28th Birthday Weekend Part 1

I'm officially 28 years old as of Monday.
My upper twenties.

Sheesh.

How did that happen?

I must say that this is probably the first birthday that I've legitimately

felt like I was getting 'old'. I'm sure one day I'll look back

at this sentiment and want to punch my 28 year old self....

But hey, you can't help how ya feel.

I think my feelings are compounded

by the fact that I'm officially reaching a place in my life where 

things that I always thought would be happening by this age,

aren't panning out the way I'd expected...
So is life I suppose...

Nevertheless, despite my geriatric state (haha), 

I still managed to have a pretty great birthday weekend!

Friday I met Alicia for lunch at Poco's before heading

to the West Bottoms for another month of First Fridays.

Our original plan had to been eat at this place called 'Kitty's Cafe'

(it's on our food tour list)

but we chickened out due to the sketch neighborhood and the two

burly guys (ie: Notorious B.I.G. look a-likes)
standing guard by the front door...
we decided we'll just have to try to visit Kitty's
during their busy lunch time hours.

So, we resorted to Plan B which was to try this place called 

'Poco's' (also on our food tour). 

This place was recently remodeled by one of those TV shows

that comes in and revamps struggling family owned restaurants.
I'd heard some DJ's on the radio talking about it and how delicious it was,

 so we thought we'd better check it out.
Overall,

The decor was cute, but the food was just 'ok'. 

I'd give it a C.

The prices were high and they had the nerve

to charge for chips and salsa....

Big no-no in my book.

Trying out the queso. 

Alicia's Enchiladas. 

Decor in Poco's.

My baja fish tacos.

They were a little dry so I had to add some salsa.

These two tacos with rice beans were $13.00!

Yikes!

After we were done eating we headed for First Fridays.

It was a pretty chilly day, 

(a stark contrast to the inferno of heat we had on our last visit)

so we found ourselves seeking out some coffee & hot cider.

We found this place called Jaskii's, which turned out to be

quite the odd little smoke shop/coffee bar...

Hookah anyone??...

Jaskii's had some interesting art...

The title of this piece was 'Lizbionic Barbecue'...

Despite the weird art and the fact that I smelled 

like cigarettes for the rest of the day,

 my coffee was tasty and

Alicia's apple cider was freakin' amazing so I'd

definitely visit Jaskii's again.

Saturday.

My mom and I had purchased tickets for the

annual Hyde Park Homes Tour.

This was our first year going and we weren't sure

what to expect for our $10 tickets.

We were pleasantly surprised! 

There were 9 homes on the tour ranging in size

from mansions to bungalows. The tour had really nice

shuttle buses that took you from house to house and

there were also free refreshments and snacks.

(always a plus for this girl..)

Some of the homes were very modern in style

while other home owners stuck to very

traditional styles of decorating to match the

era the houses were built.

This house was just stunning from the street.

This home (not surprisingly) was built by

a man who owned a brick company and paved

all of the original brick roads in Kansas City.

The home tours were really well organized and

there were tour directors located throughout the homes

to share historical and architectural information.

Afterwards my family had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants,

Macaroni Grill...

I can never get enough of the FREE (ahem...Poco's take note..)

rosemary-garlic bread that they serve.

 All this fun and it wasn't even my actual birthday yet...
maybe turning 28 doesn't suck afterall!!
Eh, who am I kidding...I'm pretty sure it sucks ;)