First Friday

Oh how I LOVE First Fridays in Kansas City!! On the first Friday of every month the streets of down town Kansas City's Art District are flooded with people! Once a month the local art galleries open their doors to the public, and invite you in with snacks and sometimes WINE! It is so much fun to browse through the galleries and admire the art I could never afford!

One of my favorite (and most affordable) First Friday stops is a little pottery shop with BEAUTIFUL handmade kitchen wear. My sister and I are both addicted to this little pottery shop because of their beautiful and unique hand thrown coffee cups! Almost every time we go in there we come out with a new coffee cup! I have to refrain from buying them all!! I HEART THEM SO MUCH!

On First Friday, the art galleries aren't the only ones open for business. Local entrepreneurs of every kind line the streets of the art district with tables and booths covered in handmade goodies!
This beautiful clock picture was created by a lady named Bridget Patton. Bridget is an amazing freelance photographer! Not only does she take stunning photographs she then turns her pictures into AMAZING works of art through her secret method of transferring the pictures onto blocks of wood!
I am absolutely in LOVE with the artwork I purchased from Bridget!
You can check out more of Bridget's work here!

Aside from all the SHOPPING, entertainment isn't hard to find either with live music around every corner!

 To sum it up, First Friday is simply a celebration of art and creativity! What more could a girl like me ask for??

However, in spite of all the exciting things that were going on during this particular First Friday, I was there on official Photography By Christy business. I was walking down the streets handing out fliers to promote my fall specials!
"Pick a flier any flier and turn it over to see if you are a WINNER!"  Yea, that was me!
I thought it would be fun to turn advertising into a little game! I mean who doesn't like to win something every now and then? The winners won a free snapshot of themselves at First Friday and a FREE Facebook timeline cover collage!! Awesome right!?!?!!!

Congratulations to ALL the winners and thank you for your participation!!

****BONUS SAVINGS!!****
Mention special code "FirstFriday" when booking and receive an additional 10% off!!

Moving on up!

Well, I've done it! I have officially moved to the big city of Kansas City!! What started off as a summer vacation has turned into a permanent residency. (Well, as permanent as living with your parents can be!)
I am super excited to be back and close to my family again. However, the moving process is NEVER fun! And job hunting is even less fun! {=/

In hopes to build up new clientele I made a couple of fliers to advertise my special fall prices! My sister and I posted them around town in some trendy little coffee shops. (And any other place that would allow advertisements.)

While we were out pedaling pictures, we came across this RIDICULOUSLY  FABULOUS vintage store called Boomerang! The first thing I noticed as we walked in was this amazing wall of fab 70's and 80's wigs!! It was so funny!!

This store had everything from poodle skirts to windbreakers!! (Yes, I said windbreakers!) 

We had so much fun looking through all of the crazy dresses, funky shoes, and HUGE sunglasses!! 

It was total vintage LOVE!!

   

  

  

Oh and did I mention you can rent this stuff?!!?! 

And we can't forget the leg warmers!!! 

 

Urban Explorer - Longboards

My sister told me about this small little wrap shop called Longboards-Wraps-and-Bowls. When she mentioned it I thought "wraps, really?? How is that unique?"  She then described it as "possibly Hawaiian food?" Well, that peeked my interest so we decided to give it a try. The restaurant definitely had a Hawaiian Island feel. It was totally decked out in Hawaiian and beach decor.    

Oh and to top it all off, we had just come from the pool so we totally fit in with the feel of the restaurant. : ) 

Now for the food!!

The menu had everything from salads to Thai noodle bowls. They even had a SUSHI WRAP!! I don't think I will be trying it anytime soon, but they did offer one.  

Since neither one of us really knew what to order we decided to only order one thing and split it and if we liked it then we would consider going back.

We decided on the Teriyaki Grill wrap with a side of hummus and pita.

I thought the hummus at Longboards was WAY better than the hummus at Habashi House. However, it was a little on the bland side. But in my opinion, a little bland is better than a lot of nasty! 

