Fun Times - Dusty & Marlina

Fun Times

Second Annual Camping Trip

October 4, 2012

In September we found some time to take our annual camping trip. We went to Indian Cave State Park again. It’s just a few hours away from Omaha and so easy to get to. We did much better planning things out and actually arrived before dark, brought plenty of our own wood, and only forgot a few minor items.

My favorite part of our trip is that we bring several bottles of wine and spend most of our evenings without technology holding our annual Davidson Family Summit. We got this idea from good friends of ours who find a weekend once a year to talk about all of their hopes and dreams, big and small, and plan for the upcoming year. Although, I must say, we’re not as productive as we probably could be, we talk about what’s going on in our lives and what we hope to do in the upcoming future.

No Comments | Posted in: Fun Times, Travel | Tagged with: Camping
French Open – Roland Garros

June 14, 2012

The French Open, also known as Roland Garros, is one of the major international tennis matches. It’s held in Paris for two weeks at the end of May and beginning of June each year. The stadium where the tournament is hosted is also called Roland Garros and is located in the southwest part of Paris. I’m a novice to tennis, although I was on the tennis team in high school for one short season. I’m pretty sure that I didn’t even know how to play tennis before I joined. Dusty and I were lucky enough to get tickets from a friend of Dusty’s who works for ESPN and attend a few weekends ago.

I don’t think I realized how lucky we were until that evening when we were out for drinks and we started talking to some gentlemen from Czech Republic who were trying to figure out how to get tickets.

It was super easy to get to Roland Garros using the Metro. The gates opened at 10am and matches started at 11am. We arrived early enough that we could get our bearings and figure out which courts we needed to be at and when.

I think just as much fun as watching the star athletes is watching the “ball boys” and yes, there were girls too. You can tell this must be a huge honor for the kids and they take their jobs very seriously. There’s lots of unspoken communication between them to make sure the balls stay off the court and in the right place. My other favorite part of the event was people watching.

1 Comment | Posted in: France, Fun Times, Paris | Tagged with: France, French Open, Paris, Roland Garros, Tennis
Book Club

May 2, 2012

In February a few friends and I started a book club we call B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Book). Our book club is very similar to others, we meet at someone’s house each month to discuss the book that the host has chosen for that month. We have food and plenty of wine and end up talking more about our lives then about the book in particular.

I’ve grown close to all of these wonderful ladies and can’t imagine why I waited so long to start something like this. It’s hard to get a group of women together once a month because of schedules and daily lives but when you create a specific reason, like discussing a book that you’ve spent the month reading then it’s not nearly as difficult.

I like my book c lub so much that I’ve started thinking of how I can create other groups or clubs, like a knitting club or quilting club or drinking wine club, just so I can find an excuse to get together with my friends more than once every six months.

This year we’ve read: Hunger Games, What Alice Forgot, Never Let Me, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Room, Escape, Half Broke Horses, Modoc – The True Story Of The Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived, The Night Circus, Sarah’s Key, Still Alice, Teacher Man.

I hosted the first book club and we read Hunger Games because the movie was coming out shortly after. We even planned a movie day for those who could come. Here are a few pictures from when I hosted. I found a website that had great Hunger Game party favors, bookmarks, and decorations.

No Comments | Posted in: Fun Times | Tagged with: Book Club
Dinner at Bret’s Table

April 12, 2012

Last weekend we were in Minneapolis visiting Dusty’s dad, Dean and stepmom, Julie before I get overly busy with the end of the semester and Dusty gets inundated with last minute details for Big Omaha. Dean and Julie have some good friends, Bret and Jon who we have become close with, in part because they love food just as much as we do (if not more). Bret recently traveled to France and lead a culinary tour around the country, including Provence, where they went to the former home of Julia Child. He also runs private events and classes in the Minneapolis area as well as in his home.

It just happens that this past weekend Bret and Jon were having some friends over for a little day of cooking, eating, and drinking, and we got the privilege to attend. We got some excellent culinary lessons from Bret (who is an excellent teacher by the way) and then ate the beautiful masterpieces we had created. One of our prep jobs was to be in charge of choosing the wines to pair with each dish and I must say we did an excellent job. Minneapolis had this great wine shop, France 44, that had an excellent selection of French wines.

