Checking in...

Ok, so I haven't posted to this blog in a while. Life has been busy, we haven't been brewing, I've hardly kept up with my other blog.... blah, blah, blah. No excuses, I'm a slacker! So, how about a few life updates? Here's what we've been busy doing:

We did a Brown Line Pub Crawl at the end of August. It involved taking the L from stop to stop, visiting various bars along the way. This picture was taken at Scott's, a gay bar, pretty early in the night. They actually played "It's Raining Men" while we were there! After this the pictures got more embarrassing, but we did have a really fun night!

We went to St Louis for a quick visit at the end of September, and decided we were overdue for a visit to the Anheuser Busch brewery. It's still pretty gross beer, but it was impressive to see such a big operation. Very different from the microbreweries that we usually tour! The property of the brewery was really nice, with old brick buildings and nice landscaping. It was fun to see, but it's still very unlikely that you'll catch Joe or I sipping on a cold Bud.

My Dad and I posed by the international beers, now that they're owned by Inbev. Much more our taste!

We did a quick stop in Columbia, to relive our college days for an afternoon. Campus was so different, because they've done a bunch of construction in the last couple years. It was fun to wander around, and made us very nostalgic for the good old days. We had lunch at the Berg and walked by the columns, and deemed it a good little visit. I'd love to get back to Columbia for a full weekend at some point, to see a football game and visit more of our favorite bars and restaurants. Go Tigers!

Then we drove across the state to visit our new nephew in Kansas City. Liem was such a cute and snuggly little baby, and Joe and I really enjoyed seeing him. His parents were doing great, and it was a nice opportunity for us to get together with a few of our siblings.

In October, our friends Mario and Steph got married. It was a beautiful ceremony and reception, held at Mario's parents house in the country outside of Chicago. Mario is a chef, and made most of the fantastic food. Steph worked at Goose Island, and was able to brew a beer for the wedding. The setting was beautiful, and they did an amazing job with the decorating. Needless to say, we enjoyed ourselves that night!



At the end of October I ran the Go Go Green 5k in Lincoln Park. It was nice weather, and not too crowded of a race. I didn't get to train much in the weeks leading up to the race, so I was pleased to manage to run the whole course without walking. I'll never try to say I'm a hard core runner, but I do love the feeling of running a 5k every once in a while!

We're planning to brew with some friends this weekend, so I'll try to remember to take a few pictures to share on the blog. Also, I'm hoping we'll have the time and extra cash to brew something for ourselves pretty soon. My vote is for a spiced Christmas ale!