The Fifth Annual Kansas Food Truck Festival // Hometown Happenings

Whew, I'm going to post something today that is not a linkup! Look out! :) I have TWO book posts scheduled for the next two Mondays as well, so I hope y'all enjoy those! Plus a suuuuper special announcement late next week!! :)

The first weekend in May was the fifth annual Kansas Food Truck Festival! It is put on by a local food pantry to get some extra funds pre-summer season. Did you know that food pantries have the most need for donations during the summer?! And it is the time of least donations. So, get out there and donate to your local food pantries this summer! :) We have gone to the festival all five years! See year one, year two, year three, and year four.

This year KC and I ended up with a good sized group of close friends who wanted to join us. It ended up being such a good number of people and we got a lot of good catching up in! :)

We usually get to try a ton of good food at the festival, but KC and I decided that this year we should try to split more things, so we could try more things. That makes sense... right? Well, even though we did that, I think we tried about the same amount as usual. ha. This happens every year. Honestly, the food this year wasn't my favorite... but the weather and company couldn't be beat.

When we got there, we knew that Bon, Bon! had a cocktail club inside of one of the galleries down there again. So we stopped there first to get cocktails. If you've read any of the other posts, you'll know that I had been missing the great cocktails from the Artillery Bar the first year, so it was great to finally have some back, even if it is from a different vendor! I had a Frose (frozen rose with something..., strawberry powder, edible flowers), Kyle opted for the Pineapple Margarita (Pineappel Juice, Tequila, Sage Salt). Later in the day he had a mint julep as well. They were all really good! I wanted to go into Bon Bon for a painkiller... but alas they were not serving the full menu. Which makes total sense.. I've just been jonesing for one!

The first truck we tried was JB's Tacos, we had some delicious ones last year, and wanted to get these before the line got long. We accomplished our goal, but sadly they did not have the veggie tacos that I fell in love with last year. They were still pretty good though.

The second truck that we tried was called Fine Thyme Foods. We tried the wings and the Gouda "nachos" KC didn't love the wings, but the nachos were pretty good.

The third truck we visited was called Taste of Brazil. I was really excited about this truck... but it was only ok. I think I didn't put enough chimichurri sauce on mine, but it was ok. We also tried another dish from that truck that others had purchased. It was basically a pastry filled with chicken and cream cheese and then fried. LOL.

Lastly we waited in line at a smoothie truck FOREVERRR for a "Pineapple Paradise" which comes in a pineapple... obvs. How festive! + it was refreshing in the heat! I could only have about 1/4 because it had banana in it... and I am SO SADLY allergic. How cute is it though?!

We did try another tiny s'mores crèmes brûlées from the Torched Goodness truck before we called it a night at the festival.

We ended the evening at Celito Lindo, on Cinco De Mayo -- which was a little embarrassing and accidental... but we got chips, guac, queso, margaritas, and I got a quesadilla... because I honestly didn't eat that much at the festival... and we chatted for a while. They had live music, and the band seemed to be having a blast so that was fun. It was a nice evening!

I guess my goal of trying more things didn't quite work out (again!), but I feel good about what we had. The cocktails were great, and all of the food was decent... but not amazing. Next year I hope to try some more new trucks! We'll see how it goes! :)

Have you ever been to a food truck festival?

What did you do last weekend?

XO,

Alexandra

The Fourth Annual Kansas Food Truck Festival // Hometown Happenings

Whew, this actually happened last weekend, but it's Show Us Your Books and Mother's Day, so I wanted to get those posts out first!

The first weekend in May was the fourth annual Kansas Food Truck Festival! It is put on by a local food pantry to get some extra funds pre-summer season. Did you know that food pantries have the most need for donations during the summer?! And it is the time of least donations. So, get out there and donate to your local food pantries this summer! :) We have gone to the festival all four years! See year one, year two, and year three.

This year KC and I ended up with a huge group of people who wanted to go too! We had 6 other people there, and it was awesome, though a little hard to stay together.

