Halloween

Wanted to share a picture on my nieces on Halloween.

Brylea as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and Adyson as Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Isn't Toto cute?

Out With the Old, In With the New

I think this is the incentive that Joe and I needed in order to enjoy doing laundry.

Leaves, Leaves and More Leaves

Twelves bags of leaves just from our smallish front yard...now to tackle the back yard! I think the worst part is paying for every bag that we sit out for pick up. :\

Weekend Fun

Joe's dad and stepmom were in the area this weekend so we have had a full and fun weekend catching up.

Friday night we went to Navy Pier to see the Sondheim musical, "Sunday in the Park with George." It's based on the people George Seurat might have met while working on his most famous painting which also happens to be one of my very favorite pieces of art.

Today took us to the House of Blues for their Gospel Brunch. It's always so much fun...and now I will not be eating for the rest of the day!

40 Years

40 years ago today my parents got married. Here they are in 1972.

This is my parents in 2012.

Lots of friends and family joined us today as we celebrated their 40th anniversary.

Me, mom, dad and sister, Cathy.

Cathy at the cake and punch table.

Sisters



My grandma with her sister-in-law, Jo.

Guest book table with my parents' wedding album. Everyone had so much fun looking at the old wedding pictures.

Weekend Visitor

My mother-in-law standing in front of the CS Lewis wardrobe.

Joe and I just arrived back from dropping his mom off at the airport after she's been here visiting for the past two days. We had a nice weekend catching up. It all started on Friday with me picking Jo Ann up and taking her to lunch, then Joe got off work early and showed her around his office along with other areas of interest before we all eventually headed off to a great French dinner. Saturday found us at Starbucks and then to see the CS Lewis and Tolkien artifiacts located nearby before going to see the movie, Argo. (It was AMAZING. Go see it.) After the movie we had a late lunch/early dinner of pizza and walking around one of my favorite little towns. Today was mostly a lazy Sunday before heading off to the airport. And just like that the weekend is quickly coming to a close.

Friendship Factor

It seems like I'm always talking about the bond of friendships with my friends who live far away. We move away and then lament about how things are so different or we reminisce about "the good old days" when we were all together and having the best of times. It seems like, while we've all gone in different directions, we miss having those same strong friendships wherever we've ended up.

Before I moved here, I was living in a very transient college town and it was the one thing I disliked most about where I lived. I felt like I was always saying "goodbye" to someone. The same pattern happened for the eight years I lived there. I would meet someone, we'd hit it off and become close friends and then eventually they'd move away. It happened over and over again...until, eventually, I was the one who moved away.

I don't know a lot of people where I live now. I will somewhat blame it on the stage of life I'm in. In Missouri, I was single and had hometown friends, college friends, single work friends, church friends, etc all living close by. My schedule was such that I had plenty of time to socialize and plenty of people with whom to socialize. Where I live now, I've only been working for the past six months and with other people who are married and less likely to get together outside of work. And because everyone you do meet here could live a great distance from one another, it takes a lot more effort/coordination to get together and life is busy...which means I am missing out on some of my local friendships. So, yes, I consider my "friends" here to be a much smaller group. All this to say, I have two friends who live here who are now moving away very soon and I'm feeling pretty sad about it. I just found out about one of them this afternoon which has kind of put me in a funk and feeling a little sad about friendships...or my lack thereof.

And, speaking of friendships, I had another friend send me this article on friendships recently. I found it really interesting. If you get a chance, check it out.

Now that I've vented, it's time to take a hot bath, unwind and get out of my funk.

Cupcakes and More

Met my friend Alison in the city today for lunch at a Belgium bakery (chicken curry salad!) before doing a little shopping and a little cupcake eating at Sprinkles! Alison had strawberry, I had coconut (of course!) and I even brought home a red velvet cupcake for Joe.

Outside of Sprinkles Cupcakes

And the famous Cupcake ATM outside...we went inside but if they weren't open, I'd totally try the Cupcake ATM.

Tea Time

With Holly at tea

Went to a work/social event with coworkers this afternoon for traditional tea at an upscale hotel in the city. I have never done a real "tea" before and this was a great first-time experience. We had way too many desserts, little crab sandwiches, salmon sandwiches, chicken salad, quiche and, of course, tea!

My Weekend

• Staying home on a Friday night just to clean the house and catch up on laundry. The most productive evening at home in a long time.
• A quiet Saturday of errands and rest. Exactly what was needed around here.
• Homemade chicken enchilladas with leftovers for a busy week.
• The House of Blues Gospel Brunch with friends.
• A meal with Joe's former ESL student and his family.
• Stumbling upon, "Little Women," on tv with Christian Bale, Winona Ryder and Claire Danes. One of my all-time favorite movies. Team Jo, if you wondered.

Thirty-five

Joe and I celebrated all weekend, partly, due to the fact he had class tonight. (Did I mention my over-achieving husband was taking Arabic?) So instead of spending the evening at home alone, I went to dinner with friends. All in all, it was a good day!

Clockwise: Amy, me, Jennifer and Wanda. Wanda's birthday was Friday so we both celebrated together!

