The Counter

Last Friday, we headed out to celebrate some recent FABULOUS news for my dear friend Christie.  I feel weird revealing her personal life on my blog (my friends are troopers enough with my constant camera toting and blog talking) but let me just say, its big, amazing, and fabulous news.  In short, she is getting a huge award/fellowship to finish her Ph.D in Italy!  Oh yes, you read that right...ITALY.  See, I told you it was big news!  And what better way to celebrate big news than gourmet burgers, fancy fried pickles, and "adult" milkshakes :)

After a year of me living in Chicago, I think Christie has finally gotten used to my train photo opps :)

After hearing about The Counter, one of Chicago's favorite build-your-own burger joints, on Gilt City, I knew we had to try it.  (And the discount deal didn't hurt either.)  The "check yes or no" paper menu approach is broken down into 5 catagories: Choose your burger, cheese, toppings, sauce, and bun.

Hahaha, I love this picture.  Jess and Christie were deep into burger building at this point.  Though all the ingredients were amazing, fresh, and some pretty unique, it was totally overwhelming to narrow down your choices!

Me and my burger builder :)  I decided to go with a beef burger with brie cheese, bacon, dried cranberries, lettuce, cucumbers, and apricot sauce on a pretzel bun.  I know it sounds a little crazy, but...

...it was SO GOOD!

And to finish off the meal...adult milkshakes!  We chose the Banana Split which was a banana milkshake with cherry vodka and whip cream.  And not only was it delicious, but the Skyy cherry made it taste just like a one-sip banana split!

The fabulous guest of honor!  I can't wait to see all that God has in store for her in ITALY, eeek!

Anyone else out there a major fan of build-your-own burger spots?  The Counter has several locations across the country, so check out their website to see if there is one near you.  And by the way, in case you're wondering, I am already scheming how I can get myself to Italy to visit Christie.  I mean, I can't let her experience all that fabulousness without me? :)

Blind Date Brunch

I went on my first blind date this weekend.  True story.  And despite all the horror stories I've heard about blind dates, this one was pretty fantastic.  The conversation was great, the food was fabulous, and I spent about 90% of the meal laughing hysterically.  See, told you, a blind date gem I had.  But this wasn't a romantic blind date (that'd be pretty weird considering I'm married and all), this was a blogger blind date!

Erin and I have been followers of each others blogs for a while and after a lot of commenting and emailing back and forth about Chicago events, recommendations, and must sees, we finally decided to meet up in person.  (I realize that to some people, especially non-bloggers, this might seem a little creepy, but we were both fairly certain the other wasn't a serial killer, so the creeper factor was seriously reduced.)

Both of us had been dying to try Hot Chocolate, so we scheduled a Saturday brunch and met up in Wicker Park.  Even though we'd both been drooling over the menu for a few weeks, it was so hard to decide what to order.  Everything looked so good!

Erin, her fabulous necklace, and her yummy french toast.  So nice to finally put a face to the blog :)

Cheers to non-creepy blogger first dates!

Homemade donuts?  Yes please.

Me, my quiche, and my almost empty Bellini (shocker.)

Outside the restaurant before doing a little shopping.  (It wouldn't be a blogger meet up without at least a little shopping!)  PS: If you're wondering why we're both bundled up beyond belief its because Chicago is season-challenged and can't the memo that spring is supposed to be here.  Parts of the city got snow on Saturday.  Sheesh.  Get with it Chicago.

So to all of you who've had terrible blind dates, my condolences.  Because my first blind date was a total success.  Lots of laughing, more than a few "omg, me toooo" moments, and a big hug goodbye.  A second date is definitely in the works :)  Thanks Erin for a fabulous brunch!

PS: Has anyone else done a blogger blind date?  Was it awesome like mine or totally creepy lol?

