Happy 1st Birthday Gunnar

Yesterday was Gunnar's 1st birthday. John and Kirstin had us and some of their friends over for cake and fun. Here are some of the pictures of Gunnar and his smash cake. Too cute. 

"How amazing you're already one. What a precious person you've become." - Unknown

Paul McCartney Concert

Last night Meg, Cherie, Ian, Jay, and I listened to the Paul McCartney concert on Jay and Ian’s roof deck in Wrigleyville. Ian and Meg planned a delicious barbecue. It was great because we could here the concert so well, but were also able to sit around and talk.

The set list was well-rounded with the highlight of course being Hey Jude. It was pretty amazing to think about the fact that we were listening to Paul McCartney sing Hey Jude even though we couldn’t see him.

Concert Fireworks

Such a fun night! I just wish I didn’t have to work today, because I was so tired!

“And anytime you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain,
Don’t carry the world upon your shoulders.
For well you know that it’s a fool who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder.” - Paul McCartney, Hey Jude

I Met Mike Wolfe

It was meant to be. So, Zach and I DVR American Pickers every week and we just happened to be watching it on Friday night. Even though we fast forward though the commercials Zach saw an ad that caught his eye and went back to it. It was an ad for a Mike Wolfe appearance at the Arlington Heights Goodwill the next day. Fate.

So we decided to go and got there around ten (when it was supposed to start) and the line was already curving around the building. We had to wait an hour and a half, but it was worth it.

He was so nice, gracious, and handsome! And he gave me a hug! He looks exactly like he does on the show and was willing to sign two things for us (one of which is a surprise for my mom, hehe).

Post Hug Glow

Signing the Autograph

The American Pickers van was even there. So cool. Best day ever.

Zach the Good Sport

Me as a Picker

“Think it will fit in the van?” - American Pickers

Reel Big Fish Concert

Last Tuesday Zach and I went to House of Blues to see Reel Big Fish. It was a great concert and I even liked the opening bands.

We missed the first opener (The Maxies) because we were too busy eating at the HOB restaurant and I was too busy spilling pesto all over my skirt. Oh well it's dark at HOB.

The second band was called Rodeo Ruby Love and it was about the cutest band I’ve ever seen. They looked like they were in high school, but their songs were really good. I can’t wait for Zach to download the CD for me. 

Rodeo Ruby Love

Streetlight Manifesto was next and the other headliner. They have a good sound, but they're not really my style of music. I didn’t hate it though.

Streetlight Manifesto

Reel Big Fish played an awesome set. I was worried because I don’t really know any of their new stuff, but I knew pretty much every song. I was very excited because they played my three favorite songs:  "Good Thing," "The Set Up," and "Where Have You Been?"

Reel Big Fish 

We had a great spot to stand the whole concert, in the balcony front and center. I haven't been to a concert in so long and this reminded me how fun they are. Can't wait to go to another one soon. The Voice Live anyone. Just kidding, but not really.

“Are these the good days that I’ve heard so much about - there goes the heartbreak that I can live without.” - Reel Big Fish, Good Thing 

4th of July Weekend

Here’s what I did with a beautiful long weekend in Chicago:

On Friday I met Kirstin and Gunnar in the square at Paciugo for some gelato. After work John joined us and we went to Opart Thai House for dinner. It reminded me of Hilary, because I went there with her once and she is in Thailand.

On Saturday I read a lot in the afternoon. Totally hooked on our current book club selection The Paris Wife by Paula McLain. In the evening Zach and I went out to dinner at Pitchfork with Mark. Apparently, I didn’t like it before because they only had one veggie option on the menu, but this time I had the most amazing portabella mushroom sandwich ever. Pretzel bun, portabella mushroom, arugula, grape tomatoes, and feta cheese. I can’t wait to go back.

On Sunday Zach and I went to see Larry Crowne, because I couldn’t resist. Whatever critics, I thought it was magical. Then, we met John, Kirstin, and Gunnar at the park for some swinging.

