MOH!

We had a girls night out on Friday and caught the latest installation of an old favorite - Sex and The City 2! We went to the Showplace Icon theatre which has a VIP lounge and you can even bring some vino into the theatre to enjoy while you watch. The movie was great but the company was better. The highlight of the evening was Christy asking me to be her Matron of Honor!!!! I am so excited to continue the planning process with her and most importantly stand up beside her the day she marries Todd. Cheers to that!!

XO,

EAT

May Days

The weather is warming up which means our calendar is filling up! The words and photos below provide a recap of the month we called May.


My mom came to Illinois for a visit to Chicago/Glen Ellyn and a week in Springfield with Grandpa. I went to Springfield to see Grandpa as well. We watched some westerns, got some tomatoes and geraniums from his greenhouse, cut asparagus, made cookies, saw some cousins and aunts/uncles and just hung on the farm. We got to see each other a couple of different times and the best was having Mom at our home in Glen Ellyn for a Mothers Day barbeque!


May 16th we headed to Milwaukee to see Sandy graduate from University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. The commencement speaker told a story I liked about 3 bricklayers. The first one was working and when asked what he was doing he said "I am building a wall." The second bricklayer said he was building a church. The third worker said "I am building a community." It was just a cool vision and reminder that you have to start somewhere in life. Congratulations Sandy and Ali!! Best wishes as you start the next chapter...we are so proud!

My best friend from high school, Anna and her husband Tim happened to be in the area a few weeks ago so it was an unexpected treat to see them! She just graduated from Anesthesiology school and got married last fall as well. Her and Rick dominated the shuffleboard table on a fun night out!

It has become a Memorial Day tradition to pack up the car and to head to Pelican Lake, Wisconsin. In tradition, we did just that! Stewie says "please don't ever go without me!" He even brought his sunglasses in anticipation of the beautiful warm weather.

We spent the weekend "opening" the lake house up, putting the pier in the unusually low water, planting flowers, eating and drinking, hot tubbin, watching the Blackhawks and maxin and relaxin in the North Woods. We even got to Bootleggers for their famous Long Islands and then Tattle Tales to see Tyler's band. I would like to note that Rick Klima and I won 2 of our 3 shuffleboard matches! The rest of the time was spent playing around in the water. It was a great long weekend getaway!

XO,

EAT

With a roof right over our heads

I happen to be listening to reggae right now and I adore Bob Marley's "Is this Love." In this song Marley sings "We'll be together, with a roof right over our head" and I realized 3 years ago today Rick and I bought our first roof! Ok we bought much more than a roof we bought what we have called home for 3 years now. How?! I say that time flies as it always does but I look back at 3 years and realize we have accomplished a lot with our little 3 bedroom ranch.

Some of the mega milestones include: putting up 290 feet of fence, redoing the plumbing and water filtration system, trenching the sump pump to the front of the house, taming the jungle of gardens, adding a bathroom and remodeling the bathrooms (robin egg blue is but a distant memory) oh AND raising the floor, knocking down a wall, moving a door and installing hardwood floors.

The projects continue to roll around but it is amazing to look back and enjoy our hardwork. I remember seeing the house for the first time and I certainly remember the ups and downs that come along with buying a home. I also recall quite vividly the selling realtor sliding the keys and garage door opener across the wood table. The fence quotes, the Sir-Moss-Alot green walls, brushing our teeth in the kitchen sink, the crashing of the brick fireplace, the kitchen moved to the garage and basement...it is all fun to look back on. We feel we have truly made a house a home in 3 short years! Knowing my husband...this is only the beginning :)

XO,
EAT

Horsin around

Rick and I had the opportunity to spend last Saturday at Arlington Park, a horse racing track in his hometown of Arlington Heights, IL. I knew I would not be disappointed when our friends Lauren, Shaun and Harry invited us to join them for the day! I grew up with horses around and rarely have the chance to see these majestic creatures anymore.

This day was home to the 12 races taking place at Arlington and then the grand daddy of all horse races - the 136th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. I had never watched a live horse race let alone place bets on them. I read an article that $112.7 million was wagered on this year's Derby. That is an insane amount of money for a race that lasts just second over 2 minutes! The betting system even went down at Arlington and Churchill...that didn't go over well with some of the high-rollers.

