Birthday Festivities!!

I would be willing to bet that most of the blog followers would know that I happen to like, I mean LOVE my birthday. I realize this may sound a little selfish and that I'm not denying, but I happen to love most birthdays of those people I love so I feel like everyone should have a special day. Good thing I have made this very well known, because now AK shares in this philosophy too!!! (I say with all sincerity and no sarcasm!!) :) But in all seriousness I could not have asked for a better birthday planner and boy was he on the job, and considering my mom was in Mexico he was flying solo!! And there wasn't just one event or one surprise....I felt like the surprises just kept coming!!

Birthday Event #1!
On Thursday, March 1 AK woke up saying "I HAVE to take the car today!!" (for those of you who don't know we operate on 1 car these days considering the public transport aspect in Chicago). I of course was like "Fine, but I need the car at 6 so I can go to yoga!" He assured me this would not be a problem so we both went on our marry way. Circa 4:30 pm on Thursday March 1 AK decides to text bomb me saying things like "I'm getting held up at work," "My boss wants to grab drinks and talk career goals, etc." "I'm so sorry, thanks for understanding!" Given that I'm not always sold on having 1 car and not really sold on taking the El to yoga, I was less than thrilled this was taking place and my response was really less than respectful (shocking, I'm sure) that he was "getting held up at work!" So I went to yoga all fired up and met my friend Kristen and yogasized out my frustration!! :) Post yoga Kristen and I walked to the El and were headed home when AK called questioning my where-abouts and my E.T.A. I found this to be odd, but he was bringing home sushi so I wasn't about to complain at this point. When I spoke with him I was roughly 10ish minutes away and thinking I was going to walk home to a take out sushi dinner and some red wine!! Samsonite....I was way off!!! :) When I casually walked into our place I was shocked to find one of my very greatest friends Jen Alpern sitting on our couch as if she had been there all day!! After I jumped, squealed, cried and nearly tackled Jen, the weekend was off with sushi dinner, wine, shopping, running by the lake, brunches, manicures, and lots of catching up over walks and cocktails. We were able to show Jen our favorite spots/parts of Chicago and I was able to soak up some best friend time!! It was an incredible surprise and probably the birthday event I am most thankful for.  Thanks you two for pulling it off...I mean not easy in the world of texting, instant message and Facebook!! Kudos my friends!!

Birthday Event #2!
Jen was headed back to Denver on Sunday, which gave me Monday to recover for my actual birthday on Tuesday!! Tuesday was a super day and proved to be a great to be born! I had taken the day off and planned a little "ME" day! I went for a long run, got a massage, got my hair cut and got a piece of chocolate cake from a fabulous bakery up the road....a perfect day in my mind!! And by the time AK got home, the day had only just begun! He brought home fun fetti cake with chocolate frosting...my fave! He also had my official birthday gift, as if Jen's surprise visit wasn't enough! But low and behold he had a special package and for those of you who missed it on Facebook I got a Chicago Bulls T-shirt and wait for it.......CHICAGO BULLS TICKETS!!! Something I have wanted to do for so long and these were no run of the mill tickets. These were like so close I could smell the sweat kind of tickets. Completely amazing!!!  And again if that wasn't enough, AK had made reservations (3 months ago to be exact) at this fabulous restaurant called The Girl and the Goat. I know the name sounds silly, but the food was absolutely mouthwatering delicious and is a total "hot spot" right now in the Windy City (hence the 3 month out ressies). So we had a great evening over great food/wine/champagne/conversation!!! And one more thing...I got not 1 but 2 calls from Mexico where my parents were vacationing....even though they forgot when I was born when they booked the trip, they made up for it by calling and singing and offering their birthday love. They also sent a little "green" something through snail mail which I greatly appreciate and which has already been well spent! :) Twenty-eight came and went in such a fabulous fashion I'm convinced it's going to be an even better year!!

