Entries Tagged as 'charlie'

Danny & Caroline’s Baby Shower

January 8th, 2012 · No Comments


The clothesline before everyone added their onesies.


Danny & Caroline


Caroline


“There is a Revolution Brewing in my diaper.” We got this onesie for the baby.


Wine for Caroline from Cousin. He also got Danny some beer! They’ll probably need it!


The clothesline after everyone added their onesies.

This past weekend Trent and Loden hosted a baby shower for Danny and Caroline. This was my second shower I went to for these guys. There was one around Christmas with Danny and Dallas’s family and was girls only, but this shower was more like a party with a bunch of friends that just happened to have some baby things. Loden had the cutest onesie decorations. She ironed on letters to spell out “B-A-B-Y H-A-R-A” and strung them up along the banister along with a bunch of blue balloons. Trent had a ton of beer and Loden set up a make-your-own-margarita stand and a a taco bar for dinner. Kristin brought guac and I brought cupcakes (more on that later). Everything was so delicious!


Doesn’t quite fit Cousin.

For a fun activity, Loden got a bunch of onesies and some fabric pens and paint and everyone at the party decorated a onesie for the baby. After a couple drinks these turned out pretty great. Mine is kind of an inside joke. At Caroline’s family baby shower I got her a bunch of Green Bay Packers baby things, much to Danny’s dismay. Caroline said that these things went missing and later on realized they were in the garage, where Danny said he “accidentally” “dropped” them. Um. Yeh.


Sugar Bear


Much excitement with two dogs, a turtle and a two-year old kid!

Halle was the only kid at the party and it was fun to hang out with her. Lately she is very shy when she first arrives, clinging onto Jill’s legs, but within about a half hour, she’s lively and talkative and not shy at all. Tent and Loden have two dogs, Charlie and Winston, and a turtle Sugar Bear. Halle has a big dog at home, Vegas, so she was really into the turtle. Like really into it. When Loden took him out of the tank and let him run around for a while, Halle just about lost her mind. It was so cute!!!

It was fun to spend time with everyone and see Trent & Loden’s new(ish) place. We also watched some football. Lions lost. HAHA, Ed. Nice to see Danny and Caroline again. They’re just about exactly one month out from becoming parents. Can you believe it?!? Caroline looks tiny! Before we knew it, it was 1 a.m. and we were still hanging out and talking. Time to go! Hopefully we’ll get to see Danny and Caroline again soon, but maybe not before the baby? We’ll see…

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Roundarch Team Dinner at Prosecco

August 29th, 2011 · No Comments

Last week we had a Roundarch team dinner at Prosecco, an Italian restaurant on the Near North Side. Prosecco has a huge selection of wine and one of the largest selections of Italian sparkling wine in Chicago.

I’d never been to Prosecco before and the menu online looked good, so I was excited to try this place. Upstairs the dining room was really pretty and brightly lit. Our private party was taking place downstairs in the private room/wine cellar.


Claire, Mark, Stella, Tony, Ryan, Adam, Marlena, Anjum


Wa-Jiw, Garrett, Bill, Ed, Doug


Ed, Doug

Before dinner we enjoyed some Italian wines, prosecco (of course), and Italian beer.


Claire, Bill, Tony, Adam, Anjum, Marlena

For dinner we were all seated at four tables. There were menus at the table and each course had several things listed.

Primi

  • Mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, carrots, red wine vinaigrette

Secondi

  • Rigatoni, pancetta, italian sausage, light tomato cream sauce
  • Risotto, sauteed beef tenderloin, diced tomatoes, fresh herbs, Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • Orecchiette, wild mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, asparagus, black truffle cream, shaved Grana Padano, white truffle oil

Terzi

  • Sauteed monk fish medallions, sauteed spinach, lobster sauce drizzle
  • Scaloppine of pork, cremini mushrooms, Prosciutto di Parma, Marsala wine reduction
  • Balsamic-marinated chicken breast, basil-bread crumbs, portabello mushrooms, fresh mozarella, Dolcetto d’Alba reduction, asparagus
  • Grilled egplant, fresh and smoked mozarella, tomato sauce

Quarti

  • Baked apple tart, caramel drizzle
  • Chocolate flourless cake, crema inglese, mixed berry sauce
  • Peach gelato and lemon-basil sorbet

I thought we would be choosing what we wanted from each course, but it ended up that they served everything family style.


Josh, David


Andrew, David


Wa-Jiw


Ben, Andrew


David, Ed

At my table was Josh, David, Wa-Jiw, Ben, Andrew and another David.


