We had finished the third movie + were looking for the fourth to quickly pop into the DVD player, when we realized that we accidentally rented TWO fourth movies and forgot to get a fifth one.  Serious HPMD Fail. 

um. we're obsessed.

None of us had been in possession of a Blockbuster card since 2003, so we needed to download the movie to an iPod and hook it up to the TV.  This process was going to take a while, so we decided to kill the time by playing a few hands of Bananagrams.

This game seriously kicks it.

Bananagrams is word game that requires no pencil, paper or board.  All you need is a table + one hand can be played in as little as five minutes.  Much like Scrabble, players use tiles to create words crossword-style, but without a board/ timer or point squares.  It’s all about speed + the first player to use all their tiles is the winner.

More re. Bananagrams’ Rules Here:  MMMMM…B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

Michelle (Flounder!) + Slick destroyed me in this game, but I still thought it was super fun.  It’s also a great “filler” gift for the holidays + I spotted it yesterday at Richard’s Variety Store in Midtown for only $15.  Not too shabby at all.

Not for the kids:  Banagrams would make a pretty solid drinking game.  JUST saying… 

xx, L

I brought my partners in crime along for this one...

It was kind of a big deal, too – because Greg’s friend’s band, The Eric Dodd Band, was headlining for the first time! They were GREAT and we all had a blast.  I highly suggest you go on iTunes and give them a listen.  (Start with the single “Run Around”…it’s my favorite.)

The best part?  Mr. Tom Dupree and Mr. Jessie Triplett came down from Nashvegas to play with the band!

SupaTalent: they play in a Nashville band called Throwing Gravity - be sure to check them out as well!

Friday Night Part 1: Dinner and drinks at One Midtown Kitchen with the “One” and only Ms. Lindsay Roberts.  We chatted and dined and sipped Aviations, of course, and decided that there are few things sexier than a grey martini…

Friday Night Part 2: Westside with the CoBros.  Yep – Greg 2.0 (also known as Greg’s younger brother Scott) came in town from Chi and after dinner, I found the 2 of them at Ormsby’s playing Battleship.  It wasn’t long before I discovered that Scott appreciates Rowdy…

Love this kid.

After Ormsby’s we crossed the footbridge to JCT’s roofdeck where Scott and I:

1.    Argued over whether or not JCT’s roofdeck was, indeed, a true roofdeck. (Scott: “If I’m looking off a roofdeck, I want to see Chicago, not a Chevy Tahoe!”)
2.    Drank water upside down to get rid of some pretty aggressive hiccups (ok that was just me)
3.   Placed various bets over all kinds of ridiculous things…and forgot to set terms for any of them.

Suffice it to say: I am a HUGE Scott fan. Huge.

Saturday Day Part 1: Fox Bros BBQ. Scott is a hot-sauce connoisseur and a BBQ fan, so clearly this was the only choice for Saturday lunch.  Fox Bros is always amazing, but you guys: as soon as we walked in we learned that “Chelsea Handler’s People” were also planning to dine there that day. (OMG!)  Unfortunately, we did not see them…probably because they were not located at the bottom of the plate of ‘cue in which the CoBros and I found ourselves face first.

Saturday Day Part 2: The World of Coke
Of course, WWCC is the location of Camp Dance 2011, so Greg and I have spent some time there, but this was our first full-on tour.  Listen, I don’t know if it was actually the most adorable thing ever or if I am just completely brainwashed (or both), but if you haven’t done this: you must. Coke 4 Life.

Saturday Night Part 1: American Cancer Society Roktoberfest
Bratwurst.  Beer.  Belly laughs. I was SO proud of Greg – the party was SO fun.

The band, Sun Domingo (leaving for their European Tour this week!), was great, the German food and beer were delish and I entertained myself this super-awesome photo-booth thingie they had going on!  Here’s the Q+DD: You were encouraged to write anti-cancer messages on a white board and snap your own photo which was then projected onto the wall.

G and I ended up with this masterpiece:

And this one…

These are pictures of pictures.  (yep, I work in tech and I still don’t have a scanner.) They promised me the full-res version soon, but I couldn’t wait to show you…

It was a great party for a great cause. If you’d like to become a member of the ACS Young Professionals group – email us and I’ll put you in touch, or go to their Facebook Fan page here.

Saturday Night Part 2: Johnny’s Hideaway
We left and cabbed it to Johnny’s, which was a RIOT as always.

