Around town---Restaurant Week Kansas City!

Kansas City foodies.....ARE YOU READY?

Tomorrow begins Kansas City's Restaurant Week. This awesome event will satisfy any palate. From January 22-31, 100 of the best and finest Kansas City metro area restaurants will offer multiple-course lunches and/or dinners at the deliciously low prices of $15 for lunch and $30 for dinner (beverages, taxes and gratuity are not included).

The goodness keeps on coming....10% of the price of each multi-course meal purchased will go to Harvesters to help fight hunger in the Kansas City community.

So, how does it work? The website lists all 100 restaurants participating in the event. The restaurants have PDF files of their lunch and/or dinner offerings. Scroll through the list, read through the menus, start salivating like Pavlov's dogs and then make a reservation using Open Table. There is a link for reservations right next to the menus. It's that easy!

Now, ladies and gents this week comes at a perfect time for wedding plans. Some of the restaurants offer catering services and depending upon your venue, you can get a tasting of what some of your reception fare could taste like. Some of the restaurants can accommodate wedding receptions and this event gives you the chance to take a peek into the venue and evaluate their service level. You just might discover the perfect place to host your rehearsal dinner while you're noshing.

Or, quite simply, you could use this opportunity to eat a lot of delicious food and do some good for Kansas City's community. Enough said!

What to wear!!! 4 little white dresses!

The wedding day is coming for you summer brides and for the fall ladies, you are likely preparing to be fawned over at your upcoming bridal shower. Well, I think it's a shame that you're saving wearing white for one big day. Why not wear a crisp white dress to your bridal shower soiree or to the wedding rehearsal? You can add a punch of color (maybe even one of your wedding colors) with stylish sandals, a cute handbag or some celebrity-worthy jewelry (costume of course!!). We've scoured the area and put together a list of some fab little white dresses befitting for the guest of honor!!

Don't forget, you'll need a sexy little number for outings on the honeymoon! These dresses will certainly fit the bill....

For you modern fashionistas...X marks the spot! This dress is found at Hemline, a local boutique on the Plaza. It's just $102!!

Check out this romantic number found at Lane Bryant for $69.50!!

For the classic girl, JCrew delivers with an embossed cotton dress for $98....I'll take one of those! BTW it comes in 8 fab colors!!

For those of you who need a little bling, Jessica McClintock serves up this silvery brocade certain to make sure ALL eyes are on you!! Scoop it up now while it's on sale for $117 (reduced from $195!!)

Happy Shopping!!!

Inspiration---Rehearsal Dinner ideas (aka the skating story!)

I am writing this post while laughing out loud! Okay, before we get to the inspiration, you must suffer through one of my stories, the springboard for the inspiration if you will.

A few years ago, while in law school, I was always the classmate who veered the topic of conversation off of the subject matter of property law, torts or the evils of our research papers. I think it was my third year of law school (it's the last year of law school and so "senioritis" had set in...you recall that feeling from high school and college, right?) and we were having another one of our "let's not talk about law talks" while out at one of our many happy hours where we mused about our lives. Some song came on that immediately reminded me of a "couples' skate" song from my childhood school skating parties, so I asked my classmates how many of them liked skating parties. During this conversation, I told them that I always wanted a birthday skating party and by the time the night was over, we all agreed to go skating because we hadn't been in years! Mind you, I had passed the age of 30 a couple of years earlier and probably had no business hitting the rink!!!

So, one week later, we're at the rink and I am ready to roll!! It's a Friday night, but there are a few kids to contend with and I am frankly a little nervous. I started wondering if I should do this... the kids are wizzing by me just a little too quickly. So, I put my skate out there and told myself to "just do it"! After a few songs, I am moving, cruising, bobbing my head to the music, thinking I've still got it, 30+ looks good on skates....

Then, it happened. I was going around a curve and not sure what happened...but what I do know is that I did a graceful belly flop to the ground. OUCH...OH LORD!! WHAT WAS I THINKING?? I AM OVER 30, THESE BONES MAY NOT HEAL!!!! Then, some kid's dad asked me if I was okay as he coasted on by. Seriously, he looked older than me, which made me feel even worse. Needless to say, I got up and decided to enjoy the rest of the nite on the wall!! Oh yeah, my ribs hurt for the next week!!!! I should also mention that no one else fell down.....just me, the mastermind behind this whole outing.

Well, what conjured up this story you may ask? I drove past that fateful skating rink last night and happened to be talking to one of my friends and just started laughing so hard. She was, of course, confused, because neither of us said anything funny. Well, I told her the infamous skating story and confessed that I'd always wanted a birthday skating party, to which she replied "You can do that, tell your hubby! It won't be hard to organize that effort, that can be done tomorrow!!" Our conversation continued and I asked her what type of party she always wanted, to which she replied a pool party and a Worlds of Fun (a local amusement park) party.

So, this started a further discussion to which we've asked our other friends. My friend has even posted it on her Facebook page to see what her extended circle has to say. (one person already replied with "a princess party complete with ballgowns and tuxedos"!!! wow!)

Now, I know you're wondering what does this have to do with wedding plans?Often my clients are frustrated because they want to have a unique rehearsal dinner that is fun and relaxed and where they get to enjoy their guests. Since the rehearsal is about the couple, I propose this: think about the parties you always wanted as a child or maybe your favorite party and you're likely to come up with some great ideas and learn a little about each other as well. Now, in my case, I always wanted the skating party, but I am not sure how well that would go over with some family members (my 82 year old grandmother on skates????mmmm, not so much!). But, I could have some Wii stations with skating games, or do some of the traditional skate party activities, like the limbo or for the kiddos, the Hokey Pokey. For my friend's amusement park desires, maybe you could rent some of the amusement park/carnival type games (milk bottles and balls, squirt guns, ring tosses) and have a cotton candy and funnel cake machine to make treats.

Just think about it, you get the party you always wanted and your guests will have a great time. Maybe you can even get your folks to chip in extra so you won't be scarred for life from not having the party you alllllwaaaaays wanted (use your whining voice)!

What type of birthday party did you always want to have? Let's inspire one another!!

The perfect ensemble for your Bridal Shower, Rehearsal dinner or post reception party!

When I was getting married, I had the hardest time trying to figure out what to wear to all of those pre-wedding events! I didn't want to be over the top, but then I thought that I should look "just a little better" than everyone, after all I was the bride. I even remember on the day of my first shower which started at 11:30 one fine Saturday morning, I had a change of "wardrobe heart" and was at Macy's when the store opened! I ended up finding some absolutely gorgeous sling-backs that I still get compliments on to this day! I even ran into my high school english teacher, which confirmed to me that my change of heart was the right path to choose!!

So, in an effort to help all of you 2009 brides, who are counting down to all of your pre-wedding festivities, I will be bringing you a variety of different looks to make sure that you are picture perfect!

This ensemble says "bride" to me! This grouping is perfect for the bride who wants to look glamourous, but doesn't want to be too overdone. You could wear this to a casual shower with friends, especially a shower that had a fun theme such as cocktails or lingerie!! If your rehearsal dinner is low key, this simple and elegant group will fit the bill. For those of you planning to hit the town after the wedding reception, you'll still be dolled up, but able to hit the bathroom solo!

To find out more details on the ingredients in this ensemble, click on the box. And yes, those are a killer pair of Jimmy Choos!!! Hey, you're only going to have a bridal shower/rehearsal dinner/post reception party once!!