Crumbled

Cupcakes.  How I love them.  I once thought of a brilliant idea of starting a Chicago cupcake tour, but low and behold, one already exists.  I've been to just about every cupcake shop in Chicago, and that's a lot.  I do have my favorite places (Sprinkles & Sugarbliss), but when I new shop opens up, I'm willing to venture outside my comfort zone and take a risk.

I was really excited to hear that there would be a Crumbs Bake Shop opening up nearby.  I've heard lots of great things about these colossal cupcakes and couldn't wait to give it try.  When I got to the shop, there was a line.  I debated on whether or not I should be the crazy girl who waits in line for cupcakes, and decided that if I can wait in line for Garrett's popcorn {during Christmas season when it used to be right on Michigan Ave} I could wait 10 minutes in line for a cupcake.      

I got in and was faced with more options than what I'm used to.  How was I going to make a decision? I knew right away that for hubs, I would get him a mint patty cupcake.

And after careful consideration, I rolled with the chocolate/peanut cupcake.  Chocolate/peanut butter is probably my most favorite combination of any two foods ever {Behind cheese & wine of course}.  So naturally, I had very high expectations for this cupcake.  I couldn't wait to bite into this piece of heaven after dinner {and a workout of course}.

 Meh.  This cupcake failed to deliver.  The cake part of the cupcake was VERY good! It was very moist and it was the right amount of chocolate (not too rich).  The frosting on the other hand was a huge problem.  I'm not a very picky eater.  But when it comes to frosting, just call me Goldilocks, because it has to be just right.  Not too sweet & sugary and yet not too buttery or bland.  My all time favorite frosting is cream cheese frosting.  Crumbs bake shop frosting not only kept me awake all night because of the amounts of sugar, but also because the stomach ache I got just after a few bites of it.  And the frosting tasted nothing like a peanut butter frosting.  Hubs didn't really care for his either, which is surprising because the man loves him mint chocolate.

Maybe it was a bad batch?  Or maybe I just make bad choices when under pressure.  I'm willing to give Crumbs another try in the future only because they had many other delicious looking options to choose from.  But for this week, I'm pretty maxed out on my sugar intake.          

No Shower Power Hour

Happy Friday friends!  Last night I ended my very active day (5 mile run & 2 mile walk) with a much needed yoga session sponsored by the wonderful peeps at Lululemon & led by Jen Enders from Yoga Now.  

Every Thursday in the summer, Lululemon sponsors a yoga event at Oak Street beach called, "No Shower Power Hour".  Yoga on the beach?! I'm there!  I've been to various yoga events sponsored by lulu (here & here), and they never dissapoint.  My favorite one is still Vino and Vinyasa at the W Hotel.  

Pros of "No Shower Power Hour"  
-It's free!
-Sponsored by a great company
-get you outside to enjoy the summer before it's gone
-it's on a beach; the crashing waves definitely help with relaxation
-taught by awesome instructors

Cons
-lack of knowlege from the Oak Street beach staff. I got there early & they told us it was canceled.  I called lululemon just to make sure.  It wasn't.
-limited mats.  Luckily I got there early enough to get one, but I will make sure to bring my own next week, just in case.
-the instructor was hard to hear.  Because it was outside and they had other events going on, it was hard to listen to what Jen was telling us.  But I made it work.

Overall it was a good yoga class and just what these tight hips & calves needed.  Jen was a really great teacher and I will be taking a class at Yoga Now in the near future.  After yoga, my friend and I ate dinner at Oak Street Beach.  I ordered the fish tacos and was not impressed.  They were okay, but I've had better.  The fish was chopped up like tuna and they were kind of bland.  

Today I have a date with the bar, I'm working on making the whole name change thing official other than on facebook :-) and I'm going to get my hair cut!!!!!!!! I've lived in Chicago for 3 years and have never had my hair cut here.  I usually go to my stylist in Milwaukee whenever I go back for a visit (she's been working on this mane since high school), so I'm definitely branching out of my comfort zone and I'm a wee bit nervous :-/  Wish me luck!

