Christmas Walk 2012

For the last four out of five years (we don't talk about that one year..) Neil and I have done something we call "The Christmas Walk." The walk takes place on a Saturday in December and we take in all the Christmas sights and sounds of Chicago. It started in 2008 on a snowy December day. We started at the Christkindle Mart for some spiced wine, then over to Marshall Fields (Macy's) to look at ornaments and take in the Christmas vibe. We then stopped at Trump Tower for a cocktail, and walked up State Street, through State Parkway to Zoo lights at Lincoln Park zoo. It's always been such an amazing day with a few alterations along the way. Instead of only going to Trump for a drink we've switched it up each year and gone to a different hotel bar each time. So far we've gone to the Park Hyatt, Ritz Carlton and this year we went to the Omni Hotel.

                                             Cocktails at the Omni. Great drinks and great view of Michigan ave! 

We also started off the day a bit differently than we have in the past. This year we took Clark to meet Santa Clause!! It was pretty funny and he was a very good boy. Santa on the other hand, seemed like he had a rough night and needed to sleep it off a bit longer!

Have some pride in yourself, Santa. Not to throw stones, because Clark just came off a treat bender from the Petco "Treat bar" 

This year we followed the same path, starting in the loop and working our way up north. State Parkway is my favorite street to walk down.. All the houses on the street are amazing, not to mention the original Playboy mansion is there, and we always see people having fancy parties (I'm talking, someone sitting at the piano in a suite, kind of fancy).

                                                                              Random pic near Water Tower. 

We've also mixed up the post zoo lights plans a bit and have had dinner with friends and/or family in the past. This year we went to a restaurant called Balena. It was one of my favorite meals of 2012. The food was amazing, the service was unreal and the environment was beautiful!! It was the absolute perfect ending to our night and I can't wait to go back there (see Neil's review on: http://neilsnibbles.blogspot.com/).

                                                                                            Yay!! Zoo lights!! 

This morning we opened presents and gave Clark his presents as well. Also, it looks like Santa forgot one of his reindeer here last night!!

We are headed to Doylestown tonight for a few days of Christmas celebrating!! I can't wait!! While there I'm going to be plagued with a HUGE decision I have pending in my life.... what am I going to rename my blog?!? Any suggestions would be appreciated :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

The World is not so Terrible..

My friend just sent along this link that is spreading across the Internet right now of people who have done some really sweet, amazing things this year:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/moments-that-restored-our-faith-in-humanity-this-y

It really makes you step back and think about people, humanity and yourself. After all that is going on right now in Connecticut, it reminds you that there are people out there who aren't so terrible after all. When I think about all those poor families having Christmas without their children, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, it absolutely breaks my heart. I can't imagine what those people feel right now. To not have answers as to why this senseless act was occurred must be so difficult for them to live with right now. Although I know they will be reunited again in Heaven, and those little children are watching down on their families right now, that does not help ease their pain in these early days.

The link above really came out at the perfect time. So many of these random acts of kindness are so easy to do. They don't cost much (if anything), they don't take much time, but they make a difference to someone and put a smile on people's faces. It's a really great reminder to be a better person and do what is right. Life isn't about being selfish, how sad of an existence would that be if you lived just for you?

So hug someone you love today, hold the door for a stranger, smile at someone walking down the street and remember everyone is fighting their own battles every day.

I Love My Friends

Last night my friend Mary Kate had Caitlin and I over to her house for a little pre-Christmas dinner. It was so fun and great to catch up and just laugh with each other! Mary's house looked awesome for Christmas and she made a wonderful dinner of homemade stuffed shells! Caitlin brought over a great tomato, basil salad as well, and I brought cheese (super home maker..).

Every time I'm with any of my college roommates we just laugh the entire time. You'd think we'd be sick of talking about the same stories for the last 10 years, but they seem to get better with time! I've been so lucky to have these girls in my life since Freshman year (except for Mary, we've been going strong for 20+ years). We were talking about what an amazing year 2012 was with both of them getting married and Neil and I getting engaged. I can't wait to share so many more amazing moments and rounds of never have I ever with my amazing, wonderful, beautiful, hilarious and supportive friends! Love you girls!!

                                   We're doing that thing where you hit glasses really hard before you take a sip. 

                                                       Saddest day of our lives. Graduation. 

                                                                    Krista's wedding!! 

                                                      Tim's reunion weekend (thanks for the photo bomb, jerk)

                                                                                         Caitlin's wedding!! 

                                                    Never have I ever, reunion weekend style! 

                                                                                         Mary Kate's wedding!! 

Weekend Wrap Up

What a great, festive weekend!! I literally did not take one picture, so I will describe it with the magic of the written word.

