Vacay Time

I couldn't be more ready to go on vacation! I hope it's as fun as last year's end of summer trip! We'll be internetless for a few days but expect a full report upon our return! I better get packing, because someone is impatiently waiting for us to leave :)

9 out of 10 Facebook Status Updates Annoy Me

**Disclaimer** PLEASE don't anyone get offended by this. Facebook has just been annoying the crap out of me lately so I decided to blog about it (in case you haven't noticed, I've been lacking in the blogging creativity department lately). I myself am guilty of posting some of the exact statuses below, so again, take no offense :)

1. I don't care what you had for dinner, nor do I need to see a picture of it

2. You don't need to wish your 6 month old happy birthday, I guarantee they won't have any idea what Facebook even is for quite some time, let alone be able to read the message. The same goes for leaving messages directed at your pet. Pretty sure they can't read, or manipulate a mouse, or log onto facebook.

3. Yes, we know you are "truly blessed" and appreciative of all of the birthday wishes

4. Great job, you're letting everyone know that it's "Five o'clock somewhere" and you're starting to drink mid-afternoon

5. Song quotes really aren't necesary...just go listen to the song and sing out loud

6. I get it, you are redo-ing your house/yard/garage/just bought a new house - I know, how many trips to Home Depot can one person make?!

7. Congratulations, you just booked your 4th vacation of the year. Yes, we are all jealous.

8. I'm so sorry you have the tough decision of only being able to bring 4 pairs of shoes on your vacation because that's all that will fit in your suitcase. Life must be really, really tough for you. Somehow you'll pull through.

9. Change your profile picture to a cartoon character or your favorite "fill in the blank." It will put an end to everything bad in the world!

10. My husband/wife/mom/dad/sister/brother/friends are the best in the whole world! I love you so much! Just tell that person. No one else cares.


Well, look at that, I guess it's 10 out of 10 status updates that annoy me.

Friday Night Art Project

So I've wanted to get a fall wreath for quite some time now but had a specific vision in mind. Unfortunately my "specific vision" runs somewhere between $60 and $80 at Pier One or Pottery Barn. I started googling "DIY berry wreath" and thought it seemed easy enough. So after work I swung by JoAnne Fabrics and they happened to be having a 50% off sale on all fall flowers/decor. I picked up all of my supplies for under $25.

Walking out I kept second guessing myself thinking that I spent too much money and could probably find something similar to what I'm looking for for less than that. I stopped at Home Goods on the way home to check out their furniture, and of course found a fall berry wreath for $15!! Grrrrrr!! It wasn't exactly what I wanted but it was probably close enough. I decided to stick with my original crafting plan and didn't buy the wreath from Home Goods.

I laid everything out on the counter when I got home, said a little prayer (crafting requires patience and patience is something I tend to lack...especially when it comes to crafting) and an hour later, I had a masterpiece!!!

Fall Teaser

After last week's post about my obsession with fall, I've been thinking of more and more reasons why I can't wait for fall (mainly new Office and Always Sunny episodes and Sunday and Monday night Football). This morning we woke up and it was cool enough that I had to put a sweatshirt on to have my coffee on the back deck!! Love it!! I almost busted out the Pumpkin Spice candles but I'm making myself wait until September 1st.

Not much has been going on around here. Thankfully my back is better!! I managed to catch the end of Bailey entertaining herself with her new toy on video. Normally she brings us the toys so she can either play tug-of-war or chase it down the hall, but with this ball she loved to toss it around to herself.

Ruined Weekend

This weekend we were all set to go visit our friends Anne and Brian in Milwaukee and see their new baby, Ellie Anne. Then Friday morning I bent over to pick up one of my patients (a baby...but a big baby) and immediately felt an intense pain in my low back. My stupid back :( I hobbled through the rest of the day. Thankully Fridays are a short(er) day for me and it was my student's last day so she was pretty independent with all of my patients.

But unfortunately I didn't think I would be able to sit in a car for four hours and be able to go back to work on Monday. I've been taking it easy and taking some leftover pain meds from the last time this happened, and thankfully I think I'm on the mend.

Today we had planned on checking out Retro on Roscoe, a local festival that we've heard good things about. But due to some unpredictable weather and me still not feeling 100% we decided not to go.

