Bits & Pieces Around the House

Life has been pretty calm around here, and I am not complaining. We had such a busy summer, with lots of traveling and socializing around Chicago, so I've welcomed the slower pace that came with the changing of seasons. Also, starting a new position at work a couple weeks ago has me working more "retail hours", which means fewer free weekends for hanging out with friends. I've been embracing this cozy time around the house, since i know in a few weeks it will officially be holiday season, with all the craziness that that entails. 

The condo is looking slightly festive these days.

I finally found an R at Anthropologie (they're always sold out!),
and I added it to our slowly growing gallery wall.

On a recent Sunday when we were both off work,
this guy worked some serious magic in the kitchen.
I LOVE sitting back and letting him take over!

Joe chose a french menu for the dinner, and made these pork and sage
stuffed veal rolls. So fancy, and delicious, too!

Cozy fall dinner.

I've been busy in the kitchen, too!
Just playing with my mini blowtorch, no biggie.

Nutella Creme Brulee.
(Need I say more?)

I hope your fall has been cozy and calm. Here's to a little more quiet time before the busy holiday season begins!

Fall is in the Air!

I was reluctant to get overly excited about fall while it was still warm outside... I am seriously a lover of summer! I think being born in California made me that way, no matter where else i have lived. And summer in Chicago is SO FUN, which makes me want to savor every minute of it.

The past few days have been different, though, and have reminded me that fall isn't too bad a time of year. My plants have been sending me a strong message for the last couple days, as they react to the sudden change of temperature.

 

These plants were lush and so alive just a couple weeks ago! I actually got a decent number of tomatoes and peppers from my "garden", plus lots of herbs. The hanging plants were great this year, too. Instead of being sad they're dying, I'm going to look ahead to what I can attempt to grow indoors during the colder months :)

Other signs of fall...

Brewing pumpkin ale a couple weeks ago.
It's happily fermenting now, and we'll be enjoying it in a few more weeks!

Pumpkin beer in the fridge, canned pumpkin in the pantry. Can't fight it.

Chili for dinner. It was this spicy vegetarian recipe... healthy and delish!

This weekend we're headed to a wine tasting event down at Buckingham Fountain, and to the Wells Street Fall Festival. It's supposed to warm up a bit, too, so we can enjoy some more time outside. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Friday Night Discoveries

Friday night started out like a normal night at home. We made some mojitos with fresh mint and raspberries from our CSA, and settled in to watch the latest episode of Project Runway (and yes, Joe was forced, if anyone asks). The episode ended, and we were feeling happy and relaxed. Then, we started talking about the upcoming concerts we are going to be attending, which made us look up Mates of State on YouTube.

After searching on YouTube, we started out by watching this interesting little interview about taking their kids on the road when they go on tour. (Also, Kori has a blog on Babble-- check it out!) Then, we noticed one of the related videos recommended on the sidebar was for Mates of State playing on Yo Gabba Gabba. After clicking the link, and watching their song, we started to notice that quite a lot of people we've heard of have been on Yo Gabba Gabba. Seriously, it has go to be the hippest kids show out there. Apparently, if you're kind of indie and have kids (or don't), this is the thing to do. So, for your blog reading enjoyment, I've chosen a few of my favorite Yo Gabba Gabba clips to share. This almost makes me want to have a baby ;)

MGMT Art is Everywhere




An old-school favorite of mine: Taking Back Sunday singing "We All Love our Pets"




And to finish, Jack Black:


I'm resisting the urge to put about 10 more clips on here! Seriously-- Tony Bourdain, Sarah Silverman, Hot Hot Heat, the Roots, The Shins... so many awesome clips. This show goes right along with Joe and my plans to raise a super hip baby. Guess we better get cable when the time comes! If you're looking to kill some time, search for Yo Gabba Gabba on YouTube and see what you find. Entertaining, right?

(And in case you're wondering, after about a half hour of looking at these clips, we decided the right thing to do was to leave the house. We went to a bar near our house and had a couple pints of Zombie Dust, and felt much more like the young, childless 20 somethings that we are!)

Weekend Recap: Single Girl Version

I don't always do "weekend recap" types of posts, but this weekend I'm going to make an exception. This weekend was a great one, because I had the whole thing off, and did only what I wanted to do for myself. Joe was out of town, so I took full advantage of having the time to indulge in whatever I felt like doing!

Friday was a wine tasting at a friend's apartment, with plenty of wine and fantastic food pairings. Surrounded by great company, I managed to enjoy the wine and conversation until after 2:00 AM! It was pretty much the definition of a great party, and I kept thing under control enough to have a ton of fun, without too much of a headache the next morning :)

I started Saturday with some necessary sleeping in, and started to clean up around the house. After some halfhearted attempts to coordinate with friends, I decided to go see The Help alone, a newer experience for me. If you haven't seen a movie alone, I'd recommend you give it a try! It's really nice to just soak up a movie without having to worry about anyone except yourself. The movie was followed by frozen yogurt for lunch, and an unavoidable visit to Urban Outfitters. After my late night out on Friday, I soaked up the idea of spending Saturday night at home, watching stupid TV and just relaxing. Oh, and by relaxing, I mean canning some corn relish, then sitting on the couch after it was done! I am weird, and totally ok with that... I did have to laugh at myself when I thought about the fact that my "single lady" weekend without Joe involved shucking corn on the porch and watching too much reality TV.