On Sunday, I rounded out the weekend with a delicious lunch at No Mas! Cantina (delightful even though Shanon and I forgot to use our ScoutMob), a brisk walk and talk around Chastain with Meredith (a feeble attempt at rectifying the serious eating I did all weekend), and a little DVR catch up…but now I’m ready to face-plant in my bed.

WHEW.  Just whew.

xx, L

It’s like the peanut butter + banana + honey sandwich of old school gaming.  It’s no joke, either – certainly not for the faint-hearted.  And, it successfully kept little brother, Michael, and me (we are very proud inventors) entertained for a few hours – until Balderdash time – during our snowy white X-mas Day in Dallas.

"the weather outside is frightful..."

SCRAJUNO

How to Play

Set up all three games within close proximity of each other.  The oldest, and therefore the wisest, player goes first.  Start with Scrabble.  After your turn, calculate how many points your word(s) generated. 

-  If your word is between 0 – 10 points or is 3 letters long or fewer:  Remove 3 Jenga blocks from the tower and draw 3 Uno cards.  Play the Uno hand until a player wins or you’ve gone through the entire deck of cards once.

-  If your word is between 10 – 15 points or between 4 – 5 letters long:  Remove 2 Jenga blocks from the tower and draw 2 Uno cards.  Play the Uno hand until a player wins or you’ve gone through the entire deck of cards once.

-  If your word is 15 points or higher or 6 letters long or over:  Remove 1 Jenga block from the tower and draw 1 Uno card.  Play the Uno hand until a player wins or you’ve gone through the entire deck of cards once.

SCRAJUNO in all its glory

The game is more about speed than anything else – so create your Scrabble word(s), select your Jenga piece(s) and play your Uno hand(s) as quickly as you can.  Whomever wins two out of the three games making up SCRAJUNO is the overall winner.  The loser has to clean up and put away the games and is subject to cruel and unusual ridicule for the next 24 hours.

Pretty much, this is the best game ever created.  You’re welcome. 

xx, L

x-mas w/ the roberts

we had bar/ bat mitzvahs. i swear.

The Roberts family spends quite a bit of QT together over the-holiday-that-really-isn’t-ours.  We get along well, but family time can be tiring.  So, every Christmas Day we spend hours not necessarily talking, but instead, strategizing and plotting how to destroy each other in our traditional Scrabble tournament. 

Even our family dog, Charley, gets to play…

good boy

We are all terrible, of course, except for Charley…  I always try to throw in acronyms and Spanish words.  My brother makes up words all together.  My mother only ever uses three letter words.  And, my dad always loses his glasses and has to ask us to tell him what letter is on the tiles.  It’s kind of a mess, but it’s tradition – and we love board games.   

oooooh, it's ON!

We can’t play Scrabble ALL day, though, so we usually incorporate another game into the mix.  I used to make them play my old favorite standby until I was about 20 or so and everyone finally refused.

So, we moved on to Sorry.  I hate this game.  And let me tell you something, I am NEVER sorry when I send your “man” back to home.  Never. 

not sorry

Last year, I tried to incorporate my new favorite game, Catch Phrase, into the mix.  It ended up stressing out my dad – and we all had had one too many eggnogs to make any sense anyway.  Shame, though.  Love a good game of Catch Phrase.

However, this year I have the perfect game.  BALDERDASH.  We played it over Thanksgiving with Slick’s amazing family and it was a blast!!  I think it might even move into my #1 board game slot…  I can’t say for sure – we’ll just have to see.

The object of the game is to invent a phony definition for each word in play that could be mistaken by the other players as the correct definition.  Each player writes down a fabricated definition for the given word and returns it to the player whose turn it is.  The player reads all of the fake definitions along with the real one.  Players try to identify and choose the correct definition for the word in play.  The words are insane.  Here are a few examples:

Gaberlunzie:  A wandering beggar.
Lagniappe:  Small gifts given in New Orleans.
Sialoquent:  Spitting while talking.

People made up the most ridiculous meanings for these words.  Slick couldn’t keep it together when reading the definitions, so he used a pillow to cover his face when he read them during his turn.  It was pretty silly – but absolutely hysterical!

Balderdash is perfect for a group like my family – all smarty pants who don’t take ourselves too seriously.  I just bought it at Target in Atlantic Station and can’t wait to possibly completely replace Scrabble as the traditional Christmas Day game this year!

we've been perfect angels, santa...

xx, L