the day to report.

Until then, here are a couple snaps from past RPCs for a glimpse of some of the fun we experience:

Me & R at the end of 2009's

 

Group shot from the start of 2008's

 

Me, sis A, L, and his A toward the end of 2007's

 

Crazy no-teeth, no-lens, plush m&m guy from 2006

 

**No, we did not know that odd guy in the last pic, but who can resist getting a shot of a man with a stuffed m&m in an empty cigar box?!**

Top o’ the mornin’ to ya!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Is everyone wearing green? 🙂 Not me. I realized this morning that I have zero green clothes that aren’t t-shirts, so I had to settle for shamrock socks for my touch of Irish today. And I have a little shamrock pin on my jacket that I’ve had since I was a kid (same one as in that picture). Maybe I’ll have to work on an emerald-colored wardrobe addition for next year.

Even though I’m not Irish, St. Patrick’s Day has always been fun for me. Decorating the house with leprechaun footprints and cards for our youngest sister when we were kids, the good spirit everybody seems to be in on this day (much of that may be green beer-induced, but hey, that’s fun too ;)), the start of March Madness, and one of my personal favorites, the annual treat of Shamrock Shakes. My birthstone is emerald and R and D’s is peridot, so those fit right in today, too.

The best part about this St. Patty’s Day so far? It was 50 degrees on the temperature gauge I see each morning, climbing to a high of 60! Wahoo!! And check these out:


You see those? Tulip sprouts!

 

And these:

Buds on one of my lilac bushes!

 

Tulips and lilacs and crocus, oh my! Has Spring finally sprung? I don’t want to jinx anything, but I think maybe it has. The forecast is calling for 40s and 50s for the next 10 days so far, so keep your fingers crossed. I might even try to drag my out of shape butt outside today for a jog after work to take advantage of this balmy spell. Who cares if there’s a little rain shower? It’s gonna be 60! And did you notice what’s decidedly missing from those pictures above? Snow!!

The Badgers play their first-round bball game tonight too, so hopefully Belmont will end up being the easy opponent everyone is expecting. R is making some delicious reubens for dinner, and we might have to pick up some Guinness to add to the Irish spirit.

Slainte!

Amaze-balls!!

R and I went to the Willie Nelson and Family show last night at one of the small local theaters downtown and it was amazing! Fantastic, stupendous, ridiculously fun and awesome, I just can’t come up with enough adjectives to describe it. Amaze-balls!

Willie has long been one of my favorite musicians. And I mean long as in I’ve listened to him since I was a baby. Literally. His Stardust album is a staple in our cocktail hour music selection when we go on our family vacation, so each time I hear it I’m instantly transported to one of my favorite places on earth. Plus he’s just a legend. What more reason would I need to go see him? We saw him when he opened for Bob Dylan last year at Summerfest, but that show didn’t compare to this one in the slightest. That one we were up in the back seats of the amphitheater so he was just a tiny blip on the stage wearing a cowboy hat; this one we were in the 8th row, center section, so we could see each hair of his braids and the worn-out hole in Trigger no problem. That one we had to rely on the crappy amphitheater sound system to try to catch some lyrics we knew; this one was crystal clear and provided every opportunity to sing along to some of my favorite songs. That one he only played a brief sample of his hits; this one he played a solid hour and a half, non-stop, rockin’ compilation of new and old.

We missed him the last time he played a smaller, more intimate venue here, so when we saw he was playing one of the theaters again we jumped at the chance and I bought tickets the minute they went on sale. I ended up getting the best seats of any concert we’ve been to, and they couldn’t have been for a better show. He opened with “Whiskey River” (are you kidding?? one of my faves!!), threw in some “Beer for my Horses” and “Gotta Get Drunk”, slowed things down with one of my all-time favorites “Georgia”, did an off-the-charts awesome rendition of “Bobby McGee” (it was hilarious – at one point he kind of paused and said, “Ha, I forgot the words”. and Willie Nelson can totally get away with that!), went a little “Crazy”….. It was unbelievable! I can’t even list the whole fabulous set.

Are you ready for the best part? I GOT TO SHAKE HIS HAND!!!! Me, SM, got to shake the legendary guitar-strumming hand of the one and only Willie Nelson! At the end of the show he came up to the front of the stage to greet fans, and I couldn’t resist. I got right up there, stuck my hand out, and he grabbed it, pointed at me, and winked! ::swoon:: And just prior to that, he’d blown me a kiss at the end of one of the last songs, which I gladly returned. Ohmygosh Willie Nelson blew me a kiss!! And no, I’m not just speculating that said air kiss was blown in my general direction, it was right to me. The guy next to us and one further down our row both even came up to me and said, “He blew you a kiss!” Proof positive. The only thing that could’ve made the night better was if I’d caught one of the 3 red bandanas he tossed into the crowd, but none of them made it back to our row.

Those of you non-Willie fans are probably like woo great, SM, big deal. But I’m still riding that high, and will be for a long time. Oh, no, not that same kind of high that Willie enjoys – gheesh, it was a work night show, and I’ve got a 7 month old who’s still nursing. 😉

I love you, Willie!!

p.s. I have to give credit for “amaze-balls” to my sister M. Thanks, I stole it. 🙂

 

Why haven’t we done this before?

Last night we went to a birthday party at a friend’s house, and the theme was fantastic – a beer tasting! Everyone brought a 6 pack of their choice concealed in a bag so no one knew who brought what. Then our hosts wrapped each bottle in foil and numbered them by 6 pack, so you didn’t know which beer you were trying. There ended up being 19 6 packs in all, so they were divided up into 4 stations of 4-5 beers each. Once arranged, you moseyed your way around to each station and judged all the beers. Each beer was rated on aroma, first taste, mouthfeel, aftertaste, and overall impression, with the highest- and lowest-scoring beers getting a prize. Brilliant! Why have none of us thought of this idea before?

Another fun aspect was that it was our friend’s “Ron Dayne” birthday. A number of our friends are turning 33 this year, so in honor of the great Badger running back, each person gets to wear the #33 Ron Dayne jersey on his/her birthday. R started the tradition by purchasing the jersey for his birthday last summer, so it’s now making its way through the group. I’m definitely washing that thing before my turn! 😉

It was a great night spent with great friends. I feel like we’ve all been hibernating through this miserable winter, so it’s awesome knowing that this season is finally close to its end and we’re starting to see everyone again. Happy Ron Dayne, G, and thanks for a great party!