Oh. Em. Geeee.

I want this in my belly. Right. This. Second. 

Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookies

I can't wait to try this recipe!

Goodbye 200 N Dearborn

May 2010

We're closing a chapter of the past year of our lives. This weekend we will move out of our high-rise downtown Chicago apartment. With this move comes lots of excitement and {I've recently noticed} lots of bittersweet moments. I didn't think I was attached to this 850 sqft piece of property we've called home over the last 12 months, but somehow it sneaked right in and stole a little piece of my heart. Here are a few things I will miss about dear ol' 200 N Dearborn:

- Our sweet doormen. Bryant, Danny and Tim have become some of our favorite Chicagoans. I will miss Bryant saying "Hey Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Wilson" in the Dennis the Menace voice when I have a package waiting for me {please note that he is about 6'2 ish and over 200 lbs}. I will miss Matt giving 86 year old Danny a fist bump in the mornings and Danny's sweet kisses on the cheek {for me, not Matt}. And I will miss Tim and his sports talk and keeping us up to date with the building gossip! If I could afford to pay their salaries, I would take them with me to be my own personal doormen at the new place.

- I will miss having 20 washers/dryers to do all of my laundry in less than 2 hours. This was my biggest complaint in the beginning. I HAD to have a washer/dryer in my apartment. It was one of my "sacrifices" when we signed the lease. Now, I'm used to it and I'm going to have to go back to doing one load at a time.

-  I will miss our incredible views from the 42 floor. Being able to see the lake and the sailboats just puts me in a good mood. :)

 

Things I will not miss about the #4203:
- Chilly morning showers for no apparent reason. That just started the last couple of months - very random, but uncool none the less.

- Waiting for, what feels like forever, an elevator when I'm already running late.

- Sweating in my sleep because I can't control the AC when we get random warm days/weeks between Sept-May.

- The fighting crazy couple across the hall - who have either broken up or are at peace lately, thank goodness. And...lately our other neighbor's ADORABLE little girl that screams every word she says. She's about 3-4 and the cutest little girl, but. she. is. loud. Wow. Ok, so I will miss her! Just not on Saturday mornings...

- I won't miss going from the 42 to the 7 floor to get my laundry. OR what's worse, to go get the laundry room and find out that the dryer you picked is on the fritz and didn't dry your clothes! Grrr. Not cool.  

So, goodbye 200 N Dearborn. You've been good to us. We'll miss you, but it's time to go! :)

Daddy's Girl!

Happy Father's Day to the first man I ever loved! 

He's such an amazing man and really set the bar high for Matt. :) And I hope that if we have a little girl, she and Matt will have as special of a bond as I have with my Daddy. You just can't explain it. Love him so so much!

Random Thoughts...

- I'm not sure it will ever warm up for longer than 2 days in Chicago, so I caught myself thinking about Fall this evening. Chicago jipped me out of my first favorite season, Spring, so I guess I'll just enjoy my second favorite season a whole lot this year!

- Work has been a little crazy lately (deadlines quickly approaching June 30) so I had dreams about work last night. I woke up feeling like part of my weekend had been hijacked by work. Do I get overtime for this?! ;)

- I took a little break from running post-race, partially due to all the gloomy weather lately. This morning was clear and sunny so I went out for a run. Holy smokes, it was a doosie.

- Kickball is like a flashback to 5th grade PE. Matt's office has a co-ed kickball team and they needed some extra girls. I was a little freaked that I would hate it, BUT it was a blast and I scored a run. Bonus.

- A Home Goods opened up a few blocks from our current apartment. So excited! But...a little bummed that it's not super convenient to our new apartment.

- On a related note, I'm getting the itch for DIY projects and searching for thrifty finds. I go through phases...if only my sewing machine wasn't on the fritz {read: broken}. Might just have to work a new one into the budget. :)

- The smallest compliments can go a long way. Both with those you love and complete strangers. Try it. It's fun to make someone's day! And I love it when someone makes mine!

-And, my last random thought. I will leave you with this...I'm a little crushed that Matt neglected to tell me about his "allergies" when it comes to cats during our premarital counseling. {I'm not sure I buy it}

My parents' little loves at the office/shop...love 'em or hate 'em, you have to think these two are adorable! Or something is wrong with you. To all my dog crazed friends, I hear you, dogs are cool & I love them - but cats are pretty darn sweet too. You can like both, I promise! Think I can sneak one in the apartment without Matt noticing?! Let's try it! :)

If only...

this was my receipt when I went to get cash at the ATM...

We stopped to get cash the other day, and this receipt was left behind. Um...excuse me, what?! I think I could have a lot of fun and barely make a dent in a balance like that! :)

Reunion Weekend!

The weekend of my race, our friends James and Joanna came to visit! Although the weather wasn't super cooperative, we still managed to have a great time! We could have a blast even in the worst circumstances though. Here are a couple of highlights from our weekend. :)

Headed to dinner the first night they were here. I'm glad they packed their jackets! 

We went out for delicious Italian. Gotta carb load for the race! j/k I just really like Italian. :)

 The best way to recover after a race? Head over to the ballpark, kick your feet up and relax! Cubbies lost miserably, of course. :) 

 How do Jo & I put up with these two?! I guess we'll keep them, they're pretty fun boys.

If you know me at all, you know I'm a sucker for a good margarita! Jo is a girl after my own heart! We love margs and Mexican food! ;)

First Race Completed!!!

A couple of weeks ago, I finished my first race! I ran in the Soldier Field 10 Mile run and had so much fun! I ran by myself, but there were 14,999 other runners and it was so great to be a part of such a fun event. I had been training for a couple of months and besides the race day jitters, I felt pretty prepared!

Approaching the finish line with a time of 1 hour 32 minutes! I finished 528 out of 1700 other ladies in my age group. I'll take it! They were playing the Bears Fight Song "Bear Down, Chicago Bears" as we ran through the tunnel out onto the field. Really cool! My friend said I looked like I was doing a "Praise the Lord" move - haha! While I am thankful I was able to finish the race, I was just being vain and trying to spot myself on the JumboTron! Now... the lady on the far left of the picture is definitely praising the Lord! :)

 

For whatever reason, I felt it was necessary and appropriate to do the Heisman stance! 

 Matt and I - post race! Because I had never participated in anything like this, I really didn't know how to plan to meet up afterwards. Thank goodness for cell phones or we would've never found each other!

My cheering section!!! Matt, Jo, and James. We have a picture of the 4 of us after James finished the OKC Marathon. Hopefully Jo will be running with me next year and we can continue the tradition. I'm not holding my breath that Matt will be running with us any time soon. Not his thing. :)