It's been a while since my last garden update. I took pics a few weeks ago after we moved everything outside (the weekend before Memorial Day) but never ended up posting them. And everything is so much bigger now! Here are our pics from today. I think the pepper plants are getting ready to start producing flowers (which will then turn into peppers). I'm dying for my tomatoes to start growing!!! I'm too impatient!
Tomato Plant #2
Tomato Plant #1
Oregano
Good ol' Basil
Still kickin' it from last year
Mystery Plant
(We're thinking Thyme but still not sure)
Pepper plants
Cilantro
We have more Cilantro ready to be transplanted into the empty areas in this basket
So far every Friday I have off of work with my new schedule has been fabulous. This past Friday I slept in, did a few things around the apartment, and then headed downtown late afternoon to avoid some of the rush. Tom and I were invited to a reception at Fulton's on the River through Tom's work. Good thing I went downtown a little early, apparently Obama was downtown Friday evening (which I had no idea) so a bunch of the streets were blocked off (at 5pm on a Friday, good timing Obama!)
I did a little shopping on Michigan Ave to kill some time until Tom was able to meet me. At that point, we still didn't realize what all of the traffic was from, and we were debating how to drive to Fulton's from where we were parked (literally less than a mile) anticipating that it would take us forever to get there. We accidentally ended up under Michigan Ave and on the lower level of Wacker Drive (think Blues Brothers movie) and somehow managed to completely avoid all of the mayhem. It was awesome.
Fulton's was delish. We mingled with a few people from Tom's work and just enjoyed eating and drinking at a restaurant we normally wouldn't be able to afford!
View of Fulton's from the boat tour last weekend
Sushi and cucumber with crab salad
Hanging out outside
The rest of the weekend was pretty low key and relaxing. Bailey and I spent several hours both days on the back deck (me reading, Bailey lounging), we grilled out for dinner both nights (Grilled Lemon Chicken and Savory Garlic Steak), and caught up on a bunch of things around the apartment. I've apparently taken up reading as a hobby again. I read The Help last month and I'm currently on the second book of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series. So good! My new hobby has not been good for the budget though - I would love to borrow from the library but I'm kind of hot and cold when it comes to reading. I'll read one book in 2 days and then take 2 months to read the next one. Oh well, somehow I'll manage. Back to work tomorrow!
I could really get used to these three day weekends!
Last weekend (aka Memorial Day Weekend aka Tom's Birthday Weekend) our friends Joe and Laura came out to visit. For those of you who don't remember, Joe grew up right across the street from Tom and they've been BFF's (can guys be BFF's?) forever. Joe was the best man in our wedding and a few months after we got married, we went to see them tie the knot when they lived in Kansas. They also came to visit us in Birmingham about 5 years ago. Okay, enough back story!
We weren't quite sure if their flight was going to be on time, because it looked pretty nasty in the direction of Ohare on Saturday morning, but thankfully it cleared up!
We picked them up and attempted to go to Hot Doug's, but when we saw the line was about a block and a half long, we opted for deep dish pizza at Giordano's instead.
After we stuffed ourselves, we went back to the apartment and enjoyed the perfect weather by sitting on the back deck, having a few drinks and catching up. We knew we needed a pretty low-key afternoon and evening, because we had tickets to the 11:00 show at Second City and to be honest we were all a little nervous about whether we would be able to stay up that late ;) We also wanted to enjoy the weather because we knew it was supposed to be ridiculously hot the next couple of days (Really? Who needs a record setting temp of 97 when you have all outdoor activities on your agenda?!)
We took a cab to Olde Town and found a perfect table outside at a bar right across the street from Second City (Corcoran's). We had a few drinks and snacks and then headed across the street as we watched Joe's blood pressure go up as the line to get in kept getting longer ;) It ended up being great timing, because we were seated in the last row of the floor seats inside Second City. This was probably my favorite part of the whole weekend. Remember how I said we weren't sure if we could stay awake? As soon as they came out on stage they had us laughing, and it got better and better as the show went on. I didn't realize how many famous people had gone through Second City (Tina Fey, Chris Farley, Bill Murray, Steve Carell, etc, etc)! Some of the skits were so funny that I wish they were on Youtube so I could share them with you and relive them again. We're definitely going back to Second City (but maybe to the 8:00 show) in the near future!
EDIT: I found this montage clip on You Tube. It probably won't be funny to you but just watching it reminded me of a few of my favorite clips, including "The AdoraBulls" "America's Blackest Black President" and "I'm a Positive guy"
We went home and crashed and woke up the next morning a little more tired than usual but ready for our big touristy day in the city. We went to Southport Grocery and Cafe for brunch, and after hearing there was an hour and a half wait, reluctantly agreed to sit outside. We ate in misery while we kept trying to move the small umbrella so we could at least have some shade. After brunch we took the train downtown and went to the infamous Bean at Millenium Park. We took the obligatory bean pictures and walked around to kill some time before our architectural boat tour. That's where we saw the Puppet Bike. Ummmmmm, yeah.
