new people, places and things

this weekend i tried all sorts of new things and went to new places. friday was great because i didn't really have any plans set and i ALWAYS have plans set. i went over to darcy's new apartment and it's AMAZING! i'm so happy for her and i can't wait to go over and visit more. we went to dinner at lokal which i had never been to before. darc had a coupon and we got to enjoy wonderful food for cheap! i had Grilled Pork Tenderloin, gnocchi, caramelized onion, sun dried tomato and darc got Pan Roasted Barramundi Sea Bass, wilted spinach, pearl pasta. we split the dishes. i loved mine because it was so flavorful and filling and darcy's because it was super light. afterwards we hung out with her roomies on their gorgeous porch. then i met some of my rugby girls for drinks and catching up. after that i met rob and his friends at trader todds...will never go there again. it was a madhouse full of super drunk people. we only stayed for a bit but got to hear a lovely karaoke rendition of the full house theme song.

saturday was pretty much dedicated to my alumni event in lake villa. we had an event for an alumni donor at his favorite restaurant in their pavilion. its a bit of a drive so i rented a car and went up there. the alumnus and his wife are SO sweet and so were the owners of the restaurant. they took very good care of us. it was nice to kick back and relax outside with a view of a gorgeous lake and eat good food. it made me think it would be nice to live up there in the peace and quiet and pretty sunsets. but then i realized i'd go nutso after a day and drove back to the city for rob's show at schubas. our friends that just moved back from nyc came and it was so nice to catch up with them!

sunday rob and i got to the house of blues gospel brunch. i was checking it out for an event and got to go for free - booyah! the buffet was insane! they had SO much and we chowed down. the gospel show was much more interactive than i expected but super fun and rob was a trooper. we had a really great time and we will be doing an event there this fall! afterwards we went to the folks and roots festival for a little bit because rob got a free passes. we were a bit hot and tired from the brunch so we only stayed for a bit but i was glad we could check it out!

it was a great weekend and i was happy to try new things! this week is going to be great too (even though i'm under the weather) tomorrow i'm getting a pedi with stef and then i'm going to dinner at my fave mex place with stef and jeff to celebrate jeff's bday! wednesday my friend ryann is hosting a little wine night and i can't wait and then my bud caitlin is town for the weekend. hopefully i feel better to enjoy it!