Get Your Foodie On

The boys are at the movies for the evening (Battle LA just didn't look like my kind of movie), so I thought I'd steal a few minutes to post a few long overdue pictures.  Chicago's famed "Restaurant Week" took over the city a few weeks ago, and Matt and I were so excited to share in the foodie goodness.  Over 200 restaurants participated this year, so trying to nail down a restaurant was a bit overwhelming at first.  But with some quicking Googling (i.e. top resturants in Chicago, best restaurant week picks) we were able to pinpoint a few frontrunners.  And after cross refercing those choices with available reservation times and our crazy schedules, Naha was the clear winner.  And thank goodness, because it was incredible!

I've been in this city for over 9 months, and I still insist on train pictures.  Pretty sure people still think I'm a tourist lol.

Naha is an informal Mediterranean and California fusion restaurant.  It is consistently voted one of the top restaurants in Chicago by diners and food critics alike.  The Restaurant Week menu was of course a paired down version of their full dinner menu, and choosing a course was almost a painful decision because everything looked so yummy!

My first course was the "Tarte Tartin," a blend of apples, raisins, glazed onions, and goat cheese, drizzled with medjool date puree and red wine anise syrup.  When in doubt I usually ask the server what his or her favorite is and then go with that.  Our server didn't let me down with any of the courses, especially this one.  So freaking good.

Happy happy me :)  PS: See that guy on the far right of the picture, who you can only see about half of?  Its world-renowed chef and restauranteur, Rick Bayless!  About three minutes after Matt snapped this picture, he calmly and quietly said, "Rick Bayless is over your left shoulder."  "Yeah right," I said.  After a "no I swear" by Matt, I squeaked, "Oh my gosh really?!"  I tried to casually turn and look, and sure enough, it was Rick Bayless.  It was especially fun to spot the celebrity chef because we dined at his famous Frontera Grill the very next night!  (See that post here.)  Another fun fact, Rick Bayless graduated from OU, making me like him even more!  Boomer!

The finale of my meal was the rich chocolate mousse cake, complete with homemade Crackerjacks.  Pretty and delicious, a winner in my book!

Happy, full, and oh so thankful for train station heat lamps.  Restaurant week was a total success, and Matt and I decided to make it a tradition to go every year.  If you have a resturant week in your city, I would definitely reccomend taking advantage of it.  It's a great way to eat at some of the best places in the city for a reduced price.  And if you're in Chicago and missed restauruant week, don't worry.  The smaller and less known Chicago Chef Week starts next week which means you've got another chance to get your foodie on.  You better believe Matt and I already have our reservation :)

Does your city have a restaurant week?  Share in the comments and let me know your favorite foodie spot!

Match Celebation

Hello lovelies!  Before I start blabbering, I want to thank all of you who sent such sweet wishes my way Friday.  I cannot begin to explain the joy and relief I feel over Friday's match news.  To be at a great site and be less than two hours away from my husband is a dream come true, and I am so grateful for how this whole process worked out.  But I am even more thankful for the awesome community of people (you included!) who surround me with love and encouragement through the good times and the bad.  I am so blessed and so grateful!

This weekend was absolutely incredible and one of the best weekends I can ever remember.  The good news came early Friday morning, and the weekend only got better from there.  Seriously.  I am still on cloud nine!  Sweet Matt did so much to make me feel like a rockstar this weekend; I couldn't stop eeking and squeaking with excitement.  (All the people who know me in real life can attest to this fact.  I spontaneously "eeek" when I'm giddy and excited.)  Luckily, I had my camera by my side the whole weekend and was able to capture the feel of the weekend in pictures.  I will warn you now, this post is total picture overload.  But if you've been reading my blog for a while, that shouldn't come as a surprise :)  So here are "a few" pictures from our celebratory weekend...

After all the good news emails, texts, and phone calls were sent and made, we enjoyed a lovely little breakfast courtesy of my friend Christie.  Matt and I slumber partied at her and her hubbie's house on Thursday, and her cooking and hostessing skills never fail to make things special.  After breakfast, Christie headed to work, and Matt and I headed to the wander the Lincoln Park Zoo with our friend Matt (ps: thanks Matty B for the zoo pictures!)