Hopefully this week won't be too crazy at work and I'll keep getting better. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Is it Fall yet?

Every year around this time I start to get excited for Fall. I'm ready for the cooler weather, football season, pumpkin spice candles, being able to wear jeans, a tshirt and flip flops and be completely comfortable, yummy fall foods like soups and casseroles, pretty leaves, baking, and the list goes on and on. I would have to say Fall is my favorite season (although I kind of like all of them, and am very happy to be back where we are able to experience all four seasons).

Great Food Weekend

We ate GREAT this weekend! From start to finish it was pure yumminess! Driving home from work on Friday I couldn't figure out what I wanted to make for dinner and had to strongly resist the urge to stop at Pizza Hut. Then it hit me....SUSHI! Thanks to Kelly and our sushi adventure last year, I am now a pro at making homemade sushi! I had most things at home, so I stopped to pick up an avocado and some seaweed wraps. It was so addicting that I made it again for lunch the next day!

Saturday night we had a few beverages and grilled some lemon chicken and red peppers while Bailey stared down the baby birds in the back yard (there are some in the birdhouse above the garage and some more in a nest under the stairs...hopefully they won't fall out like last time).

Sunday I made Paige's Best Ever Chicken Noodle Soup complete with the secret ingredient (Tiger Seasoning) thanks to Paige!! Snacks for the weekend included some of my new obsessions: Skinny Pop popcorn and Trader Joe's Wasabi peas, as well as the remaining fudge bar that was in the freezer. Looks like someone will be strapping on their running shoes come Monday!!

Vacation Countdown!!!

Sorry I've been MIA lately...we had bad storms last weekend that knocked out our cable and internet for a few days...how ever did I survive?! ;) Also last night we had the craziest lightning storm I've ever seen....it was just constant lightning for like 20 minutes...I can't believe we didn't lose power. Funny that we've seemed to get crazier storms since we've been in Chicago than we ever experienced living in the South.

ANYWAYS!! Vacation! 27 days!! I can't wait!! We're renting a little house right on a lake in southwest Michigan. I hope Bailey learns how to run off the dock and jump in the lake!! I'm even contemplating buying a hammock for the sole purpose of having one on vacation (I'm kinda obsessed with them). Here's a pic from the VRBO website. We can't wait!! :)

Things I am Loving Right Now

Trader Joe's Wasabi Peas

Yuengling

Skinny Pop popcorn

Sons of Anarchy

Sitting on the back deck enjoying a cup of coffee

Taking an accidental break from couponing

Bailey playing in the lake

Grilling dinner with Tom while Bailey runs around in the back yard

Mojito's

Getting back into running

LONG tank tops

$2 Jeans

Teen Mom (Can't help it!!)

Lazy weekends

The Dog Days of Summer

Last night we went to a fundraiser for a local shelter with our friend Jess. She doesn't have a dog (YET!!) but has volunteered at various shelters and supports our furry friends just the same. It was held at Schuba's, which I had actually been wanting to check out because we used to drive by it all the time on the way home from work (recently we started taking a different way home). It was fun to actually get out and do something on a week night! It reminded me of when we lived in Philly and would actually go out and do stuff (my couch is just sooooo inviting these days I can't seem to pass it up)! And by "these days" I really mean "the last 5 years."

Anyways, the mac and cheese bar that was promised was slightly disappointing (I thought it would be a variety of mac and cheese, not just 1 kind of mac and cheese with a variety of toppings). I survived ;) I also tried to channel my inner Paige to win something during the raffle, but alas, no luck there either. And I told Tom it didn't feel the same without our Birmingham crew there with us! I kept waiting for everyone to walk in with Stacy smuggling Casper in her purse! A good time was still had by all!!

Family Reunion - Chicago Style

This weekend my parents came to visit. My cousin Laurel lives in Indiana, just south of Chicago, so her parents (my aunt and uncle) and my other aunt and cousin all came out too. So we had a full house! Friday night my parents and my cousin Jamie drove up from Laurel's to hang out and spend the night at our place. They arrived with no less than 2 cases of our beloved Yuengling compliments of Aunt Judy. We can't get Yuengling in Chicago :(

Saturday morning we all met up at our place, then started our trek downtown (past Wrigley Field and via Lakeshore Drive).

