Jam packed

My weekend felt more like four days than just a couple... even though it was really relaxing and nice to get away from the city, it seems like we were constantly busy.

On Friday night, I met up with Erin and we went to the nail salon by our house and got manicures/pedicures and then hit the Daily Bar & Grill for dinner. I ordered a total comfort food dinner, so after the combination of mani/pedi (which on it's own always puts me to sleep) and the big dinner... I was really wiped out!

On Saturday morning, I got up early(-ish) and drove to Peru, Indiana to meet up with Matt. I went straight to the Bontragers' house. They had made an awesome lunch, which was great because I was totally starving. After lunch, we headed to the Peru Municipal Golf Course. This is where Matt worked throughout high school and on his college summer breaks.



We played 9 holes of golf... my goal was to get under 10 on a hole. Yep, I'm pretty awful. I almost did it on the last hole, but of course, Matt gave me a "pep talk" right before my putt and it totally made me choke. So, alas... another 10.

A couple of action shots

After the golf, we headed back to the Bontragers' to clean up and got on the road to Indianapolis. We stopped off in Kokomo at Elder-Beerman to pick up a gift for Ruby Jane. Matt found some good deals on summer clothes (my mom would be proud). We found a cute little frog outfit and a green summer dress with a hat for Ruby. The hat looked super cute on her... but I think she was more impressed with the box! : )



A couple other pics that Jenn took.

Ruby and me


And Ruby in her outfit we bought her


We hung out with Ryan & Jen and Pat & Courtney on Sat night. Ryan grilled out chicken and Jen made mac-n-cheese and salad... all very good. We sat outside by the firepit drinking and chatting after dinner until we were all falling asleep. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pics of all of us from the night.

On Sunday, we got up and again sat outside and enjoyed the nice sunny weather. Matt and I decided to do a little shopping in Indianapolis before heading back to Peru. We went to Clay Terrace and grabbed lunch at Red Robin. They have free refills on steak fries... interesting concept, but our sandwiches were so huge, we barely finished the fries on our plates. After that, we walked around the outdoor mall and stopped in a few shops. Matt found some more shorts and I found some shoes... because I don't have enough already! I swear... I'm beginning to give Imelda Marcos a run for her money.

After the shopping, we went back to Peru... quickest trip ever (it helped that I totally passed out between Kokomo and Peru).

Again, we went to the golf course to play a few more holes. This time, I actually got a few 9's, but no 8's. It's a slow process.

Matt played a hole with his old JV b-ball coach/math teacher and his golf coach.



We played a few more holes with his golf coach and then the lightening started and the sky turned a nice shade of black... time to call it a day.



We ordered a pizza from Pizza King and went back to the Bontragers' for the night. There was a crazy storm with tons of high winds and rain. I was worried the windows were going to break in! This is why I decided to stay in Indy for the night instead of driving back to Chicago. I came back this morning (Monday) instead.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy (belated) Father's Day to all the dads out there! : )

And especially to my dad!

Thanks for putting up with me... I'm sure a few of those gray hairs are my fault! : )

Slacker

I'm slacking on blogging lately... not that you are missing much, though.

Let's see... Monday, I watched The Bachelorette. She had a big melt-down and kicked off some guys. I felt bad for Fred (the lawyer from Chicago), but I agree she shouldn't lead him on and keep him around. He's too nice of a guy to do that to. I can't believe Twilley is still around. Maybe she's got a thing for him. Who knows. He is quite a character to watch, though. I'm still leaning towards Jason (the single dad). Other than that, I'm not too impressed. Graham is ok, but he seems like he would be a little high maintenance as a boyfriend, if you ask me. We'll see how everything unfolds.

Tuesday, Matt & I tried out the new sushi restaurant in his 'hood, Kudo Sushi. It was ok. I liked the rolls I picked out - one was like a little baked crab casserole wrapped in seaweed and pretty tasty. The other was spicy tuna, which was deccent, but nothing spectacular. Matt said the pieces of fish he got were smaller than other places we've gone and not all that impressive. So, it looks like we'll be sticking to Izumi and my favorite strawberry roll!

