Entries Tagged as 'brad'

Christmas Dinner at Aunty Gail’s

December 28th, 2011 · No Comments


Brad, Amanda, Dallas, Aunty Gail


Doug, Tyler, Uncle BB, Eddy, Naoko, Aunty Laura


Brad & Aunty Glenna


Rachelle & Eddy


Heather & Eddy


Tommy & Mitch

On Christmas day we always go to Dallas’s Aunty Gail’s house out in Mount Prospect, IL. Every year Aunty Gail makes beef tenderloin, mashed potatoes, corn, green bean casserole and her mom’s lettuce/mayo/crab/pea salad. It never varies. Dessert varies because other people always bring different desserts, but Aunty Gail always makes her signature cookies. This year Naoko made a super light and airy cheesecake (usually it’s so dense and filling!), a chocolate cake and cream puffs. Naoko’s desserts are always fabulous, but Dallas and I both commented together about how great the cream puffs were. The custard was so delicious. Heather and I each brought candy trays. Mine should look familiar, since I’ve been featuring all the candy recipes here last week.


Christmas Dinner


Christmas Desserts


Kenji


Kate & Tommy


Kate, Ben, Tommy, Derek

This year there were relatively few (only 18!) people over for dinner. I think it’s the first year that we could all sit at the long table. The first year that I didn’t sit at a kiddie side table! After dinner, many other family members came over and we had the gift exchange. Every year Aunty Gail tells you a thousand times, “$10 gift bag, no junk, no junk!” Ok. Well, what can you really get for $10 that is not junk? This year she finally increased the limit to “$20 gift bag, no junk, no junk.” To be honest, I think I was already spending $15 on the gift bags anyway. And actually, the price increase helped a lot. There were many good gifts, and no junk, Aunty Gail, no junk.


Back: Uncle Neil, Uncle Peggy, Miko, John, Derek. Front: Winnie, Ben, Kyle, Kate.


Uncle BB, Aunty Glenna, Brad, Amanda, Tyler, Aly, Adam


Back: Jeff, Heather, Aunty Gail, Eddy, Doug, Naoko. Front: Chris, Mitch, Kenji, Tommy.


Back: Eddy, Mitch, Tyler, Chris, Derek, Ben. Front: Kenji, Kate, Tommy.


Eddy, Mitch, Tyler, Chris, Derek, Ben, Kate, Tommy, Kenji


Marty, Uncle Sonny, Brian


Siblings: Uncle Sonny, Aunty Laura, Uncle BB, Aunty Gail, Uncle Neil


Siblings: Uncle Sonny, Aunty Laura, Uncle BB, Aunty Gail, Uncle Neil


Uncle Sonny, Aunty Laura, Uncle BB, Aunty Glenna, Aunty Gail, Aunty Peggy, Uncle Neil


Rachelle, Aunty Laura, Dallas


Brad, Aly, Dallas


Trying to get all the cousins in one shot.


May be more difficult than the kids!


Someone with Heather’s camera got this good shot I snagged. Back: Marty, Winnie, Kyle, Brian, John, Doug, Dallas, Amanda, Brad, Heather, Jeff. Front: Naoko, Miko, Aly, Rachelle.

This year all of the golfers were fighting over a package that they thought were a pair of golf gloves. Dallas ended up with it in the end and guess what? It was a Coach key chain. Score for me! When it was Winnie’s turn to pick a gift she let one of the kids pick and they picked a very large box, which is not ideal because she lives in California and would have to travel home. So when it was my turn to pick I took her big box. It ended up being an amaryllis bulb, which I’ve always wanted to try growing, so score again for me! There were a few boxes and tiny gift bags that people thought were going to be bags of rice. Usually Aunty Gail will put a few pieces of rice in a Ziploc and wrap it and then the gift is 20 pounds of rice. Dallas always wants this gift because it’s something he can actually use. Most of the small, light gifts this year turned out to be gift cards. Aunty Gail’s gift was actually a Shake Weight that Aunty Glenna got. I don’t know how there are no photos of her, or the many people who tried it out, but it was hilarious, as you can imagine.


Aly & Eddy


Gift Exchange


Eddy playing with the Potty Putter.

As always, amazing to see how the family is growing every year. And great to visit with everyone!

Previous Christmases at Aunty Gail’s:

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Roundarch Holiday Party

December 5th, 2011 · No Comments


Roundarch Holiday Party at ZED451

Some highlights from the buffet


Geoff, Jim & Jeff thanking everyone for coming to the party.


Awesome fire!


Kelly, on the right.


Ashanth & Dallas catching up and drinking the mojito bar dry.


Roundarch Holiday Party at ZED451

This year the Roundarch holiday party was at ZED451. I’d never been there, but really liked it. Roundarch basically took over the whole first floor and the second floor was someone else’s holiday party. I really loved the space. It was very warm and inviting. The colors were very rich and the fire was an awesome touch.