First stop? The Bean! Of course we had to take a family pic in the Bean.
The Gold Coast Art Fair happened to be going on in Grant Park a few blocks away so we walked over to check that out. We enjoyed a cool beverage and some live music while we relaxed for a few minutes in the shade.
Mom stayed at the art fair while the rest of us walked down to see Buckingham Fountain. Next we walked along Michigan Ave and made our way down to the River Walk. After all of this walking, we were all getting quite hungry, so we hearded the troops and thought we would check out Navy Pier real quick on the way to get some Deep Dish. Navy Pier was of course PACKED (and annoying) so we decided we had seen enough just trying to drive past the front of it, and we didn't even bother to get out of the car. We drove back up Lakeshore Drive and found 2 parking spots literally right in front of Giordano's.

The pizza was awesome and this is definitely our new favorite deep dish pizza place!! After pizza we all went back to our place and had a little birthday celebration for my Aunt Shirley (who is turning 60 in a couple weeks) complete with Middle Sister wine (since she is the middle sister)!

We just hung out and enjoyed spending time together while watching the Pirates/Cubs game on TV...which was kind of ironic considering my entire family that was visiting are Pittsburgh fans and Wrigley Field is about 3 miles from us on the same street (the game was in Pittsburgh). Sunday we drove down to my cousin Laurel's house for a final family breakfast and said our Goodbye's. What a great weekend!

Awesome Birthday Weekend

How can a birthday weekend go wrong when you kick it off with flowers and dinner at an Italian Restaurant?! Friday we had big plans originally to go check out Taste of Chicago, but after virtually every single person we talked to gave a resounding "NOOOOOOOOOOO DON'T GOOOOOOOOOOOO!" we started to rethink our decision. That and the fact that it was supposed to be 97 degrees on Friday. I won't quote my co-worker OR the opinion column in the Red Eye, because someone will probably get offended, but let's just say they didn't make it sound too appealing. So we decided that a cooler (and cheaper) option would be to take Bailey to the Dog Beach instead. Well, as it turns out, we got some pretty crazy storms Thursday night and Friday ended up being overcast and kinda cool, with the potential for rain at any moment. We ended up having an extremely lazy relaxing day on Friday and didn't do a single thing except grill out for dinner.

Saturday morning we got up and went to Panera for breakfast. I know, all of the fabulous brunch places in Chicago and we go to Panera. I had been wanting eat at Panera every day for the past 6 months because we always drive by it on the way to work. After Panera we packed up Bailey and our towels and headed off to the Dog Beach. She was a little unsure of the water at first, so we took her over to a "corner" of the beach so she could explore the water on her own terms. It didn't take long until she was frolicking in the lake, drinking the lake water, and trying to do the Basenji 500 twenty yards out from the sand.

We got quite a chuckle (quite a chuckle? What am I like 80?) out of this funny bulldog with a lifevest (just like FTT's!!). First of all, he's wearing a lifevest. Second, he tried to crawl up on the ledge (the one that Bailey has her paws up on) but kind of half fell off, then just stayed there for like 30 seconds, half on/half off. Third, his dad had to carry him off the beach via lifevest handle as they were leaving, and about 30 seconds after he put him down he barfed all over the sidewalk. Too funny!

Saturday afternoon I had wanted to do some shopping for my birthday, but it was too hot, so I did some online shopping and ordered 5 shirts from Gap/Old Navy and got them all shipped right to my door for less than $9/shirt (including tax and shipping!!). We also finally booked our August vacation in Michigan. I'm so excited and I had been stressing about this for months! It will give us something nice to look forward to after this awesome 4-day weekend ends. For dinner we decided to check out this sketch Mexican restaurant that is right at the end of our street, The Burrito House. I had actually been wanting to check it out for a while but Tom thought it was too shady. A few weeks ago our neighbors told us how great it was, so Tom agreed to eat there for dinner...besides, how can he say No to me on my birthday ;)? It was actually pretty good!