Last night, I cooked dinner for Matt since he was working late. I made this garlic chicken and pasta type casserole thing... some sort of Campbell's soup recipe. Matt wasn't all that impressed. Neither was I, really. It was edible, but we both thought it wouldn't be something I should make again. : ( Then, we watched Top Chef - Stephanie won - yay! I definitely liked her the best - judging by personality, I guess... it's not like I actually tasted any of her food and thought she was a superior chef or something. But, speaking of tasting her food, Michelle tells me Stephanie is already working on opening a restaurant here in Chicago, so we may get a chance after all. : )

Today is Matt's "Friday". He's heading to Peru, Indiana tonight for a long weekend to play some golf and enjoy some time off. I'm meeting up with him on Saturday and we're going to visit his friend Ryan, Ryan's wife Jen and their baby Ruby Jane in Indianapolis. I may play a short game of golf myself while I'm there... at least until Matt or myself gets frustrated enough to throw in the towel and be done with it.

Grillin'

Have I mentioned how much I love that Matt got a grill???

Tonight, I picked up some steaks and asparagus to grill out...



And it was super tasty!

We are both full and in a food coma right now! : )

Sox win!

Saturday, Matt & I went to the Sox game to meet up with the Funks, etc. for BJ's 31st birthday. We tailgated before the game in the parking lot and it rained a little while we were there... but nothing like the downpour when we got into the stadium. That was crazy! It drizzled a little during the game after the big downpour, but nothing too terrible. The Sox won "a lot to not very many" as Matt tells me (I just asked him the score while typing this... I think it was 11-2).

The littlest Sox fan (Clint/BJ's neice Dani)


Fubar and Tony chillin' out


Lots of bags games (Matt killed me at this 21-0)


That's a big freakin' sandwich!


Rain delay


Yellow-hat Matt


Home run!


Fireworks show after the game (awesome!)

I heart wine

Last night, Matt & I went to the Webster Wine Bar for John & Erin's shower. The bar is right by the Webster theater. They had reserved a room upstairs... right next to a JDate function. When we walked in, we were confused a little at first because you have to walk through the JDate party to get to the other room... kind of funny. There was a guy from the bar, Graham, helping with the wine selections. They had picked 5 wines (3 whites and 2 reds) for the party and they had tons of tasty appetizers. Graham gave a talk on the 5 wines and told us some stories of his trips to other countries. Apparently, the wine bar sends it's employees on an annual wine-tasting trip to fun places. He said he had just gotten back from Germany and the Rhine River Valley where they biked, trained and boated through the wine country there. I want his job... drinking wine all the time, going on fancy trips... I think I'd be good at that! : )

I had never been to that bar before, but it was pretty cool (and the guys said the 'talent' wasn't too bad either). I think my favorite wine of the night was the Cava, a sparkling white wine from Spain. It was very summer-y and light.

Random stuff on a Thursday

And then there were three... Erin and I watched Top Chef last night and I think she was slightly grossed out. The chefs had to take a full pig (dead, of course) and butcher it up and make three dishes with three different parts of the pig. It was a little graphic. I don't really like to think about where my food comes from... if I did, I would most likely also be a vegetarian like Erin. Anyway, I can't decide between Richard or Stephanie... I like both of them. I'm not a fan of Lisa. She seems too intense and I wouldn't want to work with her. I couldn't believe she was mad that the other two didn't congratulate her for not losing. Maybe she congratulated them earlier and I missed it and that's why she felt slighted... who knows.

On a completely different topic... this morning I ran into the guy that talks to himself again. I see him at the bus stop quite a bit and he is always having a conversation with an invisible person. It's like he's on a cell phone, but not. Actually, the first time I saw him, I was looking at him trying to figure out if he really was talking on a cell phone and he looked at me and said "I don't like you." How about that for a 'good morning' to ya! He also said it to another guy waiting at the bus stop, so I felt less hurt. : ) Anyway, he got on the same bus as me today and was sitting a few seats behind me having a whole conversation loudly by himself all about how to survive in prison. It was like he was telling a friend that was about to go to prison that it was going to be ok. He said you get to watch Bears games and play Dominos. So strange.