Baltimore Girls Weekend

This last weekend was a reunion with my girlfriends from high school! We started this last year when they all came up to Chicago... this year we decided to all head to Baltimore to visit our friend Jill!

We coordinated our trips extremely well, and Jill picked us all up between 4 and 5 PM at the Baltimore airport. We all piled into the Ford Flex (big square SUV type thing) that she had rented for all of us and headed to her house in the Baltimore suburbs.

That night we had so much fun, looking up stuff on facebook, drinking wine, and laughing. Jill and her husband Chris made tacos with steak and chicken and fresh guacamole and salsa. It was all so yummy! The girls wandered off to bed and Jill and her husband and I stayed out on the deck with a bottle of wine and lots of good conversation.

The next morning we all got up, got showered, and headed to DC. We drove a bit closer in to the city and then parked and rode the Metro. Here are a few pics of us on the train! They were SO much cleaner and nicer than the El!!

Sara, Kacey, Karrie and Erin. Sorry Sara, this was the best one!

Me and Jillybean

First we decided to see some sights....

White House

Playing with that color accent again. As I took this picture some lady turned to her husband and said "You realize that is OUR house, right Clive?"

Washington Monument... by this time I was missing my DSLR... I was tooooooo lazy to pack it!

The Capitol and national Mall area

After walking around seeing sights and the First Ladies exhibit in the Smithsonian, we headed to Georgetown for some QT at Anthropologie, H&M, and Paper Source. I also made everyone duck into Dean & Deluca for some white truffle oil - yum! I got new pajama pants at Anthro (I have one pair from there and wash them every weekend so I can wear them for the upcoming week!), and picked up placecards for my sister's wedding at the Paper Source (green or ivory... couldn't decide so I got both!). After that we took the Metro to Filene's basement where I scored a few fake pairs of Sevens (I like the material and pocket design so I don't really care that they are knockoffs/lookalikes) and a shirtdress that I've been scouring the Earth for. All in all, it was a great shopping trip!

We ended up walking around so much that we had to drive directly to our 9:30 PM dinner reservation at Woodberry Kitchen. We were a bit out of place in our walking-about clothes b.c the place was super-trendy. But oh well. Seriously, if you are EVER in the Baltimore area, try this place. It was AMAZING, one of the best meals I've ever had! A bit hippy dippy (The waitress actually said that their cows are happy and you can taste it) and she gave a bit of bad wine advice to my friend, but the food was amazing.

I started the meal out with a mint julep and every intention to photograph everything I had.
So yeah, I would be a really bad food blogger because the food comes and I don't think "Picture!" I think "OM NOM NOM how can I get this food in my mouth faster?"

Jill and I couldn't decide what to get so we split the heirloom tomato plate (with jalapeno oil and aged balsamic), the crab mac& cheese (omg so good) and the seared tuna with caprese-peach salad (seriously, on the plate it went like this tuna-heirloom tomato-fresh mozzarella-slice of fresh peach-repeat four times... something about the peach in there just made the whole plate)

With dinner I also had a really good glass of Cabernet Franc that I kind of wanted to kiss.

Dessert was a glass of Muscat and a dish of basil ice cream. When you see something that weird you HAVE to order it. And it did NOT disappoint. Now I need to find somewhere in Chicago that serves basil ice cream.

At the end of the dinner, we were all a little punchy. Sara and Erin had bought us candy Grillz (like ring pops, but better... the grill part was plastic and the part you put in your mouth was a sucker) in Georgetown and Sara got hers out and started fooling around.
Jill was none too pleased. "YOU GUYS! I want to come BACK HERE! Behave!"
Once we got back home almost everyone went to bed but me and Jill. We stayed up a little later, hanging out in her office and fooling around on her computer, checking out blogs and home decorating ideas, discussing deep thoughts about life in general.

The next morning we had to get a few shots of our grillz. Yeah yeah, Bosse girls!

Me and Jillz Grillz

So yeah, the weekend was amazing. It was so much fun to see all the girls and to hang out with them - I had such a great time and I am so glad I have these girls in my life. :)

Gap party

I keep meaning to post about this, but last week on Friday I went to a party thrown by Jessica for the Gap. She happens to be a Gap brand enthusiast (OMG so jealous) and they gave her a bunch of jeans to throw a party - we all tried on jeans and strutted our stuff and got to take some home! I mean, SCORE, free jeans.

Jess had over about 20 people, and everyone brought some food and alcohol. I had a GREAT time mealing on all kinds of yummy apps and sweets (whoever brought those mini cupcakes, God bless ya) and chatting up her friends. They were all really funny and friendly and I had a great time!!