The Lincoln Park Zoo is one of my favorite places in the whole city and these two lovelies are my two favorite peeps in the entire zoo.  During our last zoo visit, we watched them for over 30 minutes and Friday was no different.  These two are so sweet with each other.  They are rarely apart and are the cutest little snugglers I have ever seen!

This dude on the other hand...not such a good snuggler :) PS: For any Carrollton peeps that read my blog, does this guy not look identical to the Gorilla keyboard player at Fun Time Pizza?!  Twinsies, I swear.

More monkeys...big or small, we love them all!

A few hours later, after a good clean up, Matt and I headed for a celebration dinner at Frontera Grill.  Matt and I have been wanting to try Frontera since we moved to Chicago, and thanks to my parents Christmas gift to Matt (a Frontera gift card) we were able to go, expense free (thanks Mom and Dad!)  Matt and I both enjoyed Frontera's seasonal blood orange margarita while we waited, and then once we sat down, I gave their Topolo margarita a go, while Matt sipped on a michelada.  So yummy!

:)

So I'll apologize now for the not so great food pics.  I'm still not a fan of flashes in nice restaurants.  I'll break out my camera, but I try to avoid entering full paparazzi mode.  Anyway, for starters Matt and I had the trio of ceviche.  OMG.  This little tray is one of the tastiest things I've had in a loooong time.  For realz.  I will dream about it on a weekly basis.  It was our favorite thing of the night, hands down!

And for dessert...Frontera's homemade chocolate pecan pie with Kaluha whipped cream.  When we asked the waiter what dessert he recommended, he made some comment about "not sure if you like pecan pie..." I interrupted him and said "dude, I'm from Texas, I bleed pecan pie.  Bring it on."  And can I just say that as much as I loved it, I think I like LaHa's pecan pie better (seen in this Dallas post)  Sorry Rick Bayless, Texans know their pecan pie.

After dinner, we walked for a bit, took in the day's events, and enjoyed time with just the two of us.  I am so lucky to have Matt by my side through this crazy journey.

Our pretty city, all lit up, just for me :)  After our walk, we went back to The Palmer House for an overnight stay.  (Matt surprised me when I was in Dallas by booking a room here.  It was the place we stayed when we first traveled to Chicago together in March 2008.)  The cherry on top of a fabulous day!

Saturday morning, we brunched and set out for some celebratory shopping and city-seeing.  And in true Chicago style, it snowed all day :)

Me, the Bean, and my new Burberry boots!  They were my congratulations present, eeek!  I needed a water/slush proof boot that wasn't as clunky as my big winter boots.  I had intended to get a pair of Hunter boots, but after trying them on, I wasn't quite in love, particularly with the fit.  So I opted for these beauties instead.  LOVE!

Coat: Guess (don't mind the misbuttoned buttons lol!)
Jeans: J.Crew skinnies
Scarf: from a market in London
Purse: Mimi Boutique via Bon Bon Rose Girls giveaway
Boots: Burberry

I love this picture!  Three of my favorite things: my man, my city, and a Nordstrom shopping bag for me.  Ha!

Saturday was also great because I got to meet up with a high school drill team friend!  Vy is finishing dental school a few hours outside of Chicago and was in town with her adorable boyfriend for a conference.  She knew I was in Chicago via Facebook, so she sent me a message, we set up a time/place, and met up.  10 years later!  That's why I love Facebook!  Matt and I are already counting down the days till Vy and Alex come back to Chicago to visit.  We had so much fun lunching and laughing with them!

After lunch, we did a bit more walking around (seriously, we don't ever get tired of exploring Chicago!)  We went to one of our favorite spots, the terrace at the art museum.  Its pretty undiscovered, and on a rainy day, we had it all to ourselves.  I loved snapping pics of Matt snapping pics.  He's too cute :)

Last pic of the day and a perfect one to capture the weekend!  Celebrating with Matt was so fun, and I'm so appreciative to have a husband who makes me feel special.  The weekend couldn't have been better and I'm still recovering from all the fun we had :)  Thanks again for all your happy wishes, have a fabulous day!