We also went over to their apartment later to grill out.

On Monday we all went to Lake Bluff to Kirstin’s cousins Jessica and David’s place. We got to see a fun parade and play with baby Gunnar and Jessica and David‘s baby daughter, Ela. So much fun.

At the Parade

Zach is now known as the baby whisperer, because while everyone was getting lunch ready the babies were crawling all over him.

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Happy 4^th of July everyone. 

“There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.” - Bill Clinton

Happy 30th Birthday Zach

Unlike my birthday, Zach went to work on his (which I guess most adults do). We went out to dinner at Dixie Kitchen in Evanston. Great food, fun atmosphere, and I had fried green tomatoes for the first time.

Last night we went to Garcia’s with John, Kirstin, and Gunnar. I took my favorite picture of Gunnar ever. Kirstin decided he is going to play Billy Elliot one day.

"Everything I know I learned after I was thirty." - Georges Clemenceau

Door County, Wisconsin

Monday June 20th 

Early in the morning Zach and I dropped Scooter off at Paws and Claws and hit the road. The first stop on our tour of Wisconsin was Green Bay. 

We got to our hotel early, but they gave us an early check in. The Aloft hotel was an excellent hotwire find. It was the coolest (smallest, but coolest) room I have ever stayed in.

Then, this Vikings fan and a Bears fan headed over to Lambeau Field. What else are we going to do in Green Bay?

We ate lunch at the restaurant in the field, Curly’s Pub. Delicious beer cheese soup. We tried to go on a tour of the field, but the tours were filled until the very last one. 

This is All We Saw of the Field

Instead we went to the Packer’s Hall of Fame, which was interesting to say the least. We took some pictures with life-sized football player statues.

We also bitterly saw the current super bowl trophy. 

After that we went to the mall because we didn’t have much else to do. There was a movie theater right there so we decided to take go see Super 8, which wasn’t super great. 

For dinner we went to Titletown Brewing Company. We had a nice view of the bay and got to play foosball.

Good clean Green Bay fun. On to Door County tomorrow. 

Tuesday June 21st 

The first thing we tried to do in Door County was go to Al Johnson’s Restaurant in Sister Bay to see the goats on the roof, but guess what? No goats. I told Zach we couldn’t possibly eat there if there were no goats, so we’d have to come back. Instead we ate at the Bayshore Tavern, which was in Fish Creek near our hotel.


Then, we checked into the Homestead Suites and got settled in our lovely suite (hours of research of every single hotel in Door County all worth it).


We left to go to the winery, which is discussed in another post because it is on life list. After some samples we had a little time before dinner, so we checked out a few of the many thousands of gift shops in Door County.

Dinner was great. We ate at the Gibraltar Grill, which wass right across the street from our hotel. We ate on the patio. It was mostly closed in, but there was a cool breeze coming through the covering. There was a big fire that kept us warm and provided wonderful atmosphere.

My Favorite Picture from the Trip

Wednesday June 22nd 

Another day in Fish Creek. We'd already bought tickets to the 10:15am trolley tour when we were at the winery, so that was the first thing on the agenda.

Our tour was narrated by Bob, who was funny and not super cheesy. We learned some interesting facts about Door County and drove through Peninsula State Park.

Then, it was back to the state park for a ten mile bike ride. We saw some truly beautiful views.

The Bluff

Lake Michigan

Halfway along the bike trail we arrived at the Eagle Bluff Lighthouse right as they were starting a tour, so we decided to jump in. It was the only way to see in the house, which was very cool. However, we forgot that we were renting the bikes by the hour. 

We skipped lunch and were at a weird meal time, so we decided to grab a snack of cheese curds and quesadillas at Julie's next door to our hotel and I got to sit in the big chair.

My Version of Edith Ann

For dinner we went to a place called Wild Tomato and had a really good brick oven pizza.