Sprinkles for Everyone

Well, I survived my minor medical procedure today.  The  worst part of the whole thing was the numbing shot...and the fact that it's starting to ware off right now.  They're going to send it to pathology & I'll get the results next week.  Both of my doctors don't think it's anything serious, just want to double check though.

After my appointment, LC and I grabbed some lunch at the Cheesecake factory.  We snacked on my favorite appetizer...Avocado egg rolls!! YUMMM!!!

 For my meal I ordered the *lunch* portion of the BBQ chicken salad, minus the fried onion strings.  I couldn't believe this was the lunch size because it was HUGE!!! I didn't even eat 1/2 of it. 

After our lunch at Cheesecake Factory, we decided to take a walk over to Sprinkles :-) LC had never been there, so I wanted to take him for his first ever experience.  He ate a red velvet (which is one of their most popular flavors) and I had a lemon cupcake.  We also decided to bring one home for our little guy.  That's right, Sprinkles sells cupcakes for dogs.

He wasn't sure of it at first, but he ended up loving it so much that he wanted to eat the wrapper!!  Now we're sitting on the couch with full tummies catching up on Giuliana & Bill and the Real Housewives.  Not too bad for a Monday :-) 

Who's The Toughest of Them All?

Happy Friday! The weekend is finally here :-) LC & will be heading back to WI tomorrow for a fun-filled (for me anyway) Saturday & Sunday.

Back in December when LC was deployed, he sent me an e-mail with the subject line, "I found something fun for us to do!" I was immediately excited and thought it was a fun, tropical vacation to take (even though we had a wedding to pay for, wishful thinking). I opened up the e-mail and saw this video below:


This looks 10 times worse that basic training.  I responded back with, "What part of this looks fun for me?" He said that because I had run two 1/2 marathons last year, he thought that I'd be interested in doing this with him. I love you dear, but no thanks. So LC found some fellow Security Forces members to participate in the race with him and tomorrow morning we're driving up to Devil's Head WI so that he can do just that.  Tough Mudder is a very intense 10-12 mile obstacle course that was designed by the British Special Forces.  There's not a time goal, but just to finish the race is an accomplishment on its own.  On average, about 78% of participants actually complete the course.  I believe there's a tattoo & mohawk for the finisher, which LC will NOT be getting.  He also had to sign a death waiver for this race, that's how intense it is.  I'm hoping that the weather in WI tomorrow will be less hot and humid than it's been here in Chicago.  The money raised by the event goes to a wonderful cause, the Wounded Warrior Project. 

After the race, we'll be headed back to a town close to my parents house because LC has to go to a Yellow Ribbon conference on Sunday.  The conference is for those who have been deployed for a certain amount of time and it's about reintegrating back into society...even though he's been home since February, he still has to go.  I on the other hand will be spending the day on my parents boat (weather pending).  It seems like every time I go out on the lake with them, the clouds decide to come out.  I'm bad "boat luck", but we're going to take our chances anyhow.

Tonight, I have scheduled a 3 mile run & some yoga.  The yoga will for sure be happening because my hips are extremely sore from Bar Method & it's been forever since I've practiced it, but the 3 mile run might turn into something a little bit shorter or some elliptical action. 

Today's eats have been pretty good :-) I'm getting back on the "healthy/whole eating" track after our wonderful honeymoon.  I started my day off with a cup of iced coffee & 1/2 cup of almond milk along side a peach & a hard boiled egg.  My breakfasts haven't been anything great lately.  For some reason lately I don't have much of an appetite in the mornings and I can just get by with a smoothie or piece of fruit & something small.  For lunch today I tried a new place, Freshii.  They have a TON of options, including a DIY salad/wrap.  It took awhile to decide what I wanted, but I went with the vegan wrap w/goat cheese.  My wrap came undone, so I mostly just ate it as a salad and picked at the wheat tortilla.  It was very, very good!  