The teriyaki grill wrap was just ok. I thought it tasted EXACTLY like the frozen teriyaki stir fry that you can buy at the grocery store. So, it kinda tasted like something I could throw together on my own with some leftover stir fry. 

If we do decide to give Longboards another try I will NOT be ordering the teriyaki grill wrap, but I think I would probably order the hummus again.  

Urban Explorer - Genghis Khan

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Amanda!!!

For my sister's 23rd birthday celebration I went with her and a few of her friends to one of my sister's favorite restaurants Genghis Khan! Genghis Khan is an all you can eat Mongolian Grill!! Now the cool thing about this type of restaurant is that you get to completely customize your meal. And by completely customize I mean MAKE IT YOURSELF! Ok, you're not actually "making" it yourself as far as cooking it goes, but you do get to put all of the raw ingredients, seasoning, and sauces together just the way you like it!

And if you are the type of person who is going "OMG I can't just 'MAKE' food without a recipe!!" Don't worry Genghis Khan has that covered! They have several recipes that you can follow so you can put your type A mind to rest. : ) 

First up on Genghis Khan's cold bar are the veggies!! They have a lot of yummy veggies to choose from so you can just go crazy! Oh, and don't forget to add the onions!!

Next you come to noodles and meats. They have 2 types of noodles to choose from. My favorite noodles are the egg noodles. Their meat options are chicken, beef, pork, and seafood.

My favorite is the shrimp! Yum!!

Now I know when you hear raw meat on a buffet bar your natural instinct is to turn and run, but what I LOVE about this place is that all of the meat on the bar is cut up into bite sized pieces and kept frozen. Yes, FROZEN!! 

Now that all of that is settled, you can head on down to the sauces, oils, and seasonings!!!

They have so many flavors to choose from it is ridiculous!! I usually end up using a little bit of all of them!! ; )  

This is where the recipe following would begin for some! ; )
Once you are done with all of the decision making you can now take your overflowing bowl of goodness over to the grill where, thankfully, the professionals take it from here!
When your food has been cooked to perfection they plate it and hand it back to you. Now it is time for appetizers!! Once you have your plate in hand you get to head down to the appetizer bar where you can choose from crab rangoons, spring rolls, and kabobs!!

Now all that's left is to enjoy your creation!
I love to pair shrimp with pineapple and load up on lots of veggies!! It was DELICIOUS!!

So far, Genghis Kan has never let me down! The food is always delicious and the service is always good!
I was VERY happy with Genghis Kan!!  : )

Happy Birthday, Sis!!!!

By the way, this passionfruit sangria was like the best drink EVER!!

Urban Explorer - Yogurtini

Lets talk Fro-Yo!!
One of our favorite frozen yogurt shops in KC is Yogurtini located in Zona Rosa! I love the variety of yogurt and toppings that Yogurtini offers its customers. So far, we haven't found another Fro-Yo shop that has as many flavors of yogurt to choose from as Yogurtini.

Getting yogurt at Yogurtini is a 4 step process.

1. Swirl it.
2. Top it.
3. Weigh it.
4. Pay it.

1. Swirl it: Simply grab a cup and start browsing through over 10 different flavors on, what I like to call, The Wall of Happiness! 

2. Top it: Now load up on as many toppings as you want from their seemingly endless topping bar. They have everything from fresh fruit to dry cereal on this thing!! Oh, and we can't forget about the sauces and syrups waiting for you at the end of the topping bar that include Nutella and a peanut butter sauce!!

3. Weigh it: The part of the process where you realize that you may have gone a little overboard!!!!

4. Pay it: At Yogurtini you are charged by the amount of heaven in your cup instead of the actual size of the cup. Yogurtini is also on FrontFlip which lets you scan their barcode with your phone for discounts up to 20% off of your total or a FREE yogurt with toppings up to $5.00!!

How awesome is FREE yogurt???!!!?!

Overall, we are always very happy with Yogurtini! : )

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge

Here is my entry for the I Heart Faces Photo Challenge - Enjoying life!

Little Giggles  

Check out the rest of their blog Here!