Birthday Event #3!
The actual Bulls game which took place last Thursday night!! Before the actual game, AK and I met in the neighborhood called the "West Loop" (Chicago readers, correct me if I'm wrong!) for pre-game cocktails and burgers. Such a great way to kick off the evening and very fun way to end long days at work. AK and I have actually never done that before, but I'm beginning to think, Summer may bring a regular past-time!! We aren't named Beer and Champagne for nothin folks! :) Anyhow, I already addressed how close our seats were, but when I really think about it, they were ridiculous. I mean we saw the bench perfectly and sat right by the tunnel so we could see each player go in and out of the locker room a zillion times!! :) Super fun. And not to mention something I always dreamed about doing during my childhood. With two older brothers and being a kid through the Jordan-Era I watched aloooottt of Bulls games, so it made it all come full circle. And when I really, really thought about it....what a perfect gift for AK to give because it was a gift he knew I would love and a gift he would also enjoy himself. Not just handsome face that one....definitely thought that one through!!

Birthday Event #4!
That's right, I technically had 4 birthday gatherings. Only one explanation....I'm just that special. HA!:) Actually the secret is to surround yourself with special people. Again, one good reason to be in Chicago is that we are closer to family and with that said AK's parents made the trek into the city on Saturday and we enjoyed a nice "birthday lunch" with them and even watched the Sparty's pull off a victory. We all had cake and I even walked away with a new pair of kicks....AWESOME!!! Thanks for making the drive!!!

Considering my hands are tired from typing, I think you could say I had an extra-special birthday!! So extra special that I'm just coming off the birthday high and getting around to posting about all the events. Enjoy the pics below and hopefully they capture the greatness of twenty-eight!!!

a little birthday love over late night spirits and cupcakes!!!

sushi+jen+bubbles+wine = such. a. great. night!!!

I miss you Jenners....thanks SO much for coming!!! :)

"Hi Paul!!" thanks for loaning us your friend brennan...who happens to live in Chicago....very convenient (for us!)

jen (and I) enjoying, and i quote: "this freezing city!!" :) apparently even the mildest winter in Chicago still does not compare to the mildness of Denver!!

happy birthday....to ME!!!

birthday bubbles and cocktails!

ummm in case you don't know who you're looking at....#1 is D-Rose....boom! :)

23....best player of all time!!

yeah, the bulls were good in the 90's!!!

self shot on our way out for birthday dinner and cocktails!

the new kicks...a little loud but pretty fun!!

checked out the Jordan Statue....striking resemblance!! HA!

Be My....Sushi Chef!!!

Valentine's Day is a day to celebrate love, correct? I'm going to answer my own question and say "yes!" :) So with that said we deiced to do just that....
Neither AK or myself are real big on dropping crazy amounts of cash on a silly day when really all your supposed to do is love each other, so we decided to hang out with each other (the people we love tons) in our lululemon sweats (the sweats we love the most) and attempt to make ourselves a sushi dinner (food we love a lot). All things "love!" I have to admit I was skeptical....about the sushi! I mean I know I love to hang out with AK and I really know there are no other pants I would rather wear than lulu pants, but the sushi thing had me worried. In true Spieker/Kay fashion, we thought of this idea on our way back to Chicago on Sunday night so that left Monday to gather all the ingredients and necessary gadgets. Luckily for me, my valentine was a trooper and trekked all over the city on Monday after work to grab all necessary items....sushi rice, rice seasoning, chop sticks, soy sauce, nori sheets, sushi grade fish, etc. Basically you name it, AK bought it!! After his extreme effort I took it upon myself to make his favorite desert (Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies) and grab a "nice" bottle of red wine for us both to enjoy! So with a great team effort we were off....wine in one hand and sushi rolling with the other. Considering Whitney Houston had just passed away, I was really more interested in my wine and my fantastic "remember Whitney playlist!" But once again, AK was right there to quickly switch my focus back to sushi!! It went something like this: Me: "I wanna dance with some...." AK: "Annie it's time to make sushi we can listen to Whitney later!" Pretty typical. :) So there we were applying the rice, stuffing the rolls and of course competing over whose roll was going to be better!! :) I will admit though that it was a ton of fun and something we now know how to do and can only improve upon! There were also flowers and sweet cards exchanged, but my favorite part of the day was sushi rolling FOR SURE!!
Andy Kay I will be your valentine any day of the year for many reasons, but one specific reason being you are up for fun things like this and push me just a wee bit past my comfort zone so I can now say I made sushi!! So fun!
Cheers to us and spending our first Valentine's Day in Chicago!!!

mr. sushi chef....total natural!!

rainbow roll....our fav!

miss sushi chef....not too shabby

and the final product....how do i know it was good? because i ate enough to get full and 3 nights later i ordered sushi take out and threw half of it away!! i would say we did good!! :)

Parents. Are. Awesome!