Have a good weekend!!! I'll be back at some point with a recap of LC's tough mudder race! What's the most extreme race/workout you've ever done? For me, the toughest race was my first 1/2 marathon in Chicago last August.  I was undertrained and way overheated!

Mar's Bachelorette Party-Take 2

I was going to post about running (but that can wait until tomorrow).  Some people were requesting more deets about my bachelorette party :-) Apparently I wasn't very descriptive in the last post. Oops!  The whole weekend was a blast.  That Friday, my sister, cousin and mom came down to Chicago early.  They wanted to spend some time with me before the craziness commenced on Saturday.

We had a pretty low key night.  We went to one my favorite restaurants, Cafe Ba Ba Reeba.  I love everything about this place.  Their food is spectacular, The wine is to die for, and their patio makes you feel like you're in eating in Spain.  They also have a gluten-free menu and their waitstaff is very knowledgable about gluten allergies (my mom has a gluten allergy). Always a plus! We shared a few tapas between the table and then my sister, cousin and I split two servings of the chicken, artichoke & spinach paella.  That was my first time ever having paella and I will definitely be making/having it again.  Sooo good!

On Saturday, I had big plans to take my sister & cousin to a Bar Method workout class, but we found other things to do instead.  Mostly, because my sister didn't want to have to pay $20 to go to a workout class. So, we just went running instead.  After our run, we spent the rest of the afternoon soaking up the sun and eating lunch.  

Around 5pm my MKE (Milwaukee) girls finally arrived in Chicago!  What I loved most about my bachelorette party was that this was the only time since I've moved here (3 years ago) that ALL of my friends were able to visit at the same time.  That made it that much better.  

My sister did a fantastical job as always.  For this being her first time as a bridesmaid, much less a MOH, she has been nothing but wonderful during this whole process.  My apartment building has a party room, so we rented that out instead of messing up my actual apartment.  We played two games.  One being the underwear game.  Which I had an awful start to.  It was a lot harder than I thought!! I ended up taking two shots during the duration of this game for my wrong guesses.  The gist of the game is you have to guess who brought what pair of underwear based on which pair best describes that person.  My friend Hollie got my cupcake underwear because I know she likes cupcakes.  Hers was the only one that I got on the first try :-)

   

After the undies game, we had some drinks, opened some gifts & ate some pizza.  After the gifts we played another game.  I'm not really sure if that one had a name.  My sister passed around a bowl of reeces peanut butter cups and instructed everyone to take as many as the want.  Once every chose their pieces, they had to go around and tell things about me depending on how many pieces they chose.  I'm not going to lie, I was a little nervous for that game!  But the stories weren't too bad and some even took me down memory lane :-)

After the game, we consumed more drinks, took more pictures, and boarded the trolley.  The trolley was probably the funnest thing about the night.  It got pretty wild :-)  Our driver took us all around Chicago and I LOVED every minute of it.  First he started off by taking us near the planetarium and gave all of my OOT friends the best view of Chicago at night. From here, you could see the whole skyline.  It was beautiful & I wish I would've brought my camera! It takes excellent night pics.   

After the planetarium, we drove past Buckingham fountain for another photo op.  Our next stop was the Kit Kat Lounge in Boystown.  On our way there, we drove through the Cold Coast & the "Viagra Triangle", a place in the Chicago where all the old men with money hang out trying to pick up us young chicks ;-) Everyone loved the trolley & us girls.  We even had a boy in Boystown give us a little peep show!

The Kit Kat lounge was pretty outrageous.  I'm pretty sure I was laughing the whole time I was there.  

We sipped on martinis....

snacked on dessert...

...and watched a man impersonate Whitney, Tina and Rhianna. 