ZED451′s main dining room area had this HUGE round buffet. We thought it was one of the biggest buffets we’ve been to, not counting Las Vegas. There was everything on this buffet: shrimp, crab, poke, charcuterie, all the cheeses, duck pastrami. Craziness. It was so good. ZED451 is kind of like an upscale Brazilian steakhouse where they come to your table and offer you all sorts of meats, which they cut off right in front of you. Since this doesn’t scale, they cut all the meat ahead of time and skewered it and there were guys constantly offering you choice cuts of “aged 48 hours blah blah blah.” Point is, it was delicious. There were all kinds of steak, a Mediterranean chicken, fish, etc.

The party was, of course, open bar. And a nice touch was the mojito bar where you could get all kinds of different mojitos: blackberry, pineapple, cucumber, blueberry, cranberry, etc. I had to try hard to keep myself in check, something which Dallas did not do! But that’s ok. I was the one with big plans (cookie party) the next day, not him.

Roundarch never skimps on their holiday parties and this year was no exception. We had a fun time talking to all of my coworkers and their guests. Dallas got to catch up with the people from my office he doesn’t get to see much. Great time! Oh, and here’s a photo my coworker, Rose, took of Adam, Brad and me:


Rachelle, Adam, Brad. Gray is the new black!

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Goodbye Cory & Chris

October 10th, 2011 · No Comments


The truck was just a little bit gigantic!


Cory, Chris & Aunty Laura strategizing.


Doug played a lot of box Tetris inside the truck. Danny did a lot of heavy lifting.


Brad, Danny, Doug, Chris, Uncle BB, Kevin, Aunty Gail, Eddy, Bonnie


Tommy and Kenji had a ball running up and down the ramp. Look at mean Uncle Danny, though. He made them stop.


Meanwhile their brother Eddy chilled out with their grandma in the middle of the chaos.


Steve, Kevin, Doug, Chris, Danny, Uncle BB, Jeremy


Full truck. Time to make some tough decisions about what goes, what stays! Doug, Kevin, Chris, Steve


Eddy was born in January, Tyler in August. So much bigger than even a month ago!


Cory & Me. Some family members wouldn’t talk to me with that shirt on, but the game was that night!

On Sunday Cory and Chris had a Load The Truck/Moving party. Chris got a job in Vail, CO and actually left more than a month ago to work there. In the meantime, Cory packed up all their things. Chris came back this weekend to get her and all their stuff. They rented a truck and are driving out to Vail with their dog, Zoe.

I arrived to the party about an hour late and thought I would have missed a big chunk of the loading, but the truck wasn’t even there yet! And there were only about 8 people and 3 of them were pregnant (Caroline, Toni, Chris’s sister)! There was so much stuff, I thought we would be there all night. Slowly people showed up, all hoping they’d missed the bulk, but they did not! Aunty Laura said that is how the family works, but reminded me that Cory is a part of the family too and she knows that about everyone! haha. It turned out that everyone did their fair share of heavy lifting… well, except the pregnant girls, babies, and older aunties.

Dallas was on a flight to South Carolina for work, so I was there on my own and was willing to do whatever I needed to. Cory helped us when we moved to Roscoe Village and she and Chris have helped us with other things on numerous occasions, so we owed them that. Luckily it went pretty fast once we got going. I don’t think everything made it into the truck, though. I was sort of hoping the bike roof rack wouldn’t make it or this cool trunk they have wouldn’t and I’d be forced to take it for…. safe keeping.. but alas, those things fit in. They’ll be towing a car on the back of the truck, so hopefully they can fit some things in there too.

After the moving was done, we all had dinner. Aunty Laura made a whole spread of her famous flank steak, chili, salad, mac n cheese, cone sushi, char sui, and all sorts of things. Naoko made an Italian cream cake and like always, it was delicious!

Good luck, Chris and Cory! You guys will be missed!

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Doug & Naoko’s Labor Day Party

September 4th, 2011 · No Comments


Yesterday we went to Doug & Naoko’s annual Labor Day barbecue. Dallas and I hadn’t seen the Chicago suburbs family since New Years Day! Actually, Aunty Gail was at our wedding, but everyone else… it had been a long time. I don’t know how 8 months flew by, but it was good to see everyone.


Heather & Tyler, Rachelle & Eddy

It was not so long ago that Heather’s kids were the youngest in the family. SO not the case these days. Her oldest Chris is the same age as my niece Stephanie: 15. Her younger boy Mitch is 12 (I think?). I remember saying something to Chris about “when you were 9 blah blah blah.” Then thinking “9? no way!” But it’s true. I have known those kids, this family, for more than 7 years now.

At the barbecue, I met the two newest members of the family. Tyler is Brad and Amanda’s baby and is one month old. Eddy is Doug and Naoko’s youngest and is 8 months old.


