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.

The formula for a perfect childhood summer

Want to read a guest post by me at my friend, Nichole's blog and see a horrendous photo from my childhood? If so, follow this link to Butterscotch Sundae! Be sure and leave a comment for Nichole so she will ask me to be a guest blogger again in the future. :)

The "Ms Amy" Song

My friend Rachel sent me this video of her sweet daughter singing her "Ms Amy" song. Love her and the song!

Weekend Road Trip

With my friend, Rachel. I took zero pictures over the weekend but stole this one from Rachel. Thanks, Rach!

As usual, I have continued to ignore my blog. Last weekend took Joe and I to Missouri for a very quick trip. Joe had made plans a month or so ago to fish with an old friend and the weekend snuck up on us rather quickly. Joe's fishing excursion, somewhat near my old stomping grounds, made for a good excuse to catch up with friends and family.

Our weekend went something like this: drive to Missouri on Friday, drop Joe off at his friend's place late in the day, more driving and off to spend the evening with Breanne and family. Saturday morning up and at 'em to spend the morning with Monica, lunch with Cristin and ice cream/window shopping with Rachel and family. Then more driving and back to see Joe at his friend's house for dinner and a boat ride on the lake. Sunday morning (and more driving) off to see my grandma and to take her to church and then (more driving) lunch with my parents, sister and nieces before hitting the road and making it back home. Whew! Quick, busy weekend. Glad I got to spend a little bit of time with a lot of people I love.

Good Food, Good Art

The past several weeks around here have been sooo busy...so we decided to take a day (today!) to do something fun. First we made a Starbucks run...can't get up early on a Saturday without it. Then we headed to the city for brunch at one of our most favorite restaurants, Frontera Grill. Afterwards, we hit the Art Institute to see the Lichentenstein exhibit.

The food is worth standing in line for 40 minutes before they open. After an appetizer plate of ceviche, quesadillas and taquitos, I had eggs with tomato, onion, Serrano peppers and avocado with a side of black beans. Joe had the corn cakes with goat cheese and two sunny side up eggs.

Joe was happy to be there.

The Ring (Engagement), one of many Lichtenstein pieces we saw today.

We also perused the rest of the museum to see some of our old favorites. Like American Gothic.

And Nighthawks.

I'll show them...or not

I was told in jest by my coworkers that I'm boring because I revealed during a conversation about nail polish that I have strictly worn red nail polish on my toes for years. Not even pink. Just red. When I get a pedicure, upon entering the salon, I walk right up to the wall of nail polish and I select a bright cherry red each and every time. Sure that shade varies from time to time but it's always red.

I work with people who paint their nails black, turquoise, with polka dots and sometimes different colors on each hand. So today, on my much needed day off, I went to get a pedicure. Upon entering the salon, I picked up a bottle of red and then I hesitated. I can be fun. I can be different. So I picked up a bright orange. And right before I walked away, I put the orange down and picked up lime green. After all, I like lime green clothes. It's definitely summery...and fun. The opposite of boring.

I knew the polish was a huge mistake before I even left. My first inkling that I probably looked ridiculous was when the manicurist (or is it pedicurist?) nail technician asked me several times if I liked it. I lied. I said I did. I pretended to be fun. The truth is, I can't wait to change it.

Every time I look down at my lime green toes, the yellow-ish hue catches me off guard and for a split-second I think my toes look sickly...like some weird fungus is growing and I'm seeing if for the first time. So much for being spontaneous.

My Wild and Crazy Week

Baptism by fire. I've had multiple colleagues say this phrase to me this week. I have been at my job for two months and this week I have logged 55 hours so far. I say "so far" because I am also working tomorrow (Saturday), kindly turned down working Sunday and, to start next week, am looking at a 16-hour day on Monday. I am sleep deprived. Mentally and physically tired. And I somehow managed to invite company over for dinner tomorrow night before I realized I would be running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I also very wisely volunteered to make a meal and deliver it to another family on Sunday. Thankfully for me, my husband ran some errands today, went to the store with me after I left work tonight and has volunteered to clean the house tomorrow. I love being back in the saddle again but after living life as a student/housewife for the past few years I am especially not used to this craziness. I know things will quiet down soon enough but until then, chances are, I need some more caffeine.

