Friendapalooza

Not just any Thursday...
Some much needed friend time finally came to fruition! It all began with a theme and promised to not disappoint.

The day went by so slowly... then the clock struck 4:30 tand "blamalam" (as some say) the fun and excitement began!

First stop: The Wild Hare 

We enjoyed the lobster pizza, but I would suggest not being upsold by bacon because it over powers the seafood flavor. Do not get deviled eggs... even though they haven't been sitting out at a picnic for four hours they were bland, looks are deceiving.

We took a break from the food and went on a couple of geocache hunts in Jason's neck of the woods... success! I hope that means that I have broken my unlucky streak.

Since we are so unconventional we went for gelato (my first time) and wine before dinner at Porta Via Italian Kitchen. Really cool atmosphere and even a prosecco bar. I will definitely be visiting again.

On the way to dinner we made a pit stop at McKay Used Bookstore since Paige had never been and heard it was all the rage..

For the main course we landed at Whitfield's.. We had some sangria and one of us had a drink called Purple Rain, but I won't say who. The food was good, especially the fish of the day Corvina really blew us away.

The night ended with a little salsa but who knew that there were so many people professionals.. we were just looking around for couples who weren't as proficient and thought we found one until she turned, fell backwards and was caught by her neck. Of course, we have no shame so we danced.

Blast from the past

Since I am going to be quitting Carrabba's soon I thought I would use my discount with a chicken bryan loving ex-mico... HANNAH! We have been needing to catch up and with all of the free time I am going to have maybe it will become a weekly event!

As we walk into the Hendersonville Carrabbas, we see no other than Aaron... what's the luck and so she proceeded to ask for him to be our server. Even Rob "pops" Park was there to add reminiscence to our dining experience.

Of course the main attraction of this night was cute little Harper who is almost 4 months old. So sweet. She even let me hold her for a little while without getting too angry.

Sorry for the red eye... I uploaded the pictures with my phone.

Oh Windy City

This was my second visit to Chicago and it did not disappoint. There again were great accomodations when with the Wong and Wu families on Argyle St. that make you feel right at home. This visit focused on all of the different types of foods and cultures that were just around the corner.

Day 1:  We arrived very early in the morning and slept until around lunch then made our way to Chinatown for Dim Sum at Cai (mmm chicken feet). The asian stores had tons of unique authentic items (as seen below on left - bbq baby squid). Paige and I picked up some Crysanthamum tea... and while we were there we had to of course have the thai tea bubble tea, best i've ever had!

We rang in the first night with "Food Rampage 2012" that consisted of 6 restaurants and styles of cuisine... Needless to say it eneded in pain.

• Kumas Corner (egg burger)
• Ricobenes (steak sandwich)
• Maxwell Street Depot (cheese steak)
• Twin Anchors (bbq pork)
• Del Seoul (korean taco) - closed 
•  Weiner's Circle (hot dog) 

Though our palets did not stop there, it seemed that each day brought new and exciting flavors that challenged those of the day before. Sargent Dave Wu, with a soft spot for spam and dives, was our food guide for the extent of our stay and he had something up his sleeve at meal time.

Day 2: Hamburger King was for breakfast because the spam and rice & gravy were to die for, we all cleaned out plates. (Bacon was on point as well) Who knows how many calories later we decided it would be for the best to walk some of it off with a little tourism. We wanted to enjoy a great view of the city so we went to the John Hancock Center's Signature Lounge on the 95 floor (picture below is a view from the toliet). Unfortunately we were not willing to wait more than ten minutes for our drinks after waiting in line for a seat so off we went to the next spot. 

Li Feng recommended the Vertigo Sky Lounge in the Dana Hotel which was a cool atmosphere, great service and fun drinks (even ate the hibiscus flower). After such a hard day of walking around the city it was time for a delicious late afternoon lunch at Roy's. A little bit of wine and a lot of fancy food equals a good time, but we skipped out without dessert.. so of course that was our next mission.

Of course dinner was soon after so we got a ride to meet the family at Pho Viet which also included a bit of unexpected dancing. For a family fun activity bowling was set on the agenda, but the best part is its rustic charm (ancient feel). We even tried to find the geocache, but didn't have the right device for the job at the time. 

Day 3: The long awaited dish of the entire trip was the Korean Taco, the shrimp were amazing, and don't forget the kimchi fries! Did some browsing on a different side of town today and made our way to Wrigley field where the Cubs were playing. The strip was packed with fans so we decided to stop at Dueces and the Diamond Club which seemd to be all the rage. That night was a celebration of Li's birth so we met Ashley and the family at his house to surprise him with cake. Since their house was about a mile away we decided to walk, but that was a terrible idea and felt like it took forever! For dinner we went to a good ethiopian restaurant Demera's right down the road.

Day 4: To throw the kids' first Easter egg hunt we went to the nearest Walgreens for supplies and surprises. Along the way we stopped at Atlantic Bar and Grill which turned out to be a Soccer bar (very popular in the north apparently). That is where we learned that guinness was the special ingredient in a bloody mary... it blew my mind. Upon our return to the house the hunt commenced and they had a great time! Since they had to go to chinese school we went our separate ways and ended up at a cool tapas place called Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba. Li and Ashley met us there and we all went to Halligan Bar where we continued the theme and had the best bloody mary ever! - It had a dill pickle as part of the garnish! Already it was time for dinner so we were going to have round two of Del Seoul only to find it was closed. So we hit the next Korean restaurant, but the BBQ was a little on the weak side. It was time for a night out on the town so we went to play life size Jenga at Ravens and board games at Guthries. Found that the most underrated game is Blurt.. super fun and great for a group.

Day 5: Since we were leaving later in the day we had to get our fix early and some goodies to take home. Breakfast at Hamburger King then Chui Quon Bakery for $.90 pork buns and Ba Le for vietnemese sandwiches for the road. The drive home was quick because we watched hulu and Homeland.

It was a great trip! Thanks to everyone who made it happen!