:: workin' for the weekend ::

friends and fam -- it was a LONG week. i swear, every monday i'm looking forward to friday. i know that's nothing out of the ordinary, but i'm going to *try* to find something to look forward to during each week. perhaps an after-work outing, walk with a friend or specially-made dinner. but, since that doesn't start until tomorrow i'll show you this weekend's happenings... nothing too crazy. fairly relaxed actually:)

friday night ::
we went to a party for a friend's 30th birthday. it was filled with great friends, good drinks and even better music. oh, and no party seems to be complete without some mustaches:)

saturday ::
lazy, lazy day. border-line obscene. we watched a million episodes of house hunters international, cooked a roast and caught up on laziness.

sunday ::
went to brunch with my lady friends for rigi's 30th birthday. hearty boys was as delicious for brunch as it was for dinner. i had a mimosa with "tang" cubes {fun and fizzy} and stuffed french toast with a chocolate-covered banana... it looked kind of dirty, but tasted delish! after brunch, i stopped by whole foods to get fresh flowers and some unfiltered apple cider vinegar... going to start drinking water with a few teaspoons twice a day. supposed to be super good for you... let's see if i can keep up with it! eric left tonight for san antonio for training this week - bachelor abbey ensues... first stop, homemade chocolate chip cookies. new recipe that has to stay in the fridge for 36 hours... my hopes are high!

:: easter in 'brasky ::

eric was swamped with work, so i went back to nebraska for easter to spend some time with mom, dad and thommy! while i was bummed he couldn't join, i absolutely LOVE being at "home".

because our kitchen in chicago is a bit on the small side, i like to bring my "recipes to-try" when i head to my parents'. this trip, i told my mom i wanted to make homemade marshmallows and in turn received a blank stare:) a friend from work made homemade marshmallows and let me try them. seriously, they are a treat. they're fairly easy to whip-up and can be flavored with any desired extract... i chose almond. yummo.

we spent friday hanging out and relaxing, saturday we went to lincoln to shop, then headed to pk's in benedict to eat and to the late showing of hunger games {i.am.obsessed}. sunday we picked up grandma joan and headed to hastings to spend time and brunch with grammy sherrill. such a whirlwind trip, but lots & lots of fun with the fam. miss them already!!

:: meat-packing neighborhood ::

i remember interviewing at trisect {current place of employment} and thinking to myself, "this is a super random area." our office is nestled in the meat-packing district - it's a mix of artsy and gritty {with a little more grit, dirt and stench than art}. but, i've come to love our location and the amazing restaurants popping up everywhere. it's obviously a big change from being right off michigan avenue... but thought i'd share some of my fave things about our hood:

1.  the fat truck {yes, a truck that comes to fetch pig fat from the meat packing plants along fulton market street}
   

2. pallet man {usually homeless men fetch leftover pallets from meat packing plants, load them onto shopping carts and push them down the middle of the street to re-sell them for some cash}

3. publican quality meats {a delicious new deli from the folks at publican - dangerously close to our office. the lamb meatball sammy is unreal.}

:: chicago restaurant week ::

so, i *may* have gone a little crazy with chicago restaurant week this year... but, seriously, there are so many amazing places to eat. and, anyone that knows me, knows that i like to rationalize about "deals" - three courses for $25? it's like they're paying me to eat there:)

before you judge me, know that i don't *normally* eat this much. this was a bit of a special occasion... now, onto the run down of where i went, what i ordered and with whom i dined:

• saturday, 2/18: dinner with miguel/lauren at cere's table in ravenswood {i had a bucatini carbonara}
• monday, 2/21: lunch with laura at blackbird in the west loop {baby octopus and pekin duck confit}
• tuesday, 2/22: lunch with work friends at grange hall burger bar in the west loop {grass-fed beef burger with bacon, mushrooms and sharp white cheddar & hand-cut fries, oh and some homemade ice cream}
• tuesday, 2/22: dinner with jenae and annie at hearty in boys town {homemade pimento cheese app, fried chicken and dumplins' and pbj wonder bread pudding... gluttonous}
• wednesday, 2/23: lunch with cass & jenae at porkchop in the west loop {pulled pork sammy!}
• wednesday, 2/23: dinner with erin and laura at perennial virant in lincoln park {pan-roasted whitefish and lots of specialty cocktails!}

was the description disgusting enough? well, here are some pics. get ready to get your mouth a-waterin'!
blackbird

grange hall burger

hearty

perennial virant

:: mile high city escape ::

after an extra busy "busy season", eric & i planned a getaway to denver to spend some time with thommy! our visit centered around eating, drinking and shopping... three of my favorite past-times:) we pondered spending a few days in the mountains, but it was eric's first real trip to denver, so we wanted to explore the city. in addition to thom coming in from alliance, we were able to hang out with some of our faves from york that now live in denver. and, one of eric's friends from summer training works for kpmg in denver, so dinner & drinks were had with her. we miss you, thom! such a fun-filled getaway!! here's a quick run-down our our time:  

thursday:
* breakfast at Lucile's {amazing creole food}
* stroll through LoDo and Larimer Square
* beer tastings early in the day with Jeff
* dinner with kylee, doug & ty for 5280 Restaurant Week
* after dinner drinks at a speak easy, vodka bar and chic "club" chloe:)  

friday:
* shopping in the highlands
* thom's old timey haircut
* lunch at cherry cricket with thom's pal
* shopping at cherry creek
* dinner/drinks with eric's kpmg friend
 * out with the landenberger's at the gigglin' grizzly {it's a nebraska bar!}  

saturday:
* breakfast at denver biscuit company {what the heck?!}
* brewery tour at new belgium in ft. collins
* pizza at beaujois's
* hiking horsetooth in ft. collins
* drop by u of colorado campus in boulder
* stoll down pearl street
* dinner at a nice little sushi joint in denver

 breakfast @ lucile's!

my boys before heading to the great divide brewery:

thom & i:

thom pre-haircut:

mid-cut:

post-cut:

thom & e:

on the hike {more difficult post brewery tour}:

:: let them decorate cake ::

this weekend, i found myself out of the apt quite a bit. LOVE that. especially when eric is so busy with work, it's nice to keep myself busy with some extracurriculars.

it's become quite the habit for my friend lauren and i to find our way to brunch once a weekend. healthy? no. fun and delish? absolutely. this weekend we TRIED to go to Hearty Boys, but it's closed on saturdays {booooooo}, so we headed up to m.henry in andersonville {pretty far north}. we got one sweet and one savory dish and shared them - this is the perfect set-up because i cannot pass-up a sweet offering. i know you're all shocked. plus, they had the best and biggest lattes i've had in a while. andersonville is dotted with ethnic restaurants/bakeries and lots of antique shops. so, we took advantage of our brunch locale and dropped in and out of a few. got pastries at a "panderia" {mexican bakery}, bought a small table and two mirrors at a cute antique shop and was tempted to buy a king cake at a swedish bakery:)

sunday i had a cake decorating class with some friends. oh my, so FUN. we learned all the techniques for piping, frosting and writing. it was just a dream - my fave type of thing:) at the end of class we got to decorate our own cakes and, of course, i couldn't help but use ALL the techniques and colors available:)

my vanilla latte. it was like a bowl of soup.


lauren with our TWO plates of fab food.


the cute yellow table with a cutting board top... here's the extra counter space we need:)


jennie, robyn & i {erin had to leave early} at the cake decorating class.


piping city. i'm the mayor.


other antique store inspiration... it took everything in me not to buy all of this!