Back with a Quick Recap

Hey there, happy Friday!  I just wanted to post a few pictures from our Utah trip.  Since the second half of the trip was pretty interview focused, most of the pictures are from earlier in the trip.

Saturday night, we arrived in Salt Lake City and had dinner at Eva, a Mediterranean restaurant downtown.  I heard about Eva from Becky at The Vintage Mixer (a friend of a friend) and I am so grateful she shared this spot.  It was lovely, quaint, and had delicious food!

Champagne, grand marier, and chambord...yes please!

When it came time for dessert, Matt was prepared to pass.  Thankfully, I have no issues eating dessert alone.  I ordered the bread pudding, and suddenly I wasn't eating my dessert alone anymore :)  I'm usually a chocolate brownie fudge cake sundae overload person when it comes to desserts, but our sweet server suggested the bread pudding, so I trusted her and went with it.  (She had in fact led us down the right path with Eva's famous sauteed brussel sprouts.)  I am so glad I listened to her, because this was one of the BEST desserts I've ever had!  So so so yummy!

Out of town date nights are always so fun :)

Sunday afternoon before interview stuff took over our brains, we took advantage of the quiet and walked around campus.  The campus was pretty but how can it not be pretty with a full view of snow covered mountains!  PS: Can you tell Matt loves when I make him pose for pictures?  Lol, thankfully we're married and he can't get rid of me :)

To me, no campus will ever be more beautiful than OU's, but I'll admit, you can't find views like this in Norman, Oklahoma.

The temperature was close to perfect in Utah.  Definitely winter, but not freeze-your-face-off-windy-winter like Chicago.

Our fun kind of ended Sunday evening, as Monday and Tuesday were consumed with interviews and anxiety.  The search committee for Matt's job wined and dined him all the nights we were there, but sadly, I only got to join him for dinner on Sunday.  But Tuesday, after Matt raved about the restaurant they went to on Monday, I decided to take matters into my own hands.  I grabbed my coat and went to dinner on my own.  Yes, you read that right, I dined alone.  Good gnocchi and creme brulee are that important to me.  Sure I got a few stares (not sure if it was the alone part of the wine part lol) but it was worth it.  The creme brulee was out of this world and a yummy note on which to end our Utah trip.  Wednesday morning, we headed back to Salt Lake to catch an early flight back to Chicago.  And though it was crazy cold when we got back, I was so happy to be home.  Within five minutes of being home, Matt and I were snuggled in our living room with a crackling fire, Top Chef, and Asian takeout.  Oh how I love coming home after a few days away!

In terms of interviews, things went pretty well.  Matt felt good about his two day interview, and left saying "I did as much as I could.  If they don't like me, its not cause I didn't do my best."  Well said honey.  My interview went ok.  I can't really get an accurate read on my interview because I am ridiculously hard on myself when it comes to interviews (and a lot of other things.)  Its not my favorite trait, but its a part of me no less.  I spent all of Monday and Tuesday picking apart every single answer and statement I'd made, before finally realizing God has a great plan, so I need to quit freaking out and let Him do his thing.  Matt should hear back from the search committee sometime in the next few weeks, but I won't hear anything till mid-February due to the internship matching process.  So until then, we wait.  And with waiting, comes a giant lesson in patience :)

No matter what happens, I am grateful for the experience.  Matt and I are growing as individuals and as a couple, which is both exciting and challenging.  And thankfully, we have some incredibly supportive people around us to cheer us on.  And that includes all of you who left sweet words of encouragement and well wishes.  I can't thank you enough for reading this little blog and supporting me in ways you don't even realize!  Have a very happy weekend!

My Faux Thanksgiving Break

Remember when you were in elementary school and you got a whole week off for Thanksgiving?  Wasn't that the best?  I never knew how good my ten year old self had things.  All I thought about were Barbies, sequins, little brothers, and Thanksgiving break.  What a life.  Unfortunately, the adult me doesn't get a week off for Thanksgiving, in fact, I barely got a day off.  (When I accepted the assistant manager position at "the store" I was well aware what I was getting myself into.)  But never one to let the grown up rules ruin all my fun, I forced myself to celebrate Thanksgiving all week and squeeze in some fun where I could.  I ended up with a faux Thanksgiving break even the ten year Allison would have been proud of.

