CSA Fun!

This fall Rob and I signed up for a CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) with Genesis Growers, an organic farmer in Illinois. We did it for the fall/winter starting in November and ending in mid December. We tried SO many new things! We got lots of sweet potatoes, beets, cabbage, greens, carrots, apples, pears, cranberries and parsnips. We also got TONS of different kinds of squash. We got butternut, delicata, carnival, acorn, queensland blue and some giant one that rotted before we could use it. We got some weird crap we'd never even heard of like kohlrabi and white carrots. We really loved the sweet potatoes, making fish tacos with cabbage and carrot slaw and trying new squash recipes. I baked pumpkin pies from real pumpkins and I made 3 batches of cranberry brownies. I cheated though - store bought crust and box brownies. Rob learned how to make kale and beet chips. Each week we had to go and pick up the box from a nearby restaurant. The farm would email me on Tuesdays to let me know what to expect in our box which really helped me plan out our menus. I mostly utilized Pinterest for recipe ideas and sometimes we just would have to wing it. The only downside - besides finding time to pick it up every Wednesday - was we wasted some of the food. Even though we really cut back on what we were buying at the grocery store, we just couldn't get through everything! We had to throw out cabbage, beets and a squash that went bad before we could use them. This really broke my heart, but I'm also really proud of us for getting through as much as we did. By doing the CSA we really had to adapt our normal diets and it definitely left lasting results. I'm now eating a mostly vegetarian diet and Rob discovered he actually loves some veggies he didn't think he would. I don't think I could commit to doing a CSA all year round, but it was great for 5 weeks. I hope we can do it again in the future!

Summer Nostalgia

On this snowy and cold day, I was thinking back to summer and all the fun I had! Top moments of Summer 2013 are: 8. Festivals and Farmers Markets! Burger Fest, Maifest, German American Fest and Lincoln Square and Logan Square Farmers Markets were so fun as usual! 7. The Nature Museum Food Truck Rally and Free Night with Rob with one of the prettiest sunsets I've seen in a long time.

6. Pitchfork & Lolla - Even though it was a billion degrees for Pitchfork this year - it was super fun! I had a great time seeing Rob in action, enjoying free Chipotle at after parties and seeing R.Kelly!!! I got to go to Lolla with Tara for one day and it was SO fun! We broke all sorts of rules and I loved seeing Grizzly Bear and Phoenix.

5. A few trips to Michigan including a crazy hot day in New Buffalo, a breezy day in St. Joe's and a visit to the Fernwood Botanic Garden in Niles.

4. A lovely visit to Chicago Botanic Garden on the most beautiful day in June. Looking back this is still one of my favorite days of the summer.

3. A perfect birthday celebration with friends and family including a trip to the Maxwell Street Market, LUSH Wine Bar with friends, family dinners and Brown County with Rob for the weekend!

2. Hunky Dory! Hunky Dory is always a highlight of every summer. It's so relaxing and so fun to spend time with the whole family. It was a bit cold this year but that just allowed me even more time for quality rest.

1. Germany & Italy! This was definitely the most memorable part of the summer. We had the best time to celebrate Ness and Tobi's wedding in the most beautiful setting in Germany and we also got to visit Merano, Italy for the most extravagant little getaway we've ever taken. It was an incredible trip!

Boston with Mom!

I got to visit Boston for a work event and my mom was able to join me which made it so much more fun! We arrived on a sunny, warm Monday and got to do tons of walking and soak up the city. We walked through the Public Garden and the Boston Commons after having a delicious lunch at Parish Cafe. Then we went to Faneuil Hall which had little shops and an armory or artillery museum to check out. Then we walked to Little Italy and got sweets from Mike's Pastry - so good! We also visited the Paul Revere Mall (what we'd call a square or park) and his house. Then we rested a bit before going to dinner at a nice Italian spot that had a great wine selection - perfect for us! The next day I was slow to get going and squeezed in a work out while Mom got coffee. Then we went to Neptune's Oyster for a lobster roll (awesome!) and then walked really far in the cold to the contemporary art museum which is beautiful! They had some really interesting pieces but we mostly enjoyed looking out to the water. Then we had to head back to get ready for my event that was at the Hampshire House. The event went well and afterwards we peeked into the original Cheers and then had dinner at an Irish Pub in our hotel. The next day we did an awesome free tour of the public library that reminds me of our Cultural Center (a former library). The guide was so informative and we saw so many beautiful things. It was such a treat! After that we got incredibly delicious salads for lunch and then walked around Newberry street and got manicures before heading to the airport. We squeezed in a lot in just 2 and 1/2 days! It was great to see a new city with Mom and I hope we can explore somewhere again soon!

Our 1st Anniversary!

