My parents are in town visiting for my sister Holli's graduation which was on May 17th. Since she was super busy finishing up class work and preparing for the big day, I entertained my parents all day Friday. Since we had the most beautiful weather this weekend that I've ever experienced in KC we decided to go to the Kauffman Memorial Gardens, which is across from UMKC. I went there 5 years ago and I pass by it everyday on my way to work but never think to stop in. I forgot how beautiful and relaxing it is (and free). It's a little oasis in the city with fountains and vibrantly colored flowers all around. The gardens even came with a cute sleeping cat. Late Friday evening we had dinner with Alisha and Holli at Potpie. My sister has wanted to go there for months and months and either they would be closed or we wanted to eat something else. I’m really glad we finally ate there. It was delicious and such a quaint little local restaurant with a great chef. We were sitting in a booth in front of the entrance and Alisha noticed the restaurant name was casting a shadow on the brick wall and almost immediately we all thought it would be a great picture so here are some from that night and from the gardens.
Saturday morning Alisha and I hit up some garage sales, it seemed like the whole neighborhood was having one and didn't want to miss any. On Friday afternoon while driving my parents around, I took a detour through our neighborhood and stumbled across a garage sale that had exactly what I have been wanting for a month or so. I spotted the treasured items out of the corner of my eye so we just had to stop. I got an old wagon, the red ones that kids ride around in and an old wash basin, the ones that stand on four metal legs with wheels. Everything he was selling was from the 50's or later and I loved it! I want to use both to plant our herbs, vegetables and flowers. I also found a bunch of old soda crates and army trunks on Saturday. I've never been to a garage sale in the Midwest before and I can't believe what I've been missing all these years. In Florida all you usually find is worn out crap from the 80's or 90's that should be thrown away or donated but not here. Here you find awesome shabby chic stuff from farms and old antiques. I love it!! After the garage sales, we took Mom & Dad to the City Market for the Farmer's market to o get some fruits & veggies for the week. Holli's graduation took place Saturday afternoon and was probably the most entertaining and shortest graduation ever. Gotta love those Artists! Afterwards they had a catered reception on the school lawn with some live jazz. I wasn't able to snap any good shots of sis at the ceremony and by the time we caught up with her at the reception she had stripped off her cap and gown so no pics of that momentous event. I just want to send a big shout out to my lis sis and let her know how proud I am of her!
Yesterday we had a graduation brunch and then headed to Powell Gardens after a brief stop at another garage sale :-) This was my first time visiting Powell Gardens and it was really beautiful. I enjoyed the drive out there through the rolling hills. The gardens are are great and like my Dad said, need to be visited a couple of time a month or more to see all the different flowers in bloom. The iris were in bloom yesterday. My favorite part of the whole place is the chapel looking over the lake. There was a wedding going on so we couldn't take sunset shots at the Chapel as planned.