Last Saturday, Matt and I drove a few hours to small town Indiana to celebrate an early Thanksgiving with my dear friend/old boss Jenny and her family.  We hadn't seen Jenny and Dave since their visit earlier in the summer, and I was about at my limit with missing her.  So in the car we hopped, and one state over we went.  Jenny's extended family was so welcoming and so sweet to let us crash their family Thanksgiving.

Oh how I miss these pictures with me and my mini sized friend :)

Tuesday, my friend Christie and I had a much needed girl's day in the city.  She and I make it a point to find a weekday every month or so to take off work and spend time playing in the city.  We usually don't have a specific plan, but of course, it always involves eating.  On this girl's day, we had lunch at caffe De Luca, a great little Italian spot in Bucktown.  I went for the spinach and goat cheese quiche, and oh my goodness, was it yummy!

Our girls days are always so fun (see our last one here.)  A girl's day is fabulous any day, but something about sneaking away mid week makes it feel even more special.  If you've got some flexibility in your schedule, I highly recommend a mid week girl's day once in a while!

I worked liked a crazy person this past week getting "the store" ready for Black Friday.  Though it was a crazy week, it was a fun one.  Here is a quick pic of what I wore to work on Wednesday.  Who says full sequins are only for special occasions?

Dress/Tunic: Express
Jacket: Ann Taylor
Leggings: the Gap
Boots: Vince Camuto
Jewelry: vintage

Wednesday night Matt and I saw Harry Potter for the second time.  Yes, we are dorks for going to the midnight premiere and yes, we are dorks for going to see it twice :)  But this time we opted for our favorite dinner movie theater.  The only thing better than seeing Harry Potter for the second time is seeing Harry Potter for the second time with a fruity cocktail in your hand.

Thursday for Thanksgiving, Matt and I were so blessed to spend the day with Terri, my boss from "the store," and her family.  (When I took the assistant manager position, I knew I'd be giving up Thanksgiving with my family.  But in recent years, we've been spending Thanksgiving with Matt's family and Christmas with mine, so I've gotten semi-used to turkey without my family.  Plus my family is coming to Chicago for Christmas so I am ecstatic about that!)  Anyway, we had a fabulous time and Terri was such a fabulous host.  Terri is from Texas, so we share a southern connection that has been so comforting to me as I'm getting used to life outside of Texas.  Plus, she is an incredible chef which made for an extra yummy Thanksgiving.  Even though Matt and I were far from our families, we felt right at home at Terri's and are were grateful for such a fun and welcoming pseudo-family!

I'm thankful for so many things, one of which is an incredible husband.  I forget sometimes just how lucky I am to have him.

Saturday after two nonstop days at the store Matt and I went to pick out our Christmas tree.  When we moved from Texas, I was limited in how much Christmas stuff I could bring, so rather than waste storage space on our artificial tree, I donated it and decided we'd get a real one when the time came.  And since I am a huge fan of the Christmas season, I wasted no time in breaking out the decorations.  Two days after Thanksgiving was long enough!

Though I had high hopes for a grand tree, reality is, our apartment is tiny.  Therefore a tiny tree was in order.  The guys at the tree place laughed when we pointed to what we wanted, but they were super nice and friendly in getting it for us.  We laughed as Matt carried it out, especially since it took the family before us 30 minutes to strap it to the top of their truck lol.

Clearly the decorating part went quickly since there are hardly any branches to decorate lol.  Its tiny and sparse, but we love it!  And the fact that Christmas is coming means I'm that much closer to seeing my family.  (20 days to be exact!)

So while the past week wasn't filled with consecutive days off or days spent lounging in sweats, i can't say I didn't love it.  Because I have so much to be thankful for and so much to look forward to. And that is the best faux Thanksgiving break a girl could ask for :)