Weekend Recap: 4/10

This weekend was obviously engrossed with Junior League Kids in the Kitchen, however I did manage to do a little more. I had every intention of staying in the burbs after such a long day on Saturday, however I was swayed by the promise of an 80's cover-band at Joe's on Weed. After hanging out with BF, I as the party pooper that passed out at 8:30pm, only to wake up this morning. I feel bad for keeping BF in, but I was wiped. This morning, to make up for it, I took us to the Twisted Spoke. BF Loves this place as it's a biker bar with killer bloody mary's; which of course we pare-took in :)

Massive bar, with lots of draft options!

Check out their Bourbon Collection!

BF's  - YES that's BACON & Cheese in BACON infused vodka!

My Queen Mary - mine had lime flavored gin in stead of vodka

My Elvis French Toast with Peanut Butter & Banana. BF had chequiles, but I didn't think it was picture worthy. BF said these looked like drunk-food heaven!

Then BF decided he wanted to try another:

Later on this afternoon, a friend from work helped me look for a new apartment. My current place is trying to increase my rent $50/month; RIDICULOUS! So I'm looking more around the Schaumburg/Arlington Heights area so that I'm closer to Dan's place in the city and it's only 3-4 miles further to work than I am now. I'm an ubber dork that created an excel spreadsheet that took into account costs for mileage (gas/mile/month), gym membership (if they don't have one available), storage (in-case i have to continue to pay for an extra storage unit), extra cost of moving, and move in fees. However, when it's all said and done, you HAVE to see places. I just wish I had done this much research when I had first moved up here. I have a clear front runner in my decision, but I still need to negotiate pricing and availability. I'm determined to not be on a first floor again; I don't think it's weird that I feel less secure on the first floor.
Any who, have you been to any fun places in the city (or the burbs) lately that you think I should try? Do you know of any good apartments in the areas I've mentioned? Please let me know! Have a great week!

Junior League's Kids in the Kitchen

I forgot whether I mentioned it, but this past Saturday was our Annual Kids in the Kitchen event. This was the second year we've held it at Mooseheart Child City & School.
PurposeThe goal of the Junior Leagues' Kids in the Kitchen initiative, which is supported by The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. and its member Leagues, is to empower youth to make healthy lifestyle choices and help reverse the growth of childhood obesity and its associated health issues.

The event really allowed us to interact with the kids and experience our mission. It was a wonderful event. My schedule was as follows:

Some of our AMAZING volunteers!

8:30-10am: Kitchen: Set up for cooking events

There were 5 prep tables, one per stations which each contained ingredients/utensils for 5 separate recipes/meals

Each group got their own oven/sink area

all the Asparagus we had to cook for both sessions

I was group #3 leader, we had an Asian Chicken with a Soy sauce and spicy asparagus

Each station had laminated copies of each recipe

10-11am: Kitchen: Boys- Cooking events

Each group received introductions to fresh herbs and how to chop ingredients properly from our own Chef Brandy

Some of the boys with Chef Brandy

11-11:30am: Cafeteria: Boys- Lunch

11:30-12:30pm: Kitchen: Girls- Cooking events

My girls with their Chicken

My other girls with their asparagus

12:30-1pm: Cafeteria: Girls- Lunch

1-1:30pm: Cafeteria: Clean up 

What you can't see, is that the kids got presentations by a nutritionist. They also got instruction on introductory Karate.  We had everything clean and ready by 2pm. Also, we had our local Jimmy John's donate 2 trays of sandwiches for our volunteers. We had plenty left over, and were able to share with some of the kids taking their ACT's in another building.

Our total committee did such an amazing job with fundraising, that we were able to use a large portion of our designated budget for new pots/pans/cooking-utensils for each of the cooking stations in the school's home-ec room we had utilized for the event. It truly was a wonderful experience.