Little Visitors

Joe and I had some visitors over the weekend. My sister, brother-in-law and nieces came to visit for a few days. We ate Chicago-style pizza, went to the Children's Museum, visited the petting zoo, ate dinner at Rainforest Cafe, played at the local park, ate at a diner that delivers your food via train, and did some shopping. Whew! Now we probably all need a vacation to recover after the vacation weekend!

Feeding the ducks at the petting zoo.

"Riding" the "train" at the children's museum.

More learning and playing on the teeter totter at the children's museum..

Happy Days

It seems like my blogging has been infrequent lately. I'm sure that's partly due to the fact that I have been keeping busy at my new job.  It's crazy. I used to be very connected to the online world by checking blogs, facebook and email throughout the day. Now I rarely have time to be online. Once I get home in the evening, I am tired and trying to catch up on other things. (So this is how the other side lives??) In fact, I don't think our television has even been turned on once in over two days. I'm not complaining though...today I worked more than 11 hours. And guess what? I love it! (If I knew working felt this good maybe I wouldn't have avoided it for so long...kidding!!) I feel like I'm already in my groove at work and so glad to be there. I feel productive. And busy. And happy.

Graduation Party

My mom's first cousin, Terrie lives in the area and Joe and I have really enjoyed spending time with her family since we've lived here. Just so happens that this was a big weekend for our family. Terrie's son, Adam graduated from college on Friday in Colorado (but they arrived back in Illinois in time to celebrate with us) and Terrie's sister, Pam (who lives in Australia) was in town for her son Jack's graduation from law school today in Chicago. Are you keeping up? That's me and two second cousins all celebrating graduations this weekend. So we had a party...14 of us in all. Great Fabulous food and wonderful company!

Joe and I at the party. (That cute braid in my hair is courtesy of my mom...proof that you never get too old to have your mom braid your hair.)

The specialized menu for our table listing all of our courses. Notice the top right hand corner says, "Happy Graduation Adam, Jack & Amy."

The graduates! Jack, me and Adam.

Our beautiful (and delicious) cake.

My coffee with my name in fondant.

Graduation

Not only is today Mother's Day it's also the day of my graduation ceremony for my Master of Business Administration Degree. I am so glad my mom was here to attend the ceremony and celebrate with me. A few months ago, I was hesitant about participating in graduation but I'm so glad I did. Here are a few pictures from the day's events.

Mom, me and Joe before the ceremony.

Joe and I. (Little did I know my hood was falling down.)

Me and my beautiful mom on Mother's Day.

Walking towards my diploma.

Getting my diploma after more than two years of hard work.

Our Jamaican Getaway

We are home from our Jamaican holiday. Joe and I decided to go back to the resort where we got married almost four years ago for a little rest and relaxation. The only time it seems Joe truly can relax and get away is when he's out of the country and can not answer his phone. :) It was a great trip despite the fact that it rained probably almost more than it didn't. The ladies at the spa told me the weather has been crazy with nonstop rain since March which is out of the ordinary. The only explanation they could offer was climate change. But rain in Jamaica with a little sun here and there is probably better than a regular day in Illinois.

This is me on our first night in Jamaica. Little did I know when I left the house wearing a black skirt, white tank top and a black sweater that those clothes would be all I'd have for almost 36 hours. Yes, I arrived in Jamaica but my bag somehow stayed in Chicago until it was delivered to me the next evening. Upon arriving at the resort, I went straight to the gift shop and bought a dress (which is what I'm wearing in this picture), a swimsuit and a tshirt. The resort also was kind enough to give me another tshirt and some toiletries. I will admit I was a bit bummed for the first day and a half until my bag arrived. Yay for my stuff! And not to worry, I plan on sending the airline the bill.

Happy Joe on the beach. Nothing says relaxation like crystal blue water and white sand in your toes.

The two of us enjoying our fine dining night at the resort. We ate a lot of bad yummy stuff (chocolate croissants every day for breakfast) but I probably also ate more fresh fruit, veggies and drank more water than usual. I'm thinking the good cancels out the bad.

On our last night at the resort, we found this elephant on our bed. This was my favorite out of all the towel creatures that were left for us.