Urban Explorer - Buddha

While my sister and I were getting our shop on at Michaels, we had a sudden craving for sushi!! We had crafting and sushi on the brain, so we decided to try out a new Asian restaurant in Zona Rosa shopping center called Buddha. The restaurant was divided into 2 sections. The hibachi lounge and the regular dining area. The hibachi lounge looked amazing with huge hibachi bars and a stage set up right in the middle of the lounge!

As soon as we were seated we scoured the menu for sushi! The first thing I noticed was the price of each roll, and the prices were average for sushi. One thing I thought was odd was that most of their sushi was wrapped in soy paper. I had never had sushi wrapped in soy paper before, so I gave it a try and ordered Liz's California Roll. We also ordered a Shrimp Tempura Roll and a rainbow Roll. We also tried to order a seaweed salad, but they were all out. : ( 

Now for the taste test!!

I had such high hopes for Buddha, but sadly to say, we were let down. : (  My sister and I did not like any of the sushi we ordered! Not even the Shrimp Tempura Roll! In my opinion, Liz's California Roll was the worst of the 3, but my sister, on the other hand, thought it was the best of the 3. I have decided that I do NOT like soy paper AT ALL. However, Liz's California Roll was the only roll with more than 1 ingredient in the center of the roll. It was a very sad sushi day indeed! : (

So, as far as sushi goes, we are not big fans of Buddha at all!

Sorry Buddha. : (

Urban Explorer - City Market

Ok, so my sister and I have been talking about how bored we both have been with food lately. We are just sick of eating the same old food that we have been eating all of our lives! It is time for a change I tell you, so we decided to be adventurous this summer while I am in Kansas City! We have made it a goal to go to at least one new restaurant a week while I am in town! (So excited!!) Oh, and I'm not just talking about a new pizza place either. I'm talking about completely different types of food such as: Japanese, Mediterranean, Indian, Brazilian, and even a little taste of the Holy Land!! 

To kick-start our little adventure off we went to Kansas City's farmer's market, AKA The City Market!

We had so much fun! It was awesome to see so many different cultures in one place!

Our first stop in the City Market was Habashi House!

Habashi House is a family owned Middle Eastern restaurant located right next door to the Al Habashi Mart which is a Middle Eastern grocery store!

 My sister and I ordered Gyros (Which I was informed is pronounced like "Euros"). We ordered one chicken and one lamb gyro with a side of hummus and Arabic rice. 

The chicken gyro was DELICIOUS!!! (Which is why I don't have a picture of it, it was gone in no time!) The lamb gyro on the other hand was not good at all! I was NOT a fan! :(  Sad to say, I did not like the hummus either. :(  It was very vinegary which was weird to me. I have had hummus one other time before this and they tasted NOTHING alike. Even though I wasn't crazy about the hummus or the lamb gyro I am not quite ready to give up on them just yet. I still want to try hummus and lamb gyros at a few more Greek and Middle Eastern restaurants in KC before I decide I don't like them!  Next is the Arabic rice. I thought the rice was pretty good. Not my new favorite food or anything but pretty good. My sister, on the other hand, HATED it! I wish I would have gotten a picture of the face she made when she tried it!! LOL!! 

Oh, and we can't forget about dessert....

Right outside the restaurant, they were selling Baklava, so I just had to try it! After all, it was only $1.00!!

 I have never had Baklava before and sadly to say I was not a fan of it either. :(

So, all in all not a huge fan of Habashi House.  :(

As we were walking out of Habashi House we noticed a little sushi restaurant called Sushi by Me, so we thought what the heck lets give it a try! My sister and I have been on the hunt for a good sushi restaurant in KC for the past year or so. We just can't seem to find that, OMG this is what heaven tastes like, sushi place. So, we popped in and grabbed a quick and simple California roll. To my surprise, I really enjoyed it! It did NOT have that ever so unpleasant fishy taste that seems to linger in your mouth for days!!! It was such a relief! We rated this as our 2nd favorite sushi place in KC. (So far.) However, we did only have the California roll. ;)

Here are just a few more City Market photos for you to enjoy. :)

  

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