Stella, Charlie, Mark, Kelly, Doug, Garrett


Adam, Tony, Bill, Claire, Marlena, Anjum


Adam, Sean, Ryan, Eric, Scott, Ashanth, Teal

At one point I went and took a photo of the other tables.

Back at our table, our candles were really melting down! I guess we’d been there a while.


Josh


Josh


Josh

For some reason people at our table were discussing the things that should never be discussed at work outings: Politics and Religion.


Mark, Tony, Teal

The big bosses said a few words of thanks and appreciation.

Oh, and a few behind the scenes photos from a secret team project taken earlier in the evening:

Shhhhhhh!

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Roscoe Village Burger Fest

July 12th, 2011 · No Comments

Last Sunday I biked over to join Jen and Quinn at Roscoe Village Burger Fest. We decided to go early because it was supposed to be so warm. At 11:30 a.m. it was already in the 80s. Since there wasn’t a line by the ponies, Quinn took a ride there first. Then he had a turn on the bouncy castle. We were getting hungry, so we went through the fest a bit and bought some burgers. The good thing about Burger Fest is that a lot of the stands sell small sliders, so you can try a lot of burgers without stuffing yourself.


Goose Island Legendary Stilton Burger Slider (cracked pepper, roasted garlic, dusseldorf – $4)

Jen got the Murphy’s Slider (Irish cheddar, bacon, tomato bacon aioli, pretzel bun -$2) from Mrs. Murphy & Sons Irish Bistro and I got the Legendary Stilton Burger Slider (cracked pepper, roasted garlic, dusseldorf – $4) from Goose Island. This burger was awesome. The cheese and the roasted garlic were so rich and delicious. I also got a Leinies Classic Amber, maybe my first mistake of the day. It was, by then, in the 90s and I was so hot and sweaty. Plus I rode my bike there. I shouuld have been gulping water, not beer.


Hamburger Mary’s


Hamburger Mary’s Mighty Aphrodite Slider (stuffed with olives, spinach & oregano, with baby spinach onion & feta cheese – 2 for $6)

We also tried the Mighty Aphrodite Slider (stuffed with olives, spinach & oregano, with baby spinach onion & feta cheese – 2 for $6) from Hamburger Mary’s. This burger was good, but not amazing.


Quinn creating his masterpiece.


I told Quinn to make a Batman face.

Since it was so hot, we mostly chilled out under the kid’s art tent while Quinn worked on some projects. We didn’t stay long at the fest before walking back a few blocks to Jen and Chad’s house. Quinn had to go to a friend’s birthday party anyway. Also, their backyard was way cooler. It’s shaded and had a breeze. We needed to cool off. We were so hot, we didn’t even stop to see any of the gardens in the Roscoe Village Garden Walk on the way home, like we did last year.

When Jen took Quinn off to his birthday party, Chad and I headed back over to Burger Fest. We had roadie beers for the walk over and the tough security guard would not let us through with them. So we had to chug. Probably my second mistake of the day. Followed by much more beer hydrating.. let’s just say, I did NOT ride my bike home that night.

Chad and I stopped by the Village Tap stand. This is our favorite bar and we’d just been there on Friday night. Our waitress was telling us about the mediterranian burger they were going to sell. Chad and I stopped by and talked to the Village Tap owner to aks if the burger would be on their menu any time soon and the owner said it would be likely. So, we passed that one up, knowing we’d be eating it soon.


Murphy’s Slider (Irish cheddar, bacon, tomato bacon aioli, pretzel bun -$2) & Pulled Lamb Slider (Irish Whiskey BBQ sauce – $2)

On Jen’s recommendation, Chad went to the Mrs. Murphy’s & Sons Irish Bistro stand. He tried both the Murphy’s Slider (Irish cheddar, bacon, tomato bacon aioli, pretzel bun -$2) and the Pulled Lamb Slider (Irish Whiskey BBQ sauce – $2) there. He loved the slider, but not the lamb, and didn’t even finish it. I tried it too… very flavorless. Chad also had a Turkey Slider (gouda, onion jam – $4) from Goose Island, which he really liked.


John’s Place Cowboy Burger (1/4 pound angus beef burger, pub cheese, bacon-onion jam, bbq chipotle drizzle – $5)

John’s Place had a burger called the Cowboy Burger (1/4 pound angus beef burger, pub cheese, bacon-onion jam, bbq chipotle drizzle – $5) that was the Burger Fest winner last year, so I tried that. I was totally intrigued by the bacon-onion jam. The pub cheese was kind of cheez whizzy, but it worked. Added a nice creaminess that complimented the savory bacon and onions.