We usually get to try a ton of good food at the festival, but KC and I decided that this year we should try to split more things, so we could try more things. That makes sense... right? Well, even though we did that, I think we tried about the same amount as usual. ha, but it was all very good, so I guess I'm ok with it! :)

When we got there, we knew that a new(ish) restaurant called Bon, Bon! had a cocktail club inside of one of the galleries down there. So we stopped there first to get cocktails. If you've read any of the other posts, you'll know that I had been missing the great cocktails from the Artillery Bar the first year, so it was great to finally have some back, even if it is from a different vendor! My friend Lauren and I each had a Frose (frozen rose with something..., strawberry powder, edible flowers, and a pretty rose gold straw), Michael and Kyle opted for the Honey Bae Bee (Whiskey, honey, etc.). They were both really good and we definitely went back later in the evening for another round!

The first truck we tried was Bochi, we tried their stuffed wings last year, and knew we wanted to get one again this year. It was still super good, a lot faster than the year before! We shared a wing with the slaw on the side.

The second truck that we tried, JB's Tacos, had the longest line ever, and it took such a long time to order, and then we waited again to get the food. It was worth the wait, and luckily we were not hungry because we had wings before that! KC tried the street taco (steak), and I tried the veggie. The veggie was AWESOME! I've been missing the veggie since a local place closed that had the BEST EVER purple potato tacos. It definitely gave me a flashback, so good! :)

The third truck KC and Michael went to alone, while I hung out with Juliet - who was eating her veggie tacos and veggie nachos from La Parilla. (I didn't try anything from La Parilla, but I love their restaurant in town, and Juliet, Matt, and Lauren said it was good!). We also met up with Will and Cara at that point. They had just gotten a wing from Bochi, and then headed off to the waffle truck! Busy, busy! Eventually KC and Michael came back with Beaver Tails. A Canadian thing I believe, or at least we tried one first in Canada, on this trip. This time we tried some type of cheesecake flavor that had toffee/heath bar bits on it. Michael had banana nutella. A little more fried than I love, but fun to try again none-the-less.

After that we made it to the Jamaican truck. The line was quite long, so we went in for more cocktails while KC held our place! When we made it up to the front we ordered our jerk chicken with beans and rice, and it came pretty quickly! It was really really really good. Not gorgeous by any means, but it was so tasty! :)

Lastly, while friends got some cocktails, we tried another tiny s'mores crèmes brûlées from the Torched Goodness truck before we called it a night at the festival.

We ended the evening at Matt and Lauren's playing King of Tokyo. It was a nice break from the hustle and bustle. :)

I guess my goal of trying more things didn't quite work out, but I feel good about what we had. The cocktails were great, and all of the food was really good. Next year I hope to try some more new trucks! We'll see how it goes! :)

Have you ever been to a food truck festival?

What did you do this weekend?

XO,

Alexandra

Escape // Breakout KC

Hi everyone! Happy Wednesday!

I wanted to recap something really fun we did a few weeks ago!

My SIL Kels and her boyfriend Jacob love to do escape rooms. They are recently popping up all over the country, and rapidly gaining popularity here.

The idea is, you enter a locked room with a group of people and you have to use the things in the room as clues in order to escape from it. Rooms typically have themes and/or scenarios attached to them. You have one hour to break out of the room and the establishments typically keep track of the time it takes to break out and the success rate for a given room.

Kels and Jacob have been to escape rooms in Kansas City, Lawrence, and in Pittsburgh, PA. They have actually been to every single room at the place we went to, Breakout KC. The room that we did together was the last one on their list. (no pressure! :P)

We had no idea what to expect, so I will share a little bit about how an escape room works. :)

(this photo was provided by Breakout KC - thank you!)

The room that we visited had a casino theme and a 33% success rate. That's right, only one of three groups escape in 60 minutes.

While I cannot explain WHAT we did in the room, and I certainly could not take photos in the room..... I can give you some unspecific examples on the process and how a clue might work.

You start the room with a video that gives you the scenario or story that exists around your particular space. Sort of like a mystery. You then start roving around the room looking for any sort of clue that might solve your prompt. You might be looking for similar items across the room, words written on objects in the room, etc. As you go, you will end up with sets of numbers or letters that might unlock something in the room, a door, a safe, a window, etc. Anything that might need a combination. As you go, you often don't know which numbers will be the right ones, or what they might unlock. As you move through the room even more details and areas become obvious. You get more and more clues as you go, and eventually you (hopefully) break out of the room.

