Girls and boys days

Long before we had actually planned to take over the NW Indiana O'Brien's home due to our relocation, we had planned to have a family gathering. The boys were going to go to a Tiger's Game (vs. the Sox), and the girls were going to go American Girl Place to celebrate Larkin's 5th birthday with a special birthday lunch. Liam and I decided to go with the girls, and we had a fabulous time. Much more fabulous, in fact, than the 3 hour rain delay that the boys got to experience....even though they did score Curtis Granderson autographs on thier hats :)

The whole American Girl thing is very foriegn to me, so I thought it would be fun to go and experience it first hand. Its pretty much all about celebrating being a girl and all the things that go along with it it....oh yeah, and buying crazy expensive dolls and crazy expensive accessories :)

During the lunch, Liam and I were able to score a "loaner" doll, so we didn't have to sit alone. Luckily I found a cute little boy, so Liam wouldn't feel too overwhelmed by all the chicks. He was so cute with the doll. He gave him high fives, was playing with his nose, eyes and hair, and the cutest of all, feeding it with the cute little cup and saucer :)



Even though Liam didn't nap more than 30 minutes all day - he was a champ!! Even when he spilled chocolate milk all over himself :) It was a fun day!

Dining Out; the lost treasure

One of the best ways we've sliced and diced our budget was by eliminating our dining out spending. Pat was reviewing our spending habits, and our AMEX bill noted that the past three months we have had $0 spending at restaurants. $0. WOW - that's pretty impressive, especially considering we probably spent well over $300 a month with all the fast food and take out alone. And a FAR, far cry from the days when Pat lived in the Gold Coast, and we could drop $200 on one steak dinner! Part of that is because what little money we do spend dining out (less than $100 a month) is spent in cash. Side Note: {Click here for the Dave Ramsey way to control your spending by using an cash envelope system} I would like add that Dave Ramsey and the Total Money Makeover are awesome :) The other part is that we just don't eat out much any more. It is simply cheaper to eat at home. I don't particularly like cooking....but I've learned to not hate it, and I've cooked some great meals in the process.

The reason I bring this up is because Pat, Liam and I had a fabulous dinner tonight. We cashed in all of our loose change ($58.00! Whoo hooO!) and treated ourselves to a Mexican dinner at Campeche. We went early, around 5PM, and Liam was so well behaved (not that I expect him to be crazy - but you never know), it was so nice!! The service was good, food was good, the kid was good, what more could I have asked for!

At the end of our stay, the waiter gave Liam a blue balloon, which he *LOVES*. We taught him how to say "globo" - which is the Spanish word. It sounds so cute coming out of his mouth...."Ooooh bo" "Gooooohhh bo".

Slashing our budget was such a good thing for us, I think. Not just financially. It makes me appreciate the things we do so much more.....

Arroz con Leche - the ultimate comfort food

When I was nearing the end of my time in Mexico, Keith and I had dinner with friends Rocio (from Peru) married to Cheesehead Tom (from Cheese-landia, also known as Wisconsin) who lived near us in Toluca. She made an amazing dinner, with a fabulous dessert of Arroz con Leche. I can't believe I had not eaten this dish during my stay in Mexico. It was decedent, delicious, and comforting all in its warm gooey goodness.

I fell in love at once, and made it frequently during the beginning of my pregnancy with Liam. I really didn't crave many things, but this, this I craved OFTEN. I just made it again last night...it was delicious smelling the cinnamon and orange fill the house :) I love this dessert!

Liam had his first taste tonight - to a loud resounding "MMMMmmmMMMmmmmm!".

Arroz con leche
3 cups water
1 cup white rice
1 cinnamon stick
1 piece of orange skin
a pinch of salt
1 can of evaporated milk
1 can of Eagle sweeted milk (La Lechera)
-sugar (just add as much as you'd like to make it sweeter, usually between 1/2 - 1 cup...I like it less sweet so I add just shy of 1/2 cup)
-vanilla
powder cinnamon (for top of rice pudding)

Boil water with orange skin, cinnamon and salt. When it is boiling add washed rice and cover pan. Let boil with low heat until it is dry. Remove cinnamon and orange peel. Add milks, vanilla and sugar and stir until it thickens. Put in a container and sprinkle cinnamon on top.

Thank goodnes....

Still feeling a bit under the weather. Liam is feeling well though.....but now Pat is sick, which is sometimes more difficult to deal with than a one year old.