We did a lot of lazing around, hit the beach when it wasn't raining and even went to a killer yoga class. (We had incorrectly assumed that it would be "laid back" yoga and instead I'm still really sore two days later.) Another fun adventure was a glass bottom boat ride. This picture is from one of the glass panes in the bottom of the boat near where we were sitting. We had an amazing viewpoint!

This is a starfish that someone snorkling near our boat gave to the crew on our boat to show us up close. Don't worry - this guy went right back in the water after we all had a good look.

Yesterday I treated myself to a massage in this treehouse. (Sore yoga muscles!) Earlier in the week, Joe and I also had a couples massage on the beach...Ahh, what a great vacation!

Farm Dinner

Tonight I met my friends, Shelly and Wanda and their husbands for an amazing farm dinner. Joe had a work event tonight so he had to miss out on the fun but I can't wait to go back with him sometime. It was really neat to hear all about the fresh farm food we were eating. Most of the courses were served family style so I only snapped a few pictures. And as luck would have it, Wanda and I both won raffles - bee-keeping books. Hmm...a future career for me?

The photo doesn't do it justice but this was the beautiful barn setting for our dinner.

Tonight's menu focused on honey; everyone had a jar of apple blossom honey to take home.

Left to right: Shelly, Wanda and me.

Appetizer of pea shoots and blueberries.

First course of parsnip soup.

Menu:

Pea shoots with blueberries and creme dressing

Corn muffin with honey

Chestnut and parsnip creme soup with honey and roasted petite onion

Honey brined and tea smoked duck breast on roasted pears with toasted hazelnut oil

Orange - basil grilled pork on heirloom beans with fresh herbs and garlic drizzled with pomegranate sherry coulis

Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, candied pistachio and raw honey - yogurt creme sauce

Goodbye, Old Friend

This is my couch*. The very first piece of real furniture that I ever picked out and bought. I have had it for approximately 12 years and it's very evident that it has seen better days. No longer can you disguise the holes; they're on every cushion. The piping is also sticking out. And the fabric is stained. A few months ago the frame broke in half. But still, I love this couch.

When we moved into our house a year ago, we stuck Joe's couch in the basement and my couch upstairs because we thought it would just be with us a short while as we anticipated having something delivered to replace it. Then we changed our minds and cancelled the order. Then the shopping got put on the back-burner while we instead bought other things. And so finally, today, we picked out a new couch that will shortly replace this one.

While new furniture is fun, I am kind of dreading the day that this one leaves our house. Even with the broken frame and the stained cushions, it's comfy like a pair of cozy old sweatpants. You know, the ones with the holes that you might not want to be caught dead in but you can't help but wear them anyway?

I have had more friends sleep on this couch than I can recall. This couch has provided me with many Sunday naps. It has been with me during many tearful movies. It has made six moves with me. But all good things must come to an end. So goodbye, blue brushed denim couch. You will be missed but never forgotten.

*Yes, it's true, I am the only person sentimental enough to write a post about a couch.

Dog Sees God

My husband suggested today that we get out of our "rut" and not go to a movie or to dinner tonight. Instead, he suggested a play. We went to see, "Dog Sees God." It's an unauthorized look at the Peanuts gang as teenagers. I'm glad we went but I also think I will never look at the comic in the same way. My beloved characters make for really dysfunctional teenagers!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Joe and I went to Milwaukee today to watch the Cardinals play the Brewers. We had a fun time at Miller Park despite the fact that the Cardinals lost. Where else can you find concession stands dedicated to only serving food items containing cheese?

Hair and more

Typically Joe goes to the driving range alone but I joined him yesterday and am considering taking up golf as well. This all depends on whether or not my "natural" luck at the range continues. I can see it being fun (Hey, I do like mini golf. How much different could this really be?) but I can also see if being frustrating. I might take lessons with Joe in the future and we'll see if fun or frustration wins.

We also took in a great production of the musical, Hair. I will never take for granted all the great theatre we have access to here. It's truly great to wake up, decide you want to see a show, get tickets at one in the afternoon and then go that evening with very little planning.

Tomorrow I'm taking Amtrak for a short trip to visit my family for a couple days. Not my favorite way to travel (I'm apparently incapable of entertaining myself during any car, plane or train trip that lasts more than two hours) but hopefully I survive. Lots of fun things in store for next weekend!