food-filled weekend.

all i really did this weekend was eat. or think or talk about eating - seriously.

friday night i had an event for work at a bar called lincoln station and chowed down on salsa con queso, mini cheeseburgers and yummie thin crust pizza. bar food just really hits the spot sometimes.

saturday me and the bf met an old coworker and her husband and a current coworker for brunch at sola. the interior is very pretty and the menu divine. unfortunately our waitress was uber peppy and not what i needed in the a.m. luckily the food trumped the annoying server. i got ham & cheese french toast with plum preserves and a mustard sauce. we also all split homemade donuts with chocolate and raspberry sauce. so freaking good. everyone's dishes looked to die and i hope to go back again.

later that night i actually had time to cook a real meal for once and made organic chicken breast with italian seasoning with spinach pasta. pretty standard but i was happy to make something healthy-ish. then even later that night i ended a night out of bud light cans and coors light (CLASSY) with bacis pizza. if you've never been, they have enormous slices of pizza. like the length of my forearm - elbow to finger tip. and they come with a drink all for just $5. we sat there for like 45 minutes having deep conversations over our huge slices. saturday was such a college throw back night - loved it.

sunday i had to staff a work event but it was great because there was a brunch buffet! i seriously chowed down. potatoes with bacon, scrambled eggs, blueberry pancakes and mini bagels. and i had 2 helpings. it was the school catering so it wasn't to die for but it was still enjoyable.

then sunday night i had my first (of three) restaurant week dinners at tizi melloul (http://www.tizimelloul.com/). it's a mediterranean place in river north. it has gorgeous decor and a great menu. we went for the meat eaters family style menu which consisted of: a hummus/baba ganoush plate with herb flatbread, roasted potatoes, fire roasted mussels (new to me!), a delicious salad with apples, goat cheese and lentils, salmon skewers with a tangy bbq sauce and rice pilaf, lamb tagine with saffron cous cous, vegetable tagine with herb chickpeas and lemon basil chickpeas and then chocolate fondu with homemade marshmellows and fruit. Yes, I actually ate all of that. i had some trouble with the mussels...not a huge fan but i wanted to be daring and try it anyway. the salmon skewers and the salad were my favorites!

i have 2 more restaurant dinners coming up. tomorrow is at prosecco and sunday is gemini bistro. cannot wait!

new years resolution status

so now that it's been about a month and a half since i set my new year's resolution for 2010 i thought i'd review how i'm doing thus far. i had numerous resolutions but the big ones were to try new things and restaurants in chicago and to work on paying off my debt. i know they seem to cancel each other out but so far so good!

i have tried 8 new restaurants so far! i've gone to May St. Cafe, Izaru, Duchamp, Fireplace Inn, Meze, DMK Burger Bar, Lucky's Sandwiches and Piccolo Sogno. they were all so delicious i can't even pick a favorite. i have also set a reservation for gemini bistro for restaurant week next sunday. can't wait!

i've been trying to check out new places and try new things lately too! this weekend was definitely out of my element at lumen and spy bar and it was fun to check out the new bar district. on tuesday i went to a new venue opening at sunda loft. anything with free alcohol and appetizers is good in my book! this weekend i'm trying to organize a girl's night at a new bar - probably the new small bar in lincoln park and then hopefully hitting up the kid sister show at spin. there are still plenty of new things i'd like to try around the city but i still almost have a full year left!

for the debt - i'm also doing quite well. i did some math and if i keep making the same size payments i am now on my student loans - i should be done with it 2 years early! that was happy to discover. i mean it's still 8 years of my life devoted to this crazy loan but 8 is better than 10! then i have some credit card debt from books/traveling still and it should be at a zero balance in about 6 months if i stay steady with my payment amounts. i have a decent amount in savings - more than i've had in awhile thanks to all my travels :)

so i'm feeling quite good and accomplished about keeping my new years goals! how about everyone else? keeping up with your resolutions?

lucky valentine and weekend recap.

