J-Fer Has a Birthday, But I'm Not Sure Which One It Is

She was born in 1985, so I think that makes her permanently 24...or so the joke goes. I'm not sure she finds it funny. I'm not sure I do either. I am sure that it matters not! As long as she is over 18, we can do whatever we want to her, like drag her to the top of a national monument. And by drag I mean she was practically skipping to the steps of the St. Louis Arch. She should be too. It was her birthday celebration, after all.

View from the top

After traveling in a parabola, we headed out to eat some yummy Thai food at Sen Thai Bistro and lavish gifts upon her unaging highness.

Happy birthday Jennifer! We hope your day was as special as you are.

Birthday Season is Upon Us

And wouldn't you know, we are behind posting everything. I still need to wrap up our retreat and spa night entries. I know, right? The retreat? That was in November friends and it is still not finished. But never fear - birthday season is here! We can always go back and pick up the rest of the stories.

Amy Stamy is the first birthday Queen and this year we are doing small questionnaires to help better acquaint you with each Kitchener. So please, join us at the winery for camaraderie and reverie and drinkery and...okay I'll stop.

Question the First (Faith): What do you like most about being in TCK?
Amy: Mostly I like the company of other female civilians, who are not only humorous and educated, but skeptical, silly, crafty, and cool.

Jenn: If you were to describe yourself as a drink, what would it be?

Stamy: I would be an amaretto sour because it is sweet and you need 1000 of 'em to get you drunk.

Mel: If you could go back to high school and choose your clique, what would it be?

Stamy: I was the hybrid. I was the jock softball player. I was on the math team. I was a math-lete.

OP: What is your favorite activity to do when your husband is not home and when he is?

Stamy: My favorite activity to do at home without James is spooning with my Mama! and taking a nap. [When he is home] I really love, on Sunday, when we get our foods and snuggle on the loveseat. But I like snuggling with Mama! better because James is too hot!

Faith: If you were a constellation, in the sky, what would you be?

Stamy: Well Faith, that's easy. I would be Orion's Belt.

Jenn: I knew that's what you would say.

Stamy: Well, I mean, what is Orion without his belt?

Did I mention there is video of parts of this interview? Well, it's coming. Stay tuned to find out Amy's favorite song to sing along with. I couldn't get it out of my head for a few days. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STAMY!

Retreat! - Section C

I think I am gonna start letting the pics do some of the talking for our trip. Our friends finally showed up by the way.

Tave and Mel with sunglasses headbands.

Jenn doing a dance...as usual.

yummy - snacky - lunchy

Mel prepping our craft. We should finish that sometime.

Old lady rocking.

Someone should keep an eye on her.

Aside from the lethal stares, check out our cute matching cowls. I know!

Not sure how you can be sad with two glasses of good wine.

Maybe she just needed her friend.

Ciao!!!

Retreat - Part Deux

Hello and welcome back to TCK Retreat 2011, Part Deux! Faith and I didn't make it too far down the road from the winery when we stopped to try Crown Valley Brewing.

I am not sure it was necessary, but we each ordered a sampler of beers and at this point had still eaten very little.

Wait, that's three samplers...I am pretty confident that is not all ours.

 Then again...maybe we should head to the cabin. I am starting to get pretty hungry.

Rothbrick Winery - complete with horse trails, two cabins, some ponds and wine! Sidebar - this place is highly recommended by all of us in the Kitchen and have already set our date to visit them next year. If you live in MO, check them out. Lorri and Steve are great hosts!

And the horses came right up to our windows the first night! Aren't they magnificent?

Faith had some trouble containing her excitement so we blew off some energy taking more pics and finding dinner.

This is gonna be, like, the longest set of vacation posts ever and we were only gone two days. I know, right?! We are so amazing.

Retreat! - Part Once

Happy New Year! How was your last year? If I must say, 2011 kind of got away from us here in the Kitchen. We still hung out for quality girl time, but sometimes seeing each other once a month was difficult to achieve. Never fear though, the 2012 planning meeting is in a couple of weeks so we can make our grandiose plans!

In the meantime though, let's retreat down memory lane, to a simpler time, in fair November, amidst the falling leaves and swirling winds. The whisper of future frost and delicious wine. A time when The Catty girls get out of Dodge for a weekend of ladie's night bliss. And I do mean bliss...

Sunrise on 11-12-2011, Jackson, MO

Faith and I got the roadtrip started this year first thing on Friday morning. Our motto for the weekend was "We can do whatever we want." So we did.

BFF wine and good times, 11-11-2011, Ste. Gen, MO

Our first stop was the Crown Valley winery in Ste. Genevieve. While sampling our wines we watched the bison roam in the field while the sun warmed up the breeze and we could forgo jackets.

Bison at Crown Valley winery, 11-11-2011, Ste. Gen, MO

Good conversation filled the first part of our morning as we paired the wine with camaraderie. We also ran into an old pal from the 80's.

We really wished all of our girls could have been with us. The weather and scenery was beautiful and we were kind of drunk by noon. That's a good thing on vacation. I think we were both grateful for the bonding time we were able to spend together though too. From what I understand, Mel and Jenn tightened their bonds on the car ride to the cabin the following morning.

Check back next Sunday for Part Deux as it seems we have some catching up to do! Mooches!!!

Birthday Mojo

 If you wanna come and take a ride with me, I can take you to the place where the Catty Kitchen will be...

Rolling with the homies

 Hooray! Jenn turns 26 today and is finally out of diapers. To celebrate her new-found adulthood we took her to Mojo's Tapas restaurant for some good eats.

The menu and drink selection was more extensive than I think we all anticipated and it was fun to try some new things. I drank my first mojito and feel like a total hipster now. Jennifer actually tried some food with mushrooms on it and didn't gag.

Edamame Hummus and Billy Goat Chips

Our night was undeniably tame in comparison to other events aside from Jennifer opening her gifts which was a riot. We did, however, look amazing (duh) and were certainly the most exuberant group in the house.

Amy is quickly becoming one of the funniest people I've met.

Beautiful mommy Mel and OP swapping tales.

Unfortunately there were so many pics of the gifts I feel it needs its own spotlight so look for that. In the meantime, if you love you some Jennifer holla atcha gurrl and tell her happy birthday!

Birthday Girl

A Birthday Song

Make it happen on yo berfday

If yo name is J-Fer Kuhn

We ain't bring no damn pinatas

And we popped all dem balloonz

Count up seven teddy bears

and drink yo liquor straight

god has got her "eye" on you

and mushrooms on yo plate

Next year on yo berfday

we may not even sing

But bust a move and shake yo thing

if you love TCK!

Make the Face for Amy! Whoo!

Happy birthday Stamy

Happy birthday Amy

Happy birthday Pope Amy

Happy birthday to you!

 She loved her vintage cookbook and spices from Penzey's.

At Onesto's we enjoyed too long of a wait and homemade Sangria. Oh yeah, and Vin Diesel was spinning the pies.

Once we were seated the evening was fabulous and the food was fantastic. I can't wait to go there again and not have to wait so long.

Amy digs into her ham sandwich with turkey on it.

I am shoving an amazing slice of pizza into my gut.

Jenn eerily eyeballs TCK's baby mama's dinner. Mel looks so cute with her belly.

And somehow, after harassing our waiter Todd all night, he agreed to take our photo. He put up with a lot so I hope we tipped him right.

Thanks Amy for inviting us to your beautiful home and joining our exclusive club. Thanks other girls for the chance to hang out. It was nice to see everyone. And happy, tappy, sappy birthday to Pope Amy! Way to kick off the year right.