chicago - part 2

It just occurred to me that I forgot to post "Chicago - Part 2". Go figure -- my brain isn't working entirely well these days.

Now where did I leave off?

Oh yes. I left you staring at McDreamy and thinking about where we ate. That's really all that's important right?

Maybe I'll talk about what we did -- let's see if I remember:

Thursday night we went on a river tour of the city. I loved looking at the skyline and hearing about the history of the buildings from the water.



Friday we walked to the subway on our way to see the Cubs and found an old fire hall...


...and used the wall to take some hubby/belly pics...



Then we finally made it to the Cubs game (don't I look like a fan??)...



Saturday we went to Old Town and that's where we had the yummy pasta I mentioned in the earlier post. The Sunday we trekked it out to Oak Park to see some Frank Lloyd Wright homes. We saw him along the way and he looked thirsty...


This was one of my faves...


Finally we took the belly up to the 94th floor of the John Hancock building to see the sites.


It was a whirlwind of a trip but so fun. I can't wait to go back some day!

What have you been up to this summer?

chicago - part 1

This past weekend, Mark and I took a super long weekend to check out the sights of Chicago. I don't think I have ever walked so much in my life... Well I'm sure I have but it felt like I haven't this weekend.

One of the highlights of the trip is that we got to see Patrick Dempsey during the filming of Transformers 3. DREAMY. Oh that's McDREAMY I suppose.


Ok so he was far away but it was cool nonetheless and now I'll go see the movie.

The rest of the trip was fun too of course. We ate deep dish pizza, pasta, nachos, steak and Indian infusionish things. We watched the Cubs and trekked out to see some Frank Lloyd Wright homes.

Here's more on what we did:


Where we stayed:

Amalfi Hotel Chicago
This place was perfect. It was close to all the downtown sights but was also close to the "L" so we could go further out into the city. The beds were super comfy -- so much so that I miss ours very much (esp since we have a little double!) and each floor had a complementary breakfast in the morning.

Where we ate:

Lou Malnati's Pizzeria
I think we had about 2,500 people tell us to go to Lou's for some deep dish pizza and he (whomever Lou is) did not disappoint. We ordered a small which is crazy for us because when we eat pizza, we eat pizza. Mark and I can easily polish off a large pizza hands down so we felt a little funny when this mini pie came to the table. But it was ENOUGH. We got a salad beforehand and it was the perfect amount of food.

Sullivan's Steakhouse
We had a hankering for steak the next night so we found Sullivan's Steakhouse. We left it to the last minute to eat dinner so we didn't make a reservation but they had a table in the back near the kitchen so it worked out. We each had filet mignon with horseradish mashed potatoes and sauteed mushrooms and I have to stop talking about it now because my mouth is watering and I still have to go to yoga before I can eat dinner. The only drawback is that the washroom is on the second floor and being 6 months pregnant and having to go to the washroom every 5 mins (ok 2 mins) meant that I had to trek up a million stairs to go.

Topo Gigio Italian Restaurant
On Saturday we trekked out to Old Town to see if we could get Second City tickets and along the way we found Topo Gigio. Now a bit of history for you: Topo Gigio is a mouse -- think Mickey meets Italy. He's from the '60s and this restaurant has the rights to the name apparently. Anyway the food was DELISH (I really don't know any other way to describe food it seems) but the portions are HUGE. Like really too big for a normal person. I eat a lot ok... and I couldn't even eat a quarter of the bowl of pasta put in front of me. Look I can prove it:


See? But it was REALLY good. So good.

Ok I have to take a break there because I have to go to yoga. I'll give you part two when I get back.

In the meantime, you can stare at this if you want:

$4.99 goes a long way

I whipped these puppies up last night and this morning for the market tomorrow one of them using the rest of my $4.99 Ikea fabric I used for my porch pillows and then some Alexander Henry fabric I bought a while back.



I've been staring at the AH fabric for some time wondering what to do with it...I didn't want to touch it because I love it so much. I don't know what came over me but I just cut it up and made a bag with it and will have a little zip pouch to match. I love this bag and want to keep it, but we'll see if someone buys it tomorrow and if not it's mine. :)

Take care and have a great weekend!

What a Wychy Weekend

This weekend I'm heading to mid-ish town to the WychCraft Market to sell more of my bags and hang out with cool and crafty people. My sister is coming with me which will be fun. She can help me set up my table and lift anything that I can't (or don't want to as a result of my belly getting bigger by the minute ;)) but really it'll be fun just to hang out with her.

As you know, I haven't had any motivation to sew, but I have managed to cut out a few more bags and zip pouches that I'll be putting together tonight and tomorrow night.

My lack of motivation right now seems to be coming from the latest book I've been reading: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Honestly, I don't know why I pick up these books because I have a really hard time putting them down. I've talked to my brother-in-law about this a few times as he's a mega reader as well and there is just something about picking up a book and not wanting to do ANYTHING BUT READ the book. It really does take over my life. And the worst part is that there are at least two more of these freaking books after this one so I know I'm going to keep busy this summer reading (when I should be sewing).

So, what was I talking about? I've gone and lost track again.

Oh yes. This weekend.

So if you're in the St. Clair and Bathurst area this weekend (I think the construction is all done!) come by the WychCraft Market and see what's going on. I think there is a woman there who sells chocolates... at least there was last year. Oh and someone who sells iced coffee. There is also a really cool farmers' market around the corner at the Wychwood Barns that I'm sure you'll love.

Once I get my current bags done I'll upload some pics. I'm using the rest of my Ikea fabric from my pillows for one bag and some REALLY pretty Alexander Henry fabric that I'm going to have a really hard time parting with for another.

Until then, have an amazing weekend and talk to y'all soon!