Jess & Melinda's Visit

When we sat down to think about it, Jess and I figured out that the last time we'd seen each other was January of 2008 when I was in Boston for a dental conference. Too long, friends, too long.

What originally was supposed to be a pit stop for a wedding turned into a full girls weekend, with Jess' mom, Melinda, along for the fun.

[this picture has nothing to do with the narrative — I just love it]


Jess and Melinda arrived on a Wednesday afternoon. Heath picked them up and, after grabbing some coffee, brought them over to my office so they could check out the digs and meet some co-workers. That night, we went to Art Pizza Cafe which, for those in the know, has some of the best (and garlic-y) bruschetta in the city of Chicago.


Since I had to work Thursday and Friday, Jess and Melinda made the most of our fair city, spending one day downtown and the next day exploring the Lincolns (Lincoln Square and Lincoln Park).


Thursday night was, of course, Heath's birthday extravaganza at Moody's, which worked out well because they got to meet a lot of our Chicago friends. Friday, we enjoyed the flavorful and fantastic Opart Thai.



Saturday was our day about town. After breakfast we went up to 10,000 Villages in Evanston so the ladies could explore their one-of-a-kind merchandise. We then went on a driving tour of the neighborhoods that Heath and I have been scouting for future homes. We made our way back downtown to pick up our gear for Sunday's race (more info in a bit) and then traipsed over to Navy Pier. We had some wings at Riva on the pier and then went up the stairs to the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, the current home to "Rod Blagojevich Superstar," a Second City musical. It was a humorous take on our corrupt former governor and his crew, followed by a wonderful improv set, as usual.





Sunday morning, Jess and I got up early and headed over to Montrose Harbor for Fleet Feet's Women's 5 and 10K — we were running the 5. It was a nice, cool morning and we had a great time running along the lakeshore. It was neat to be able to do something like that together.



After showers, we all went to M.Henry in Andersonville for some "brunch as an art form" goodies. A little streetside shopping at the Lincoln Square block party and then we were off to the airport.

So great to have you guys in the city, even for a little while!

Heath Turns 28!

Rather than host a major soireé at the house, this year we celebrated Heath's birthday in the totally fantastic beer garden at Moody's pub on the northside. It was a warm night and the onion rings were, as usual, to die for. Pitchers were cheap as well, which — for a large group — is essential.

Best of all, we were surrounded by friends.

[not a ton of pics, but you get the drift...]

Congrats, Joe & Nadia

The pictures are a little late, but last weekend we traveled to Canada to watch my cousin, Joe, marry his long-time girlfriend, Nadia. They were a stunning couple — the few blurry pictures here certainly don't do them justice.

We drove up to Crystal Beach on Friday and spent the evening with Marty and his parents. After walking along the water Marty made a fantastic dinner and we settled in for some good conversation with John and Pat, his parents. It was just as this conversation was winding down that I realized I have made the first major packing disaster of our marriage. I'm a very meticulous packer, which is why I usually pack for both Heath and I. As a testament to the fact that I may be losing my mind, I packed heath several shirt and tie options, remembered his belt, shoes, black socks and several changes of clothes. The only thing I forgot? The suit itself!

Marty and John volunteered a couple of suits on hand, but they were either too short (think capris) or too big (think Ronald McDonald)...wasn't happening. I, of course, was mortified. Heath earned major husband brownie points by handling it quite well.

Our solution? We went to The Bay, a popular Canadian department store, and bought him a handsome suit first thing in the morning. We made it to the church just as my dad, aunt, sister and grandmother were parking. Thank goodness!

It was a beautiful ceremony. Afterwards, we headed to the Tolomeo house for some light refreshments and food before heading back to the hotel to change for the reception.

[the ceremony]




[drinks and snacks]








The reception was amazing. A real feat of Italian hospitality. In addition to a generous open bar, six-course dinner and dessert/pizza buffet rolled out around 11, music included both a band and a DJ as well as these fantastic party favors which are hard to describe here, but trust me...they were great.

It was wonderful to see all 310 guests get up to dance and celebrate with Joe and Nadia — even grandma couldn't stop dancing.









For those of you wondering, "What happened with the suit?" ... we returned it the next day after a lovely breakfast at Starbucks with my aunt. It was the perfect rent-a-suit.

On the way home, we stopped in Fremont to meet all of Susan's brothers who were at the lake for a family reunion. It was a wonderful opportunity to fill in some of the family puzzle pieces and enjoy at least a couple relaxing hours at the lake.

It was an awesome weekend! Big thanks go out to Megan for watching Violet while we were gone.

Anniversary Picnic

This year our anniversary celebration is pretty spaced out. Technically, the trip to Paris was an early gift just as seeing John Legend in concert in a couple weeks will be a late gift. What to do in the interim?

A fancy dinner seemed like a little much since 4th of July weekend is always a little busy to begin with. And, while I'm always looking for a reason to get dolled up, after a gorgeous, sunny afternoon spent at the pool, it seemed to both of us that flip flops were the order of the day and our dinner plans should follow suit.

With that in mind, we settled on a picnic. When our first carry-out option, Fogo 2 Go, didn't work out, Heath foraged the wilds of Whole Foods to put together a perfect light dinner. With Violet in tow, we set up our blanket in the park next to beaches at Wilson Ave. and brought out the spread: fresh guacamole and chips, crab & artichoke dip with flatbread, strawberries, pineapple, a cous cous salad and—of course—chocolate chip cookies.









Violet was thrilled with our choice of venue since A) it means she got to come with and B) it's right near the dog beach. After packing up our picnic and dropping things off in the car, we walked her back down to the water and allowed her to do her thing with her fellow canines.

She spent a good amount of time perfecting her doggie paddle and fetching — major improvements for her! By the time she was done we were all wet, sandy and happy.

A perfect end to our anniversary weekend.

[this is really Violet in the water]

4 years...

July 2nd was the official day, but it's never too late to say how glad I am to be married to my very best friend.

Two cutest babies in Chicago

Last night we had a surprise impromptu celebration with Aaron in honor of his ordination this weekend. Congrats, Aaron!

It was also a great excuse to spend quality time with Lina and Elijah. What a treat!

Herb Offender

One of Heath's summer projects is to grow various herbs in shared backyard of our condo meeting. He asked the condo association if he could put some planters out in the common space since our deck doesn't get a ton of light. They agreed.

Things were going very well. Heath was growing oregano, dill, cilantro, basil and chives. Dill and cilantro were doing best, as you can see here:




One recent morning Heath went out to water his precious plants and, much to his dismay, he found them trampled with a cigarette butt in one of the planters. Can you believe it? He had to pull up the plants, which is a bummer since it means starting over.

I'm glad we got to enjoy the cilantro at least once (in this yummy green enchilada recipe) before the garden vandalism.