Trent and Loden recently moved to Roscoe Village and brought their doggies Charlie and Winston over to the festival. We sat for a bit and decided once again that we were too hot, so we headed back to Jen and Chad’s backyard, where it was much cooler.


Chad, Winston, Cortez, Drake


Drake, Jill, Halle, Charlie


Halle


Winston

Jill, Brian, Halle, and Limey met up with us there. We sat around the backyard watching the Cubs game, visiting, and drinking beer (mistake!). After a while Jen and Quinn came back. It was getting to be around dinner time, so we decided again to go back to Burger Fest. Everyone went over, except Jen, who smartly had enough of the heat and decided to stay home.


Goose Island


Goose Island Turkey Slider (gouda, onion jam – $4)

On my third trip to the fest that day I tried the Turkey Slider (gouda, onion jam – $4) from Goose Island that Chad was raving about.


Stanley’s Kitchen & Tap


Stanley’s Kitchen & Tap Roasted Corn Salad (chipotle, cilantro, onion – $2)

Also, my coworker Dave had told me that on Saturday he had the Stanley’s burger and corn side and both were good. It looked like they were only selling full-sized burgers and I was trying to avoid those, so I just got the corn side. It was light and fresh and just a bit spicy. Perfect for the hot weather. This was a good-sized side, so I passed it around to share and everyone really liked it.


Mrs. Murphy & Sons Irish Bistro – Murphy’s Slider (Irish cheddar, bacon, tomato bacon aioli, pretzel bun -$2)

I also tried the Murphy’s Slider (Irish cheddar, bacon, tomato bacon aioli, pretzel bun -$2) from Mrs. Murphy & Sons Irish Bistro. Many of us tried this slider and it was great, but the meat patty was a little small for the bun. But the bun was a pretzel roll, so we didn’t mind much. This was a delicious little slider.

So, after a while people were dispersing. I went back to Jen and Chad’s house because Chad had to drop Quinn off for bed. I was getting so tired. By then it was maybe 7:30 p.m.? And I’d been back and forth from the fest drinking beer and eating burgers and sweating my butt off in 90+ weather since 11:00 a.m. I was done! Chad was trying to get me to rally, saying that since I’d opened the fest that day, I needed to close it too, but I just couldn’t. Foghat was playing. Foghat. I was not rallying for Foghat. I took a cab home. My bike is still in Jen & Chad’s garage!

Oh, and the winner of Burger Fest? Each hamburger stand had a code on it and you texted your votes in. I thought that was a great idea. I voted for Goose Island because I enjoyed both of their sliders. Very good. But guess who won? STANLEY’S! The place Dave told me to get the burger from and I didn’t. Oh well. Mrs. Murphy’s & Sons Irish Bistro placed third, losing second place by only one vote! Select Cut Steakhouse won second place. I don’t think any of us even got a burger from that place! On a side note, Dallas used to live above Select Cut probably something like 10 years ago.

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Superbowl XLV – We Are The Champions!

February 7th, 2011 · No Comments

This year for the Superbowl my brother came down to visit and to go to Trent and Loden’s house for their party. For a half a second after we beat the Bears in the last game, I thought maybe Dallas and I should host a Superbowl party, but we’re leaving for Hawaii next week (!!!!) and we quickly came to our senses about the timing of that. We have enough plans and money and everything to worry about, no need to pile on a Superbowl party! We’d gone to Trent and Loden’s Superbowl party last year, though, and it was a lot of fun, so no need to worry. I knew they’d do it right. Actually, Dallas wasn’t feeling well, so he stayed home. Danny and Caroline came and picked my brother and I up and we were off.

I was surprised when we arrived because I didn’t know that Trent’s friend Andy was a Packers fan from Wisconsin! Limey was nice enough to take a photo of all the Packers fans together.


Caroline, Andy, Richard, Rachelle

Not a bad showing for a Superbowl party in Chicago!

Another great part of having parties at Trent and Loden’s house: They have a kegerator in their dining room! Yesterday Trent had Brooklyn Lager and Founders IPA on tap and it was awesome. I didn’t think I was going to drink on Sunday because of the weekend I had (more on that later), but the Brooklyn Lager was delicious.