i had a lovely weekend and got to celebrate valentine's day with many people i love. vday started early for me with a delivery of ginormous red roses at work on friday afternoon. they're so pretty! then on friday night i got to spend time with an old coworker and some current coworkers for some bowling. i was horrible but it's still so fun! then i met up with my good friends for a lady gaga themed lingerie fashion show at lumen. i can't say that lumen is really my cup of tea but we definitely made it fun. saturday i went to the bur bs for the bf's sister's baby shower. she is truly the cutest little pregnant girl. i absolutely love his family so it was great spending the afternoon with them. i got to visit with his lovely grandma who always has the nicest things to say. i also got to spend some time with his hilarious aunts who always put a smile on my face. then i got dinner with my rents and then later returned to the bf's house for more quality time with his fam. i got a sweet card and valentine's day treats from the bf's mom that made me really happy! then on sunday i went to see valentine's day with my parents. perfect sunday afternoon movie. not the best movie but it was light and fluffy and brainless. perfect!

then it was time for vday time with my love. he surprised me with a trip to select comforts to pick out my custom pillow that i've been wanting! you tell the salesperson how you sleep and what level of softness and support you prefer and then you try a bunch out. i got "down alternative" because the down was just way too fluffy and the foam was way too hard. i absolutely love it. it's heavenly. we shopped around a bit more and i tried on a trillion things at h&m and nothing fit right so we tried a few other stores in search of my shopping list items. i ended up getting some black pinstripe pants from the limited. i totally forget that store exists but they were on sale and they fit well! we headed home and i hit the grocery store so i could make a new crock pot recipe. i decided to attempt pulled pork. i put it in before we left for a late vday dinner. we went to piccolo sogno on halsted and grand. we were seated in a small room off the main dining area and it was nice and quiet. i got a delicious glass of wine and grilled salmon with brown mustard sauce, fingerling potatoes and broccolini. AMAZING! the bf got lobster risotto in a tomato-y sauce. equally amazing. then we split a pastry dessert. it was a perfect meal. over dinner he gave me a cute valentine and a travel journal to take on my france trip this summer. i completely forgot i asked for one! it has a very cool design on the front and it's the perfect size. after dinner we headed home and pulled some pork. so romantic! it turned out well though - very tender and tasty. thank goodness. if it didn't turn out i was swearing off the crock pot for life.

dinner at piccolo sogno.

i was quite spoiled on vday and it was great to spend the weekend with those i love. i feel very, very lucky these days!

progress & shopping list.

on wednesday night, i attacked my closet. i should have taken a picture of the mountain of clothes on the floor. i started with the stuff i had hanging. i got rid of a couple of sweaters and long sleeve tops. then i moved over to these square crate/bins i have miscellaneous tanks and tops in. i found tons of shirts that were too small, totally out of style or damaged. i got rid of a lot from that area. then i moved to miscellaneous stuff on my shelves. a lot in that area to kick to the curb. i had a khaki bermuda shorts that i needed for a job 5 years ago. i think it's ok to say goodbye to those. i also found a white skirt and white capris that of course had stains on them because i can't own white. i also tossed a few old tshirts that i don't need anymore. then i went through the basket where i keep miscellanous undergarments. i had like 15 nylons/tights and about 10 of them were ripped. shocking. i also had about 18 white tank tops. i tossed half and kept the others for now. that basket is so much easier to look through now! i ended up getting rid of three shopping bags of clothes. 2 are for donation and the other is to toss. it was hard but it also feels good. i'm excited to make room for new stuff. it was also fun to rediscover some things. i came across a lot of stuff that i forgot about entirely.

now that i've cleared some things out it's time to shop! here are some of the things that i'm looking for:

* brown suit - i saw a very cute one at h&m for a very affordable price that i plan to purchase asap!
* new straight leg jeans - mine are stretched out and i accidentally ripped off the tag on the back
* a couple of colorful sweaters & tops - all of my shirts and sweaters are neutral colors and it's just depressing
* casual boots - i need warmish boots to wear to work and out and about that aren't exactly snow boots but will keep my feet warm and dry
* fun/going out boots - my poor little brown boots have been fixed for the last time. once the zipper breaks they're getting tossed.
* brown flats - i don't have any flats to wear at work when i wear brown
* straight leg dress pants - i can't stand my flowy dress pants anymore!!!

i don't really know where i thinking i'm getting the money to pay for all these new purchases but i'm going to try to tackle some of the list next weekend. my ultimate goal is to achieve a more polished look. i'm not sure that i'll ever be the "polished" type but i can try!