Memorial Day Birthday Weekend

I think there should be a mandatory 3 day weekend every single month. It's so refreshing! We kicked off the weekend celebrating Tom's birthday on Friday. We had a low-key, relaxing night and enjoyed just being at home. Saturday and Sunday the weather was awful. Everyone keeps telling us "Ohhh, you're going to love Chicago in the summer!" If April and May are any indication of what the summer is going to be like, I'm not sure I entirely agree. 52 degrees and rainy kind of sucks. It rained so much Sunday afternoon that our street flooded! Only temporarily, thankfully.

It managed to clear up by Sunday evening and the sun even graced us with it's presence for an hour or so. Our new downstairs neighbors hosted a cookout, complete with dueling grills and a flagpole with an American flag and a Chicago flag (who knew Chicago had it's own flag?!) We enjoyed some good food and it was fun to meet some new people. We even got to experience the midwest's version of cheap local beer....Hamm's, otherwise known as a "Hamm Sandwich." I had bought a 6-pack of it because I have been wanting to make Beer Can Chicken for weeks. We never have any canned beer in the house and it was only $3.49 for the 6-pack at Dominick's.

Monday the weather finally started to turn around. Sunny with a high of 92 degrees. We enjoyed a little bit of outdoor time, but frankly it was kind of hot (I know! I can't have it both ways!!) Bailey was a little perturbed that we were here on a Monday, interrupting her busy day of lounging on the couch.

Things I'm addicted to lately...

• ID Network (specifically Disappeared and 48 Hours Mystery)


• Finding a vacation rental with the following requirements: Bailey friendly, less than $200/night, less than 7 night minimum requirement, semi-secluded, with a hammock, on Lake Michigan


• Izze's


• Online shopping....adding things to "my cart" and then closing the internet before I buy them


• The super far-off extremely distant idea of working part time


• My morning coffee


• 3 day weekends


• Getting stuff for free with coupons (Frugal Made Fun style, not crazy Extreme Couponing style)


• Mad Men


• Increasing our Savings


• Parks and Recreation


• Aussie Leave-in Conditioner


• Salsa with cilantro


• Febreeze Luminaries "Yumberry Sangria" scent

Relaxing, Impromptu Freezer Cooking Day, Fun with the Neighbors

This weekend was great. It was the perfect mix of productivity, relaxation, and fun. We accomplished A LOT on Saturday...mostly "catch up" stuff that had been piling up for weeks. But I dove in and took care of it all. Saturday night we relaxed on the balcony. It was nice enough to sit outside, but cool enough to actually enjoy it. I pretended like I was on vacation (as you read about here). It was perfect.

Sunday I ran a few errands in the morning (my new favorite drink...Izze's....were on sale at CVS so I made sure to stock up) and then I had an inpromtu freezer cooking day in the afternoon. I made 2 recipes of Pioneer Woman's pie crusts (which makes 4 crusts), followed by 2 broccoli quiches (we had a lot of eggs we needed to use up) and a ham pot pie and a chicken pot pie. I had a tiny bit of pie crust left over, so instead of throwing it away I decided to make a mini dessert pie. I baked the crust, and then mixed frozen strawberries and some whipping cream in the blender and stuck it in the freezer for an hour. Yum!

Sunday night we grilled out with all of our neighbors and it was a blast! Everyone in the building is "normal" (compared to some of our previous and surrounding neighbors). We sat in the yard and enjoyed stories, beverages, and the smell of everything grilling. I think it's going to be a good summer.........

I need a vacation

*Warning* I'm going to be a bit of a whiner in this post. I am ready for a vacation! Usually by now we have gone on at least a long weekend to Destin, FL. It's a bit (just a bit) farther of a drive from Chicago so we didn't go this year. We were hoping to take a mini-vacay for our FIVE year anniversary in June, but I've been informed no one else is allowed to take time off in June at work, so that's out of the question. *hmmph* We've been looking for a place to rent on Lake Michigan, but everything we've found is either too expensive or you have to go for the whole week. And if I'm going on a week long vacation I'd rather be in Mexico or the caribbean. *Sigh*

We're still trying to swing something in August, but in the meantime I think we're going to have a Staycation Memorial Day weekend or 4th of July weekend. As a matter of fact, I'm pretending to be on vacation right now. I'm lounging on our back deck with a glass of champagne pretending that I don't still have laundry to put away from earlier and trying not to think about the pie crust ingredients that are sitting out on the kitchen counter because I had big plans of making 4 pie crusts today for future dinners.

Also, Tom and I have different ideas of what a "Staycation" is. I think it means we should go do fun things in Chicago and come home and relax but not do anything productive (like clean, cook, or organize). He thinks it means stay at home and do whatever you want...which is pretty much what this weekend has been so far. Regardless, I'm looking forward to our 3 day weekend next week!