It is no secret to most of our regular blog followers that Chicago has been a hard transition for many reasons. I will spare you the details, but change is hard no. matter. what!! But luckily for AK and myself one fabulous change that came with moving to Chicago was it allowed us to be closer to our families, and the last two weekends we have really taken advantage of this. And I have to say I love nothing more than being greeted by great people with open arms, in great happy homes with good food. Luckily both of our moms have the same idea of what it means when your kids come home....some good wine and cocktails, some good food, great conversation, many laughs and they make a place that is safe and comfortable for us which I am so grateful for.
A few weekends ago we spent a night with AK's parents and like I said it was great. His mom made us dinner, we watched some home videos, I got to thumb through all of AK's scrap books, and we got to relax in a cozy place with a fun dog. Just what the doctor ordered after a rough week at work. I also learned a few things about this Beer of mine....apparently he can write! Who knew? His mom saved a poem he wrote in high school about following your dreams and working hard to make your dreams come true....it was so good!!! I'm not going to divulge who all got weepy over this thing, but the important piece to this is I now know a hidden talent!! :) And after all this we were sent home with leftovers, which in my opinion is always worth the drive!!
And this past weekend we were lucky enough to make it over to IA to my parents house for a fun little weekend as well! What I mean by "lucky" is just that....the snow started to fall mid morning this past Friday in Chicago and traffic was a bear by 3pm when I left work. I mean traffic is ridiculous on a good day, but this stuff was nuts and it ended up taking us almost 3 hours longer to get home!! Anyhow, we made it and had a blast. In roughly 36 hours we did a lot of things and saw a lot of people. We made it to my nephew's 5th grade basketball tournament, which his team nearly won. And let me tell you....my nephew is a talented little dude. So fun to see him grow up a little bit. We also had another intense ping pong tournament. AK missed out over Christmas so he demanded a round 2....and wouldn't you know it that little stink made it all the way to the championship round....walks right in thinkin he owns the place. Un.be.lievable! In the process though he created himself quite the cheering section, which ended up to be pretty funny. You see, once in a great while I call my Beer "Big Red" for obvious reasons (he has red hair for those of you it isn't so obvious for), and while we were cheering him on in the final round, Emma (my niece) was screaming for him and bursts out louder than anyone: "let's go firetruck!" We all cracked up. I nearly peed my pants I was laughing so hard and we both thought it was so funny that we were laughing about it all over again during dinner the other night!! And how could I leave out playing with Ruby, the cutest little puppy...EVER?! AK finally got to meet her and by the end of the weekend mom was sure we wore her out, however when talking to her on the phone on Monday Ruby was back to her usual puppy antics so it was short lived! :) We also were lucky enough to wish Miss Emma a happy birthday. She officially turned 9 on Wednesday but it was fun to finally be home and see her open her gift in person!! We also left my parents with beyond full bellies and bags full of goodies. Score!!
As you can tell we are two lucky people who have great parents and families. I know we both would say we would be lost without them and look to them all so much for love, guidance and support. Our parents are awesome!!!
A few pics of this past weekend and my apologies to Mark and Peggy (AK's parents) for no pictures from the previous weekend....it was more of a relaxing catch up kinda visit. Next time I will be sure and capture it better. I'm sorry!! ;)

how does the saying go...."dogs are a man's best friend!?!?

Ruby was not really digging nap time!

i just love her face!!!

grueling games of cards with Miss Emma!

cousin love!!

the best cupcakes west of the mississippi....that is a promise my friends. these things are delicious!

tommy and jack....a.k. "the tom bomb" and "the jack attack!" love them so much!

Snow Days, Washington D.C., bowling...and much more!!

