Summer Festivities

If you're a Chicagoan, I don't need to tell you about Chicago's summer. It is the most unbelievable time of the year, and Chicago makes it even better. It's not just about the brutal winters that makes everyone cherish the summer more. There seems to be magic in the air when it comes to June and all the way till September/October in this beautiful city.

The City offers so many different kinds of fun activities and events that Chicagoans would usually hate to miss. There are summer festivals every weekend in different neighborhoods, concert series on Wednesday nights, "Movies in the Park" on Tuesday nights, the famous "Taste of Chicago", Lollapalooza Music Fest, just to name a few. Not to mention Chicagoans' favorite Cubbie games!

Jeff and I joined a group of friends last night at Millennium Park in downtown for a Mariachi music concert and John's birthday picnic. We all brought a lot of drinks, food and everyone's favorite cupcakes. Many of us went there directly from work, and what's a better way to spend a Wednesday night?

Frisbees and fireworks concluded the evening. Since we all had so much fun, we have made plans to do this every month, celebrating July birthdays, August birthdays and September birthdays this year!

New Sod

We re-sodded our yard last night, and it looks amazing. It has already become Scraps' new hangout spot! It's my first time seeing the process, so I couldn't help but took a few pictures of it. For the next couple of weeks, we need to water it twice a day. Then we will need to go get a manual lawn-mower soon!

Maybe someday we will re-design our backyard landscape. But for now, we are enjoying the way it is!

Sweet White Roses

The white rose tree in our back yard has blossomed! These lovely flowers exhale sweet and alluring scent while adding a little elegance to our green space. I'm captivated by it every time I pass it by.

What Scraps doesn't like about our new home....

While we were living in Jeff's condo, Scraps had "full access" to the place. We have spoiled him to a point that now he only likes to sleep either on the couches, in his bed or in our bed. Our leather couch has been badly scratched by him (his nesting routine prior to sleeping, in addition to the 3 turns). And he even had his own couch then!

We now have a new sectional in our new home, so I have been preventing Scraps from getting up there. He sure doesn't like it at all! I know he's been sneaking up there while we are gone. I've noticed dog hairs and drool on the new couch when I come home from work. He is still very much tempted to climb up while we are sitting there, but sorry Scrappy...this will have to be the only one thing mommy is firm with you about.

Moving

Today's closing went very smoothly. It only took about a little over an hour. We are finishing up packing today and will be moving into our new house tomorrow!

Last Hurrah!

Jeff and I are moving to our new home on Friday, so we decided to have the last party on our rooftop deck this weekend. It was a beautiful day, so we grilled out and made summer cocktails. We prepared some Chinese cold noodles, which is always a big hit at parties, marinated flank steak, grilled vegetables, burgers and hot dogs.

More than 20 of our friends joined us -- Steve and Heidi brought the cute Violet (their 2-year-old girl); John and Marie brought Jack (their 8-months-old); Jen and Andy came with marinated shrimp and cheese cakes; John and Jenn made "the skinny girl's margarita"; Andy and Jessica brought a couple bottles of white wines; Bret and Katie came directly from the Cubs game; Suzanna brought the champagne and the delicious Mandy B's cupcakes; Prow got us a juicy watermelon; Kelly and Todd shared their delicious prosciutto wrapped melons.

Jeff also surprised me with a cake from Dinkel's, which is everyone's favorite Chicago bakery. Everyone had such a great time, and the last party was a success. I got a little emotional throughout the party....We have lived in this place for 6-7 years, so it's hard to know that it was actually our last party here. We will definitely miss our private rooftop deck!

Megan's Engagement Party

We are all so excited for our friend, Megan, who recently got engaged. Her sister, Alexis, threw a celebration party at the party deck of a high-rise in downtown Chicago near the lake. Quite a few of Jeff's (and Megan's) high school friends also attended, so everyone had a great time reminiscing and telling interesting stories from the old times. Surprisingly, I also bumped into an old colleague of mine from Edelman Public Relations (my first job in the U.S.), who is Megan's friend from college. What a small world!