At Breakout KC you get 3 clues as well. So if you are feeling stumped, maybe trying the numbers or moving objects about but nothing is happening you can ask for a clue. Then someone behind the scenes will give you a clue via the TV screen. That usually helps groups get un-stuck. Kels said that she thinks using the clues at the right time is really important. For example, don't use them too soon, or you'll be out of luck later.

We were in a room with Kels and Jacob, and four other people, none of which had done an escape room before either. We ended up escaping, and making it out in the quickest time for the week! Not too shabby for beginners.

Overall it was really fun, definitely a creative date night or group activity. It wasn't too pricey for a full blown activity either. It was only $28 per person. That's pretty good for a unique hour of entertainment if you ask me! :)

As if this wasn't already fun enough and a great value, Breakout KC has offered a coupon code to my readers!

When you book online, use coupon code: KCCONVENTIONS to get 10% off your total!

This is not a sponsored post, all opinions are my own, but thank you to Breakout KC for providing a coupon code to you guys!

What do you think? Have you ever been to an escape room? Do they have them where you live?

Would you be interested in trying one?

XO,

Alexandra

The Third Annual Kansas Food Truck Festival 2016 // Hometown Happenings

Last weekend was the 3rd Annual Kansas Food Truck Festival. It is put on by a local food pantry to get some extra funds pre-summer season. Did you know that food pantries have the most need for donations during the summer?! And it is the time of least donations. So, head out and donate guys! We've been there all three years, and always have a great time! See year one and year two.

This year KC and I went with our friend Michael, (a veteran, all three years!) and we got there right when it started (rare!). There were more trucks, and indoor crafts this year which was fun. We tried three new trucks which was good... it's always tempting to go to the same trucks when you like them! haha

The first truck we tried was "Twisted Taters." The menu was solely loaded fries. KC and I had the "Idaho" which was basically like baked potato toppings (sour cream, cheese, bacon, green onion). They added nacho cheese... which I am not a fan of. Michael tried the "Gyro" which had gyro meat (but it was like ground meat..?), feta, tzatziki, etc. Both were just ok, not super great. As far as trucks go.. this one was just silver, and the logo reminded me of hotwheels and flame paint jobs on cars. Overall, not our favorite truck, but a new one.

The second truck we tried was called "Bochi," and specialized in stuffed boneless chicken wings. OH. MY. GOODNESS. I'm not even a huge wing person... but the flavors here were awesome! We had an option that was stuffed with fried rice and veggies, and covered in a sweet/sour sauce. I don't remember what Michael chose, but both wings came with some slaw on the side. It had some incredible thai/fusion flavors that were just awesome. Nom. This was hands down... the best thing we tried! I will have a hard time NOT going back to this one next year! The guys also split an order of crab rangoons. KC said they were a tiny bit overshadowed by the wings (since they were so good!) but that he liked those too. The truck was pretty much just red... and we hadn't gone in the past... but you know; how cool the truck is does not determine how good the food is. 100% proven here!

Boy, it was freakin' hot....! I don't know about you, but it's hard to be hungry when it's hot. So, not the greatest for eating, eating, and more eating. Oh well, you cannot stop us! :P We sat in the shade (when we could) and chugged bottled waters!

So naturally, we stopped at the ice cream truck next. It was basically like an ice cream truck that travels around a town. It was pretty typical, it had bars, pop sickles, sundaes, sno cones...etc. Nothing too original. The boys each got a sundae and I tried some of KC's. It was good, but nothing special... it was just ice cream. The truck was just white with the picture menu. Nothing unique about it.

The last truck we tried was called "Plantain District." It was a really popular truck, the line was huge, and they served Cuban food. KC and I split a Cubano sandwich (pork, swiss, pickles, sauce, ham) and plantain chips. They also had rice and beans... which I wanted to try, but was definitely not hungry enough to have! The food here was really good, I am glad that we tried something new. Especially after seeing "Chef," I wanted to try a Cubano! :) This truck was yellow and green. It wasn't super artsy, but it was decorative and fun to look at. 

At this point we were all three stuffed, and super warm. Though we had our eyes on burrito bowls, burgers, kebabs, etc...we decided to duck out early, and get some margaritas downtown. Before we left, I went into the craft area, and purchased some macarons from a local chef. I love macarons... so I had to. We bought a box, and all of the ones I have tried so far are good! A teeny bit grainy, but not bad. :) Michael had not had one before... so he tried one.... and proceeded to eat it very slowly and make weird face... verdict is still out...? Once we got downtown it was nice to sit, and drink something cold, and just chat. 

