Chicago Part 1

Luckily I had an uneventful flight from Knoxville to Chicago. Sarah picked me up at O'Hare. It was great to see her after way too long. Our friend Beth works very close to O'Hare, so we stopped by to see her before we went to lunch. I haven't seen Beth in even longer than I'd seen Sarah, so just a few minutes of saying hi was nice (even if it was at a funeral home...).

After visiting with Beth for a little bit Sarah and I headed back to her neighborhood (Lincoln Square) to have lunch and catch up. Lunch was excellent, we both had salads and a glass of wine and caught up on friends and family gossip. We headed off to do some shopping after lunch at all of the cute stores and galleries in the area. Our first stop was a general store that has unique cards and gifts. I found a few birthday cards and a "Goodnight Chicago" book for Dylan. We also hit up a few clothing stores (a teal sleeveless shirt and over sized ring for me!) and a gallery that features Chicago artists (where a "Midwest is Best" t-shirt may also have been purchased).

When we finished shopping we headed back to Sarah's apartment to wrap presents for Allison's baby shower on Saturday and get ready for dinner.


Dinner was at a very cute place a short cab ride from Sarah's, Magnolia Cafe. They have an excellent menu of appetizers, drinks, salads and entrees. Unfortunately they were sold out of the beef short ribs, but we were not disappointed with the Crab Cake appetizer,
Sarah's Delmonico Steak, Au gratin potatoes,


and my braised pork shoulder with fingering potatoes.

Saturday morning had us up a little earlier than we would have liked to head to Indiana to visit our friend Sandra. After a quick trip to Starbucks we were on our way! There was a little traffic on the drive, but it didn't slow us down too much. When we got to Sandra's we started getting a few of the dishes we were having for dinner prepped, while lunch was also being made. (We are excellent multi-taskers!) Allison arrived just as we were getting ready for lunch and after a long drive from Iowa.

After a great lunch we suited up and headed out on the lake. We spent the afternoon lounging on rafts in the lake and catching up. And no, I did not leave my raft all afternoon, I had people handing me food and beer. What more can you ask for from your friends? :)

We all pitched in to get dinner ready, and we had a feast. While we were getting dinner ready Beth arrived. She had to work all day Saturday, but made the hour drive out to Indiana to hang out with us for the evening. We dined on asparagus with prosciutto and Parmesan, fingerling potato salad with green beans and bacon, chicken, pepper, tomato and mushroom kabobs, and cucumber salad. Everything was excellent. After dinner was all headed downstairs to the festively decorated basement for Allison's baby shower!

And Allison opened her gifts!
It was a great day spend with great friends!

Look for Chicago Part 2 tomorrow!