Friday my sister and I have a sister night!! Since she moved here we really haven't had the chance to do many one on one nights out together, and we had a blast!! I went over to Meg's and we had a little champ, watched the Yule log, listened to music and chatted. We then went over to Sunda for dinner and it was amazing!! We had an awesome brussesl sprout salad and edimame for starters and then had the Spicy Tail of Two Tunas and the Sunda Rainbow roll, all of it was amazing!

After Sunda we went across the street to English where my friend Caitlin met us for a drink. We miiiiight have had one or two drinks too many, but it was such a fun and amazing night...

Which resulted in a ROUGH Saturday! I slept/passed out at Megan's on Friday, so I stumbled home (feeling like people were judging me) and laid on the couch for the next 6 hours. Neil took care of Clark, fed me bacon and provided hydration throughout the day. Luckily, I started feeling better in time to shower and head out to meet my cousins for their annual Christmas dinner!

This is about the 4th or 5th year that I crashed their Christmas dinner and it's always so fun! Jim and Syd (cousins) have two of the cutest boys in the world and it's been so fun to see them grow up over the years! Also, as previously mentioned, I am literally obsessed with Sydney. She has it all and I love hanging out with her! This was Megan's first year joining the dinner and Neil's second. We had a great time and it's always fun to hear stories from the boys! Afterwards, I came home and went right to bed, still feeling a little crappy from the night before!

Sunday was a GREAT Sunday! It has been so gloomy and ugly here in Chicago, but we needed to get out of the house! Neil took Clark for a play in the park, and then we went to lunch and ran some errands. When we got back, Neil and I divided and conquered the apartment and gave it a super deep clean! It felt amazing and the place looks great! Neil gave Clark a bath and he's super soft and smells soooo great!

I made some calamari for an app:

And Neil made lemon pepper chicken, asparagus, and purple potatoes!

We were all beat and ready to relax, especially Clark!

Last week of work before Christmas! Woo hoo!!

Christkindlmarket

Last night Megan and I went to the Christkindlemarket at Daley Plaza. It's a great holiday tradition in Chicago! We had some Glühwein and walked around looking at ornaments and chatting. We also saw my favorite news anchor, Mark Suppelsa doing a recording for the news! Great night and even better company! 

                                                                                     Boots filled with hot wine

                                                                           Christmas tree with marts below 

                                                                      Mark Suppelsa!!! 

Weekend Wrap Up

I realize it's Thursday and I'm just getting to last weekend, but things have been pretty busy with work this past week and I've spent pretty much all spare time online shopping (priorities).

Last Friday, Neil, Clark and I went over to our friend George and Brian's apartment to play with their dog Goose. Neil and I picked up Coal Fire pizza (my fave!!) and went to their place. Goose and Clark really hit it off! Initially, I wasn't sure how they were going to interact, Goose is a huge, dominant husky and Clark is.. well Clark. He sleeps like 23 1/2 hours a day. But right away they became good friends! Clark stole one of Goose's chew sticks and Goose didn't even seem to mind! They wrestled each other and played all night long. They also drank tons of water, which I forgot, Clark's little bladder can't handle yet, so Clark peed about 10 times in George and Brian's apartment. We are awesome guests.

                                                                                        eating their chews. 

                                                                                Clark's new scarf my mom made! 

Saturday was a ugly and gloomy day, so Neil and I headed up north to get some Pho and it was amazing!! I forgot how much I missed that stuff!

                                                                                        yum yum yum yum

After lunch we lounged a bit, and finally got to the champagne that Neil's cousins got us for our engagement!

                                                          chocolate covered champagne! 

                                                                                   Clark's new sign for his cage

Saturday night we went to dinner with Mary Kate and Kirk to Blackbird (see Neil's review at: http://neilsnibbles.blogspot.com)! It was super fun to catch up with the Watkins and the dinner was amazing!

Sunday was even uglier outside so we were pretty big bums! We took Clark to the park to run around in mud puddles and then gave him a bath. He was pooped afterwards.

A couple that blogs together...

Neil started a blog!! It's a food blog of all the restaurants he goes to in Chicago. I'm very impressed so far with his writing style, feedback and honest opinion of the places he's eaten! As I type this we are both blogging while Clark is sawing logs in between us (made in Chelsea is obvi playing in the background).

Check it out!!
Http://www.neilsnibbles.blogspot.com

Din din

So I've been cooking dinners a bit more lately and trying out a few new things. Last night I made pork chops, mashed potatoes and a veggie medley. The reason for the "medley" is because I forgot to get a vegetable at the store and just made whatever was in the fridge.

