BBQ

I'm in Dallas this weekend for work.
First, I am thankful for being in Dallas where it is 72 and sunny instead of in Chicago where it is cold and rainy.
Second, I am thankful for Texas BBQ! We went to a tasty little place last night for dinner and I was so amazed at my plate of food overflowing with meat that I completely forgot to take a picture of it. At this place, you walk through the line and tell the people what kind(s) of meat you want. Then, the friendly guy with the big knife cuts the meat off the slab for you and places it on a plate with a hot dinner roll. You then get to fill the small space left on your plate near the pile of meat with whatever vegetables you want. The best part? Homemade macaroni and cheese is considered a vegetable!! I grabbed a glass of sweet tea and sat down to dig in. Several times while eating, a lovely lady came around with a large basket full of rolls fresh out of the oven in case you somehow didn't have enough food to begin with. A sign of good BBQ? I only had to use my knife to butter my roll! It never touched my meat. The beef just pulled apart with a gentle touch from my fork. And, that's the other beautiful thing about Texas BBQ. BEEF!! Yum! After we shoved our faces with meat, we felt the need to have a little fruit. So, we got bowls of fresh, hot peach cobbler with huge scoops of vanilla ice cream.
I won't see anything else in Dallas because I will spend the rest of the weekend sitting in a hotel ballroom with no windows. But, I have successfully accomplished my one goal for this trip.

Fancy Candles

Monday was my friend E's birthday. She's now old like me. On Sunday, K and I found these cool candles at a store in the neighborhood so we decided that we had to have cupcakes to put the candles in and have a small celebration. The candle box said that the candles burned in different colors so of course we had to check them out.
The cupcakes. I had SO much fun doing these!

Having fun with E's new gorilla tripod thing.

The candles totally worked!!!

The birthday girl and her cupcakes.

Blowing out the candles.

One of my favorite places to be...

Is in Southern California. Specifially, San Diego! Specifically, San Diego beaches! I know, I am a bit biased because I spent so much of my life there, but if you've been there, you have to agree with me! I never realize how much I miss living near the ocean until I get to go back. Someone once told me that Lake Michigan was kind of like the ocean. let me tell you, the only things that they have in common are that they are big and they both involve water. I will have to confess that the actually beaches (meaning the area that is sand instead of water) around the lake aren't all that bad. They are good for playing volleyball and such and it's not like the actual sand in San Diego was really all that special. I was never really one for going in the ocean growing up. I didn't like that I couldn't see the bottom. But, there still is nothing like the ocean. I love the sound of it. I love the smell of it. I love how it is extremely powerful and yet completely peaceful at the same time.
I had the opportunity to head back to San Diego about a week ago and you can imagine how I jumped at every chance I got to be near the ocean. My first order of business when I landed in So Cal was to have dinner with my dear friend, Jen. As I was driving down the 5, admiring all the colors around me (it's been a bit gray here) I called Jen to see what she wanted to do for dinner. We had talked about going to a restaurant but I managed to talk her into picking up some take out and sitting down in the sand to eat and catch up. I really had to twist her arm to do this. Jen hates the beach! ;) Ok, so maybe, she's the one person I can think of that loves the ocean more than I do. So, she picked up a pizza (Pizza Port, if you are ever in the area, get some! SO GOOD), we met up and walked down to the sand. It was fabulous!
Dinner...

The View...

Is that you, Spring?

Apparently, spring finally decided to show up in Chicago this weekend. We're not holding our breath that it will stick around very long, but we enjoyed it while it was here! Saturday and Sunday of this weekend both involved time outside in the sun by the lake. It was cool enough you needed long sleeves, but the sun was out and we didn't care!
Iced coffee and bare feet. It doesn't get much better than this!

Look at those smiling faces! Sara and Kelly love the sunshine!!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Aliza!

This weekend, this little sweetheart turns 1. The lovely little dress I posted about awhile ago was a present for her and it made it in time for a little photo shoot today. Here are a couple of shots with the dress.




And this is just her being her cute little self. She is the most expressive little person!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALIZA!!!!!!

The Project

Along with hemming a few pairs of pants and taking in a jacket so it didn't look quite so much like I was wearing a box, I have completed my first full project with my lovely little sewing machine. Take a look...

First, there was the cutting out of the pattern. This part hurt my back because I don't have a large enough table and was spread out on the floor and all hunched over.

That pattern turned into all these pieces. Do you like how I artistically laid them all askew?

First step was to sew together the outside.

Second is to sew on the flap and put together the lining. It was about this time that my sewing machine and I had to have some words because it was not cooperating. Don't worry, I showed it who was boss!

Third, sew the lining in place. I realized here that when the instructions say to sew a 1/2 inch seam, they have a reason for it. Don't make the seam smaller just because you can. There was supposed to be some boning put in to help the purse keep it's shape but I couldn't make it work without taking everything a part so I will have to go back another time and fix it.

At this point, the purse looks pretty good, right?

However, a nice decorative button on the front really completes the look.

If you examine the purse closely, you can tell it was not done by a professional. But, overall, it's a very nice addition to a spring outfit. I'm pretty darn proud of myself!

I am in LOVE!

Actually, I am in love times two!

Today, I visited a little store called Harvest Time Foods for the first time. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but on the inside you will find a huge selection of produce, cheese, meat, etc and all at an extraordinary price. I don't know why I am so surprised that I enjoyed my short trip there. I have have multiple friends tell me how much they like it for one reason or another. I can't say I'll make it my main shopping place but it might have just become my favorite place for produce. The selection is one to rival Whole Foods except that the prices are much better while still retaining the quality.

My second love is an item that I found in the store. I purchased a bag of Multi-Grain Tostitos because I was hungry and still had to drive out to the airport in traffic and wanted something that I could snack on. I don't know if they are actually healthier than any other chip but I have managed to convince myself that since they have more than one grain in them, that must count for something. Regardless, they are some of the best chips I have ever had in my life! They are still light and crispy like a tortilla chip should be but they have a lovely, almost nutty flavor to them due to the multitude of grains packed in each one. I was eating them just plain but I can only imagine how divine they would be with some salsa. I had to put the bag away before I ate them all in one sitting. SO GOOD!!!