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.

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.