Here’s a look at the menu we prepared:

Aperitifs
Anchovy Tapenade with Crackers
Kir Royal (a popular French cocktail made with creme de cassis–black currant liqueur topped up with champagne)

Plat
Cuisses Poulet farci avec la saucisse avec jus (Stuffed Chicken Thighs)
Pomme de terre parisienne (Parisian Potatoes)
Steamed small carrots

Salad Vert
Fromage

Dessert
Tartelettes au chocolat individuels avec des framboises et crème à la pistache (Individual Chocolate Tarts with Raspberries and Pistachio Cream)

No Comments | Posted in: Family, Food, Fun Times | Tagged with: Cooking Class, Family, Food, Wine
Dante Cooking Class

April 11, 2012

Dusty and I really enjoy food and wine! We absolutely love eating at Dante Ristorante and Pizzeria. Nick, chef and owner, is brilliant and Andy, wine director, has so much energy and passion for not only Italian wine but all wine. The entire staff at Dante’s is the best. If you live in Omaha and haven’t eaten there you need to. Dusty likes to say that it’s a phenomenal pasta place disguised as a pizza shop. Seriously, the pizza is the best in town (Pitch being a close second) but the pasta and green salads are the hidden gem. All of their pasta, dough, mozzarella, and most everything else is made fresh in house. Most everything (if not everything) is locally grown and raised.

Dante’s started offering wine dinners a few month ago that Dusty and I started attending. It’s a great reason to try excellent food and wine and to learn how everything pairs together. For months Nick and Andy have been talking about hosting a cooking class where guests can do a little Italian cooking and end the night with a great dinner. A few weeks ago we were lucky enough to be able to attend and had an absolutely wonderful time. They closed down the restaurant for the night and we were able to go to four different food stations and two different beverage stations to learn about wines, beers, making fresh pasta, making neapolitan pizza, homemade sausage, and breaking down poultry and fish. I learned and did so many interesting things. It was a great date night out with Dusty. I can’t wait to do it again.

No Comments | Posted in: Food, Fun Times, Omaha Night Out | Tagged with: Cooking Class, Dante Pizzeria, Food, Wine
Spring Omaha Fashion Week

April 10, 2012

A few weeks ago we attended one of the Spring Omaha Fashion Week Runway shows. On the runway that night were collections by designers Emma Erickson, Megan Hunt for Princess Lasertron, Jane Round and Paddy Tarlton for Dancin Yogi. The event was held at Kaneko, which is one of Dusty’s and my favorite venues in the Old Market. It was an excellent event all around–the best front row seats, phenomenal models, and of course, inspiring collections. To our surprise Jerell Scott, of this season’s Project Runway All Stars was there (See picture below of Jerell with my friend Kate and me, lower right).

No Comments | Posted in: Fun Times, Omaha Night Out | Tagged with: Kaneko, Omaha, Omaha Fashion Week
Seamroige Couture Party

March 20, 2012

Our good friends Mike and Patty hosted their annual couture party on St. Patty’s Day weekend. We can’t get enough of the photo booth! Isn’t everyone lovely in their green.

No Comments | Posted in: Fun Times, Holidays | Tagged with: Couture Party, St. Patrick's Day
2010 Random Pictures

December 21, 2010

Right to Left, Top to Bottom: 1. Me & My Niece at FunPlex 2. Dusty & I at Tara & Joe’s Wedding 3. Me & Stefanie on New Year’s Eve 4. Me Laying on Sidewalk 5. Me, Carrie & Kate Celebrating Brian’s 30th 6. Singing Karaoke 7. Dusty & I at Nick & Brook’s Wedding

No Comments | Posted in: Fun Times | Tagged with: Fun
Enjoying Married Life

November 13, 2010

Here are a few pictures from the past year. Top to Bottom: 1. Me at the last game at Rosenblatt Stadium 2. Dusty and Marlina celebrating the 4th of July 3. Dusty and Marlina at the Omaha Riverfront Wine Festival 4. Dusty and Andy.

No Comments | Posted in: Fun Times | Tagged with: Married Life, Omaha
Des Moines Half Marathon

October 20, 2010

This October I ran a half marathon in Des Moines, IA. If you know anything about Iowa it’s that the weather doesn’t always want to cooperate but on the morning of October 17 the skies were clear and the sun was shining. I’d like to say that I’m a natural runner and it was an easy race for me but I’d be lying. It was a beautiful run but it was a hard run and I was happy to see the finish line.

No Comments | Posted in: Fun Times | Tagged with: Half Marathon, Running