Weekday fun featuring Blue Bird & Mudpie

It’s been a fun week here in The Purple Carrot household. I’ve gotten to get out of the house and go to dinner two nights in a row this week so I keep thinking it’s the weekend, I love it. (And when you work from home, actually getting ready and getting out of the house two nights in a row can feel like quite a treat, trust me, ha).

Most excitingly … my friend came to town!

This is Danelle. We met in 5th grade and were joined at the hip all through school, and even moved together to Missouri after graduating high school in southwest Nebraska. Sadly (but good for her) she now lives in Lake Elsinore, California with her husband where they own a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Any California readers live near Lake Elsinore? You should definitely go see Danelle, you’ll like her, I promise!

Anyways, we picked her and her husband up at the airport, dropped their stuff off at our house and hit the town. We decided on Blue Bird for dinner.

I got a long-time favorite, the black bean burger. Along with that, Erik and I split some spicy black bean and vegetable soup. I spaced off taking pictures of anything else, so the soup pictures are it.

It’s been really chilly lately so it hit the spot!

And after dinner, we headed to our favorite coffee shop, Mudpie, for some warm beverages. I got tea, of course. I can’t get enough of it lately!

Hand modeling credits go to Erik.

Can you tell it’s almost Halloween?

I’m so glad I got to spend time with Danelle on her trip back to Missouri for the weekend, I’ve missed her! I never laugh as much as I do when she’s around.

And despite the polished picture up top and the fact that Danelle will probably not like that I’m posting this picture on my blog for the world to see … this one probably describes us MUCH better.

Your turn! … what have you been up to this week??

Blue Bird, Hammerpress & West Bottoms

What beautiful weather this weekend in Kansas City! Wishing it would stay this nice forever, but I know what seasons are looming around the corner … I’ve got hot tea in hand as preparation.

I haven’t given a weekend recap for awhile, and since this weekend was so wonderful it sounded like the perfect time! It, of course, started with First Fridays. We had a lot of fun, and it included eating delicious vegan quesadillas and heirloom tomato basil bisque at FUD. {fyi … it. was. amazingly. delicious}

Blue Bird, Hammerpress & West Bottoms

Saturday rolled around and we spent the day gallivanting with Erik’s mom. First up … lunch at Blue Bird. Erik went with the green curry with vegetables:

“House made curry with fresh vegetables, including potatoes, onions, carrots and mushrooms simmered in organic coconut milk and served over seasoned rice”

Erik’s mom got a tomato sandwich with potato salad:

And I had a quinoa stuffed tomato served with potatoes and a little vegan ranch.

I’ve gotten this before, and it was as good as I remember it! Warm tomatoes with quinoa = yum.

Next up … we headed to Hammerpress to get some snow pops. In case any fellow Kansas Citians don’t already know this … you don’t have to be restricted to summertime Sundays to get a Fresher than Fresh fix. Just head to Hammerpress, who carries a cute little freezer full of their all natural snow pops!

My taste buds were attracted to agave hibiscus … wonderful, as always.

Next up, we hit up all the awesome West Bottoms vintage, antique & architectural salvage stores. I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t explored all of them until this weekend. It’s safe to say I will be returning every First Friday weekends from now on!

And I have discovered my love for vintage Pyrex dishes. In fact, I’ve dedicated a whole {ever growing} Pinterest board to vintage dishware now.

Yes, I did. It’s right here, go see for yourself.

How was your weekend??

Blue Bird Bistro

Here’s a recap of our recent dinner at Blue Bird:

From the outside across the street.

Blue Bird Bistro is located on the corner of 17th and Summit in Kansas City. The décor and feel is simple, pleasant, cute, yet elegant.

Blue Bird Bistro is an organic, all natural, sustainable, and local restaurant in Kansas City.

Erik and I started out with the polenta. It was really good. I thought it tasted especially well with the ground up olives pictured below.

Polenta: “Grilled polenta served with a medley of local herbed toppings”

We must have both been in a burger sort of mood because Erik got a bison burger and I got a black bean burger both served with veggies.

Black bean burger: “house made black bean patty studded with mushrooms, onions, carrots, corn and a hint of jalapeno served on a toasted organic, whole wheat bun”

My burger and veggies were both very flavorful and very satisfactory!

Along with the menu, there is also a list of local farmers where all the food came from … very cool! Half of the enjoyment is knowing that what you’re eating is local, all natural and organic.

We love Blue Bird!

What’s your favorite kind of burger?

-Lesley