The boat tour was awesome, it was our 3rd one and I have to say that we will now exclusively use Wendella for future boat tours. The tour guide was great and we learned some new information about Chicago that we hadn't learned on previous tours (for example, did you know that Lake Michigan used to come up to Michigan Ave and currently everything east of Michigan Ave to the lake is built on landfill from the great Chicago Fire of 1871? Or that there are fighter jets from WW II at the bottom of the lake right off of Navy Pier)?
After sitting in the sun for an hour and a half, we were ready to head inside to a big fancy birthday meal for Tom at Ditka's Steakhouse. I wasn't sure what to expect going in, but it was actually really nice inside and reminded me of an upscale/classy sports restaurant that served delicious steak. We each had an Iron Mike, Ditka's own brew, and had some really great steak. Joe showed us all up and ordered the Tomahawk. He finished the whole thing and never looked back!
After our massive consumption of beer and meat, we thought it best to walk off some of the (thousands of) calories by heading down to the lake. I had never been to the lake that far south, and it was definitely still beautiful, but the clientele was a little different than what I was used to. Nonetheless, it provided some interesting entertainment and a few good quotes that I don't think are appropriate to share on my blog ;)
We attempted to go to the Signature Lounge after the lake, but walked in the revolving door and right back out after we saw the line. Apparently our little known secret about great views of Chicago is out. And it probably didn't help that we happened to try to go right around sunset. So we went back to our place and rested up for the Cubs game on Monday. We headed to Goose Island Wrigleyville for lunch and some Cubby Bear Blue (my new favorite beer) and Green Line IPA (Tom's new favorite beer) before the game.
We met up with a few other friends for the Cubs game. My friend Jess and her sister came along, as well as our friend Norm (who we met through Jess) and Pete, a guy from London who works for the same company that Jess does and was here for a month. We had a great time, and I was absolutely obsessed with our seats (Section 215 row 23 is where it's at in Wrigley Field)! We were in the shade the WHOLE time and in the top row so we had an awesome breeze coming through to cool us off. In addition to it being Memorial Day, I think it was Bird Day at Wrigley as they released an eagle during the National Anthem and then there was a little bird who wanted to hang out in the infield most of the game (enjoy video below with commentary from Joe). Oh yeah, I almost forgot...the Cubs won!! Go Cubbies!
We had a blast and are so glad Joe and Laura were able to come out and visit us. Although I think Bailey was the luckiest one of all....Joe and Laura let her sleep with them on the couch bed all three nights and she got to lounge there all day while we were out and about. She was a little sad to see them go!
I big puffy heart love, love, love my every other Fridays off times eleventy billion.
Yesterday was perfection (except for waking up at the crack of dawn)! Bailey and I had a blast at the lake. All (okay, not even close to "all" but a lot nonetheless) of our pictures are below. We spent 2 hours at the lakefront and I could have stayed longer but someone was bugging me to go home. Bailey made a few new friends, got spooked by an old lady in a beach chair reading her book on the beach, drank half of the lake, and then spent the entire rest of the afternoon sunbathing on the back deck.
After our lake adventure I enjoyed some time on the back deck with Bailey, went to Target for some deals, and then met up with our friend Jess and a bunch of friends we've met through her for Happy Hour at Brownestone. We were originally hoping to sit outside, but it all worked out since we got to sit inside by the windows and watch the Phillies and the Sixers on adjacent TV's. Tom found a new favorite beer (Green Line IPA by Goose Island) and it was a great way to kick off our weekend!
Prancing along
Hitting the brakes before the waves get her!
Posing for the camera
Ha! This was a fun picture to take...she wasn't very cooperative and is kind of a camera hog!
Love it. Love, love love.
Chicago!
This is where we were sitting after our 2 hour walk when B started getting restless. Apparently she did not think it was as peaceful and calming as I did.
Please excuse my inaccurate posting of a Wordless Wednesday post on a Thursday and also my mispelling of "Wordless." No good can come of blogging from my phone. Lesson learned.
In other exciting news, my new schedule has officially started (every other Friday off) so I am off of work today!! Of course, I've been awake since 5:30 AM...seriously? Why can I not even wake up at 6:10 when I have to go to work but on a day when I actually can sleep in, I'm up even earlier?!
It's okay though, I've been enjoying my coffee in the bright and sunny living room while watching the Today Show and it's been very relaxing. Bailey and I are getting ready to go for a run/walk along the lake. It's a beautiful day here in Chicago! I hope everyone has a great weekend!