Thursday June 23rd 

Sometime in the middle of the day on Wednesday our car alerted us that one of our tires was low. We filled it up, but on Thursday it was low again. Guess we had a leak. We were able to get into a mechanic in Sister Bay and they fixed it for twelve dollars. No joke. Vacation crisis averted.

While we were waiting to get our tire fixed we had time for lunch. We went to Al Johnson’s to see if the goats were on the roof and sure enough they were. We stopped to get food and take some pictures. 

Zach and His Troll Girlfriend

We spent the rest of the afternoon antique shopping in Egg Harbor. Then we went to Shipwrecked Brewery for dinner, which is the only brew pub in Door County. 

Friday June 24th 

We didn’t want to leave Door County without trying some of the famous coffee, so we went to the Blue Horse Coffee Shop. 

Faces in the Foam

Then, we drove to Milwaukee for our final night of the trip. The plan was to do some shopping, go out to dinner, and watch the Twins vs. Brewers game on TV, because we didn’t want to spend the money and deal with the hassle of actually going to the game.

But that problem was solved when all of a sudden my parents knocked on our hotel room door. They completely surprised me (Zach knew all along) with tickets and a ride to the game. Amazing.

The game was eventful. I won a Twins bear in the crane and of course there was the famous sausage race. Unfortunuately, the Twins lost 4-3.

Bratwurst in the Lead

What a great end to a great vacation. Where to next?

“The alternative to a vacation is to stay home and tip every third person you see.” - Author Unknown

Memorial Day Weekend in Minneapolis

What a great long weekend and welcome to summer. Zach, Scooter, and I drove up to Minnesota on Saturday, because my parents had great tickets to the Twins game and we hadn’t been to Minneapolis since Christmastime.

Saturday before the game we went out to eat at Darby O’Ragans, which I think is a hilarious name for a restaurant, but the food was really good. Then we stopped for a picture. 

Our seats were amazing. They were in the Legend’s Club, which is a private section in between the upper and lower decks. There were no lines at the concessions and Twins artifacts everywhere. Thanks mom and dad!

To make the experience even better, my dad knew the cameraman that was right behind us and got Zach and I on kiss cam. 

Lifelong Dream Realized

The Twins came out on top of the pitcher’s duel and a man dressed as a mouse ran onto the field after the game. Best game ever.

On Sunday afternoon we went to a fun barbecue at Leah’s parents house and saw her and Blake’s new apartment. And then we went out to dinner at Keegan’s with Johannah and Ryan. So great to see all my Minnesota friends. 

Back in Chicago on Monday we had a nice Memorial Day picnic with John, Kirstin, and Gunnar. The boys played catch and Frisbee and the girls played with the baby.

After a weekend like that I would have hated going back to work today except for the fact that I’m almost done!

“How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!” - Maya Angelou

Farewell to The Oprah Winfrey Show

I started watching The Oprah Winfrey Show my freshman year of high school. I’m sure I didn’t understand much about the topics, but I just loved her.

Since I moved to Chicago I was fortunate enough to attend two tapings. The first was with Liz and featured Hilary Duff, Enrique Iglesias, and Gwen Stefani. The second was last year with Whitney and featured Mary J. Blige and Malaak Compton-Rock, Chris Rock‘s wife. That show was the only Sunday taping in Oprah Show history and they sat us in the front section because I said “yes” when the audience booker asked if I was a Mary J. fan.

I learned so much from the show over the years: I read many great Oprah Book Club Books, I learned what it means to live in the present, I learned to listen to myself, and I learned that anything is possible. In fact, today on her final show she said that she was just turning thirty when she moved to Chicago. That shows me that my life is just beginning and that I can accomplish whatever I put my mind to. 

The Oprah Winfrey Show was the best produced show on television and will leave a huge hole in our Chicago hearts. Oh well there is still O Magazine.

