Weekend Recap: Valentines Day weekend to now

I'm catching up on my weekend recaps so as not to have anyone miss out on their awesomeness. The last two weeks have been CRAZY with work and life, so I'm just getting around to this now (sorry).

So... two Fridays ago (ok, that won't  be going on throughout this entire post, I promise), we met up with BF's cousins for a Cousin sushi dinner at Coast in Bucktown! This place was BYOB and with two bottles of wine and a bottle of Saki, the night was off to a good start:

BF and I were the only ones brave enough to try the oyster shooters.

We got a little crazy with our order...

BF was growing a mustache, I think partially out of laziness and partially to piss me off, so I got him a special bag for his gift from Target :)

The Cousins out for a night on the town.

We ended up at Fatpour Tap Works after dinner, sticking to the neighborhood. I have to admit I may have been overly impressed with Uber, which I hadn't used before.
After quite the night out, BF and I managed to get up early for a breakfast at one of my favorite local joints, Orange. Then BF wanted to do Adventure Day up to Andersonville, which is just north of the Wrigleyville area. The below pics are from Brimfield, which was probably the NICEST antique store I've ever been to! I LOVED IT because it just seemed so pretty and New England, but it was ALL Midwest! They had these cool pillows that they'd made from old pennants they'd found, albeit a little pricey, these things were 'new' and cool!

One of the cool pennant pillows.

This is a cool pillow they made out of a Girl Scout uniform! They have the same for the Boy Scouts too!

After some light shopping, we ended up over at the JoongBoo Market off of 90/94. This is an authentic Asian market that BF started to explore and we got some awesome pot stickers to maker later and plenty of ingredients for BF to make his now famous pad thai noodles!

For lunch, since we were so close, we head down the street to Revolution brewery.

I'm a sucker for an awesome IPA and their Fistmas Christmas IPA was incredible (thankfully, we're lucky in the Chicagoland area to have access to these up and coming breweries through Whole Foods who support local).
That night we just kind of crashed.

Sunday, we inadvertently invited ourselves on an outing to the Field Museum with our friends Jenn and DJ. And thanks to my work ID, we got in free!

Me and Sue, the most complete T-Rex.

Me hiding to surprise the kids in the Adobe exhibit; can't you tell I'm making some sort of bread...

View from the dinosaur exhibit.

 After the museum, we all walked the half mile to explore this diner I had just seen on Chicago's Best, Eleven City Diner.

It's a Jewish style deli, and the owners make the letters appear to be in Hebrew, even if they're spelling English, it's pretty neat.

They have the look and feel of the old chalk board restaurants.

Fantastic old school, soda jerk counter, complete with Green River Floats!

I wanted to go here because of this! On Chicago's Best, it was listed as one of the best sandwiches in the city. It's called the 'Blank Blank', because it's supposed to be like the sandwich you used to be able to get in the Walnut Room at Marshall Fields, and it was called the Marshall Fields Sandwich. I think there was some sort of legality in the naming.

BF gave up meat for Lent, but as you can see, not cheese. He got the portabello burger.

Jenn got what I got, so this is DJ's classic Reuben with Slaw.

FAST FORWARD to this past weekend:
Friday night, I was supposed to go to this thing at the Sears Centre with my friend Amber to meet the Olympic Fab Five... well, it snowed Thursday night, and I don't drive in the snow if I can help it. So I picked Amber up and we went up there... only to find the place complete empty and blacked out. After a few phone calls and web searches, we learned the entire tour had been cancelled. So we decided to move to plan B to grab dinner and drinks and one of my FAVE restaurants, Seasons 52.

This is their Pomegranate Margarita Martini... I have to say, it would've been better with a sugar rim.

We got some delic flat breads while we waited on another girl to meet up with us.

After some Just Dance on Wii at Amber's, I dropped them off at John Barleycorn and headed home. I needed to got into the city fairly early on Saturday morning to get ready to celebrate BF's brother's birthday. BF's brother, David, found that the music theater where BF and I went to the Christmas Sing-a-long was playing a midnight showing of the Labyrinth. If you are a child of the 80's, you totally know this Muppets and David Bowie movie. We kicked the night off with a mad game of Cards against humanity, which is a lot like Apples to Apples, but less family friendly. We then made our way to Adobo Grill down the street from BF's apt for some great mexican dinner.

