Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Family Visit- Part 2


Day 3- Sunday morning we had breakfast at home... {breakfast pizza and blueberry crumb bars}... got ready... caught the train... and headed to...
the Cubs game!!! So fun!



We ended up with really great seats! It was overall such a great game... Chicago hot dogs for lunch, perfect weather, great seats, extra innings, and a home-run in the tenth to win the game! Loved.every.minute!
After the Cubs game, we walked around Wrigleyville for a bit and then caught a train back. We headed to dinner at Buca di Beppo. This was one of the few restaurants that we really wanted to take my family to. It's family style Italian. And ohmiword it is delicious! Plus, they have this...
...like the best chocolate cake ever! And we ate every bite. Like almost licked the plate clean. So.good. Needless to say, we needed to walk after a dinner like that ;) We headed to Buckingham Fountain. And we finally got a picture of the whole group!
 Actually we got A LOT of pictures here! We kinda went a little overboard, ha! Here are a *few* of the ones that we took ;)






It was fun to say the least! We also walked down to Lake Michigan and watched the sunset by the harbor. So pretty! It was a great end to a great day :)

Day 4- Mom's Birthday!! We started the day with a birthday breakfast at Waffles... mmm! Sadly, Z had to work so he missed out. But the rest of us enjoyed a delicious breakfast...
The guys had chicken and bacon waffles... crazy but so good!

The gals had waffles with strawberries and fresh whipped cream, delicious!
After breakfast, we went shopping ;) The guys were troopers for sure. We ended up making a day of it... stopping in quite a few stores up and down Michigan Avenue! After hours of browsing, we met Z at the Grand Lux Cafe for birthday dinner. It was an eventful dinner... including a small kitchen fire while we were waiting to order, ha! You don't expect to see half of the Chicago fire department rushing in the restaurant your eating at. Crazy! Memorable for sure ;) We left dinner, grabbed 2 cabs, packed up my parents' stuff, enjoyed a few more minutes all together, and hopped on the train to Midway to see my parents off. My brother and his girlfriend stayed with us for one more night and we so enjoyed hanging out with them... good.times :)
It was such a wonderful weekend. I enjoyed every second! It definitely went by way.too.fast. and I can't wait until they can come for another visit!!
Now our sweet friends are in town! They are looking for an apartment for when they MOVE HERE in September! So thankful for our wonderful friends and family ;)







Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Family Visit- Part 1

I can't believe that our visit with my family is already over! We had such an amazing time. I really enjoyed showing them around our new city... and I think they enjoyed their visit as well ;) 
This is about to be picture overload, so I'm sorry in advance!

Day 1- My family arrived at Midway and took a train to the stop closest to our apartment {I'm the terrible child that didn't pick them up... traffic on the interstate here is not for me and Z had to work... I did drive to pick them up at the train stop though, ha!} We got to sightseeing right away... no time to waste ;) We had lunch at Giordanos... Chicago style pizza, yummy!
I was so happy to see my parents!!

as well as my brother and his sweet girlfriend!
After lunch, we walked down Michigan Avenue and then hopped on a water taxi...

to Navy Pier!

family pic {minus Z}
We caught a free {thankyouverymuch} trolley back to Michigan Avenue and headed back to the apartment to rest a while. I forgot to mention that their day started at 4 am... so needless to say they were in need of a nap by now!
After Z finished up work and everyone got a power nap, we headed back out to the lounge at the Hancock Building. The view was *beautiful*... especially once the sun started setting.  Unfortunately, I didn't really capture it with my camera. But we did get a few pics...



So much fun! After drinks, we grabbed dinner at Portillos. Sorry, no pics... but the food was delicious! And that was enough for one day... after the 4 am wake up call, the sight seeing, and Z's full day of work, we called it an early night!

Day 2- We tried to get an early start... but that didn't really happen, ha! We finally were all ready and headed out by about 10. We stopped at our favorite little breakfast joint, Yolk- We had to wait quite a while for a table for six, but the it was worth the wait once we got our food!! So.good! After breakfast brunch, we took a train to Millenium Park...
Waiting for the L


 We had to show them "the bean"...

Almost the whole group!






And then we took a river boat tour! This is our favorite way to see the city ;)


Family pic with Z

Family pic with B!

This is our apartment building... so fun to see it from the river tour!



After the river boat tour, we found the cutest little outdoor cafe where we stopped for a drink. Sad I didn't get a picture there! We headed out from there to one of my favorite little places... Sprinkles Cupcakes! My dad had asked me to order some cupcakes for my mom's birthday... and of course I knew I had to order from Sprinkles... ohmiword so yum!! We went from Sprinkles to the apartment, with a few stops along the way, to grill out for a birthday dinner So.fun!
 Somehow this is the only picture I have of the birthday bash. So sad! But we did have fun celebrating my sweet mom's bday {even if it was a few days early!}
I'll have to post about the rest of their visit later... that was quite enough pictures for one post!







Monday, July 30, 2012

A Birthday Wish!!


Happy Birthday!!!
to my beautiful mom!
I am so so thankful to call you my mom and my friend!! I love you!!

...And we are so happy that we get to celebrate your special day with you!!
Hope you have a wonderful birthday and many, many more!

love,
Z&B

Friday, July 27, 2012

Woohoo!

3 Reasons we are just.so.excited at the Stokes house...
#1. My family is coming here TODAY!
#2. We get to celebrate a special someone's birthday while they're here!
#3. The Olympics start today too! {Love the Olympics!!}
That is a lot of excitement going on! And that's all I got for today because I have big plans with the fam now!!!
Hope you have a great weekend!!

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Muy Bueno!

As I mentioned in this post, we have yet to find a Mexican restaurant that suits our taste. So, instead of spending way too much money trying to find a Mexican joint we like, we decided just to make Mexican at home!  And let me tell ya, it was muy bueno!!  I started by seasoning 2 chicken breasts with chili powder, salt, and some creole seasoning. Then we grilled it. While the chicken was on the grill, I heated up some frijoles {refried beans, Taco Casa style!} and cooked some white rice with ro-tel. Now comes the yummy part... after the chicken was cooked thoroughly, I shredded it with... my kitchenaid mixer! Who knew you could do that?!

 I always hated shredding chicken with a fork or my fingers, and the other day I saw on pinterest an idea to use a mixer to shred chicken, so I thought I'd try it. And it worked perfectly!! I put the chicken in the mixer while it was still hot and used the paddle attachment on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Worked like a charm! Not only was the chicken perfectly shredded, the spices and seasonings were also mixed in to give each bite just enough flavor! Anyways, moving on... we took a flour tortilla and topped it with the shredded chicken, rice, beans, and cheese, then rolled them burrito style. I think some sour cream or guacamole also would have been so yum in these! Z said these burritos beat out any that we've tried in the Windy City so far... pretty good if I do say so myself ;) Now if I could just learn how to make that delicious white queso dip!

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Wordless Wednesday

 
"The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims His handiwork."
 {Psalm 19:1}
fireworks from Navy Pier

beautiful sunset from our balcony


Counting down until my family arrives! 2 more days and counting! ;)