:: betty crocker ::

i've got a LOT to learn about being a mom. cooking, baking and household duties take up SO much time. booooor-ing. but, i've started to make a better effort around the house and it's starting to get a bit easier/more enjoyable.

for valentine's day/our six-month wedding anniversary, i made a LOVEly feast for my man {and, selfishly, for myself}. here are the homemade highlights {recipes available for anyone interested}:
* spicy pulled pork
* spicy slaw
* mac 'n cheese
* sugar cookies
* pretzel valentine treats
* chicken noodle soup {this was more for my lunches during the week, but they were rolled into my day 'o cooking}.

eric was blown away by the outcome {i was too} and we're still enjoying the fruits of my labor.

pioneer woman's mac 'n cheese {i added bacon and cayenne pepper}.


cute little valentine treats for work. they are DANGEROUS because you can just pop them one-by-one... but so easy. hugs on pretzel snaps {bake in oven until they look glossy... it's QUICK}, press down on the hug with m&m's {i used peanut butter m&m's}.


this shows the pulled pork and cookies. the spicy pulled pork is pioneer woman's dr. pepper/adobo pulled pork. the cookies were ah-mazing and here's the recipe i used {didn't use the frosting recipe, i like buttercream on sugar cookies}.
http://www.makoodle.com/the-best-soft-sugar-cookie-recipe-ever/

:: KC trip - lizzy's engaged! sally's a mom! ::

much like i miss my fam, i miss my ladies. with so many fun friends in and around kansas city and SO much fabulous news to celebrate - i made a quick jaunt to the land 'o bbq to visit. lizzy recently got engaged to chris and sally just had baby annabelle - what better reasons could i ask for??

first, i'm SO bummed i failed to snap a photo of my rental car. it was the most peculiar thing i've ever seen {or driven}. picture this... ford focus.hatchback.fiery orange. BAM. watch out, kc. not only have i not driven often in four years, now i'm not doing my self any favors by "blending in."

friday night {once i picked out the FFF = fiery ford focus} i met lizzy, omang, meghan, leah, lindsey and sal at Extra Virgin for apps and drinks. it was just amazing to spend some time catching up. after dinner we headed out on the town - a drop by the levee and onto close down o'dowds {we are ooohhh-ld}.

saturday i brunched with lizzy, omang, bree & scott at urban table. it was delish!! seriously there are so many cool places in kc. can't wait to head back to try more. after brunch, i headed to sal's to meet annabelle {SO CUTE!!}. i cannot believe one of my best friends has a little newborn... she's just a little miracle. we spent the day shopping and the night watching the ku/mu basketball game with some chinese takeout. just awesome. it's always bittersweet to have to say adios to my dear friends, but i'm so lucky to have such great buds up in chi, too.

dinner at extra virgin.



here's a pic of the ladies at o'dowds.


i mean... how often are you able to laugh like this?!


andy and annabelle. how precious?! i think i kept waking him up because i was being paparazzi. oops!

:: kochs come to chi ::

january is typically a pretty grim month in the life of me... eric works crazy hours, weather is crummy and the holidays have passed. booo.

this year, january was full of fun because my parents came up for a nice, long weekend! we got to shop, eat, relax and spend time together. SO nice since we weren't able to go to my parents' for the holidays.

here are a few quick pics from their trip. we hit-up all the places my mom loves {michigan avenue, state street, southport} my dad's faves {billy goat tavern, chicago-style pizza, berghoff's}. plus, i introduced them to homegoods. their lives are forever changed!

it was just so amazing having them here... wish they lived in our extra bedroom... clean house, great home-cooked food and the best company:)

:: adios 2011, hola 2012 ::

no, we didn't go to a latin american country for the holidays... but since it's 19 degrees here, i thought a sunny state of mind would be helpful to recap our lovely break.

we headed down to springfield for christmas. this was my first holiday away from my family, but my in-laws really made me feel at home! we shopped lots, ate lots and caught up on some movie watching. four days flies by, so it felt like we were turning around to drive back in no time.

while i had to work a few days the week between christmas and new year's, eric & i spent some qt together. went to dinner one night, took a cooking class another night:) then, had a fun NYE with friends!

2011 was such a fabulous year, but i have a feeling 2012 will be even better. can.not.wait.

cooking class {we made beef tenderloin, broccoli/cauliflower gratin, compound butter, sausage-stuffed mushrooms and pumpkin donuts!}


my friend kelly & i on NYE. she and her bf hosted some people to celebrate.