As for the jeans at the party, there were the Sexy Boot, Always Skinny, and Real Straight styles of jeans. I am pretty much Against skinny jeans, with the one exception being that I wear skinny jeans in the winter with my Fugg (Fake Ugg) boots. So of course I headed straight for the Sexy Boot and laid claim to the pair in my size.

I have to say, I didn't have many expectations for the jeans b.c I am a Seven for All Mankind loyal jeans fan, but I went ahead and took the jeans to the tailor the next day just to go ahead and get them shortened so I could wear them. A lot of my jeans are tight these days (ugh, exercise, I hate you) so I figured at the worst I would have one more pair of jeans that fit. I wore them to work on Thursday and I really really liked them. I was already a Gap fan, but I think they might have won me over even more. The jeans fit super well, and were perfect in the waistband and the legs and rump. The make the butt look GREAT. Plus they are super soft and very comfy! They have a bit of spandex in them so they didn't get saggy anywhere. I wore them that weekend as well and I felt like I liked them more and more as the day went on - and they looked just as good after two wearings as when I first put them on.

We'll see how they wash... hopefully they hold their softness and elasticity. I plan to wash them like I do all my premium denim - inside out with the buttons and zippers done up, on delicate. So hopefully that will help!

Sadly I took no pictures... totally out of the ordinary for me. Oh well.

4th of July

So as per usual, we headed to southern Michigan to our friends' lakehouse for the long 4th of July tradition. I think this was the 4th year they did the gathering, and are pros at it by now. 30 people came, it was crazy. My sorority sister Amy invites our group of girls and her husband Tom invites his group of guys (who we hung out with a lot in college). His parents clear out of their 5 bedroom lakehouse and let us have the run of the place. Tom's dad built the house, and was a shop teacher for a long time - I think he spent a long time designing it, because it is basically THE perfect place for a gathering.

Mike and I were the first ones there (party MVPs yo!) and so got to see everyone as they trickled in. I was super excited to see my girls! Me, with Em and Jenn. Jenn lives in South Carolina so we don't see her much. I was so glad she could make it!
Of course, good times were had by all.

I took this photo of our friend Danny on the way to the Willows (bar on the lake we go to with boats). I think he looks very cool here.
In the past when we got to the Willows, we took up a ton of room on the deck. Since there were 30 of us, we had to take both boats and one car to get there. Thus to make sure we had enough space/tables on the deck, we got there when it opened. At 11:00 AM. Naturally. We kept the waitresses busy getting us big beers.
Amy got a baby beer. "Someone has to drive you people home!" she said.
While we were only there about an hour and a half, I'm pretty sure we scared off most of the locals. Here, one of the guys shows off his Jorts as Jenn showcases them and we all laugh. Loudly.
Emily brought a packet of patriotic temporary tattoos (in the past we bought them out of the vending machine in the bathroom, but at 50 cents a pop that gets expensivo!) and we all set about to apply them. Once that was done and our beers were gone, we moved the tables back to get ready to leave. I looked over and another friend was running his hand along a pole. I knew what he was thinking, and rushed to get my camera. And WAS NOT disappointed. Pretty impressive.
As is tradition, we got a group pic by the boats before taking off and leaving the place to talk about us all day long (when I went to the bathroom earlier I heard the waitresses regaling each other with the story of us coming in "and then I looked outside and it was like, FULL!").
On the way back to the lakehouse, Jenn busted a move to Single Ladies by Beyonce
And entertained us all
Back home, Amy takes charge and starts on dinner. She had the meals all down, they were so well-organized, which was MAJORLY impressive for having 30 people there. Dinner was brats one night, hamburgers another, a huge crock of sloppy joe the third. And lunch was cold cut sandwiches with pasta salad, cole slaw, chips, chex mix and the like. There were always snacks out and yummy sweets to munch on. Again, I was majorly impressed. And I think I gained like three pounds.
The last night, Top Gun was on. One of the guys goes by the nickname Goose, so I called him when we got to the scene where Goose was dying. He and another guy re-enacted the scene as it played, which was hilarious.
Good times! I love that we can get together and laugh and catch up. I miss my friends, but if living far away from some of them means we can have times like this when we see each other, it's something I can live with in life.

Thanks for throwing the party, Amy and Tom!!

Weekend Recap

Another full weekend! That's pretty much the name of the game around here.

