Goodbye, Dorothy Gale!

 
I turned in my resignation yesterday. My husband did the same thing a couple of weeks ago. Farewell parties have been held, apartment lease is over, the cats are trained to go in a pet carrier. Yes, we are leaving beautiful Kansas City, and while it’s sad to say goodbye to good friends, we’re very excited because of new opportunities in Chicago where John has a new job.

For the first time in my life, I really feel like I’m leaving my home-away-from-home behind. It is a bittersweet depart; we go with boxes full of dreams to start a new life in a magnificent city, a place we both love, a place we’re familiar with, a place we have always wanted to go. John’s family is there, so that’s a big plus and probably the main reason why he accepted the offer.

These last 3 years of my life are amongst the best. Not only because I started rebuilding my life next to a wonderful man in a wonderful place, but also because of all the people I’ve met. Each one of you has enriched my life in a very special way. We’ve had our ups and downs in the land of Dorothy because that is human nature, but Kansas City will remain one of my favorite places in the world and I’m sure we’ll be back.

I can’t do the list thing like my husband did; I don’t want to experience the wrath of Meesha (hey! you’re the only one named here!) but I want to thank you all for the good times, the support, the laughs, the beers, the monthly blogger meet-ups, the tweet-ups, the opportunities to do volunteering, the good food, the company, the impromptu lunches, the Battlestar Galactica games, the many bottles of wine you’ve provided, the fun stories, the drama, the intrigue.

But most of all, I want to thank you for opening the doors of your house and your heart to us. For me, you are family, you will always be. I hope to see you in Chitown, so we can continue having fun and John and I can feed you real Colombian feed cooked by the masters.

God bless you all, I will miss you… like the deserts miss the rain. :-)

KC Twestival Charity Voting Open

The KC Twestival Local planning team has tallied the votes from the original list of 18 charities submitted for consideration for KC Twestival Local and we have narrowed down the final list to 6 Kansas City area charities. Now, we need you to submit your vote.

You can submit your vote at: http://kansascitytwestival.uservoice.com.

The entire community will have a say in which charity will receive 100% of the funds raised from this event. Only 1 will be selected.

Voting will be open until Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 11:59PM CST.

Just the screen. No fork, TYVM.

For Christmas, John and I got an AMC gift card from one of his co-workers; so after a busy shopping afternoon we decided to try the new Fork & Screen at AMC 30 in Olathe. Mind you, it is $15 after 4 p.m. and that was the first disappointment after being used to $8 at Cinemark (even if it smells like rancid popcorn most of the time) or $4 if you go before 6 p.m.

The theatre is beautiful, the seats are super-comfy, the people are nice at the entrance. But that’s about it. If you plan to spend $40 in food, you better go to a nice restaurant before the movie instead of wasting your money there. Our order took way too long to arrive, it was cold, it was bland and just not worth the price. If you see the words “Parmesan Fries” you expect them to be something more rather than just regular fries sprinkled with cold Kraft Parmesan cheese, right? Hmmm…

The whole eat while you watch a movie experience? Not for me. The waiters are distracting and some people think they are in a restaurant and talk too loud. It was one of those things I did once and will think about twice to do it again. If I want food during a movie, I’ll rent it the movie and eat at home. Especially for that price. $40 for a burger and some chicken tenders? Insane.

That being said, the movie we watched saved the evening. Slumdog Millionaire is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. But I’ll leave the review to my husband.