Hello!

Well, I've been thoroughly ignoring this tiny corner of the internet... my family's 30th birthday post was so amazing that I wanted to keep it up as long as possible! I was so surprised! My husband was able to guess my password, and I kept asking him if he did it and he kept denying it. Finally I got him to fess up, which is cool. I don't care if he has my password, at least for the blog!

Here's a bit of what we've been up to:

• New recipe November is still going on. Last week on Friday, we had pork chops with garlic and herbs with sweet potato fries (one of my standbys) and roasted asparagus. The week before we had parmesan-encrusted pork chops with hot crash potatoes and green beans. Monday Mike was still here because of Michigan state holiday, so I made an adapted version of this chicken parmesan recipe (didn't bread the chicken) and served it over spaghetti squash instead of noodles. I thought it was super yummy - I think the boy got a bit freaked out by the squash. Oh well, can't win them all! Oh, and for my bday celebrations we made gluten-free pumpkin cupcakes and car bomb cupcakes. No reason for the gluten-free other than I got a good recommendation on the recipe. Hoo boy were they both good! We've been making so much food that this Friday I think I'm going to take a little respite and just make tacos! Need a break from dirtying my kitchen.
  
• We went to the Black and White Ball for the Boys and Girls Club of Chicago a couple weeks ago, and had a big group of about 20 people. It was SUCH a great time! And we bid on and won a silent auction item - for someone from our group to sing on stage with the band. Of course we made Jay do it, and he did a spectacular job! Here is a link to the video, it's awesome: Jay's Singalong
• On the day of the actual birthday Mike and I went to Flemings. Surf and Turf for me, giant steak for Mike. And he insisted upon us both ordering our own chocolate lava cakes. Totally didn't make a dent in mine, but oh well.
  
• This weekend we celebrated my birthday with dinner at Tango Sur and then hit up Hye bar with some friends. Again, another great time! I love seeing my friends and was so glad that they could make it out.
• My birthday present came last week! I've been saving for months for a new Nikon camera (the D300S), and I finally pulled the trigger with the influx of birthday funds. Even not knowing how to use it, it takes MUCH better pictures than my old DSLR. I am officially in love.
  
• With the birthday and the hunting holiday, I've had a lot of Mike time lately. More Mike time next week, which I'm very excited about. It all makes me realize how much I miss the big lug!
• This week I am super busy, with taking pictures of a friend's baby for Christmas cards, prayer meeting with the same friend, Top Chef night with Beth tonight (hopefully I'll get in a workout too!) and tomorrow I'm hitting a new grilled-cheese restaurant with my friend Amy. Woo! After all this I am totally staying home on Friday and cleaning our wreck-of-a-condo and snuggling with that dog!