Weekend in Michigan

Our friends, Bret and Katie, invited us to their lake house in Michigan this weekend. This is our third time to their vacation home, and we are excited to get out of the city for a few days. We drove up Friday evening. Our other friends, Jenn and John, also got there around the same time. Since the boys were playing golf early Saturday morning, we hit the hay a little early on Friday after a few drinks.

While the guys were out golfing, Jenn, Katie and I had some girls time. We hung out with Katie's son, Bo, had light breakfast, lounged on the couch and chatted. We then met up with our husbands in South Haven, a nearby town, for lunch. After lunch, we girls walked around town and shopped while the guys went back to the house and Bo. We stopped in a few cute shops and antique stores, but it was nice to just stroll under the sun. Before dinner, we relaxed on the deck for a few hours then went to a pizza joint at another nearby town, St. Joe's.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning, so we went to the beach then grilled out afterwards. Scraps and Re-Run were following each other around pretty much the whole time, and they had a especially wonderful time at the beach. Scraps got a number of rounds of swimming and were exhausted on our way back to Chicago!

Headsucker's Ball

It's that time of the year again -- crawfish boil at McGee's! It's one of our favorite events, since we never really get to enjoy crawfish in Chicago. Every year, McGee's ships about 2000 pounds of fresh crawfish from Louisiana and cooks them with good seasoning, sausages, potatoes, onions and corn. There are also side dishes like jambalaya, gumbo, red beans and rice. Jeff spent part of his childhood in Louisiana, so he loves any kind of southern cuisine.

We usually go with my friend Leyla, who grew up in New Orleans, to this event. This year's crawfish boil is last Saturday, May 16th. Without exception, we always have a good time!

London Fun (May 8 - 11)

Scraps' Weekend Get-away

Since we're doing some floor work in our condo this weekend, we had to stay at a hotel for a couple nights. We chose La Quinta in downtown, as there's no weight-limits for pets, and it's a new hotel that just opened a few months ago and is reasonably-priced.

This is Scraps' first downtown trip, and we hung out in Grant Park, walked around on Michigan Avenue, and took pictures like we were tourists!

April 28

It's a day to celebrate freedom though I miss you tremendously.

Mercat

Jeff's parents are in town this week, and we went to one of our favorite spots, Mercat a la planxa, in downtown for dinner. It is a Spanish tapas restaurant with catalan-inspired drinks and cuisine. A few of our typical orders include paella de mariscos, mar i muntanya, datiles con almendras, and especially their Colorado rack of lamb.

Thank you, Ma & Pop, for visiting us and treating us dinner!

"I Dreamed a Dream"

This 47-year-old contestant, Susan Boyle, on the "Britains Got Talent" Show stunned everyone, not only by her incredible voice, but also her tenacity to never give up her dream. When asked what she wants to be, she said "I'm trying to be a professional singer!". And when asked the reason why it hasn't worked out so far, she responded, "I just haven't been given the chance before." At 47, she followed her desire to realize her dream. I haven't been touched by a story so deeply for a long time. As soon as she opened her mouth to sing, it brought me to tears.

Take a look at this video (click on the link below)! Hope you're moved by it as much as I am!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-KiGva9dV4

Girls' Dinner at Branch 27

A few girlfriends and I got together for dinner Wednesday night at Branch 27, a new American Bistro in West Town. It has only opened for a few weeks and has already got a lot of buzz in Chicago. I really enjoyed its relaxing yet upbeat atmosphere, but its food is what grabbed me. I loved their Grilled Salmon, which was cooked perfectly medium rare at my request. Marie was extremely happy about her roasted chicken. Darnell and Kristen's tuna burger was delicious. Katie's flatbread looked very appetizing, too. We did not get any starters, but I do want to try their grilled baby octopus next time!

The owner is a friend of most of our husbands, so he came by a few times to say hello and gave us a couple of desserts on the house -- flowerless chocolate cake and apple tart. Both are very yummy!

Six of us also shared a bottle of red. It was great catching up with a couple of girls whom I haven't seen in a few months. They are both busy moms with two young children (one is due next month with the 3rd), so it was a fun time for them to get out and enjoy a night free!