But, in the darkness - a ray of light - a beacon of sunshine

Adrian :)

She came over today and brought a big vat of soup. Wonderful, delicious, real chicken soup. It was AMAZING and sure beat the pants off the crap in a can that I was going to eat. She said I had to load up on limes for the vitamin C - which I did - a trick picked up in Mexico....all consomme must be garnished with fresh squeezed lime. AND jalapeno to knock that cold / flu out. Well....I did put the slices in. And I did eat one slice. Well, OK, 1/2 slice. Alright alright a teeny tiny piece of slice...and it did clear me up. But I'm way too wussified to eat a lot of that stuff. I also threw in fresh crisped tortilla strips and cilantro to boot.

Seriously made my night. More people need to do more nice things in the world like this....then we would have Whirld Peas. Karma will get you back girl...hopefully with thousands and thousands of dollars :) Until then, just accept my eternal gratitude and love :)

Simply a great day

There are always going to be times in our lives when we have "one of those days". You know, the ones in which every single thing that can go wrong, does. Today, I had the opposite. It was a great day. One in which everything that could go right, did :)

Not anything earth shattering, mind you, but simply a fantastic day. We started off at Foster Beach with our Meetup.com mommy group. Pat dropped us off (always a bonus to not have to take the bus!) and the weather was perfect. Not too hot, not too humid, but warm enough to find the water refreshing (which by the way, wasn't too cold....just right!). The spot on the beach the organizer picked out was prime, and Liam and I had a great time playing and walking home.

This afternoon, I was able to schedule an early dinner with a dear friend which I love getting together with, and we're not able to work it out often enough. Her daughter, a couple weeks younger than Liam, and Liam were SOOO good during dinner. No outbursts, no crying - lots of enjoyable baby babble and smiles :) Dinner was delicious & conversation was great. It was so nice to connect with a friend.

That's it. Nothing extreme, it was just nice. Well, Liam did pee all over me....that wasn't so nice, but at least Pat was right there to see it and it gave him a good laugh. Liam has a tendency to stand up during his diaper changes because its impossible for him to sit still for any period of time. Since I was standing right there telling Pat about my fabulous dinner while he was changing Liam's diaper, I just let Liam stand up so Pat could finish getting his new diaper and clothes ready. That's when Liam let it loose. All over my shirt and pants. About 5 gallons (or so it seemed). And he laughed. Probably because Pat was laughing at me.

Eh. If that's the worst part of my day, I'd say the day was pretty darn good!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEYBUNS!!!!!

myspace layout

Happy 32nd Birthday to my amazing husband!!!!



This birthday cake making experience was a bit better than last year - but I didn't get a chance to exude my mad cake decorating skilz because all of my tools are in storage. But, I made do with what we had, and the cupcakes with chocolate frosting came out delicious and pretty. Mission accomplished.



Liam gave both of us a wonderful present this morning. He woke up at 6:00AM, took his bottle and then went back to sleep. UNTIL 10:00AM!!! Do you know how long its been since we've slept in that late?!??! About 10 months. That's how long its been. Besides that, we didn't do much today - went for a fantastic run and then spent some time cleaning (for the record, I made it very clear that Pat didn't have to do any cleaning....but he declined), and ate a couple of great meals. We already celebrated a bit on Thursday at our cooking class, and I bought tickets for us to see The Dark Knight at IMAX tomorrow afternoon. But it was a nice day overall :)

Liam is GROWING way too fast

Yes, he's been a pill whilst sleeping lately, but it doesn't change the fact that while he IS sleeping, he's ridiculously adorable. I always go in to check on him before I go to bed, and I caress his little soft cheek, tell him I love him and then blow a kiss. He's growing so quickly, pretty soon he won't want to be swaddled anymore, and I won't have my very own baby burrito. So here's a quick snap of him sleeping before I woke him up from a nap (with trusty Hugo the Hippo by his side).


Also, more growing boy news: He scooted a bit yesterday. It was kind of a half army crawl....nothing huge, but the first time he's propelled himself nonetheless. *sigh* we really need to baby proof. We also (and by we, I mean Pat) put together his high chair that we've had in storage. We got it as a gift right when he was born. Its so pretty :) But still a bit big for him, especially since he can't really sit up yet. He really is enjoying eating though!!!! Almost as much as I have enjoyed making his baby food. Yes, I actually made our own baby food! Its been kind of fun, and pretty easy to do! So far, sweet potatoes, apples and squash (the squash smelled like POO!). He's also tried peas and peaches, but I bought those from Gerber :) Peas make him really farty. I have a class I'm taking right before easter to learn a bit more.....its definitely cheaper than buying commercial, that's for sure - but really, its just fun and makes me feel like I'm providing something good for him :)