Sunday afternoon our friend Jess hosted a cookout for the 4th at her new apartment. We grilled out, ate A LOT, and sipped some cool beverages.
Sunday night we sat out on our balcony and watched numerous fireworks displays from the comfort of our own deck chairs. Apparently everyone in Chicago sets off huge fireworks like it's no big deal. Our apartment faces directly west and we could see no less than 10 different displays (most obscured by houses and trees, but hey, no traffic or masses of people so that's just fine by me!) Of course the only pic I snapped was of a tiny firework but it at least gives you an idea of our little view :)

Today we're having a mish-mash of a day complete with a little bit of productivity and plenty of relaxing on the back deck. Happy 4th everyone!!

It's that time of year again!

It's Birthday Week! If you're unfamiliar with Birthday Week, please read this. I was having "one of those days" at work today and just trying to make it through the day to get to the weekend. Tom surprised me after work with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and reservations at this cute little Italian restaurant that's right up the road from his work, Sapori. We both had lobster ravioli for dinner and I enjoyed caprese salad for an appetizer and coconut sorbetto (in a real coconut!!!) for dessert! After thoroughly enjoying our Memorial Day 3-day weekend, we decided to take tomorrow off (in addition to having Monday off)! Yay 4-day Birthday Weekend!!

Accidentaly Domestic Weekend

When Friday rolled around I had absolutely no plans of being productive, let alone domestic, this weekend. It's so much better to have nothing planned and accomplish a lot than the other way around. Here's a list of all of the domestic-type activities I did this weekend without even planning to :)

• Did all of my laundry


• Ironed enough clothes for the next 2 weeks


• Made Mint Syrup...then proceeded to spill 3/4 of the mint syrup when I was trying to put some on my canteloupe this morning :(


• Made Tomato Sauce (with tomato paste and water and sugar...because I was out of tomato sauce)


• Made Taco Soup for the freezer


• Made my own bread crumbs (Ummm, we were out and I needed some for the burgers. Besides, we had a few hot dog buns that needed to be used up).


• Made burgers from scratch


• Divided and froze the 6 pounds of ground beef we got from Costco (well, 4 pounds after the burgers and the taco soup)


• Cleaned out my computer


• Ground up 2 lbs worth of whole coffee beans in the blender (we got free coffee from Costco...wooo!)

Okay, I think that's it! It doesn't sound like much now that I listed it all out....but now all I have to do is sit back and relax for the rest of the evening (and "supervise" Tom while he grills our burgers).

Today's Mission: Back That Computer Up!

My computer (as of a few weeks ago) is officially 8 years old. It's been a good computer but lately it likes to make so much noise that it sounds like it might just take off at any given moment. I really have no complaints about it, but I need to get everything and anything important off of it (you know, like my illegally obtained free version of Snood) and backed up on one of our hard drives just in case.

My computer has been through a lot. The Love Virus of 2004/5, a few RAM boosts thanks to Tom, and multiple moves (8, to be exact). I'm in a race against time to make sure everything is saved, then all I have to do is sit back and enjoy however much time I have left with good ol' Compy. Who knows, by cleaning him out I may get a few more years out of him!

Currently

Excited about my birthday 4 day weekend!
Worried about a relative going through a difficult time
Reading Eat Pray Love
Creating a work out schedule that I will actually stick to
Loving that it isn't completely dark at 9:00 and that it's cool enough to sit on the back deck and relax
Hating days without a single cancellation or no-show (although I guess that's a good sign for job security?!)
Wondering when I'm going to find a suitable vacation rental for our August vacay
Craving Havarti dill cheese and rosemary garlic triscuits
Hoping to be better at menu planning this month
Watching on TV ID Network, Always Sunny reruns
Listening to Nickelcreek, a bunch of old mix CD's
Cooking honestly? Not much of anything lately! We've been grilling a lot of meat and veggies whenever we get the chance!
Looking forward to a little bit longer of a vacation in August, Mom and Dad visiting in July, My Birthday