They make your guac at the table, fresh!

Their Margaritas are some of the freshest I've ever had!

Before heading to the theater, we went to Mystic Celt up in Wrigleyville, about a block from the theater for some beers to kill some time and meet up with some more of David's friends.

David in front of the Theater.

We all had a great night!
Sunday morning, apparently we all liked the double date so much the previous weekend, that DJ/Jenn were calling us and BF/I were texting them to meet up for brunch. We made our way down to the River North area to Meli's Cafe to grab some brunch.

I got the special, chocolate chip cookie dough pancakes... I mean, COME ON! AMAZING

Jenn got the gluten free pancakes with bananas and agave syrup.

Both BF and DJ got skillets

I was SUPPOSED to go out to the burbs to assist our fundraising committee in preparing for the JLKD Spring Fling in two weeks, but they said they had enough hands on deck. So I stayed in and we decided to make our way to the Nature Conservatory just north of the Lincoln Park Zoo. It's yet another free things the city has to offer, and it's INCREDIBLE! Such beautiful plants and they have plenty of benches, where if you wanted to, you could hang out all day. It's like you're in Florida.

A coffee plant... which looks much pretty than I expected

One of the many Orchids in the Orchid room!

BF & I

All the Azaleas reminded me of Home in the spring!

Afterward we made our way over to the Lincoln Park Zoo. Check out how close the Rhino was! She was just playing around in the snow. So Cute!

BF playing around.

HOW CUTE IS THIS! It's a pigmy hippo!

Meercats!

Jenn was most excited about the Giraffes

BF REALLY likes to play around in public... :) isn't he cute!

All the cats were out in the Big Cat House.

We made our way back to BF's to hangout and download movies to watch in preparation for the Oscars. We ended up watching Argo, which was pretty great, I don't know that it was the BEST movie I've ever scene, but it was good.

We then watched the Oscars, which I felt was better than some of the more recent years, but overall, lacking.

Ok, that was long, and actually probably took longer to type than actually doing it all.  I hope y'all have been staying warm this February!

Till next time!

XOXO, the Prep

Mid-Summer Crisis

As I get ready for my once-a-year vacation, it dawned on me... it's time to start a new diet! I know, just the terminology seems silly. Having grown up in a household that harped upon eating healthy, lots of exercise and the right cut outfit, you'd think I'd learned my lesson. But honestly, after high school and no more competitive cheerleading (allowing for maximum caloric burn), it seems that age and a busy schedule are all working against me. So, as I pack and determine what I'll wear in the sunny glow of a beach... it has finally dawned on me that I need to take this part of life a bit more seriously.

Of late, BF has really been working hard to try being a vegetarian. With the passing of his grandmother and the revelation of potential genetic heart problems, he's really trying to be healthier. His parents have been doing this for a few months now, and really like how it's effected their lives. There's even a vegan/vegetarian restaurant that BF is really into (and I'll admit, they do make a mean faux chicken taco), the Chicago Diner.BF has even gone so far as to supply veggie burgers in my freezer when he comes to grill out with me.

While I don't want to be without my occasional steak, and definitely not without at least chicken/fish, it does seem like a good direction. I and definitely pro-more vegetables in one's diet. However, I also feel that major step needs to be in portion control. I had mentioned in a previous entry that I had tried out this new restaurant with my friend. S.P. that had all items under 470 calories and stressed fresh vegetables. This place seems to have the right idea, albeit limiting total sodium intake as well. 

I think I'm going to try this though (AFTER MY VACA, cuz god knows booze is not calorie-free).

What do you think? How do you maintain a work/health balance (I feel like working long hours does nothing to motivate me to be healthier)? Do you have any special dietary restrictions?

PS: Lauren Conrad even submits Slim Tips on her blog! If you have any fun recipes/work-outs, please let me know!

Weekend Recap - Beating the Heat

This past weekend I had a sorority sister blow into the Windy city, and with her came the heat... :) (SCORCHER ;) ).

