Lina turns 1!!

This past Saturday, our backyard was transformed into birthday central in honor of Miss Lina Teresa's first birthday.

There were friends...

[how cute is eli?]

There was a curious brother...


There were gifts...

[she loved her water table and wagon]

There was a doting Tio Heath...



And there was cake!

[don't you want a chocolate-y kiss right now?]

How lucky are we...

...to have these two living downstairs?


As far as godkids go, it doesn't get much cuter.

Happy Birthday, Dena!

This past weekend, we celebrated the life of our wonderful friend, Dena, who turned 30.

She was able to secure a lovely home in the woods of Michigan City, IN. It was an architectural feat that made for a fantastic party-space. It was great to spend time with her and other friends.

Note: All photos courtesy of the wonderful LBA. We forgot our camera!!

[the house]

[the birthday girl]


[the people]

Aunt Renee's Visit

Aunt Renee has, by far, been one of our most consistent visitors since we moved to Chicago. Her Memorial Day visit has become a tradition of sorts and, starting last year, Adrienne comes with. You can see last year's post here.

This year, we started the trip by seeing "The Good Negro" at the Goodman Theater. You can read the full synopsis here, but in a nutshell, it was a wonderfully acted play that looks at some of the complexity behind the Civil Rights Movement.




From there, we walked back to the hotel to change and have a drink at the bar before walking over to Spiaggia (the Obama's favorite restaurant), for dinner. Yes, this was a repeat from the '09 visit—but it was worth it. Aunt Renee's veal chop (see below) was a culinary feat.

[I look a little loopy in this picture, but I swear, I wasn't tipsy]

The next afternoon, we met up at Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs lose to the St. Louis Cardinals. In spite of the 9-1 loss, we had really great seats and Adrienne, an Albert Pujols fan, was just happy to see him hit a home run.

After the game, we had lunch at Piece (a great pizza joint), and then took a driving tour of the area around Northwestern. We parked in order to walk around the campus itself and, more importantly, to put our feet in the sand lakeside.


After a shopping extravaganza on Monday morning, the ladies came down to our new house to check things out and enjoy a wonderful dinner Heath prepared. Lots of wine, lots of laughs and all in all, a perfect end to a great visit.

KS Cousin in IL

We're definitely a bit behind in updating, but there is lots to talk about!

A couple weekends back, one of Heath's cousins from Kansas, Sterling, came to spend a long weekend with us. It was a definite full urban immersion experience which included culture, food and general merry-making.

CULINARY EXPLORATION

Chinese

Indian

Deep Dish

Huck Finn's
[the best diner in Brighton Park]

CHI-TOWN ADVENTURES

In addition to a stop at Second City (not pictured), we had an awesome day rolling around downtown and Millennium Park with the full Carter fam...











...as well as an afternoon spent kayaking the Chicago river...




...and even taking in a Chicago Slaughter arena football game.




Heath was exhausted after the fact, but it was a fantastic trip.