Friday included two forays into Chicago Restaurant week. At lunch my friend Andy and I went to Japonais. It was so good. The portions were a bit small, but I think that is kind of how they roll in general. You know, Japanese place, trendy little portions and servings style. I picked lobster spring rolls for an appetizer, cashew encrusted chicken as my entree and chocolate custard with raspberry sauce for dessert. It was all really really good. And look, they had some fancy topiary tree!!
For dinner, Mike and I tried The Chicago Firehouse Restaurant in South Loop. Appetizer was a cup of amazing lobster bisque. The broth was just the right consistency and the soup had big chunks of perfectly-cooked and sweet lobster in it, as well as some sweet corn. It was one of the best I've had (and I consider myself to be a lobster bisque Connoisseur. For an entree, I ordered the 8 oz CFH prime steak. It was OK, a bit more fatty than I am used to with a steak (I always order filets), but very good with a parmesan-peppercorn crust. It didn't include any sides, though, so if Mike hadn't ordered off the regular menu and gotten a family-style side of mashed potatoes I would have had to order a side separately. I thought this was super weird, because the whole point of the Restaurant Week menu is to have a whole meal for $32. A steak on a plate does not a meal make, at least for me. I wish I had tried a different entree; they all looked so good! And then I could have just tried a bite of Mike's steak to see what that was like. The only other complaint I had is that they had changed a few items on their menu from what was posted on the internet as the Restaurant Week Menu. This change meant not only that they bumped the one Mike-acceptable option of beef tips from the appetizer menu (this is why he ended up just ordering a regular steak from the main menu), but also that they weren't serving creme brulee for dessert. BOO. I was a little honked, as creme brulee is my fave. I ended up ordering the chocolate cake for dessert, however, and was not dissappointed. It was a big square piece of chocolate cake that seemed to be dipped in chocolate. It was very rich and very good. Mike and I scarfed the whole dessert down even though we were already pretty full at the end of the meal.

After dinner, Mike and I headed to Bucktown to meet up with another couple we know through an IU friend of mine. We usually only see them when our mutual friend is in town, but always enjoy seeing them so much! So we made it a point to set aside a night to meet up with them. They picked the location of Bluebird. The minute we walked into the place we picked up the hippy vibe... Mike commented that he wasn't trendy enough in a looked-like-he-didn't-try kind of way to be there. The beer menu was about 10 pages long with lots of international microbrews and such. The menu also had a long list of organic wines I had never heard of. I don't drink much hard alcohol and they didn't look to have any beers at all on tap... and I wasn't about to order a Miller Light in such a place. I was a bit at a loss regarding what to order until Mike motioned to the barkeep and said "Can you just give her something that tastes like Stella?" The guy popped open a brew and sat it in front of me in a fancy glass with a smile. At least he was super friendly and didn't mock my lack of interesting-beer knowledge!

Once Trevor and Lizzie got there, we got a table and the waitress was great about recommended brews she thought we would like based on us telling her our preferences. I would definitely go back and try more of the world's brews - but would definitely want a table to get the personalized attention the waitress was able to give us. Everyone there was super nice, and the food looked great (even though we didn't eat! so I don't know if it was actually good or not).

The next day I accomplished all kinds of stuff like going to Trader Joe's, the post office, Jewel, and the dry cleaner before leaving to go visit my friend Melissa in Northern Indiana (Crown Point). Before I left, I tried the mac and cheese I'd picked up at Trader Joe's for lunch. I'd heard it's the best frozen mac around and just had to try it. At first I was a bit disappointed that the tray held two servings, and I shouldn't eat the whole thing. However, after eating half of the tray I was stuffed! And it was SO FREAKING GOOD! I am going to have to head back to stock up on this stuff, for sure.

I tried to stop at the public library on the way out of town, but there were like 10 people in line and I don't even have a library card yet! I couldn't take the wait, and my car was wedged so tightly into a parking space that I was sure to get doored. So I cut my losses and just headed out to Melissa's. I do need to make sure to get back to the library soon... I'm almost out of books to read and I hear that they loan them to you FOR FREE.... haha... Let's just say that Free is definitely in the Budget.

I was so glad I took the time to go visit my friend Melissa... when I first moved to the city she was one of my roommates and we always have such a fun time together! She made tacos and we had wine and lots of good conversation. Plus we teased her dog, Red. When you put your finger in front of her face she crinkles up her nose. It's hilarious.

Why do dogs get green-eye and not red-eye? That is so weird.

On the way home on Sunday, I hit Target and DSW in Merrilville, which was awesome! It was so not crowded and I just wandered around checking out the whole place. I feel like you're constantly tripping over people/getting in people's way at those stores in Chicago so it was a nice change of pace.

Random chores/organizing and church rounded out the rest of the day. And that is my weekend! I swear I cram so much stuff into every weekend, they all fly by. But it's always a good time.

June 22 and 23

On Friday, my group went to Arlington Heights racetrack for a big meeting and fun with the races afterwards. This is Beth and I, in our big derby hats. We couldn't stand too close together because of the hats!!