It was so much fun & I would definitely go back there for a girls night.  But it was definitely bachelorette party central, so reservations are recommended.    After The Kit Kat Lounge, we hopped back on the trolley and drove around the city some more.  We attempted to go the Hangge Uppe, but didn't approve of the lines and at this point, it was probably best that I went home.

So there you have it!  My crazy bachelorette party :-) It was a lot of fun and so nice to have everyone with me on my big night! I have the best family & girlfriends :-)  

Girl and the Goat

As I mentioned earlier, this past weekend, LC and I had a very special date night.  He took me to Girl and the Goat located here in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood.  It is ran by Stephanie Izard, who was the winner of Bravo's Top Chef in 2008.  She opened up Girl and the Goat in the summer of 2010.  When LC called to make a reservation, the only time they had open was 11:45 PM!!  The hostess said their next available reservation was in about a month, BUT if we just walked in, we would have to wait for the next available table.  Not knowing how long we'd have to wait, we took our chances anyway.  We're crazy like that :-) 

We got to the restaurant around 8 o'clock.  The wait was about an hour and 15 minutes.  I wasn't loving that wait time, but we parked ourselves near the bar and ordered some drinks.  Two people that were sitting in front of us at the bar, got up to leave and we took their seats.  The bartender asked if we wanted menus for food. I'm not crazy about eating dinner at the bar, but with an hour left to wait, we weren't going to turn it down.  So we sat at the bar and had exceptional service and thankfully, we didn't have people reaching over us to get their drinks from the bartender.

The food was absolutely phenomenal! There are no other words. The menu changes based on what's in season and the restaurant works with local farmers to support the community. From Girl and the Goat's website, "Stephanie likes to see how the animals we use in our kitchen are raised before working with a farm, as not all farms have the same practices."  Awesomeness! 

The food was served small-plate style, so LC and I shared everything.  The bartender recommended about 6-8 plates for a couple.  For our starter, we ordered a bread called, squish squash.  It was warm and pre-sliced and it came with pecan butter and apple pear oil to be used as spreads.  They were both really good, but I preferred the pecan butter, which had real pieces of pecan in it. 

The next plate that was brought out to us were the oysters.  The oysters consister of

raw shibumi, radish mignonette, and tarragon.  They tasted really fresh were very flavorful, but the best oysters I've ever had were in New Orleans. 

After oysters came heaven in a bowl, AKA Sweet Potato Gratin.  In the mix with the fluffy sweet potatos was rogue river smokey blue, topped with crispy onions.  This was so good, that I'm going to try and recreate something like this.  I have to have it again!    

After heaven in a bowl, I stopped and had a refill of my wine, The Girls in the Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon.  It was definitely one of the better cabernets I've had and I will be on the look out for this bottle on our next trip to Binny's.

Next, we have my favorite....SCALLOPS!  Next to lobster, probably one of my favorite sea foods ever :-)  It contained brown butter XO, goat sausage crumbles, white shrimp, shiitakes, and winter squash.  I take back my previous statement, THIS was heaven in a bowl! My mouth is watering just reading back the ingredients!  The only downfall of this dish- there were only two scallops and I had to share with LC.     

   

Our second to last dish was the calamari.  When I read the description, I was under the impression they were going to be breaded and fried.  Thankfully, they weren't.  This was the second best calamari that I've ever tasted in my life.  The calamari I had in Turkey from the Mediterranean Sea tops the list!  This calamari was stuffed with lamb sausage, sweetbread crisp, sweet garlic, and currant saor.        

And our grande finale of this culinary feast: roasted pork shank.  It was topped with truffled apples, spaghetti squash & truffle tapenade.  The pork was so soft, that it could be cut with a spoon.  It was a good blend of flavors and wasn't over taken by anything else on the plate.           

Overall, LC and I enjoyed our experience at Girl and the Goat.  Between the atmosphere and the small plates, it was the perfect place for a date night.  I could also see going there for a girls night as well.  We will definitely be back here again, probably sometime in the summer after the wedding.