OK - a few photos of my boy in his too big, big boy high chair :)

Sleep, Countertops and Pot pies

:::::::::::: SLEEP OR LACK THEREOF ::::::::::::

I don't know what Liam's deal is. He tricked us into sleepy bliss by sleeping all the way through the night for like, four nights in a row, and then decided to make up for it by waking up every two hours each night for the past week. I am *exhausted* especially now since Pat is in Madison for a few days, so I get night duty all to myself. I have no idea why he's waking up and so cranky. Hopefully its just a phase and he goes back to either only once a night or nonce a night. I've been living on coffee to keep me awake during the day.....and I'd rather not get addicted, know what I mean???

:::::::::::: COUNTERTOPS ::::::::::::

After calling Costco's countertop program three times, we finally got a contractor to not only call back, but come over and do a quote for us. WHOO HOOO!!! I have a feeling we're going to go with Granite (over Corian or Zodiaq - both Dupont manufactured surfaces). It was certainly fun picking out colors and such :) Now, if we can just get our bonuses sometime soon, we'll be able to actually buy them!

Here's a couple of pics I took of the samples. The 1st row is Corian, 2nd row is Zodiaq and the wheel is Granite. Lots of great options!




:::::::::::: YUMMY ::::::::::::

And now, a random word about Pot Pies. I love them. Always have - especially the super cheap banquet ones you can get for $0.49. But they are oh so bad for you. Anyway, I bought a Marie Callender's chicken pot pie this week, just because I had a craving for one, and I made it in the microwave. I know, it seems weird right? Half the deliciousness of a pot pie comes from the tender flaky crust.......but the 11 minutes in the microwave vs. 65 minutes in the oven won out. Dude - seriously - Microwave food cooking technology has greatly improved in recent years. The pot pie was AWESOME!!! You cook it right in the box, and it has some super futuristic cooking doohicky inside that makes the crust all perfect and yummy and fabulous and delicious. It was SOOO good - and totally hit the spot! If they didn't have like 100 grams of fat in them, I would probably buy more and eat one every week.

Culinary disaters and other dissappointments

*whew* its been so long since I posted, I guess I need to do somewhat of a weekly recap. Last Friday was Pat's 31st birthday - so I decided I needed to make him a cake. From scratch. Which was a bad idea from the get go seeing as how I sometimes have a negative attitude towards stuff made from scratch. Its deep seeded and would take more explaining than I care to go into right now - but suffice to say it was a bad idea before I started.

So I made the cake (and a huge mess, as almost always one accompanies the other). And it was tasty. But, since I can't do anything half assed I was trying to be all professional and stuff cutting and trimming. Hey, I figured I've seen enough episodes of Ace Of Cakes - I'm almost professional myself. WRONG! I mutilated the cake, but I figured I'd be able to save it the next day when I assembled it and put frosting on it.

I go out and buy a mini-starter cake decorating kit from the store, and proceed to try to make the frosting that Pat says is the easiest and yummiest to make. Well - once again, no such luck. The frosting turned out to be more of an icing (think: cinnamon rolls)....so I poured it over each layer, and basically just threw in the towel. I didn't even get a picture of it - it was so embarrassing. We did sing Happy Birthday and did eat the entire thing because although it was horrifying and mutilated, it still was cake and icing, and quite delectable. But the whole experience was rather traumatizing for me.

On Saturday, I had made plans to go to this benefit event at Shedd Aquarium called BLU. A great big "Save the World" kind of thing, where you get all dressed up and eat food and drink. Because it was in conjunction with fireworks and the Venetian Fest Boat Parade, I thought it would be a good birthday present for Pat. You know, a nice night out on the town before Baby gets here.

Let me back up. I despise buying presents. I hate the pressure and emotional turmoil that goes with it. Because really, even though its the thought that counts, why give something that someone either doesn't really love, or doesn't need? Then you've wasted all this energy and time trying to think of a good and/or fun surprise, only to be let down if the recipient doesn't think its the greatest well thought out gift in the world. Life would be much simpler if presents were agreed upon before hand - or chosen from a list. Kind of like a registry. It might not knock their socks off, but it certainly is guaranteed to be something needed / appreciated.

