Dance Day and the Westside Neighborhood

Another great weekend in Kansas City - is it any wonder I count the days till Friday rolls around again?!! I started with Happy Hour Friday with some of my favorite work colleagues. And at one of my favorite happy hour places - Cafe Trio - overlooking the Country Club Plaza. Happy hour Monday through Friday from 3-6 PM. A great patio and a nice bar area open all year. They have a nice selection of discounted food, cocktails, beer and wine. A perfect way to wrap up the work week AND kickoff a fun weekend!

Those cocktails are called Pink Panties - and I believe quite a few were consumed!

Saturday was Dance Day - a day I look forward to all year. We are so fortunate to have the Kansas City Ballet Company here - and the last Saturday of August they sponsor Dance Day. It's held at the Todd Bolender Center for Dance and Creativity - which is the home of the KC Ballet. The entire day is free and filled with dance classes in every style you can imagine - classes for both children and adults. There are also exhibitions by some of the professional dance groups in town along with our own KC Ballet Company.

The Todd Bolender Center is amazing! It was built in 1913 to house and burn coal to fuel Union Station and other surrounding buildings. It had become basically extinct and was saved from demolition in 2009 when it was purchased and restored to become the home of the ballet. It was completed in 2011 and is 65,000 square feet. It has 7 studios and the Ginger Frost Studio Theater which has a floor the same size as the Kauffman Center stage where the company performs. It also houses areas for wardrobe/costumes, physical therapy, artist locker rooms, storage and administrative offices. The design elements incorporated the original coal hoppers and ash chutes! I take classes there when I have time during the year and the space is part of the overall experience.

I was joined for the fun day by my friends Kristin and Cheryl, Kristin's daughter Rylee and her friend Alex. We all had a great time! There are so many classes available you really have to pick and chose. We started with a ballet class and followed that with Hip Hop, Zumba, Contemporary and Jazz. They have lunch available so we took a break after Zumba to refuel. We also watched some of the exhibitions while we let our lunch settle.

Checking in and getting our wrist bands.

Rylee and Alex with the Sugar Plum Fairy! Cheryl and the girls catching their breath before taking on some Hip Hop.

This was year 3 for me and I'm already looking forward to next year!

Saturday night and Sunday were spent in a great neighborhood close to me that has really turned around in the last few years. It's called the Westside, and it's at Summit and 17th. Basically just west of I-35 and The Crossroads. Some of my favorite restaurants are there - and I enjoyed eating at two of them this weekend. Saturday night met up with friends at Westside Local for dinner. It's not very big so reservations almost any night are essential. Luckily we planned ahead early in the week and had booked a table. It's all farm to table with great specials every night. They have a nice cocktail menu and a good selection of beer and wine fairly reasonably priced. We were so busy talking and enjoying the evening I forgot to take pictures of the food. - shame on me!!! And everyone had something delicious. Marsha and I had the same thing - angel hair pasta with some veggies in a light olive oil sauce with grilled salmon. JIm had blackened trout with dirty rice and Randy had some kind of chicken that looked fantastic. So sorry!! I did get a picture of the dessert - no surprise - cheesecake! But it came in like a mason jar with berries on top so a unique presentation.

The market/restaurant on the corner greets you with a mariachi band!! And two other really special places right across the street - Blue Bird Cafe and Frevere Bread.

Sunday after church I was headed to the grocery store but all of a sudden was overcome with a desire to visit Chez Elle for a delicious crepe. It makes me feel like I'm in Paris - both the food and the atmosphere - so made a sudden decision to go there instead. Just because I can! Still in the Westside neighborhood just across the street from Frevere Bakery. I can always go to the grocery store on Monday right??!!

Had the Le Jardin crepe - artichoke, spinach, sautéed mushrooms, Carmelites onions and Provolone cheese - topped with creme fraiche. And since it's Sunday a latte too!

It's such a great neighborhood to walk around in - so many beautiful old buildings that are being renovated for people to live in. And shops with cool stuff to look at!

I saw this posted somewhere and had to repost - it's just too perfect for me!

The next month I have some really fun trips planned - starting with the holiday weekend. So check back in and see "Where in the world is Patti?" All domestic - no international trips planned for the rest of this year - but so many great places still to see in the USA!!!

Make your week a great one!!