Weekend Getaway

We were finally able to sneak in a Mini Vacay this weekend! We rented a house in Michiana Shores, IN...a little over an hour from Chicago. We arrived Friday afternoon and enjoyed a quiet, relaxing evening. We grilled out, watched Bailey "protect us" from the deer, and later enjoyed some good conversation on the screened in porch. Bailey sniffed the perimeter and kept watch from her "perch" at the edge of the deck.Saturday we slept in, enjoyed coffee, and wished real hard that the sun would come out so we could take Bailey to the beach. Well, we didn't wish hard enough, because the weather was absolutely miserable! You can't even see the lake, can you?!It was cold, misty, and foggy. We went to the beach anyways, and couldn't even see 100 yards in either direction.Bailey wasn't too sure of the water. Tom tried to take her in, but she kept running away whenever the waves would crash. She did like the sand, however, and kept trying to bury her nose in it apparently thinking she would find something. After about 15 minutes we had all had enough (or at least I had), so we headed back to the house to warm up with some hot tea.Saturday evening my cousin Laurel (who lives in Indiana) drove out to have dinner with us and spend a few hours catching up. It was so good to see her! There happened to be a convenient little wood-fired pizzeria down the road so we ordered a delicious meal (complete with prosciutto, rosemary, and pistachio pizza and various flavors of gelato).

Sunday (of course) was bright and sunny, but still a little cool. We packed up and headed home to get caught up on a few things and enjoy the end of our weekend. We're very much hoping to have a slightly longer vacation in August but this was a nice little treat! We feel relaxed and refreshed and ready for some warmer weather!

Happy 5 Year Anniversary!!

I can't believe it's been 5 years since we got married!! What a blast that day was! I mean, a day filled with friends and family, 37 cases of beer, and Velveeta....how could it not be awesome?! Happy Anniversary!

Remember how we're not allowed to paint?

Well, it turns out, we don't care :)

Last weekend we learned that our downstairs neighbors were allowed to paint....well, not technically. But they were allowed to choose the paint colors and have the painters do the painting before they moved in. So I said "Screw it" and we decided to paint one measely wall in our bedroom. I love it though, it makes such a huge difference!

Our "landlady" is so confused that we can just tell her it was like that when we moved in and she probably won't even bat an eyelash. Or we can just say "Remember how we had to call you 10 times in a matter of 3 weeks for you to get someone to come out and fix our air conditioning? And then remember how you said someone would be out on a particular Wednesday so Tom took the whole day off work (using 8 hours of his own PTO) to wait for a guy that never showed up? And then he had to call you to see if they were going to come or not? And then you told us to turn off our alarm system on a particular Thursday and that you would personally come in with the repair man so our dog wouldn't flip out...and then we got home and it didn't look like anyone had been there so again we had to call you to see if you even came out? And then the next week you sent a guy out and he didn't fix anything? And then you didn't return Tom's calls for 2 days and he had to call you AGAIN to finally confirm that someone will be out this Thursday at 9 am? Remember that?" To Be Continued.....

But in the meantime, enjoy a pic of our newly painted wall :)

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).

This week: In Pictures and Recipes

• What better way to start this beautiful week in April than to wake up to SNOW Monday morning?! (note sarcasm!) Thankfully it was just a little bit, and it all melted within a couple of hours. The rest of the week proved to be rainy and cold, but it warmed up nicely (low 60's) for the weekend. This time last year we would already have our air conditioning up and running!
  

• I tried a few new recipes this week, and they were both so yummy I have to share them with you. The first one was Zucchini Alfredo. It was easy and different than what we usually eat pasta with.

• The second was ham that I decided to cook for Easter. I wanted to make it in the slow cooker so I went searching for a recipe on my favorite recipe site. I found one and boy is it good! It made A TON of ham, so we're going to freeze it in smaller bags and use it in soups and casseroles over the next few weeks. It needed to cook for 10 hours so I let it cook overnight. It was done just in time for me to make ham and cheese omelettes for breakfast. Bailey didn't leave my feet while I was dividing it up!


• This past Friday was Earth Day, and Starbucks was offering 20% off all of their coffee tumblers. I desparately needed a new one, since mine was cracked up the side and leaked every time I tried to take a sip of coffee. They didn't have any that I particularly liked, but they did have a plain black one and you could "Design your own insert." I have a few 8x10 pics that I've had blown up over the years so I cut this one (from our honeymoon) to fit the insert and Voila! Instant awesome coffee tumbler! I can't help but smile every time I see it :)

Tiger Seasoning!