New infinity scarf from UO

All the relish ingredients were from last week's CSA box!

The corn relish turned out fantastic! 

I didn't actually relax much on Sunday, but I really enjoyed all the running around that occurred. I started by literally running around, doing a three mile run on the trail by my house. Then my friend Chelsi and I headed to the farmers market, to score some more fresh veggies to can. Once we had the produce we needed, we went to Wicker Park to check out the Sidewalk Sale at Big Star. IT WAS AMAZING!  We got there about 30 minutes before it was supposed to start, and it turned out they couldn't fight the crowds and ended up starting the sale early. I got TEN awesome beer glasses... for a grand total of FIVE DOLLARS. Yup, these suckers were $0.50 each, which is why I couldn't resist buying so many!

The glasses are a mix of US craft brewers, like Great Lakes or Ommegang,
and Belgian brewers like Chimay or  La Chouffe.

Of course, we couldn't leave Big Star without some of their amazing tacos, and getting there so early meant we actually got a seat on the patio without any wait! Then Chelsi and I went back to my condo to do some canning, and made a whole bunch of Dilly Beans and Spiced Beets from this book. I can't wait to taste the results!

Now my handsome husband is home, and I have to go snuggle with him on the couch! While I did have a wonderful weekend, it's never as good when he's here. Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Perfect Summer Dinner

First off, I have to say I could never be a professional blogger. I do love to blog, and to think of ideas to document and share with the online world. But I get lazy/busy/uninspired, and the blog posting goes to the bottom of my priority list. I was doing a great time for a while, because I was working random hours and had weekday time off that was perfect for sitting down to blog. Now I (THANKFULLY!) am getting way more 9-5 type hours at work, and I am having to change my timing on certain things. I have to figure out evening or weekend times to workout, I get to spend a lot more time with my cute husband, and I need to find some times that are good for posting to this here blog. So, stick with me while I sort this stuff out, and you won't be sorry :)

Now, on to the actual topic of this post. I completely agree with Colleen's post about savoring summer instead of rushing into thinking about fall, and I thought of this dinner idea a couple nights ago when I was trying to decide a use from some beautiful heirloom tomatoes we received in our CSA box.  It's really simple, just adding some pasta and homemade pesto to a traditional caprese salad. I used einkorn pasta, an ancient type of wheat that is full of protein, and small balls of fresh mozzarella that I quartered. The basil was fresh from the garden (or container on the porch!), and I mixed it all together once the pasta had cooled somewhat. This quick FIVE INGREDIENT dinner was even better tasting than I expected--fresh tasting and capturing the essence of summer produce. Perfect enjoyed on the back porch, soaking up some of the amazing weather we've been having in Chicago recently.

I'll welcome fall when it arrives, but look forward to savoring more summer while it's still here!

Things that are making me happy!

I feel like I haven't blogged in forever, and today is going to be a short one. Last week my shifts at work were scheduled so that each day I worked a little earlier than the next day, which meant each day I only had about 10-12 hours between shifts. When you include eating, commuting, and sleeping into that amount of time, you don't have a lot of extra time to spare. But tomorrow I am off, and will catch you up more!

Life is busy but good, and here are some of the things making me happy...

Fresh basil from my 'garden'!

Grilled Greek pizza

New infinity scarf my mom knitted for my birthday. I can't wait to wear it!

Birthday gifts to myself, thanks to a fantastic sale at Anthropologie.

My little garden is growing really well lately!

Most exciting part: little tomatoes starting to grow.

Extended Weekend Adventures

This weekend felt like the real kickoff to summer! I only had to work on Sunday morning, and had all day Friday, Saturday, and Monday off. This meant lots of relaxing time, plus hours of outdoor entertainment! There was a beach picnic, some kickball, outdoor drinks, a park picnic, an escape to an air-conditioned movie theatre, and other very summer like activities. Basically, it was a kick-ass weekend! I got to bond with some Whole Foods people while playing kickball, and even caught a pop fly (if that's what you would call it in kickball!). We explored a really nice beach in Wilmette, a fancy suburb just north of Chicago, and reveled in the soft sand and seemingly cleaner water. There were drinks in front of open bar windows, and out on our back porch. And last night we heard a free Iron & Wine concert at Millennium Park, although it was too crowded to actually see the show. A near-perfect summer weekend! 

What's that you say? You want photo evidence of such fun activities?  I suppose I could indulge you....

Beers at The Hopleaf, plus amazing frites for dinner!

Practicing his new hobby

My tomato plant is growing like crazy!



White sangria with peaches and grapes.
Quite tasty, but also leads to a terrible hangover if you're not careful!

 

Monday night picnic at Millennium Park, with Iron and Wine concert sounds from across the street.

I had fun beach pictures, but they're on Joe's phone. Maybe if you're lucky, I'll save them for a post dedicated to a lovely beach picnic ;)  Hope you're enjoying some summer fun of your own!