Penny's Visit!

My friend Penny (from Birmingham) came to visit this weekend! Her husband is here for an orthodontic conference all week so she snuck up for the weekend. Friday night we went out to a little place over in Lakeview called Rock's. We actually went there when we were here on our whirlwind trip trying to find a place to live last October. Saturday Penny and I did a little shopping, then grabbed some lunch at Mana. Saturday night Penny and Nick went to the Cubs game (with the rest of their group from Birmingham) in the freezing cold and rain while Tom and I relaxed for a little. Sunday morning we grabbed brunch at The Uptowner Cafe before heading to the airport. It was so good to see Penny's smiling face!

Top 10 Things I am SO excited about right now!

10. Basil plant is sprouting!! (It hasn’t even been 2 weeks!)
9. The weather has been awesome this week! (Too bad it will be crappy again this weekend)
8. Sitting outside and enjoying dinner in *perfect* spring weather
7. Free stuff
6. Chicago Craft Beer Week (just in time for Tom’s bday!)
5. New (yet to be purchased) patio furniture
4. Friday Night Lights is back on
3. We reached a new savings goal this week
2. Red Velvet ice cream from Berry Moon
1. My friend Penny is coming to visit this weekend!

Mags and Brie Take Chicago!

This weekend my good friends from college, Mags and Brie, came to visit us in Chicago. Margaret was originally supposed to come back in February, but rescheduled for May (and what we thought would be a nicer weekend-weather wise). Friday night we just hung out at the apartment and caught up.

Saturday we woke up early to head to our first destination, Hot Doug's. Our friend Kedar also drove down to join us for the day. Typically we wouldn't be eating encased meats for breakfast but 1) Hot Doug's had limited hours, 2) The later in the day you go, the longer the line, and 3) We had to go early to get to our other planned events. We got to meet Doug himself and he didn't even flinch when Brie ordered a Vegetarian Dog. Of course there was a line (even at 10:00 in the morning, a half hour before they opened), but we made some friends in line and the food was well worth the wait. They had quite the selection of specialty sausages!!With grease filled bellies we walked to the train station and made it downtown and to Navy Pier in enough time for what we thought would be a peaceful, relaxing, arhitectural boat tour (like the one Tom and I took a few years ago when we came to visit Chicago with friends). Wrong. I bought the tickets through Groupon a month or so ago and figured that all architectural boat tours were pretty much the same. Wrong again. We were on a "speed boat" that decided to take us on not one but TWO speeding adventures up and down Lake Michigan in 55 degree rainy weather before heading to the river for the architecture tour. And our tourguide was one of those kids that tried real hard to be funny, but was just bad. We bundled up and went along for the ride and were just thankful to grab some hot chocolate as soon as we got off the boat!We had originally planned to check out a Polish Festival that was going on in Millenium Park, but it was misting and FREEZING and we all decided we should head somewhere indoors for a little bit. So what better thing to do then go enjoy some deep dish pizza?! We decided on the Original Pizzeria UNO, because Tom and I have recently had Lou Malnati's and Gino's East, plus we couldn't really remember what Pizzeria UNO tasted like...because the last time we were there we were enjoying quite a few pre-dinner drinks with friends while we waited for a table. After stuffing ourselves again, we tried to walk around on Michigan Ave, but again, it was just too cold and rainy, so we headed back to the apartment. Our friend Jess came over and we spent Saturday night reminiscing and laughing until we practically cried (let's just say we're thankful that we didn't have digital cameras and facebook when we were in college). Sunday morning we went to Bakin' and Eggs for breakfast. There are seriously so many brunch places in Chicago! And so far they all seem to be really, really good! Bailey loved having her new friends here, and it was so great to catch up with them again!

Spring is in the air! (?)

We had another beautiful spring weekend here in Chicago. Sunny (for the most part) and mid 60's! FINALLY there are leaves on the trees out front! Which means we can open our windows and have a little more privacy.

We took this opportunity to start our "garden" on the back deck. Tom's friend Ben sent us some chili pepper seeds and a packet of Basil for me (since that's the only thing I seem to be successful in growing). As luck would have it, our (loud) neighbor moved out yesterday (yay!) and left his giant planter that was out back (double yay)! We bought new soil and Tom planted the pepper seeds....remember how big his plant got last year? We've got high hopes for these little seeds in this planter!!

Tom will be taking orders for his homemade Hot Sauce as soon as we see the first sprout ;) I also bought a cilantro plant and I'm pretty sure it's not already 97% dead like the one I bought last year (and unsuccessfully tried to nurse back to life).