Last year, I surprised Pat with a new, nice Gary Fischer bike - that he totally wanted, and liked and uses often. I spent good money on it, because I knew it was exactly what he wanted - and I knew he wasn't expecting it. I was told this year to not spend that much money....which pretty much nixed the Blu Ray Disc player or 80G iPod off the list. So that in itself creates all this pressure - I could get him something that he needs (Socks and underwear, anyone?) and be totally lame, or try to come up with something fun and romantic. Which is what this BLU event was supposed to be. Back in February, we went to what we thought was a similar event at Shedd, and it was actually kind of fun - so it seemed like a good choice.

Apparently this evening was as doomed as my ill fated cake.

Let me back up again: Earlier on Saturday we had the opportunity to go out shopping, and also stopped for a yummy dive lunch at the Bunny Hutch, and then played 18 holes of super retro mini-golf. The place was awesome. And I got a hole in one on the WINDMILL people - the WINDMILL!! I also kicked Pat's butt by like, 5 strokes. It was awesome.

OK - back to Saturday night. We get there, and there is a big line - 20 minutes after the event was supposed to start. I don't know about you, but if I'm paying big cash to go to an event, I don't want to stand in line. At all. After we get in, there are only, like, 4 teeny tiny food stations - two of which are laden with onions and make you throw up a little bit in your mouth after eating them. Then, there are a million people standing in line to get one little cream puff at each area. Again, if I'm paying a lot of money for light, tiny dishes - there had better be sufficient areas so no one has to wait. Ditto with the booze lines - even if I am only getting a Sierra Mist. Top that off with a zillion Chaz & Trixie's - and its just not a good vibe. I know - what did I expect right? Its a benefit to save the world. Of course Chaz & Trixie and their yachting friends will be there.

I was hoping to have a perfect view of the boat parade and fireworks from the North Terrace (as advertised in the BLU promotion), but there weren't very many seats around, so Trixie & Buffy took all of the seats, and Chaz & Thurston were blocking the areas around the girls, so basically I didn't get any good shots at all. We were packed like sardines. Save for this semi-blurry view of the Chicago sunset, that I had to beg some ol' biddy to let me stand in front of her for three seconds.

While standing in line for strawberries & chocolate, I saw them open up an area, which allowed Pat to go and scope us a spot to actually sit down and maybe even eat. We scored a mini-steak burger from Gibson's (OHHHH SOOOO YUMMY!) and were able to enjoy our chocolate covered strawberries in peace. But we were completely out of view of the fireworks at that point, so all we saw were a few glows, booms and smoke coming back out of the harbor. I did snap this city shot (again, blurry) through the glass squeezed between a couple people:

The good things: Kettle One sponsored the event, and they had this really cool ice bar they were making cosmo's and dirty martini's for everyone (except me). I made it Pat's mission to drink as much as possible, so we could at least get some money's worth out of this gig.

They also had a nice selection of decadent desserts at the end...some almost too rich - but yummy! And, we got a nice Save The World bag with fun goodies (including a nice Porche Pen - because Porche was a sponsor and they weren't sending us all home with cars).

So, with our tired feet and aching backs from standing all night, we left at 10:30 and made our way home with the rest of the Venetian night traffic. Hopefully we'll look back at this birthday and laugh - but for now, ugh, what a disaster.

Chicago Eating

My mom asked for some recomendations for a friend for eating and Chicago......since she's having email issues right now (as in - I can't email her at ALL! They keep on getting bounced back....grrrr) I figured I'd post it here so she can finally read the info:

Hey Mom

I'm not sure what she's looking for exactly.......I'm assuming restaurants in the downtown area.....Keep in mind most of these restaurants are pretty expensive ($150 for dinner for a couple, if you buy a bottle of wine). But they are TOP NOTCH - fantastic food, well worth the cash. I would recommend reservations.

Fogo de Chao is my all time favorite (that’s where we're going to eat our wedding dinner). For dinner, I think it’s like $70 a person, plus drinks and such, so it can get kinda pricey pretty quickly, but it’s well worth it! It’s a great dining experience, and they won't find anything like it in Michigan!http://www.fogodechao.com/

Another place on the higher end is McCormick & Shmicks - great seafood, and the absolute most heavenly apple pie crispy yummy goodness dessert I have EVER had! Pat likes Joe's Stone Crab better though. It’s a toss up.
http://www.mccormickandschmicks.com/
http://www.icon.com/joes/

The classic dinner in Chicago is a good hearty steak dinner. Wildfire, Gibson’s, Morton’s, and Sullivan's are all fantastic choices.
www.gibsonssteakhouse.com/
www.mortons.com/

Some more reasonably priced places:
Lettuce Entertain you restaurants: it’s a kind of a chain of restaurants in the Chicago metro area - I've heard great things about almost all of them, and they are a bit more reasonably priced (but still more expensive than Chili’s or Applebee’s)
http://www.leye.com/restaurants/search.jsp
Osteria Via Stado is supposed to be one of the best Italian joints (ok, its not so reasonably priced…..but its part of this chain), but Maggianos is good too. I like Ben Pao too! Wildfire is one of this chain of restaurants too.

