Monday, August 13, 2012

Weekend Review

Well it seems like the weekends go by way too fast! But at least this is a short work week for Z... we're headed home tomorrow afternoon!!! Two of our best friends are getting married Saturday... So excited to be going home and so so excited to celebrate with them ;)
Anyways, our weekend pretty much consisted of walking and eating, ha! We walked to dinner Friday night at Maggiano's, walked to dessert afterwards at XOCO {ohmiword, yummiest churros ever!}, walked to Starbucks Saturday, walked to Starbucks again Sunday, walked to Snarfs for milkshakes... see what I mean? A lot of walking and eating ;) Fun story though, we decided to take a long walk Saturday to explore Chicago and enjoy the amazing weather. We came to a street that was blocked and realized they were shooting some kind of action movie! We tried to figure out what movie it was, or any info about it, but it was all top secret. We walked around the entire block, but no luck. It was still pretty exciting though!
The other thing we did  this weekend was Z's haircut ;) He was a bit overdue and considering the wedding this weekend, he needed a cut! Z hates getting his haircut. He says he has never had a cut he liked, so he has resorted to cutting his own hair. And he does a really good job too! Take a look...

Yeah, I like the clean cut after look ;) 
Have a great week friends!!



Saturday, August 11, 2012

Another Birthday Wish!


Happy Birthday!!!
To my {B's} brother!!!!
Yep, this pretty much sums up my bro ;)

Wish we were there to celebrate with ya. Also wish I could send a piece of Buca di Bepo cake or a Sprinkles cupcake your way ;) But, We will definitely celebrate next week with some El Rincon! Hope you have a fabulous birthday and many, many more! Love you!!!
love,
Z&B

Friday, August 10, 2012

This Weather=Can't Wait for Fall!

Well it is in the seventies here for the second day in a row!! I'm not sure if Chicago is aware that is still August?! But we are loving.this.weather!!!
This cooler weather also makes me ready for fall ;) {although I think I should soak up every warm day that we have before the brutal winter gets here!} I really love everything about fall... pumpkins, football, scarves, everything. I especially love fall clothes... so, here are just a few looks I am LOVING for fall!
pinterest

WONSER
aldo

Gap
 
And Gap again ;)
Yep, that pretty much sums it up. Stripes, scarves, boots, repeat. Ha! For now I'm going to put away my fall wish list because I'm not really quite ready for fall... almost though! But I definitely plan to enjoy this crazy awesome weather while it lasts! {And I might wear a scarf today, just saying ;)}
 

Thursday, August 9, 2012

More Lessons from the Windy City

We are still figuring out this whole living in a huge city thing. For the most part, our day to day feels very much like it did back home. But there are still a few things that are just, well, different. Here are a few {not very fun} lessons I had to learn this week... let's just say it hasn't been the best week since moving to the Windy City :/
-Do not use the dry cleaners downstairs for alterations... ugh I learned this lesson the hard way... like the really hard way. I took my bridesmaid dress {for a wedding in less than 2 weeks no less} down to have it hemmed. It was just a bit long. Seems like a simple fix right? I picked it up yesterday and to my horror it was sooo short. Like I had to order a new dress short. Thank goodness our dresses are from JCrew so I will be able to get a new dress in by Monday. But that was a very frustrating and very expensive lesson to learn :/ They did refund my money for the alterations. But that hardly put a dent in the new $275 dress that I had to order. Hard lesson to learn indeed.
-Do go to the urgent care physician on Michigan Avenue. Unlike back home, doc-in-the-boxes are not on every corner here. So when I needed to go in for a quick visit to get some antibiotics, I was at a loss for where to go. Z researched online for me and found an urgent care facility on Michigan Avenue. They were pretty quick, super nice, and there was no co-pay! Overall, a pretty good experience for a doctor's visit. {If there is such a thing}
-Do not drive/park if you have to visit the doctor on Michigan Avenue. The office was about 2 miles from our apartment, so Z just drove me over there. We parked in a public parking deck and knew that the rate was a bit high. But what were we gonna do? By the time we were finished with the doctor, our parking fee was $31! I guess that cancelled out the no co-pay :/
-When you're sick, "homesick" takes on a whole new meaning. But this just made me all the more thankful for my amazing hubby. Z always takes good care of me. But he really steps it up even more when I'm not feeling too great. He dropped work and drove me all over the city to take me to the doctor and get my prescription filled. I really do have the best husband ever ;) {On that same note, Z was also very understanding about the whole new bridesmaid's dress thing... thankgoodness!}
So there you go. A few more lessons {albeit hard to learn} from the Windy City. We're counting down the days til we head back to Alabama for our friends' wedding! Can't wait to see our families and friends!!!

**Updated** I should have added this when I first wrote this post... even though it hasn't been the best week ever, I feel so blessed and so thankful to be here. This is such an amazing opportunity, not only for Z's business, but also for us to have the experience of living in such an awesome city! One thing that Z and I say a lot to help us remember how blessed we are or how not so bad our "bad days" are or how we really don't need this and that is "KIA" {kids in Africa}. So I'm saying that right now to close this post... KIA... we are so blessed!