I loved the mashed potatoes and veggies, but personally I was not that into the chops, but I also think I'm just not good and making meat! I always make it too dry :(  Maybe that'll be a good 2013 resolution: work on meat making skills!

Made in Chelsea

I'm obsessed with the show called "Made in Chelsea" on Style network. It's amazing. It's like the Hills with nicer, cuter people who have adorable accents and say clever phrases/words. It's had 4 seasons so far, but I believe Style has just started airing season one!

So basically, they are all actors, but, what reality show doesn't consist of all actors? And they are socialites who mostly hang out in Chelsea and areas in West London. Most of the story line so far has been around Caggie and Spencer, will they or won't they get together after six years of bad timing!? Then there are friends on both sides, Hugo; Spencer's BFF who is also dating, Millie; Caggie's BFF, Ollie who at one point had a girlfriend, but is now dating a dude; Binky and Cheska, who are never seen apart from one another, but are always hoping to find the right guy; Francis who is loaded and in love with Caggie; Fredrik who is a "model." The list goes on and each one of them is more intriguing than the next! They also go to the best parties, last week was a masquerade ball (because all 23 year olds own ball gowns and responsibly sip on champagne all night), they get manicures on the regular and shop at the coolest looking stores. I'm pretty much obsessed and must find a way to get all these episodes on DVD. They make the Hills and Laguna Beach look like a joke. Everyone must watch this show.

In a perfect world I'd have viewing parties with fancy clothes and tiny hats!

                                                                         Eeekk!! Spencer and Caggie kissing!!!! 

The breakdown of a yawn

Last night I was taking pictures of Clark and luckily was able to capture his yawn in three phases. The last picture is him immediately falling asleep.

Weekend Wrap Up

This weekend we did a whole lot of nothing, which I didn't hate. Friday, Neil and I ordered Chinese food stayed in and watched the Dictator (terrible). It was nice to relax with the pup, drink some champagne and be asleep by 10:00 pm.

Saturday we got up and headed over to Christmas Off Campus, which is a Dayton sponsored event thrown each year. Christmas ON Campus happens every year at Dayton in early December. The students get the day off from classes while they prep for the nights events! Local Dayton students are bused over to campus to celebrate. The campus itself transforms into a winter wonderland! Students are paired up with a child and they buy them a present and take them around to all the fun events that are coordinated. There are games to play, face painting, letters to Santa, and of course, the man himself is there! It's an amazing day and an awesome way to kick off the Christmas season! A while back, UD alumni groups started doing this in their respective cities, and it's just as fun now as it was then! So we spent the morning helping the kids write letters to Santa, and some letters were hilarious! One letter just said, Santa, I love you. Another was quite lengthy, but the child writing the letter mentioned to Santa how bad he felt that Santa had to stay up all night, but he was very glad he did! And, oh yea, can you bring me a computer, Santa? Adorable.

After COC, Megan, Neil and I went to lunch and then Neil and I popped around the city and ran a bunch of errands. When we got home I sat on the couch and didn't move until it was time for bed. Neil went out to dinner with his friend Nick, while I caught up on Glee :)

Yesterday morning Neil and I took Clark to the Grant Park Dog Park and let him run around and meet new friends. We also got back to the tradition of lox and bagels for a weekend breakfast. So good!!

 When we got home I got to cooking. The original plan was to "throw something in the crock pot" and hang out all day. Well, that didn't really happen. The meal I made required a lot of prep and cooking before it was actually sent to the crock. But it turned out really well!

Although it looks like gruel here, it's actually called Cassoulet, which is a French slow cooked casserole. We had this at Perennial and decided to try to make it at home. It contains, pork shoulder, bacon, chorizzo, beans, tomatoes, garlic, panko and a few more seasonings. It was actually really good and made the apartment smell amazing!

Now onto Monday. Blah

Flowers

So I'm obsessed with flowers. Maybe it's because I grew up with them around all the time, maybe it's because of the job my dad has, but nothing makes me happier than flowers! I'm lucky to have a fiance that understands that and enables me in my obsession! Neil is really great about bringing my home flowers. Right now we have some red and white flowers around the apartment for Christmas!

                                                                  In our bathroom 

                                                                                       In the guest bathroom 

                                                               Love this vase we got as an engagement present! 

I love love love hydrangea's. In my old apartment they died the second I brought them home, now I can finally have them around for a bit! 

Money, Money, Money, Money, MOOONEEEYY!!