Our awesome friend Paige sent us a surprise package the other day.......complete with Tiger Seasoning!!! I am *so* excited! This is the secret ingredient in her Best Ever Chicken Noodle Soup recipe, and it also happens to be the most difficult thing to find in grocery stores EVER! I haven't even tried to look for it here, because I couldn't even find it when we lived in Birmingham. I'm so excited to own a whole big bottle of it and can't wait to try it in other recipes!!

Mini Freezer Cooking Day

Yesterday I had a mini freezer cooking day. I've been meaning to have one for quite some time, but to be honest the thought of all the work that goes into it has been keeping me from following through. I planned all of my recipes, and even divided up the weekend so I would have all of the prep work done before I actually cooked everything....but without my Freezer Cooking partner in crime, Payton, the task seemed daunting :( So instead I decided I'm just going to do 2 mini freezer cooking days instead! Yesterday I made this recipe, homemade spaghetti sauce with turkey meatballs. Except I made it in the crockpot instead. Yummo! I only made 1 other recipe (but 2 batches of it), Paula Deen's Broccoli Casserole, with some chicken mixed in there as well. Tom's sister Jackie sent this recipe to me a few years ago and it's been a regular in our house ever since. I did some prep work for the week for a few other meals and chopped up all of our fruits and veggies so they're ready to eat. I didn't take any pictures since spaghetti and meatballs aren't that exciting!

DMK, Happiness, & Warmer Weather

Yay! We finally did something fun! Friday night we went out to eat with my friend Jess from PSU and a couple of her friends that we have gotten to know through her. We went to DMK Burger Bar, and had some of the best burgers and fries I've ever had! (Warning: This claim may change after we finally get around to eating at Kuma's Corner....apparently the BEST burger joint in all of Chicago, that happens to double has a heavy metal bar).

It is finally beginning to warm up here in Chicago (although again, I'm not holding my breath). It's amazing how much of a difference the warmer weather has on my mood. The other day I was just thinking about how content I was and I think I finally realized why. Not only is it starting to warm up, but we are finally settled! I am out of my "orientation phase" at work (that lasted 3 months, but was well worth it). My Probationary Eval went exceptionally well and I finally feel like a "real therapist" again. My schedule has picked up significantly and I'm thoroughly enjoying my job, both the outpatient setting and the supportive environment. Tom's job is going well too. He recently returned from AACR and he's been keeping busy in the lab.

I'm really looking forward to summer in Chicago. We don't have any vacations or mini-vacations planned yet, but we're starting to look at some options. Hopefully everything will fall into place!

Spring Teaser!

It is a balmy 62 degrees right now in Chicago and I'm sitting on our back deck enjoying the weather. Bailey is basking in the sun (she really missed her calling as a cat) and somewhat keeping me company (except for when she escaped down the stairs and did the Basenji 500 in the yard before I could get the gate up to keep her up here with me).

My brother is currently hanging out with us for the weekend. He stopped on his way back from Dallas where he had to go for work training. We're having a much more low-key visit instead of seeing all the sights of Chicago like last time. Matt thinks he is the dog-whisperer since he somehow tricked Bailey into cuddling with him on the couch (twice).

It's supposed to be 81 degrees tomorrow! We'll see how long this nice weather lasts....I'm not holding my breath!

Is she *really* from the South?

I'm beginning to question whether or not Bailey is a southern dog. Yes, we adopted her from a shelter in Alabama, but given her love of snow and today's events I'm thinking she was born elsewhere and somehow ended up in the South at a young age.

It reached 60 today in Chicago so I decided to take her for a long walk. We've taken this walk many times before, but the warmest it's ever been here on our walks is probably about 40. We got home and she was panting so much I thought her tongue was going to fall out of her mouth! For like 20 minutes, she kept trying to lie down on the floor, then she would get up and walk around and then try to lie down somewhere else. It was like she couldn't get comfortable. She scared me for a minute, but I think she was just hot. But seriously? We would go for walks in 100 degree weather in Alabama so I don't know what her problem is. In other news Tom's parents sent me a plant this week as a "Happy Spring" gift. It was a nice suprise, and I had actually been thinking about how we needed to get some plants in our apartment. When I called Tom's mom to thank her, she was telling me how she likes to have plants in the house to purify the air and how she hasn't gotten sick all winter. It was perfect timing, since I've been fighting off a sore throat, stuffy nose, and "bleh" feeling since Friday morning!