City weekend

Last week, on a whim, Joe suggested we spend the weekend in the city to celebrate my upcoming birthday. No real agenda, just a leisurely weekend. Of course, I was game!

After checking into our hotel, we went to dinner. I have a tradition of celebrating my birthday with crab legs. Love.

Coconut cream pie is one of my favorites and I have never seen a slice of pie so big in my life. Between the two of us, we only could manage to eat about a third of it!

After dinner, Joe and I had tickets to a late-night magic show. We are kind of obsessed with magic shows and this one was very intimate and so much fun. Also, we both got to serve as "assistants" at some point during the night.

Saturday morning had us walking ALL over the city. First we walked along the Lake front, then did some window shopping and then off to see a play, "Freud's Last Session."

After the play we went to a gourmet barbecue restaurant we'd been wanting to try...bruleed macaronni and cheese, anyone? We also had fried green tomatoes, barbecue ribs, pulled pork, cole slaw and corn bread. Yum!

We capped off our Saturday night with my absolute favorite spot in the city - Buckingham Fountain. It never gets old. Our trip ended this morning with breakfast at the hotel before heading back to our life in the suburbs.

Peach Cobbler

The dark spots are where I got heavy-handed with cinnamon/sugar mixture.

 

Yesterday we had company over in the evening which meant I spent 5-6 hours in the kitchen yesterday afternoon. Seriously. I made way too much food but Joe says the best dish of the evening was my peach cobbler. I doubled the recipe which I won't do in the future because I can't imagine peeling 16 peaches ever again. (Even when blanched to more easily remove the skins it was not my cup of tea.)


Peach mixture ingredients
8 fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and sliced
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Topping ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter - chilled and cut into small pieces
1/4 cup boiling water

Mix together
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Combine peaches with peach mixture ingredients. Toss evenly to coat and pour in a 2 quart baking dish. Bake for 10 minutes.
3. Combine topping ingredients in a bowl and stir in water last until just combined.
4. Remove peaches from oven, drop spoonfuls of topping over them. Sprinkle entire cobble with sugar/cinnamon mixture and bake for about 30 minutes.

A new take on PB&J

Peanut butter & jelly bar

Yesterday I made these peanut butter & jelly bars, a Barefoot Contessa recipe. (Ina Garten is my go-to source for most recipes. She never lets me down!) My husband can't stop eating them, has requested I make another batch for his office and a friend requested the recipe so I thought I'd share.

1/2 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large eggs at room temperature (I used 2 large because that's all I had)
2 cups creamy peanut butter
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 cups raspberry jam (18 ounces)
2/3 cup salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 x 2-inch baking pan.

With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light yellow for about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla, eggs and peanut butter and mix until well combined.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture. Mix just until combined.

Spread two thirds of the dough in the prepared pan. Spread the jam evenly over the dough. Drop small globs of the remaining dough evely over the jam. Don't worry if all the jam isn't covered; the dough will spread when it bakes. Sprinkle with the chopped peanuts and bake for 45 minutes until golden brown. Cool and cut into small squares.

The Merchant of Venice

Joe and I spent our Saturday night at a nearby theatre. We have enjoyed several performances by this same theatre company in the past, always indoors, but this was our first time at the outdoor venue. And the weather here has finally cooled down enough to make it an enjoyable experience!

We saw, "The Merchant of Venice." Just waiting for it to get completely dark before the actors take the stage.

Our pre-show picnic - french bread, four different kinds of cheese, salami, figs, chocolate and drinks!

Celebration

My parents were here over the weekend as my second cousin got married in Colorado recently and his family hosted a reception locally to celebrate. We had a great time at the reception and also fit in a little shopping and eating while mom and dad were here.

My parents, Joe and me.

My mom with her first cousin, Terrie - also the mother of the groom and party hostess.

Four

Just four years ago this is how we were spending the day.

And four years later...tonight we went to see a play and then out to one of our favorite restaurants.

Rooting for the Away Team

Today Joe and I had fun at Wrigley Field watching the Cubs and Cardinals game. (Our team won!) We also went to Goose Island Brewery for lunch. My husband had the garlic stilton burger on rye. He says it might have been the best burger of his life. What a great Friday in Chicago! This summer is going by too quickly.

Hot Summer Fun

A couple weeks ago, Joe and I saw one of our favorite bands in concert, Wilco. It was such a good show but it was also so hot! Despite the excessive sweating, we had fun. We also loved seeing Andrew Bird open. He's quickly becoming a favorite for us.

Girls Night In/Out

One of my BFFs is in town for a couple days while her hubby is here on business...so I left work early today and headed to the city. Nichole is a wee bit under the weather right now so we stayed in at the hotel and talked for awhile before heading out to dinner at RPM which was nearby. I've been bugging my husband about going there for quite some time and it didn't disappoint. Best gnocchi ever!

Nichole! We tried a few pictures together and none turned out as well as the pictures of us alone. Sigh.

My potato gnocchi with the garlic bread in the background. So delicious! Nichole had the sweet pea risotto.