Chi-town

Reasons I love Chicago:

1. The people. I really think Midwesterners are nice. Especially once the snow has melted and we can all come out of hibernation.
2. The food. Really. There is an abundance of amazing food here. It's a wonder more people aren't totally overweight and broke.
3. The energy. I can't really explain it. You just have to almost get hit by a cab during rush hour in the Loop to feel it.
4. The sports. Particularly the Cubs. I've adopted the Lovable Losers.
5. The museums. We have a Seurat!
6. The water. Lake Michigan might have higher levels of E. coli on some days other than others, but it's still a body of water that's big enough to fake us Californians out as being an ocean.
7. The summers. They make the winters worth enduring.
8. The neighborhoods. I love how people say, "I live in Lincoln Park" with a certain air of arrogance. It kind of makes me want to move to Lincoln Park. Same goes for "Gold Coast."
9. The fact that we get lots of visitors. Because this is the crossroads of America. And because lots of people we know fly through O'Hare and get stranded.
10. The festive-ness. I love how the city celebrates whatever the big thing is that's happening. Like a Presidential candidate who wins from Chicago. Or the 10,000th Cubs win. Or the IOC in town to evaluate Chicago as a host for the 2016 Olympics. Or St. Patrick's Day.

And here's one final plug. Just in case the IOC is reading this blog.

D, please - let's not move again. Especially not to Houston. I like it here.

The last tag I'll ever do...

The 8 things tag. (Chari, you owe me.)

8 favorite TV shows:
24
House
Beverly Hills, 90210 (the original)
So You Think You Can Dance?
The Amazing Race
What Not to Wear
Designed to Sell
Friends

8 things I did yesterday:
Printed out a ton of cupcake and buttercream frosting recipes
Made cute little binders for my new employees
Played race cars and basketball with C
Spent 2 minutes in between bites talking to my husband
Baked for 3 hours at a commercial kitchen
Spent way too much time on Facebook
Brought home a carrot cupcake with cream cheese frosting for D
Drove by Rod Blagojevich's home in Chicago

8 things I'm looking forward to:
Getting my new glasses
Getting the business website up and running
Having another strategy session with my publicist!
Finding time to read "Your Marketing Sucks."
Going to Leipzig and Prague with D this summer
Having a son who is able to zip up his jacket by himself
Having my husband around more once he finishes school
Summertime in Chicago!

8 favorite restaurants:
Florentine's - Cupertino
Kirala - Berkeley
Joy Yee - Chicagoland
Lou Malnati's - Chicagoland
Haku - NYC
Rodizio - SLC
That Kiosque Flottant on the Seine - Paris
Sparta's Pizza and Spaghetti - Bothell, WA

8 Things on my wish list
I wish we could afford to move to Lincoln Park
and put C in private school
and hire a personal chef
who goes grocery shopping. (That's 4.)
I wish I could lose 5 more pounds
and keep it off
and increase my VO2 so that I can run a 5k
and shrink down just one more size. (That's 4 more.)

Summer Recap

This is going to be the most boring post ever. We've done so much over the last few weeks that I just need to get it down so I don't forget!

Kirtland, OH and Palmyra, NY. We went to a France Paris Mission mini-reunion organized by the Forbes. Thanks for putting that all together. D got to reconnect with the Collins (C's new girlfriend Eowyn's parents) and the Coopers (our new travel heroes who are moving to Australia soon, but that won't stop them from making random trips to the states for small gatherings.) We made it by the Finger Lakes (in that book, 1,000 Places to See Before You Die.) It was nice, but... top 1,000 places? I'm not so sure.


Toronto, Ontario, Canada. After the New York thing, we went through Niagara Falls to Toronto to meet up with D's uncles (3 of them) and check out the city. It's a cosmopolitan place. It was too cloudy to head to the top of the CN tower, so we took the ferry across Lake Ontario instead and checked out the city views from there, then spent the rest of the day walking through Chinatown and driving around Yonge and Queen Streets.



Lake Geneva, IL. I went to Girls Camp overnight with the Young Women from our ward. This version of "camping" included air conditioned cabins, hot water, and a beautiful view of Lake Geneva. Regardless, camping always includes bugs and sweat and dirt, none of which I'm a fan of. So I slept in the car and escaped quickly the next morning.

Salt Lake City, UT. Immediately after getting back from Girls Camp, I headed out to SLC for Stampin' Up! convention. Thanks, Jerin and Wami, for letting me stay at your place even though you weren't there! I appreciate it. Also, thanks to Steph, Paul, and Chick and Yves for hosting me for a couple of days. And thanks, John and Melissa, for yummy yummy food. Good times.

Lots of trips into Chicago. Whether it's for school (D), dance classes (me), random trips for business, or just to hang out, we've loved every minute of this Chicago summer.

Joshua Radin. I love him. We went to see him, Alexa Wilkinson, and Vanessa Carlton last weekend at the House of Blues. He even came down into the pit where we were standing and belted out a Dylan song sans mic, literally inches away from me. Did I mention that I love him?
Friends in town from out of town. We've had our share of guests over the past weekend. The Hardies and Guillons came into town over the weekend. Another mini mission reunion. We took the Guillons to Nauvoo and Carthage on Monday and Tuesday. Their first time there, and they got the red carpet treatment. They come back through here next week, so we plan to do more fun stuff with them when they're back in town (i.e., jazz club, baseball game, shopping on the Mag Mile.)

Other things that have been going on:
C starts preschool this fall.
M's business is scheduled to open for catering end of October.
D's still going to school and doing an amazing job at it.
The tomatoes are harvesting!

Fourth of July Fun

It just so happened that Steph, Paul, and clan were in town for the 4th of July this year, so we got everyone together for a BBQ. This included my parents, Scott/Becky, Nan/Greg, Pam/Steve, and Lynne. Count 'em. That's 13 adults. And 13 kids. Talk about a 1:1 ratio.

To keep the kids happy, we set up a slip-n-slide in the backyard and let the kids go crazy on our play set. But unusually for July, the weather wasn't as warm or humid as it should have been, so instead of cooling off, they froze. I guess kids don't mind so much, though!

Despite the fact that I don't like to cook, I enjoyed preparing for this event. I actually made fresh sausages for the first time and made a bunch of desserts and salad. Everyone pitched in and brought something - so helpful! Thanks to all for coming and hanging out with us.