Aunty Glenna, Cory, Caroline, Naoko, Rachelle, Aunty Laura, Amanda, Heather

Many of the ladies of the family. Aunty Glenna is celebrating her 30th wedding anniversary with Uncle BB today and is a brand new grandmother. Cory is moving to Vail in a month or two. Her husband Chris is already there. Caroline is pregnant and due February 10th. Naoko has 3 sons – Tommy is 5, Kenji is 2, and Eddy is 8 months. Me, newlywed. Aunty Laura is expecting her second grandchild in February. Everyone thinks it will be a boy. All of the kids of that generation are boys (except 1? Kate?) Amanda just had baby Tyler a month ago. Heather likes to hold babies (holding baby Tyler in this photo).


Sal, Brad, Danny

A bunch of the guys golfed all day. Aunty Gail was with them too. I heard she was the best golfer of the bunch. Probably the most sober too. Coincidence? After golfing I found a bunch of the guys standing around by the grills. Typical. Danny will forever be the designated grill chief now. They know he worked in a vegetarian restaurant, right?


Caroline, Aunty Laura, Aunty Glenna, Cory, Heather, Tyler, Amanda (hiding behind flowers), Aly, Aly’s boyfriend, Naoko manning the stove

From the grill area I took this spy cam photo of the kitchen. I think only Aly saw me!

In the living room Ghostbusters was on. I thought this was a perfectly innocent movie, but the kids started getting all riled up saying there were ghosts in the basement and running after each other acting like ghosts. Some parents were worried their kids were going to have nightmares. A while later the TV was switched to college football.

Another shot of the living room. I can count about 10 kids in this photo. There were even more at the party. See what I’m saying about Mitch and Chris not being the kids any more? In this photo of my first Labor Day BBQ at Doug & Naoko’s there are 3 kids. Joey and Marietta’s two girls and baby Vince (Matt & Jen). If you add on Chris and Mitch, that’s 5. That number has at least tripled, I think. Well, and it’s not all family. Doug and Naoko’s friends have a lot of kids now too.

Even though there were 8 kids on the couch, Dallas and Sal still caught some ZZZZs. Not when Charlotte (Sal & Kim’s) took a liking to Dallas though. She’s the girl laying down on the right side of the photo with the navy and striped dress on. I was sitting out in the screen porch and every time I looked into the living room she was climbing on his shoulders, putting a stuff animal on his head, sticking her fingers in his face, etc. Once she was even giving him a back massage. Who’s this girl?!?! hhaha. Dallas said that Charlotte was calling him Uncle Joey for a while. Because he looks so much like Joey, a tall white blonde. See the 5th photo down, here. When Kim told her to tell Dallas goodbye as they were leaving she said “Bye, Alice!” So funny.

All in all another great barbecue. Noako put out some delicious food, as always! Great to see everyone again.

Doug & Naoko like to have a Labor Day party every year. Here are some photos from years past:

- 2005: we played a lot of horseshoes
- 2006: Jordan brought fresh smoked salmon from Alaska. He’d just been on a trip there.
- 2007: No Party? Or just no photo or post?
- 2008: Lots of kids. First year I noticed that?
- 2009: Also celebrated Aunty Gail’s retirement. One more photo from that year.
- 2010: Doug & Naoko have a new house

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Built in Chicago Launch Party

June 24th, 2011 · No Comments

Built in Chicago is a site that was created about 8 months ago and is a resource for digital professionals working and building great web and mobile businesses in Chicago. Last night I attended their launch party with Jess and Alden. Tribeca Flashpoint sponsored the event and it was held in their space at the Merchandise Mart. There was a $10 admission fee, but once you were in, it was all free drinks and snacks.

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The beer sponsor was Finch’s Beer Co. Ok. But made in Chicago? How have I never heard of them? I asked the servers and they said that Finch’s has only been in production for about 8 weeks and that it is based out of the Albany Park neighborhood. Interesting. I had two Golden Wing blond ales and Jess and Alden both had the Cut Throat pale ale. We all liked the beer and when I tweeted about it, Chuck declared that the blonde will be the beer of this summer.

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Ok. So, enough about the beer. The Built in Chicago event was basically a mixer. It reminded me of Tech Cocktail, but with more suits and more gray hair. A grown up Tech Cocktail? I mean, even Ron May showed up at the end (blerg!). I talked to people I knew from various stages of my “past lives” – Chicagoist, FeedBurner, Google – and also from past Tech Cocktail events. It was nice to see people I hadn’t seen for quite a while (Kevin – from Google & now heading up the Chicago Entrepreneurial Center , Sean – from Chicagoist, now at Have My Shift, Brad – from my Chicagoist days, now at Appolicious, and Blagica from all over? :) ) Also nice meet some new people, too.

I like how Built in Chicago seems like more of an ongoing thing. Like, sure, they’ll have these face-to-face networking events occasionally, but you don’t just go away after that and see people at the next event. Built in Chicago is also a whole social networking site for like-minded interactive people in Chicago. I think it should be a bit easier to keep in the loop and keep in contact with people. Looking forward to seeing how this all evolves.

PS. At the end of the night Alden and I met up with Dallas at the Boiler Room and guess what kind of beer I noticed they had on tap? Finch’s! So I had another Golden Wing. Maybe this will be the beer of the summer.

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