Last night was the $550 million Power ball and while I don't live in Missouri or Arizona, I'm still clinging to hope that a very close relative of mine did, in fact, win the lottery. Neil went in with 55 of his closest colleagues and bought some tickets. He studied all 55 tickets last night starting at about 9:40 until 10:05. Though he did win $7, split 55 ways I don 't think we are in a position to quit our jobs just yet.

It did get me thinking about what I would do besides the obvious of getting out of debt, making sure our parents are set for life and quitting my job Jerry McGuire style. I wonder if I'd adopt a bunch of pound puppies (obviously only the cute ones... kidding...), travel the world helping out people who need it, take care of all my friends and family, build a gold plated shrine to Clark in place of the Bean in Millennium Park? The possibilities are endless, which I guess is what is fun about actually playing the lottery, it gives you something fun to think about. As the years go on, I find myself getting more and more stressed and overwhelmed about money, so it's nice to step back and pretend what life would be like if you won half a billion dollars!

Move over Jay and Bey, we're taking over the south of France soon!

Sleepy Pup

If only you could hear the snores!

Book Club

So I've been in a dry spell when it comes to books. I was reading some books about Mediums, which is interesting, but slightly depressing. Also, the books were all making me wonder what was the truth and what was not, so I finally had to get back into something good! My sister had been talking about a book called 'The Kitchen House' so I finally started it the other week. I have to admit, it starts off a bit slow and was hard for me to get into, but all of a sudden it takes an awesome turn and I can't put it down! I'm only about half way through, but LOVING it!! I will report back when it's done, but as of now, I highly recommend it!

Christmas Time

When we got back to Chicago on Monday it was evident that Christmas time is here! Not only was it freezing (when we left on Thursday, I didn't even bring a coat with me) but the lights were lit, the decorations were up and there was a buzz in the air!

                                                                           View from the apartment

I'm so excited to shop, do our Christmas walk, drink warm drinks, stay in on the weekends and hunker down for the first snow of the year (which my parents got the day after we left)! Clark's even excited for his first visit from Santa!

                       Hopefully more pictures to come, he was more interested in eating the outfit than posing in it.

Happy Holidays!!

Gobble Gobble!

Last weekend was Thanksgiving, one of the best Holidays of the year! Wednesday Neil, Megan and I went to Neil's parents house in Oak Park for a pre-thanksgiving, thanksgiving dinner. Neil loves cooking this meal and does a great job! He took a half day, headed out to his parents with his trusty sidekick, Clark and began cooking right away with his sister Lizzie, her boyfriend Kevin and his mom. The meal was great and the company even better! Clark played with his "pal" Biscuit and slept under the table while we ate. At one point he snored so loud we all stopped our conversation to listen to the dog. We left fairly early because of the insanely early morning we were about to have on Thursday!

Thursday morning we woke up well before the sun, got dressed and headed to the airport to fly home to Philly! We were back in the 215 by 9 am and ready to eat turkey and relax! My sister Kelly picked us up along with my brothers friend, Tim who took the red eye in from Arizona to Philly. Once we arrived in Doylestown we started eating and did not stop until late Sunday night :)

My mom cooked an amazing dinner and had all the Thanksgiving staples, including her newly introduced and reinvented stuffing. Yummmm.

                                                 Love this counter of candles my mom put up!

                                        My mom and Tim, in their aprons, ready to get dirty!

                                                             The bird, right as he came out

                                                                                      All the fixin's

After dinner we watched Christmas Vacation and all dozed off with full bellys.

Friday we just hung around Doylestown, and then popped over to an area in Lahaska called Peddlers Village, which I love! This area has tons of cute, independent (mostly) shops. Every year they go all out with great Christmas lights, a ginger bread house contest, hot cider, and Christmas tunes blasting through the speakers. This is one of my favorite places to visit when I go home!

                                                              Neil and I in the lights

                                                                    Walking into Peddlers Village.

Saturday we got up and headed to Stephanie's in Doylestown, which is one of the few sports bars (or bars in general) in town, and we took over a table to watch the OSU vs Michigan game! Since we were the only people in the bar they put the game on all the TVs while we drank beer, ate apps and yelled at the TVs during the game, which, thankfully, the good guys won! Afterwards we went home with all intentions of going out to dinner, but ended up snoozing on the couch (which my parents just got and is insanely comfortable) and ordering pizza for dinner.

Sunday we got to decorating! After a leisurely morning and breakfast we started de-pumpkining the house (my mom has a serious obsessed with pumpkins) and putting up Christmas decs! Once the tree was done we all lost steam and my mom and I cooked up some chili for dinner.

It was such an amazing weekend home and was so nice to relax and just hang out with my family. My parents always do such an amazing job with the meals and making the house feel like a bed and breakfast away from home! Can't wait for Christmas in a few weeks!