On Saturday, Emily and I went to Sephora to have fun with makeup. We got this awesome makeup artist, and she helped out so much with cool colors and ideas. It was so fun, but I bought a little too much makeup. Well, it's not too much if you USE it all, right??

June 6

Tonight we went to Lindsey and Tracy's place for dinner. It was so good, Linds made this awesome rice, shrimp, and snowpeas dish and blitz for dessert. It was all super-healthy stuff too!

This is Tracy, showing off her bun-wrap for the wedding. But she didn't want a pic of it taken so she covered it up. Funny!

June 4

Emmy couldn't make Chad's going-away party on Saturday, so she made us dinner as a goodbye instead.... which I have to say was really really good. Kabobs and strawberry shortcake, Yum-O.

June 2

Today I picked up Alison from the train, we hit some veggie shopping at Stanley's, and then went to the Belmont-Sheffield Music Festival where Mike & Joe was playing. It was so fun!
Then we headed to Chad's going-away party, at Duffy's. This is a pic of Chad at his party, with Otter being "that guy" in the background. I see London, I see France, I see Otter's tonsils!

May 18

Tonight was the official Bachelorette Party night. See Flickr for more pics! Emily especially has some good ones.

Thanks to all the gals for coming, and thanks to Dixon for hosting everyone. Dix, you and Grib have an awesome place and it was so GREAT to see you! Katie, Jill H, Jill T, Choater, Emmy, and Alison - THANK YOU for making the trip. I appreciate it so much and loved getting the chance to see you!

May 17

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS COOZY?

Yes, a very bad thing happened today. I lost my IU bottle jersey. This is the last known picture of my baby. :c( It is a SAD, SAD day.

And this is Me and Jenn. My friend Jenn is the one we all crashed with in Charleston, and she is one of my favorite people. I love all my girlfriends for different reasons... and there are so many reasons why why everyone loves Jenn. She is so committed to her work and is going to be a heart-lung surgeon. AND she is one of the most fun and loving people that we all know. When I think of college graduation I think of Jenn banging on the shower door singing the lyrics to "Hott in Herre" at the top of her lungs. There are so many good memories with her, and hopefully I will have many more. I do miss her terribly now that she is down in the South, but I take consolatino in the fact that when I see her we just pick up where we left off.

May 16

I'm leaving, on a jet plane!

Tomorrow I leave for my bachelorette party in Charleston, SC. Words cannot describe the excitedness.

May 9 - Happy National Choater Day!

Tonight we went to the Cubs game for Choater's Birthday. It was a lot of fun. I mean, c'mon, any day I can have a footlong chili cheese dog makes me a pretty happy camper (although I am less than excited about the nutritionals that I just looked up on aforementioned chili cheese dog). She had almost 40 people there in our group for her B-Day! It was a fun group and we had pretty good seats (200 level), so it was a good time.
For Choater's birthday present, Tracy took charge and got Choater's name on the Billboard. It was pretty cool, I have to admit. And the perfect present for the die-hard Cubs fan.

Happy Birthday, Choater!!!

May 6

Today after we got back to Chicago, Emily and I went shopping and then hit up a wine-tasting class at Bin 36. It was really great, I want to go to more classes! The woman that taught the class had a lot of personality and was very approachable. We are having her into our office to run a class in a few weeks, and I am excited for the event.

The red selections

Emily, taking advantage of the fact that I drove to wine class and therefore couldn't finish my own selections

February 22

My friend Tracy poses with her pretty-sparkly. She got engaged last week!

Congrats to Tracy and Tojy!!

Pretty Emmy

And check out this pretty girl! Emmy got her hair done for a gala she went to last night, and I went along for a day of girl-fun with mani/pedi and popcorn ;c)

January 20

No better way to spend a Saturday... with my gals, in IU gear.

IN-DI-ANA!

Who who who, Hoosiers!!!

Happy Birthday to Mancky!

My pledge sister Amy's birthday is today! Here is a picture of Amy and her husband Tom, who live in Coldwater, Michigan. Happy Birthday, Amy! (This was taken by Tom's sister)

And while I'm digging through old pictures looking for one of Amy and Tom, I found this one that I could not resist posting:


Nice blue tongue there, Dixon.

(Brought to you courtesy of Skanky-Mancky-goes-to-Grad-School productions).

Anyways, back to our regularly-scheduled programming. Happy Birthday, Amy!!!!

January 7 - Happy Birthday, Emily!

EmilyLou's birthday is today! Happy B-day, chica!!!

Just got back from having brunch with the gals for Em's birthday at Bin Wine Cafe. It was really good, and check out the awesome Mimosa flights (the bartender was generous to the birthday girl, they're not usually that big!!) The flight includes (from left to right) Apple, Peach, Pomegranete and Pineapple mimosas.

YAY for birthday mimosas!