We met up on Wednesday for some pedicures and dinner. We went to a local place where she convinced me to be a little adventurous (more to come later).

Afterward, we tried this local restaurant I had found online right down the street from my apartment.

Season52 is an AMAZING addition to my local foodie repertoire!

S.J.P. got the AMAZING Shrimp Salad that came in the most unique serving I've ever seen!

The waiter then lifted the glass bowl up and swirl it so the salad gracefully fell around the plate... lovely.

I got the Fillet Mignon with mashed potatoes and asparagus (YUMMERS!)

Then for desert they brought out this little handy endeavour:

Miniture deserts in SHOT GLASSES! Of course they were all ready to serve...

But it gets better! (I know, crazy!)

ALL ITEMS ON THE MENU ARE UNDER 475 CALORIES! The restaurant prides itself on locally grown seasonal sourcing and providing healthy foods in proper portions. I have to add, we left stuffed, almost finishing our plates...

AMAZINGNESS!

Skip ahead to Friday.

I am lucky enough to get Summer Hours which entails the ability to leave work on Fridays around noon (or whenever in the afternoon we can sneak away). It's awesome. I left to meet up with some friends around 3pm for a happy hour at Bandito's down the street.

Mmmmm John Daley's!

Saturday I made my way into the city to meet up with a reader! It is so neat to connect with people from this little adventure of mine (and I extend the invitation that if you're ever in the area and would like to meet up, let me know!). Well K.B. (not to be confused with my sorority sister K.B.) and I met just down the street from BF's apartment at this little french restaurant, Bistrot Margot. It was lovely!

I'm somewhat sad I don't have my old french skills (although I'm sure Marce and Madame Weisendanger can attest they were never Stellar to begin with).

I greatly enjoyed the Croque Madame (basically a ham and cheese sandwich with and egg on top, and breakfast potatoes on the side). K.B was having a craving for the pancakes which they topped with the most amazing looking berries. Overall, it was a quaint restaurant, with great service, and limited crowd.

After brunch and some fun chatting about the south and Chicago, I made my way to Oak St. Beach to meet up with some sorority sisters who recently moved to the city. After some catching up, one of them caught a glimpse of my toes...

"Wait... You PAID for that???" ~E.S.

Yes, I got sea green nail-polish with a white french tip... while S.P. got purple with a silver glitter tip. I am officially crazy.

I ended up meeting S.P. again that evening while her hubby and sister-in-law went to a Goo Goo Dolls concert (yes, they still perform, apparently make new music as seen in the new Transformers movie, and S.P.'s hubby is OBSESSED!). 

We went just down the street from BF's apartment to Adobe grill, an old standby favorite.

LOVE LOVE LOVE the FRESH GUAC!

Multiple Margs were a MUST!

 After some fun convo and delish food, we headed back to BF's apt where he insisted upon viewing his acting debut in POINT BREAK: LIVE. Long story short, this was a live version of the heinous 90's movie that appeared on stage in Chicago last summer. BF got pulled up to play the part of Keanu Reeve's character, Johnny Utah. And confusion/hilarity ensues.

 After a long day/night with friends, we crashed.

 Sunday we got up late and went to Brunch at our (My) favorite breakfast place, Nookies. We road our bikes (which BF could not be more thrilled about, but my butt was less thrilled about). I'm still getting used to this, especially in the increasing heat and humidity (I did NOT move to Chicago for 114 humidity!).

After brunch, we road our bikes to Oak Street beach to get cool in the lake and wait on BF's volleyball game. The sand was so hot, I staid on my towel or in the water the whole time (ps... Lake Michigan is gross, the that so does NOT count as a Beach). But what a view:

Hancock tower

View from the bike path.

After all that beach time, we made our way to the movies to meet up with G.M. to see Harry Potter! It was very sad to see that whole story line come to a close.

Phew... quite the weekend I know.... I'm just trying to survive this massive heat wave taking hold of the Midwest. I feel like Madame Summer just didn't think we knew it was summer and was like 'oh, you haven't turned your fans on yet... let me heat things up a bit so you have that honor'. I CAN NOT WAIT to go to the Beach!

What are y'all doing to stay cool?