“Don’t waste any more time. Start embracing the life that is calling you and use your life to serve the world.” - Oprah Winfrey on her final show

Chicago Dogs

Today, Zach, Ryan, and I had a delicious lunch at Hot Doug's. 

Best Hot Dog in Chicago

Hot Doug’s is the only place I know of where you can get a vegetarian Chicago style hot dog, which was a delicacy I thought I'd never get to enjoy until I went to Doug’s.

The only downside? The long wait, especially on a chilly day like today, but it's all part of the experience. 

My other favorite Chicago hot dog?...

And my favorite Chicago dog?...

"The noblest of all dogs is the hot dog; it feeds the hand that bites it." - Lawrence J. Peter 

Happy Mother's Day

I want to wish all the mothers out there a very Happy Mother’s Day. I hope every mother feels appreciated and special today (and everyday).

To my mom: I wish I could be there to celebrate you in person. I hope you did something nice for yourself today. If not I'm sure Herbergers is having a sale. But for real, you are the best mom anyone could ask for.

Can you believe that Scooter didn’t get me anything? 

Three Generations

“I love my mother as the trees love water and sunshine - she helps me grow, prosper, and reach great heights.” - Terri Guillemets

Happy (Early) 30th Birthday Kirstin

Last night Zach, Scooter, and I went over to John and Kirstin’s to celebrate Kirstin’s 30^th birthday. They will be in Minnesota on her actual birthday, so we had to celebrate a little early.

We were lucky to get to there early enough to spend some time with baby Gunnar before he had to go to bed. Scooter gave him some very sweet kisses and I am extremely disappointed that I didn’t get a picture.

Instead, here is a picture of dad and son reading bedtime stories.

After Gunnar went to sleep we ate a nice dinner and had a mini birthday cake that turned all of our teeth blue. 

Not bad for a quiet Sunday evening. 

“All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much.” - George Harrison

Weekend with Friends

Friday night after work Zach and I went to play trivia at Buffalo Wild Wings with Chris and Mark. Check out the scoreboard for the last game. SCOOTR=Zach, FERRET=Kerry, OMEGA=Mark. I would’ve won overall if I’d listened to what my dad always says and “bet it all” on the final question.

I also wanted to document the funniest conversation of the evening that occurred after a trivia question about Tina Fey…

Mark: Tina Fey has been married to the same man for sixteen years.
Kerry: I’ve been married to Zach for almost four years.
Mark: I’ve been married to any number of women for any number of years.

(I did fact check this later and Tina Fey has been “with” the same man for sixteen years, married for ten)

If you know Mark it’s hilarious. True story.

On Saturday I had the best time. Mahrya was in town from St. Louis, so us girls decided to get together. Colleen came into the city and we all met downtown by Meg’s place. We caught up over a lovely brunch at Yolk. It’d been so long since I’d seen Mahrya or Colleen that it was delightful to talk, reminisce, and laugh a lot. 

"We are so Lipstick Jungle right now. So Cashmere Mafia."

After brunch we walked to Millennium Park, because Mahrya had never seen the bean. 

Pretty soon it started to rain, so we went to a restaurant on Michigan called Sweet Water and just hung out and talked until the rain stopped. We put Mahrya in a cab (when we told her that cab drivers have to accept credit cards, she asked “they have to take you to a credit card device?”), so she could meet up with Dave for awhile. 

Then we went back to Meg’s place and ordered Connie’s Pizza. I have to admit that I’m a bad Chicagoan because I have never had it outside of at a baseball game. Colleen, good call on adding spinach to the cheese pizza, it was amazing.

Sadly, Colleen had to leave, but Mahrya came back with Dave and I was able to convince Zach to come down, so we had a couples hang out for awhile and watched the Cubs game.

I wish everyone lived closer, because it was so great to hang out with people who really get me. We missed you Anna and Cherie.

Thanks everyone for a wonderful weekend.
　
“The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.” - Elizabeth Foley