I wish we could have seen more trucks and tried their food... but clearly there was NOT room for more food! Guess we will have to try the other trucks next year! (and not eat ANYTHING beforehand!). 

Aside from the heat... the only other downside was that The Artillery Bar still was not back. Their cocktails were so fun and beautiful. Now there is just the option of beer, wine, soda, and water. Oh well, I suppose it was too hot to be drinking yet anyhow. Maybe next year.

I also missed The Jeweled Gypsy accessory truck. : / 

Have you ever been to a food truck festival?

What did you do this weekend?

XO,

Alexandra

Snapshots of Broods // March 2015

A few weeks ago I posted about one of my new music favorites: Broods. In March, we were lucky enough to catch one of their shows in KC for just $9.65 plus fees.

Mikky Ekko ('Stay' with Rhianna) opened for them, and I thought his music was pretty good and catchy. It was super fun when Georgia from Broods came out and sang Stay with him. :) I'm looking forward to checking out more of his music now.

Broods was great, as we had hoped! They don't have a ton of songs yet, so I think they played every single one! :) They had so much energy dancing around, they put on a great show. It was fun to hear them talk as well. They had a whole bit about New Zealanders being spazzy dancers. I always love to hear the artists talk at their shows. Plus, how cute is the NZ accent?!

I'm so glad that we got to go, and I can't wait to see what is next in store for them!

Here is one of their songs that has been stuck in my head lately, maybe because I put it on my Summer Mix? It's catchy and it's romantic. :) 

Been to any fun concerts lately?

If you could go to any concert, which one would you choose?

XO,

Alexandra

The Second Annual Kansas Food Truck Festival // Hometown Happenings

Well, with life slowing down on the career / crazy entrepreneur endeavors front... the first weekend off would be packed full of social plans. It was great, and a little tiring... but so worth it.

See what we did Friday @ Afentra's Prom with VANCE JOY! :) 

Saturday I dropped off my cat-themed bridal shower invitations to my customer, hand addressed and all. She loved them! (hooray!)

Then we headed downtown to meet some friends at the 2nd Annual Kansas Food Truck Festival (Last year's post). This year they capped the number of attendees, doubled the space, and the number of trucks... so we were pretty excited to give KSFTF another go!

KC and I decided to share everything, so that worked out well. We got to try more foods than last year.

Truck #1: We started with some tasty street tacos, they were REALLY good. I liked that they used flour tortillas - corn never makes me feel great. And the cabbage on top was tossed in a coleslaw dressing before it topped the taco. The pork had this really nice chili sauce on it. It was one of the messier things I've ever eaten... .but it was delicious.

Truck #2: Then we moved on to BBQ. Poor BBQ... living in the Midwest means that I am often burnt out on it. But it was pretty good, kind of spicy.

Truck #3: Then we walked over to the Torched Goodness food truck and tried some of their adorable and delicious mini crèmes brûlées. KC and I shared s'mores, Michael tried a toasted coconut, and Elijah tried the traditional vanilla. None of us had actually had crème brûlée before, so it was fun to try!

Truck #4: Later we visited Wilma's Real Good Food, and I tried a meatloaf slider. It sounded a little crazy, but it was actually really good. Very flavorful, a nice small size to share. I think that their truck (or trailer rather) is a lot more artistic looking than some of the others, and it was signed by Mumford and Sons.... not too shabby.

Truck #5: Then we made our way down to The Jeweled Gypsy truck. That's right, a truck for shopping. Danger, danger! Oh my goodness, I bought my mom a mother's day gift, and may have bought myself a few bracelets... : /  To be fair, my wrists are tiny, and these are an adjustable kind that works well for me... plus they are so pretty. And... I bypassed the $108 purse that caught my eye, and the $88 scarf.... So I don't feel too bad about it. :)

Kid Stuff: We saw my parents briefly, they got OE's face painted and gave her a sno flower. :) My dad said the face painting line was by far the longest. haha

Downsides: Sadly, the amazing Artillery Bar from last year, with the gorgeous cocktails wasn't there. I hope they are back next year.

Another great night out, with a lot of standing... whew our feet were quite dead on Monday.. :)

Have you guys ever been to a food truck event? Are there good food trucks in your area?

XO,

Alexandra