Hello blogger nation. It's been a while, I know!! I figure I'm a true blogger now, because most of my posts begin with an apology about not being a regular blogger. But in this case, it only means one thing...beer and champagne are having too much fun to sit down and type about the day to day!!

So what have we been up to?

Well, winter officially struck in Chicago as the past two weekends we have been hit with snow, but only 8 inches each time and both times the weather warmed up so all the snow is now gone....and yes we are living in Chicago, not Denver. I feel as though this mild winter is God being kind to us as we were mentally prepared for much worse. I mean I have heard horror stories from people about the "big storm" last winter and I don't care if I never experience something like that!! :) I can't say we did a whole lot of "snowy" things, but we did enjoy the a few cozy nights with movies, delivery and each other....which are all good for the soul if you ask me.

As I mentioned in my "good friends" post, most of my good friends currently span from Denver all the way to Nelson, NZ, and yes I miss them all so much. So luckily for me and AK's flight miles I was able to visit a dear friend in Washington D.C. over MLK weekend. We both had Monday off which made for an extended stay. It was so nice to spend some Q.T. with Kendra (a.k.a K-Dogg). She got to show me her turf....we shopped in Georgetown, ate nice dinners, drank nice wine, chatted about everything from politics to our dream vacation spots, slept in every day, and even saw the White House, Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial. I wish there were wild and crazy stories to report, but after all that we were in bed by midnight most nights both complaining about how exhausted we were and both left very clueless as to what happened to the 2 very single ladies that took on New York a few years back?? Times have definitely changed!!
And in my absence AK enjoyed a nice weekend in Chicago hanging out with some good friends and teaching them how to play the game "Things!" He also got to take in the Mich St/Northwestern basketball game with his dad (Happy Birthday Mark) and his buddy Ben. Unfortunately his mom came down with the flu bug and was unable attend. We are looking forward to seeing them though next weekend to watch the Mich St/Mich game.  

Back in the early days of Denver when I had no clue who AK was he lived in this house with 5 guys in a neighborhood called Wash Park...pretty much the posh area of Denver where everyone drives Range Rovers, Moms push around Baby Bob Strollers and no one leaves their house without their favorite Patagonia accessory. So you can imagine the delight these neighbors felt when 5 guys post college moved to the neighborhood....think college on steroids to set the mental picture. But not all bad things happened on Humboldt (the street the house was located on)...it just so happens some of AK's best friends today lived there with him and will share more inappropriate memories than most guys should!! :) And it just so happens one of the guys and his wife now live in Chicago and have been oh so kind to show us the ropes and introduce us to more great people. Last weekend was no different as they invited us us to go bowling!! You heard me folks, we went bowling and it. was. fun!!! We shared many laughs, competed at a silly little game, and discovered a few unknowns....one being how good AK is at bowling. I was sure I could beat him at anything that involved a ball (I said a ball, not a goofy little puck), but boy was I wrong. Before long he was giving me pointers and I was left saying: "It's just a game, can't we just have fun!?" (famous last words of someone who is a wee bit competitive and likes to win). But with all that said, we really did have a good time and enjoyed our new company.

Besides that we feel like we have settled into Chicago a little more. We are meeting more people, figuring out our "go-to" places, and adjusting to the big city more and more all the time. I have to be honest the first 3 months felt like a vacation that was going to end, but life feels more normal now. We have enjoyed laid back weekends post holiday chaos and are looking forward to when this city warms up as we have heard numerous times that that is when Chicago comes alive and Andy has no idea how good he is going to look in Cubs gear....can't hardly wait!! :) 

Snowy School Street (our street)

branches.

together again!

dinner time....good food, good wine, good company!!

washington monument! beautiful!

WW II Memorial...what's up IA??

I {heart} the Lincoln Memorial

best friends+washington monument

there he is....lookin like uncle eddy scraping the car. gotta love him!

bowling alley!!

Good Friends + Colorado....