Fronterra Grill and Bandera are two classy gourmet Mexican food places. Fantastic! Pat loves the jalapeño cornbread at Bandera.
http://www.rickbayless.com/restaurants/grill.html
http://www.10best.com/Chicago,IL/Restaurants/Lunch/?businessID=51955

Tavern on Rush – I would go here at Lunch Time – they have VERY yummy salads, and its kind of a classy joint. Skip dinner though – it becomes too much of a “let me show you how small my penis is by how awesome and expensive my car is” kind of place.
http://www.tavernonrush.com/

Jake Melniks - bar type atmostphere, cheaper, but yummy :o) One of Pat’s favorites.
http://www.levyrestaurants.com/levy/diningexperiences/restaurants/group2/jake+melnicks+corner+tap.htm

For breakfast or brunch, I HIGHLY recommend Tempo on the corner of Chestnut and State - it’s the place Pat lived right next store to. I LOVED that place! The only drawback – there usually is a line, especially on Sunday morning….and its cash only – but great prices!
http://chicago.citysearch.com/profile/3668380/

Places to stay away from - Ditka's & Cheesecake Factory. Icky food – way overpriced.

If you want to see the entire city of Chicago way up high, you can always check out the Sears Tower, or try the Hancock Building instead. Go up to the top, but instead of paying to go to the observation deck, go up the next floor up to one of the bars and have a drink instead. It will cost the same….$9.00 to see the observation deck, and $9.00 for a drink - I'd rather have the drink, with less people a floor higher up, know what I mean??

I hope this helps a bit! If she has any questions, just give her my email - I’m sure Pat and I can answer them :o) I hope she has fun!

Faith Hill & Almonds

Not necessarily related, just two things that have been on my mind lately. I love almonds - always have. They make me itch sometimes if I eat too much, but they are the perfect snack - I always have some on hand, and even if i am STARVING I can eat about 8 and it will hold me over and take the growlies away until I can get some real food. And, apparently they are chock full of vities and omega 3 stuffs - so that is good for me! Definitely better than snacking on chocolate!

Faith Hill has always been a favorite singer of mine - she's one of those people who appears to have the perfect life, fabulous hubby, beautiful kids, great career - and is just darn gorgeous! Sometimes, people like that would get on my nerves - but she always seemed, I don't know, I guess down to earth maybe....not like I know her or anything. But somehow, despite all she has, is impossible for me to dislike.

Anyway, so I have tons of her CD's and for the past couple days I've been listening to them over and over. Its been a while, really. When you have 4000 songs to choose from - its tough to choose! The other day I had it on shuffle, and I cam across one of her songs. Thats what started it all - I decided to put in on shuffle just in her CD's. I really like her latest, Fireflies - and in general she has a couple of songs that are kind of lullaby-ish, that I plan on learning so I can sing to my future babies...but really her whole collection is nice to listen to.

Maybe I like her so much because I have great memories tied to one of her songs - This Kiss.....I was living in Kalamazoo for a summer long long ago (1998? Maybe?) and Danica came out to visit me - we drove up near Grand Rapids to the B93 Birthday Bash to see some up and coming country acts for the day. I remember us driving up M131 in her Blue Cavalier Convertable (white top, of course!) - top down - both of us belting out the lyrics - words lost in the wind. I think we both burned our legs from the drive there and back......when I think about that memory it pretty much is the epitomy of college years - freedom, no responsiblity - nothing mattered but the wind in our hair and the music around us. I took pictures from that day, I have them somewhere - I've got to dig those out so I can scan them and scrap them.....

Also, maybe later that year, we went with her brother Dirk and a few of his friends to the George Strait Chevy Truck Nokia Country Music Fest sponsored by Bud Light.....Tim McGraw & Faith Hill had a set - and Faith sang "This Kiss" and once again we were singning together at the top of our lungs. Not just that song though - the whole day was a blast. Great memories :) *sigh* I've been missing her a lot lately - I don't think I've seen her in almost a year.

Maybe Faith Hill singing takes me back to those times - or maybe she's just a great singer and I should leave it at that - either way, its been nice to rediscover her again.