Our $2 bets were fun to throw in as the day progressed but the few winnings we did have were converted into new bets. We should have learned from Harry and cashed out when we were up! We decided to make our own bets within the group and whoever picked the winning horse had to gallop like a pony to the fence. Shaun won first followed by a victory gallop by Rick and I both!

Assume your positions!

Arlington was a great place to watch horses and people alike. We saw some wild hats and even snuck our way to the elite section of the park (ooops!). Rick tasted his first Mint Julep (Bourbon and Mint do NOT belong together!). Super Saver sloshed his way to a Derby victory. On his back was Calvin Borel who won his 3rd Derby in 4 years. I hope he gave that pony lots of carrots in the winner circle!

XO,
EAT

Back to School

Summer is almost here but Rick, Cara, Dan and I decided to go back to school last weekend...Sandy's school that is! Sandy graduates in May so we thought it would be fun to visit her at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee before she transitions to the real world. The eating highlight of our trip took place at The Comet Cafe just blocks from Sandy and her roomie Ali's apartment. Dan saw Comet Cafe on Diners Drive-Ins and Dives and determined this was a must try for the trip to Milwaukee. This diner certainly did not disappoint! Some of the favorite menu items include: carmelized onion with almond soup, meatloaf with beer gravy and battered balls of turkey and mashed taters! We proceeded to a campus tour and then prepared for a pub-crawl courtesy of Ali's Mortar Board Club. We learned at each bar why this Wisconsin hub earns the name Brew City. Thanks to Sandy and Ali for allowing us to tag along, take over your living space and for showing us that we can still play with the college kids (sorta) !


It just so happened we could continue to act like kids on Sunday. The next day was CDW Coworker Appreciation Day at 6 Flags Great America! The company takes over the amusement park, opens all the rides and feeds us a picnic-style lunch. This is an annual event and definitely a "perk at work." I have waited over 1 hour to ride the Superman and on this day the wait was a mere 15 minutes (if that). Cara, Dan, Christine and Rae joined us this year for a sunny but cool spring day at the park. We realized that even though we can hang with the college kids on Saturday, our bodies might be a little more susceptible to the intensity of the rollercoasters. Rick knows each ride so well and preps us for where you want to be positioned on each coaster. He also got his thrill fill on the King Chaos which looks like it might be illegal for the way it thrashes the riders around! Raging Bull in the back still rules!!

XO,

EAT

Summer...er, Spring!

We are experiencing the second day of highs in the 80's today! Date check? April 15, 2010...tax day. Location? Our back yard...AKA The Jungle. Playing in our backyard leads us to believe the previous owners loved two things...gardening and birds. We also know she was retired and took up much of her free time filling in gaps in the garden or heck, why not throw some tulips in the middle of the yard? I will be posting photos as our jungle garden takes shape but for now we have 2 trees in full bloom. The Magnolia is situated right off the back deck and in it's shadow there is the Cherry tree. The Magnolia puts off the sweetest scent that lets us know Spring is here. The Cherry is a pleasant surprise as we have picked many of cherries but had yet to see it bloom.

The Magnolia at night

And the fruiting Cherry tree

The 80 degree days might just be an April tease but we are sure enjoying the fresh, warm air. We look forward to our ongoing battle with creeping charlie (ick!), planting veggies, arranging pots, setting up the water garden and making the Jungle our own!

XO

EAT

Noises of the night

This morning we woke up saying "did last night really happen?" The past few nights have allowed us to sleep with the windows cracked with warm days and perfectly cool nights. It was about midnight when we were awoken by the loud, high pitch, fight for your life series of squealing. I initially thought the noise was in the house but we layed still trying to determine where it was coming from. I should preface this with stating we had a hard time getting Stewie to come back in the house before bed due to action in the back yard. Back to midnight, we pulled up the blinds and saw large tailed figures moving up and down the huge elm (we think it is an elm?) tree behind our house. Rick turned on the flood light that shines over the entire back yard and the squeals did not cease. I can't accurately explain the noises but it was either a fight, mating call or young ones crying for their mother....loud!! The squeaks must not have been on Stewie's frequency because he did not stir much through the 20 minute sound show. We did some You Tube research and determined this was indeed a family of raccoons! We have no problem sharing our back yard with wildlife (except rabbits in the garden and skunks ANYWHERE) but they need to know Stewie might just not be so welcoming!

EAT