Good friends are hard to come by. You know the type that it doesn't matter what you wear, what you say, or what you do, they're still your friends....yeah those are hard to come by. At least I think so. I mean some people you have a friendly relationship with or a working relationship with, but I have to say out of all of the people I know, there are only a few friends that are real and life long. Luckily, for AK and I we have had several opportunities to meet people near and far..... between growing up, college, AK studying abroad in Australia, relocations to Denver and AK traveling the world for his job...to name a few. We feel very blessed that many times we find ourselves surrounded by such great people and this holiday season was no different.
When I went home I got to spend an evening with two righteously fine ladies that I have known since, what, maybe kindergarten, if not preschool and that to me is very cool. Our lives have taken different paths for sure, but for that one evening it felt like we were back in high school dishing about whatever around my parent's kitchen table. And even though we are all in different phases of life, it was nice to reconnect, get caught up and recognize that our roots have kept us together. One has decided to raise her family in Eldora and one stretches as far East as Washington D.C. but that doesn't seem to matter when we're home, because we grew up together, were rasied the same and to this day have spent more life together than with any of our other friends.....that's special if you ask me!! Cheers Lace and Kendra!!
Then once I arrived back in Chi-City, my good guy friends from college (who call Chicago "Chi-City") were also flying in for a visit. All of them used to live in Chicago and have all recently moved for grad school/jobs. Of course they would, now that I live here. It's all about timing. Anyhow, we shared a night of dinner and cocktails, told stories and introduced to AK to the Iowa Hawkeye chaos I speak so fondly of! It was great for him to put names with faces and it was great to see these guys again....even if we ate too much, drank too much and stayed out way too late the night before a flight! :)
And then just like that AK and I were off to Colorado for NYE 2011....one for the record books for sure. After living in the big city for a few months I was ready for a little mountain time/friend time/familiar ground time and so was AK I believe. Again we were met with open arms. We stayed with so many people and enjoyed so much great company and conversation....we really could not be more thankful for such great friends. Some we met when we were just Beer and just Champagne and some we met when we started to mix the alcohol...which can always be dangerous!! :) Remember, liquor before beer and you're in the clear...stick with me folks...just sayin! Anyhow, we also had some good times on the slopes and got to remember how we fell for each other last winter....for those of you who don't know....we spent countless hours in traffic on I-70 as powder chasers sure not to miss the good snow, along with the rest of Denver. During those traffic jams we chatted a lot, discovered favorites and dislikes and rocked out to some fine tunes. And when on the mountain we chased each other down the hill with the winner usually waiting with a snowball in hand....who wouldn't fall for that, huh?? HA :) This year was no different except the snow wasn't quite as good and the traffic wasn't nearly as bad. Luckily for AK though we were booked to stay through Jan 3, which means he got to watch the MSU game with pretty much the entire "Sparty Crew" (20 plus people that travel in a pack of green and white....how do you not call them that? you answer me that!), and witness a great win and an even better bowl game! And luckily for me, two of my best friends were able to match schedules so we could share a dinner together (Meg you were not forgotten....but missed dearly as New Zealand is just too far) and reminisce and catch up. I was thankful for that time as I have missed them oh so much and was so glad we could drink wine, eat sushi and talk without hesitation!! After all that we also met up with my Uncle Scott, his wife Nikki, their 2 sweet girls and the Buzans for Nikki's 30th birthday. Very fun as we felt like we were right back at home, not missing any big events!!  And last but certainly not least, we had the pleasure of swinging by the Bush's for a meet and greet with their new puppy Izzo...bet you'll never guess who he's named after!? :) Those Spartans are crazy, but their dog is incredibly cute and proved to us we need a dog sooner than later!! Izzo, it was a pleasure! All in all it was a great trip and a big thanks to Becca & Brian, Jen Alpern, and Bridget & Chris for being such great hosts....what would we do without you fine people....I would hate to know! Also a big thank you to Lindsey Sherry for sending me most of these pics!!

K-Dogg is in Chicago.....so. much. fun!!

back together again....was way too long!

I didn't get a pic in Denver and Meg wasn't there, so I'm going back in time.... this is one of my favorite days I've ever had with three great friends in Maine!! (sorry for the swimsuit shot girls, but this was a good day!!)

NYE dinner. pretty good crew!

beer and champagne on NYE....uh oh....champagne is drinking beer and beer is drinking champagne!!! 

despite very little snow...the Rocky Mountains are still quite remarkable!