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Love List

Since yesterday's post was kind of a downer, I thought I'd be a bit more upbeat and talk about all of the things that I'm loving right now!

+I L.O.V.E. my new diy pocket t-shirt!!
Thanks to my sweet cousin's blog post at This and That, I was inspired to try my own pocket tee... and I love it them! {I couldn't stop at just one ;)}

They really were super simple to make and the possibilities are endless... I feel another Target and JoAnns trip in my near future ;)



+I also love.love.love the fun card/surprise I got in the mail from a sweet friend... isn't this the cutest idea?!
There were actually 5 hair-bands... the fifth one happens to be in my hair ;)


+I am loving my new coffee mug from Target... I think my coffee taste better in a cute mug! ;)


+I love how the Lord always meets me right where I am... I found a devotional book that I bought years ago and never read... I started reading it last week and realized there couldn't be a better time for it than right now. Such a blessing!



+I love all of the friends and family that we have gotten to see here recently!!
Who is going to be our next visitor?!?!


+I LOVE that a week from today we will be flying home for our friends' wedding!! Can.not.wait!



+I am really loving the weather forecast for the rest of this week here in Chi-Town... the high for Thursday and Friday is in the seventies!! Haven't seen that kind of weather during August in a long time ever!



+And last but not least,  I'm so.in.love with this guy right here...




Monday, August 6, 2012

The Teaching Blues

Well it is that time of year for all things back to school. And I have to say it feels so weird not to be in a tizzy right about now trying to get a classroom ready! Like really weird. I loved teaching back home... loved my kinders and then my firsties... loved the school I taught at... loved, loved, loved the girls I taught with! But I haven't felt compelled to jump into a teaching job here. I knew I wanted some time just to adjust to the move... and I couldn't imagine having to scramble to get a new classroom ready right away. So now I have the teaching blues! Ha ;) I can't even go to Target without feeling like I should fill my cart with dollar items for my non-existent classroom! I told Z that I know all of this points to the fact that I will definitely teach again soon. Maybe here, maybe not. But at some point for sure. Until then, here are a few teaching blog ideas that I'm loving right now...

Mailbox Math-
                                   mathlit5
This is from one of my favorite  teaching blogs, The First Grade Parade. I love Cara's idea of combining literature and math with her mailbox math idea. So cute! Click the link for more info...

A Book Ambulance from Step Into Second Grade...
Such a great idea for the poor books in a firstie classroom... no matter how much you talk about taking care of the books, pages are going to be torn!

Gold Tag Behavior System from A Teeny Tiny Teacher
                                                       

I loved my clip chart behavior system last year, but I think the gold tags would also be a really successful way to manage behavior in the classroom!

Fabulous in First's Cooking up Morning Fun is a great way to keep the kiddos working during morning work time or when they finish seatwork, etc. {Sorry no pic! Check out the link though.}

These football players and cheerleaders are super cute from Doodle Bugs Teaching. They would make an adorable bulletin board or door decor!
homecoming

And I'm in love with this classroom over at Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits...
                              
How cute is that rug! I think this classroom would be perfect for older grades too. She talks about how she wanted her room to feel "homey", and it does for sure! So cute!!

Well this was probably not a very interesting post to most... but I just had to put some of these school ideas somewhere, ha! On another note, we have had guests staying with us for the past week or so! So fun for sure! I haven't posted a menu in a while because we have been eating out A LOT since we've had family and friends in town. But this week, it's back to home cooking ;) Here's a quick line up for what's on the menu for this week...
Monday- blackened chicken, yellow rice, steamed vegetables
Tuesday- upside down pizza {my mom's recipe- more on that later!}
Wednesday- shrimp pasta and asparagus
Thursday- grilled chicken sliders and roasted potatoes
Friday- ???

Have a great week!

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Easy as 1-2-3!

The other day while browsing on Pinterest, I came across a recipe that took my back to my childhood- peanut butter cookies... yummy! I remember my mom used to make these specific cookies when I was little. They were a good go to when we didn't have a whole lot of baking ingredients oh hand but we wanted something sweet and homemade ;) I even remember making them a few times. So, when I saw them pinned on pinterest, I knew I had to make them again! Z loves some peanut butter... so I was pretty sure he would not object ;)
Here is the recipe... 

1 cup of creamy peanut butter
1 cup of sugar
1 egg
{I mean seriously... it does not get any easier than that! Easy as 1, 2, 3!}
You just preheat the oven to 350 and mix the ingredients together until combined. I used a tablespoon to scoop out dough and rolled the scoops into a ball. Then I rolled the cookie dough in sugar and placed on a baking sheet. I used a fork to flatten the dough and make a cute little zig-zag pattern! Then you just bake them for about 10 minutes.


I love this recipe because I almost always have those three ingredients on hand! Plus, they were a big hit with Z ;) Best served with a big glass of milk!! Enjoy!