Loden always makes such delicious food! This photo is of one of her specialties: Chocolate covered bacon! We also had pulled pork, mac & cheese, cheesy potatoes, baked beans, and taco dip that had crack in it. It had to be crack. So addictive. Ed also brought his famous S’Mores dessert. Loden’s friend Mike made this appetizer dip that was basically a vat of bubbling hot cheese. Of course, this made it onto the coffee table that the Packers fans were sitting around… along with a big bowl of cheese curds that my brother brought from Wisconsin. If that’s not enough, someone may have pushed off the tortilla chips and used cheese curds to dip into the hot cheese dip! Hey, we’re from Wisconsin. What can we say? We like cheese and cheese on cheese! (I have a photo of this somewhere, but I forgot to upload it.)

Loden asked me to bring dessert and I thought a long time about what kind of green and gold dessert or football-themed dessert to bring. I originally wanted to make football-shaped brownies, but couldn’t find a football cookie cutter without running around all over town. I ended up with these:

The colors are not quite right, but close enough. These were Zesty Lemon Bars and Lime Squares. I actually had to make the lemon bars twice because the first batch did not turn out. I used this recipe first. I should have known to never stray from Martha!

Charlie is Trent and Loden’s dog. He’s so nice and lovable. He is a Cockapoo. So soft and snuggly, he’s a huge baby. But so chill. Nothing phases him. Not even when his “sister,” Sugar Bear, gets out and wanders around the house:

Anyway, the game! OMG what a great game! This is the first Superbowl in a long time that I actually cared who won! Everyone was nice enough to let the Packers fans sit on the couch at the TV and watch the game. Other were mingling and eating snacks. A bunch of my friends were at first cheering so hard against the Packers, but eventually they just started cheering for their numbers. Dallas wasn’t even there and he won $200 in a Guthrie’s pool! Trent and Limey were also betting on everything. Who will score next, the next play will be a pass or not, who will fumble next, etc. I guess that’s what you have to do when you don’t care about the game. Limey did not come out ahead on all those bets!

I’m so happy the Packers won, I think it’s still sinking in! Packers are the Superbowl champions!

One more thing. I made a bet with Sean, an old NY blogging friend who is a huge Steelers fan. When I emailled him to “pay up,” he told me his wife gave birth to their baby boy yesterday! Their first born. What a gracious loser. He’s already posted to his blog!

I bet this is the last time he makes this sort of bet with someone who can do a bit of Photoshopping! hahahha

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Matt & Molly’s Wedding Dinner & Reception

June 21st, 2008 · No Comments


Nametags were hung outside the tent on a split-rail fence. When you located your tag you found out what what table you were sitting at. We were at lucky table #13.


Molly’s reaction to Matt’s dinner speech where he thanked everyone and especially honored Molly.


First Dance


A backlit DJ Joe Cool


Sarah, Adrian, Rachelle


Adrian’s Fiance Charlie, Sarah


Tom, Maureen


Bo, Sarah


Outside Looking In


Under the Big Tent

As everyone gathered into the tent where the dinner and reception was to take place, it started to rain. And then pour. And then DJ Joe Cool had to unplug all of his equipment because it was thundering and lightening so much that he thought he was going to get electrocuted. Still, no one was really freaking out. They put some flaps down on the tent, threw some mulch down to soak up the rain and wiped off the soaked dance floor. The heavy rain only lasted for maybe 15 minutes, but it was enough to drench a lot of the ground for the whole night. One good thing that came out of it was that it wasn’t just the really drunk people who fell down, everyone was slipping and sliding and had mud on them. There was one particular stretch of grass under the tent that was referred to as “Woodstook.” Unfortunately, that’s where my seat for dinner was located! The most muddy were the guys who decided to try to break dance. And probably Bo who tried many times to do a head spin.

I don’t want to put too much emphasis on the rain, though. It was a part of the night, sure, but no one was really too bothered by it. We all drank and sang and danced the night away without a care. DJ Joe Cool played until 1 a.m., an hour longer than most weddings go, I think. Which could explain how sloppy things got at the end.

I heard that DJ Joe Cool was well known in the area as being the best DJ. A lot of people at the wedding love him. In fact, Anne, one of the bridesmaids, lives in France and got married there.. and she flew DJ Joe Cool out to play at her wedding. Apparently people in her circle of friends in France still talk about him and what a great time they had. I thought DJ Joe Cool was pretty good. Kind of old school. Playing CDs. There was one part of the night where people were kind of annoyed because things like The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy From Company B should have been played at like 7 pm, not 11 pm, when a lot of the older folks had already left, but overall we had fun. He played a really diverse selection of music, although I think a lot of people would have preferred some more modern tunes. Then again, people were going crazy when he busted out 80′s. Also when he played Pour Some Sugar on me at like 12:30 am, people went ballistic. Followed up by some Guns n’ Roses? Joe Cool knew how to read and please a crowd.

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