MSU wins!!! please notice the relief that Becca and I are celebrating. boys are happier when their team wins....just sayin!

hello Izzo! you're so cute, I think you need to meet Miss Ruby!! :)

if you missed this on facebook, the caption read: "best part about skiing with a boyfriend!" That's one good beer right there!!

enjoying the mountain...and our new gear!! whoop whoop!

Oh What A Night....

Christmas night that is. For years now our family has celebrated Christmas on Christmas night....just about the last possible time you can squeeze in one more Christmas with it still technically being December 25th. It really used to bug me a little as this change from Christmas morning was due to my brothers getting married/having kids of their own....and then thinking they needed to celebrate Christmas/Santa gifts when their kids woke up....talk about selfish, huh?? :) Anyhow, when I got over that little hurdle and learned to share my family, Christmas night has actually become one of my favorite nights of the year, this past year included (yes I'm so behind I had to say past year as we are already in 2012). With that said, Christmas Day is also very nice as it is usually spent with my Mom and the Gehrk doing last minute preparations. I mean not only does Santa go to my niece and nephews homes, he also comes to Grandma and Poppa's. Yes, these children are unbelievably well behaved and not at all spoiled. HA...I hope you are all sensing my sarcasm as not one person leaves my parents home in need of one thing...just wait, you'll see!!
So Christmas Day was very nice. We went to church, delivered poinsettias to the "shut-ins" (members of our church who can't get out for one reason or another), had brunch, and once again fretted over when/how to cook the prime rib....as if the last 10 years have been big failures. If you're unfamiliar, every year mom is quoted saying, "I think that's the best one yet!"(perhaps it's because we only have it once a year, but who knows!?!) And somehow I managed to sneak in a little nap time with Ruby, the brand new puppy!! Funny how that works out? The day was great and by the time 4 o'clock rolled around we were ready for action and boy did action show up. Both brothers and their families trickled in right behind each other and the night was off. We kicked off the night by singing Happy Birthday to Baby Jesus, and then we immediately headed down to the basement so the kids could open gifts. I tell ya, I don't have any kids of my own but watching them get so excited over the silliest things makes my heart melt. They all really are wonderful kids and they definitely bring back the excitement of Christmas when it comes to gift opening. After all the excitement it was time for a break, which basically means we were licking our chops after smelling the prime rib cooking for nearly 2 hours! Dinner was phenomenal, per usual, and in the midst of our food coma it was time for adult present opening. Gotta say, not nearly as exciting, but still very fun. All the girls left with a few new duds and some home accessories and the boys left with a few new duds as well and some essential electronics if my memory serves me right. The universal gift was the book "The Sacred Acre," the story about Ed Thomas's life. I just finished it today and thought it was quite a tribute so someone who made a lot of difference to many young kids. It also had many life lessons to put to use! Good idea momma!! Once the present chaos was over the fun had really just begun. The minute Cade arrived he was determined to play everyone in ping pong, which lead to he and I scheming a family ping pong tournament. I mean why not, considering we are all terribly competitive and think we could beat anyone on any given night. We had so much fun and even set up stadium like seating in the garage so we were sure not to miss one minute of the action. To no surprise the Gehrk ended up winning, but Dan did not go down without a fight. I'm pretty sure it went into triple overtime....the way a championship game should end, right? HA :) All in all I would say Christmas was perfectly done. Such a good time with many more memories made....Oh what a night it was!!
Sidenote: AK and I separated for the Christmas holiday which was unfortunate, but neither one of us was ready to give up our respective families. From the sounds of it, the Kay Christmas was just as spectacular with fabulous food and many fun memories as well!!
Another sidenote: I was having too much fun to capture each Christmas moment....here are my favs!!

sleeping on a church pew with the tum hanging out....love it!!

pretty pretty on Christmas!

plus 1 girl....Ruby welcome to the club...it's a good one!

see what i mean? enough presents for a small army!! thanks momma and gehrk!

And Thank You, Baby Jesus!!!!

isn't she lovely...welcome to the family Ruby! you win best present award!!

snuggles....doesn't this make you want a puppy?? she's just so cute!!