I cannot believe it's already been a year since our wedding day! Rob and I decided to celebrate year one in the south just like our honeymoon. We flew into Greenville, SC this time and explored a bit of their downtown area. We loved Falls Park - pretty cool to have waterfalls in the middle of your downtown! We grabbed coffee and treats at some of the local shops and then we went to Bacon Bros for lunch. We enjoyed some cheddar biscuits, boiled peanuts and split a waffle with pulled pork. We loved this place because everything was locally sourced and organic. It was super tasty but very filling! Then hit the road and headed for Cesar's Head State Park which was about an hour away. It was an absolutely gorgeous day for a hike at the beautiful state park. We basically had the trail to ourselves and we enjoyed hunting for fall leaves and listening for wild life - we only spotted a bunch of chipmunks and a raccoon and lots of birds. We saw the beautiful waterfalls from an overlook and then hiked back to our car. Then we drove to the Asheville, NC area to check into our B&B, the Honey Hill Inn in Candler. It was so perfect! I'm so glad we found this place and got to stay there. We just loved it! We rushed and got ready for dinner and we even had to push back our reservation at Cucina24 a bit. I went in to get our table while Rob looked for parking for about 40 minutes!!! Luckily they were so understanding and Rob is the most patient and calm man alive - I was losing it! It's worse than Chicago! The meal was certainly worth the wait. Probably the best meal I've had in months. We enjoyed local Greenman beers and started with the burrata app which was heavenly. Then we got a pork and veal potato gnocchi dish - AMAZING - and a pork belly dish. We wrapped up the meal with a complimentary dessert - olive oil cake with berries and ricotta. DIVINE! We couldn't get over how tasty the whole meal was! so perfect. Then we rushed off to a show at Isis Music Hall which was SO cool! Great venue! We saw the Stray Birds - bluegrassy folk. They were so talented and we just loved every minute of it. It was all around an incredible day! The next morning we enjoyed a delicious breakfast at the B&B before walking around their beautiful property. Then we got ready to go white water rafting! But first we stopped by White Duck Taco - foodie hot spot in the River Arts District in Asheville. We got 3 tacos and tried each of them. They were giant and so good! Then we went to the rafting post - we had to wait awhile for an obnoxiously late couple but they had goats on their property to keep me entertained. Then we headed to the French Broad River and started our journey. It was the most gorgeous day I can remember! The sun was shining and there was a gentle breeze. Our guide Noah was great - very informative and nice. We went through a couple of minor rapids and then they let everyone jump off some rocks into a deep part of the river. I opted out but Rob ofcourse did it twice and was so happy! We also got to float down the river together which was super fun! It made me so happy to see Rob's smiling face the whole ride! We did about 5 rapids that were either 2's or 3's. We got stuck a few times but that was even fun. We just loved it! After that we went back to the b&b to change and I napped before we headed to Greenman brewery for a few beers before dinner. it was a really cool setting and we got to sit outside and take a load off. Then we headed to downtown Asheville for dinner. We had a lot more luck with parking this time and we were able to get to our reservation at Curate early. It's a tapas restaurant and we tried all sorts of stuff - we had patatas bravas, jamon trio, manchego on tomato bread, garlic shrimp and asparagus with lemon. We loved the ham and manchego dishes best. We did find it to be a bit pretentious - she told us one of the hams came from a "blackfooted hog that only feasts on chestnuts" or something hilarious. We could barely keep straight faces but it did taste incredible! They also gave us a complimentary dessert - a crazy chocolate sculpture! After dinner we went to this crazy haunted forest near our hotel. It was so fun! The lady at the front called ahead to tell them we were from Chicago so they could add that into the act. One of the guys touched my hair which really threw me off because they definitely don't do that here! I was really really scared from that point on! The proceeds went to charity and all the villans had adorable southern accents - it was too fun! The next day we ate another amazing breakfast at the B&B and then checked out before hopping on the Blue Ridge Parkway to go hiking at the Graveyard Fields. It was such a gorgeous drive! We saw so many great leaves at the high elevation and so many great views. We made it to the fields and started hiking. We quickly found the lower falls which were awesome! Then we tried to find the upper falls but failed but enjoyed the views and scenery anyway! Then we hit the road for the airport had tbell for lunch - classy :) and then waited for our flight because it was a short delay. We made it home after a long day and Rob gave me the most beautiful diamond earrings and really sweet card before we went to Bistro Champagne for a romantic dinner. He had roses sent to the table for me! I'm SO spoiled! And they greeted us with complimentary champagne. So nice! They had all this cute fall harvest decor and we just loved it there. We enjoyed the baguette and butter and split a bowl of french onion soup. I got steak frites and Rob got a croque madame - his fav. It was so nice! It was such a special anniversary and I truly love Rob more and more as each day passes. I'm the luckiest.