Chicago Spontainiety

I know everyone has been waiting for this post; so here it is.

On August 10th I went to a Red Sox v. Twins game with Katy, Paul, Lance, Nick & Becca. I was off the next weekend and saw that both the White Sox and Cubs had home games. The Cubbies were in action at 3:10pm and the White Sox were playing at 6:10pm so I said to Paul and Lance as we were waking out about how fun it'd be to go to Chicago and hit two Twins games.

Well, I didn't put my plan in action with Lance and Paul soon enough but Katy and I still wanted to go and worked it out to hang out with Eric, Emily, Ella and Edie for a day and a half.

We got up bright and early Saturday morning, before the sun, and got to Chicago about 12:30pm. And our 19 and 1/2 hour day began but it was well worth it!

We arrived when E4 was running an errand and I heard Ella was pretty excited to see me so I ran down the stairs and picked her up! I believe she promptly went to doing flips and asking me to throw her up in the air.

After arriving Eric, Katy and I went to Cemitas Puebla where I ordered a Carne Asada cemitas. It's a delicious sandwich; sesame seed bread layered with avocado, steak, adobo chipotle peppers and fresh oaxacan cheese. I belive Eric ordered the same thing and Katy ordered a chicken burrito. (However, ask her how that ended up.) I found it delicious again and could eat that for lunch every day. It fits into my "sandwich" requirement for lunch.

Once it stopped raining and cleared up Emily, Katy and I hit North Ave and went to the store on North Ave that I've been waiting to go to for a while. Since they have like 3-4 different locations on the street I found their website and saw they had a great selection of goods. Well...I got in there and was glad I stopped! Akira had a number of great pieces I would have loved to buy. But I only tried a couple on and wished I could find them closer to home.

This was a look I liked and Em wanted to show Eric.

























Anyhow, the bright sun came out on North Ave and we went to the women's Akira before hitting J. Crew, Gap, Banana Republic and the Starbucks before heading back to the girls after their nap.

We went to see the house they just bought to which Katy and I thought it was in a great place. We can't wait to come and visit; or help tear something down!

We then stopped at the park near their house and enjoyed some time on the swings and playground. Ella even ran through the water fountain.

After the park it was time for a little snooze on the couch before we went to Via Carducci for some Italian food. I ordered the nightly special of lobster ravioli! But it was good eating all around.


















































Ok, so we may have been tired but kept on trucking. Emily needed to get beignets at Grand Lux Cafe! Oh man were they delicious. It was made of deep fried dough with confectioners sugar on top. It's kind of a cross between a doughnut and a biscuit. Light, flaky, buttery and ultimately one of the best desserts I've ever had! Thanks for taking us Emily! It came with three dipping sauces, a Jack Daniels type sauce, a raspberry sauce and a dark chocolate sauce. By the time we got out of traffic in Chicago it was about midnight and Katy and I had been up all day!

Sunday morning we gave Eric his birthday presents-a load of World Series DVD's and a couple of woven's.

Then we hit Flo for breakfast, yet again, more delicious food. We chatted about the floor plans and the demo they'll have to do when they move. It seems like it'll be quite the task but I think it will be worth it judging by the pictures of their place.

Ultimately the weekend was a whirlwind but I'd do it again to spend some time with E4. Thanks for having us!

I'll do my best to update this soon so watch for more. Katy's iPhone has some good video of me and Ella playing games on Saturday afternoon.

U2

I went to U2 with Katy, Paul, Nick & Becca, Josh & Laura and Laura's sister, Christen. Bob & Deb were also there but in a different section.

I still haven't been to many concerts in my life but this one was phenomenal. U2 played for about 2 hours and 15 minutes, well worth my two $65 tickets. In fact, why didn't we pay more and sit closer?

Sperry Top Sider

Thank you Emily and Megan!

Katy's Sperry's look great and she'll wear them until mid-October.

High Fashion or Exchange Size?

I got a great deal from Tommy Hilfiger a couple of weeks ago. $27 dollars for 100% wool dress pants originally ticketed at $128. I got them when I got home from work and threw them right on!

Here's how they fit. Should I keep them and use them as high fashion or try and exchange them?














































Now, I think about keeping them because of the influence of Thom Browne, who designs for Brooks Brothers, and himself. He's been a huge influence on jackets, blazers and pants being a whole lot shorter than most of America is used to.

Tree/Bush Down!

Last Sunday Katy, Paul and Nick helped me take down the bush/tree and trim the one closest to the house and the sidewalk.












































































This was the view on June 13, 2011 when Dad and I first started the job.



















This is our new ladder with contributions from Eric & Emily, Bob & Deb. It'll get some painting done on the outside of the house soon.

E4 July 2011

Em and Eric were cool enough to drive through early Tuesday and hang out with me for a visit.

We met at Grandma's and visited with her for a little bit before we got Ellie and Edie down for some rest. Emily whisked me to Target and Herb's for some deals.

When we got back I thought it'd be fun to have them go paddle boating at Lake Como but the heat index of 110-ish closed those plans. We walked out on the dock where Edie slapped at Eric's face and knocked his glasses right off. I remember hearing "My glasses! Edie knocked my glasses into the lake!" I turned saw them sinking as Emily shouted "You're going to have to go in and get them!" Well, as you can see from Em's post, Eric jumped in and was in for a long time. Eventually we went to Target to get a net, thinking that would help. Too bad it didn't.

But we came back and cooked up some hamburgers, barbeque chicken, asparagus, salad and more! It was delicious.

We were still able to have some fun with the hose in the backyard as Ellie and I jumped in our bathing suits, Ellie's more natural, to cool down.

It was really fun to hang with Eric, Em, Ella and Edie. Thanks for stopping guys!

De-humidifying

Mom and Dad,

The dehumidifier is getting some good use in!

The New Kitchen Color Is....?

White!

Katy couldn't decide on a blue that fit the room so she cleaned it up with white; once again I had nothing to do with it because she does most home projects when I'm at work. But the room is very bright; growing up in the Dischinger house you know I like alot of light and brightness, and there was plenty of it on Shuttle Meadow Avenue.






















































She also got some spray paint and spray painted some of our heat and AC vents.