Quick Catch Up

I initially planned to do all sorts of blogging this morning, since I wasn't going to work until 3:00. Thankfully, one of my coworkers said he'd switch me for an earlier shift today, since I've had closing shifts all week and have only seen Joe when we sleep in the same bed at night! I really don't mind working some closing shifts, and having the whole day to relax and get stuff done, but four days in a row was starting to bum me out. So this is going to be a quick update, and I'm going to have to wait until tomorrow to waste hours looking at all of your wonderful blogs :)

I worked all three days of the past holiday weekend, but still squeezed in plenty of fun time. I caught up with some girlfriends, had a date night out with Joe, and enjoyed a night of grilling and beers to celebrate a friend's birthday. I also decided to be a little lazy, and not take pictures of what we were up to. But it was a fun, relaxing, and busy weekend!

How about a little photo show... here's some of the random pictures I've taken on my phone in the last week! God bless you, iphone, for helping me document my life with so little effort.

I am a really good friend, and was willing to help my friend Christie taste
cupcakes for her wedding. Hard work, but someones gotta do it.
And in case you're wondering, Molly's Cupcakes in Lincoln Park is freaking tasty!

After eating cupcakes, we went to the Meatloaf Bakery down the street.
Tasty little bites, like a spaghetti & meatballs 'loafie' and a vegetarian lentil 'loafie'.
We ended our night with margaritas and chips with guac, to round things out!

I learned how to take a screenshot on my phone!
The weather has been so random lately, but now seems to be
settling in on the warmer side of things.



I love taking Joe's bike out on my days off from work.
 I rode to the lake on Friday, then to Trader Joe's.
It was 9 miles and I actually enjoyed it. I'm playing around with the
idea of getting my own bike, but will probably just keep using his for now!



Joe and I had a date night at Bad Apple on Saturday.
We've had beers at this place about a million times, but hadn't eaten there yet.
The burgers were pretty fantastic, and I'm willing to bet we'll eat there again soon!

  Happy Hump Day! See you guys tomorrow!

Signs of Summer

I don't want to go so far as to say summer has arrived, but I will say yesterday was a pretty nice day. I swear, this rainy/cold spring weather is dragging on forever! I had yesterday off, and spent the day doing my usual day off stuff-- gym, groceries, laundry-- you know the drill. I had the windows open and did get outside a little bit, but I have to admit I was feeling pretty antsy by the time Joe got home from work. We scarfed down dinner (Polenta Pizza from Moosewood-- YUM!), and headed straight for Montrose Beach.


Looking North from Montrose Beach

I love this beach because it's close to where we live, and there is a HUGE parking lot. The beach is big, and there are a few trails and paths around where you can walk. We played on the beach, then walked besides the lake, enjoying some great views of downtown. It was a PERFECT night-- not to warm or cold, not many bugs, and great quality time with my favorite guy.


Thinking intensely about how far he could throw the frisbee.

We both agreed we need to get a group of friends to the beach sometime soon, and that more picnics or evening visits will be happening this summer!

Urban Gardening-- year two

As of today I have officially started my second season of back porch gardening. I love living in the city and have zero desire to have a house with a big yard to tend to... but I do really love the idea of growing some of my own food. With our limited space, thing means growing my own herbs in the summer, and attempting to grow a couple simple fruits or veggies.

The rosemary plant is the same one from last year, which survived the winter living inside. I've also planted two tomato plants... they were both supposed to be Juliet tomatoes, but carelessly picking up the wrong plant lead to one Juliet plant and one Red Beefsteak. I've never grown big tomatoes like the beefsteaks before, so we'll see how that grows.  I'm also trying out a yellow mini bell pepper plant, and have a bunch of basil in the works.

The empty spot in the middle is for thyme, and I might also plant a little oregeno. It's so fun to just go out back and cut the fresh herbs that I need for my favorite summer recipes!  Also, so you see my little gnome watching over the plants?

I also got a couple hanging planters, and put one on each side of the door. I can't wait to see how these grow as the weather warms up. Speaking of weather, it's been obnoxiously cold here for the last couple days. Can we get to summer already?  Or at least a nice type of spring weather??? I'm not ok with 50 degree temps in mid-May!

Soon enough we'll be sitting outside, doing some of our favorite summer things:

Things that make me happy!

No work until Sunday at 3:00... AND... no big plans! Drinks with friends tonight, and a 5k race on Sunday morning. No big commitments, thought, which is my favorite type of weekend!



I learned that you can buy celery by the piece at Whole Foods!
This seriously made my day, because I hate eating celery,
but buy it some times to cook with.
Now I won't have most of the head of celery rot in my fridge!

Chicken meatballs.
I had to taste one before adding them to the soup I was making.
YUM!



Easter lilies, bought on Monday for a ridiculously low price :)



Dinner for two, and actually sitting at the table.
Italian Wedding Soup, fresh baked bread, tasty cheese.
Cheers!



Macarons for dessert.

Most of all, this guy makes me happy.
Even if he refuses to take a picture where he's not goofing off.
That's part of what makes me happy!

Have a great weekend!