Entries Tagged as 'caroline'

Rory’s First Birthday

February 18th, 2013 · 1 Comment

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Aunty Glenna, Kenji, Amanda and Tyler

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Caroline with Rory and her friend Kim. Kim’s daughter’s birthday is only two weeks from Rory’s.

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CJ
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Tyler

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Rory feeling skeptical about what’s about to happen.

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Maybe it’s ok.

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No, it is definitely NOT ok.

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Eddy was very willing to fill in! He’s one year older than Rory.

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Kenji blowing bubbles at me.

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Kenji
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Dallas & Quinn, Best Buddies

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Time for presents. Caroline and Rory had lots of help from the other kids at the party.

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Packers football! Who could that be from?

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Eddy wants to help!

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Chad, Ed, Dallas, Quinn, Jen

I can’t believe Rory can be a year old already, but this past weekend we celebrated his first birthday! Danny’s friend owns a cute little restaurant in Forest Park called Amelia’s and closed it down for the afternoon for the party. I was sort of dreading going to Forest Park, but it only took us about 20 minutes to get there from our house! The party was a fun mix of family and a bunch of our friends. Rory was not into the cake at all, but he seemed to like the opening of presents. Well, I think he liked the paper the best.

After the party we went to Danny and Caroline’s house in Oak Park to hang out some more. Somebody had to drink all the leftover beer and it might as well be us. And Ed! Rory missed his nap because of the party and somehow stayed awake and happy long into the night. And he did eat a bit of cake once the pressure was off and he was seated comfortably in his high chair at home.

Happy birthday, Rory!

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Yummy Treats!

December 23rd, 2012 · No Comments

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Salmon from Jordan and Liz and paleo snacks from Caroline and Jose!

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6th Annual Cookie and Tree Trimming Party

December 17th, 2012 · 1 Comment

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Caroline, Rory, Stephanie, Jessica, Mom

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Jen, Loden, Lisa, Jamie

On Saturday I hosted my annual cookie party. As was the case for several of the past years, the Roundarch holiday party was the night before. Luckily I was able to just about everything for the cookie party in the days leading up to it. That helped me let loose at the party, I was able to sleep in kind of late and still be ready in time. Also, I made sure alternate my drinks with a lot of water at the holiday party and then drink more water and more water when I got home! Unfortunately, my coworkers didn’t do this and none of them made it the next day! Six hours of open bar will really put you out if you don’t plan it right!

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Rory

This year there were a few cookie party first-timers, so that was fun. The people who’d been to my party several years in a row helped them along, though. Put out your cookies, label them, EAT! Last year Raiden was the only baby at the party and this year it was Rory! He was totally the life of the party!

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Emily, Jessica, Sara. Not posed. Totally candid. I swear!

To counterbalance all of the sweets, I also served dill dip with vegetables (no MSG!), goat cheese with roasted red pepper sauce, olives and pickles. Oh, and some almonds I roasted with chili powder and rosemary (recipe coming up!). If you’re interested in the dill dip, it’s here. As always, we also had hot apple cider (spiked or not) which Stephanie made and kept stocked. I think she might have been stocking it mostly for Jessica, though! It’s pretty much her favorite thing ever and she drinks at least a gallon! Also, I’m still using Julene’s Chicagoist recipe for the cider!

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Do we look taller? Older? (2011, 2010)

These were all the tasty treats we sampled:

Caramel Cashew Cookies (Jessica & Stephanie)
Chocolate Chip Cookies with Nutella and Sea Salt (Loden)
Chocolate Walnut Crunch Bars (Caroline)
Chris_mas Cookies (Lisa)
Christmas Kisses (Mary)
Cranberry Swirls (Sara)
Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Crescent Cookies (Jen)
Meltaway Cookies (Jamie)
New York Times Best Chocolate Chip Cookies (Emily)
Outrageous Chocolate Mint Cookies (Rachelle)
Pumpkin Pie Shots – With and Without Rum (Jessica)
Salted Chocolate Caramel Cookie Bars (Emily)
S’mores Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars (Amy)
White Chocolate Covered Cranberries (Rachelle)

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Me, Jessica, and Stephanie tabulating the winner!

Someone commented that last year there were a lot of cookies and candies that were very rich and decadent. This year there were more cookies that weren’t super sweet and that helped balance it out. Don’t get me wrong, though. There was still rich and decadent!

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Emily

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Emily won homemade vanilla extract and a cookie party cookbook.

And how did it all come out? This year every single cookie (except for my white chocolate cranberries) was written down at least one time as a favorite! So cool to see that everyone’s tastes vary so much. Some people love the thick and gooey cookies, some love the light and crisp kind, some love fruit, some love chocolate. But there were still clear favorites. Lisa brought her first cookie this year, and people loved her cookie, which she named Chris_mas Cookie, after her husband, Chris, who helped her make them. I thought Stephanie and Jessica were going to win with their caramel cashew cookie. This was the second most favorited cookie. But in the end the winner went to Emily, who was attending for the first time. Everyone loved her Salted Chocolate Caramel Cookie Bar. Congratulations, Emily! For winning, I gave Emily some vanilla extract that I made and a book I got printed of recipes and photos from past cookie parties.

I’m declaring the party a success again this year! I’ll post the recipes for the cookies soon!

5th Annual Cookie and Tree Trimming Party
4th Annual Cookie and Tree Trimming Party
3rd Annual Cookie and Tree Trimming Party
2nd Annual Cookie and Tree Trimming Party
1st Annual Cookie and Tree Trimming Party

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Back at The Tap

November 21st, 2012 · No Comments

Last night we caught up with friends at the Village Tap. I feel like we hadn’t seen the Tap crew for so long so it was great to catch up, even on a busy week.

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No, that is not really how Dallas holds babies!

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Early Thanksgiving Dinner

November 18th, 2012 · No Comments

Dallas had to work all weekend, but Caroline convinced me to go to early Thanksgiving dinner at Aunty Laura’s anyway. Fun catching up with everyone!

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