Dallas and I and a few of our other friends went to the event. It was so great to see all of the Chicagoist alum there. Some I hadn’t seen for years and it was so nice catch up and see what everyone’s been up to. Others I see a bit more frequently, but it was still great to see everyone. What a walk down memory lane. At one time in my life, a few years ago, I was in daily, heck, hourly, constant contact with these folks. I hope it’s not another few years before I see everyone again!
I also got to meet Nick, who is the editor at Grub Street Chicago. He and his wife live in our neighborhood and we spent some time talking about all the restaurants in Logan Square – what’s good, what’s bad, what’s opening, what’s closing. Hope to bump into them around the neighborhood.
Chuck’s beer (that’s what I’m calling it now) was really good. Very citrusy. I’m not all that familiar with saison beers, but I thought this was tasty. Dallas drank about 6 of them, so I’d say he liked it a little bit . Sai-Shan-Tea is being sent to the Great American Beer Fest in Denver for award consideration and I sure do hope they win!
Front: Killian, Dallas Back: Lisa, Jess, Brian, Stephanie, Andrea
Stephanie & Rachelle
Crazy Tall Bike
Bike Powered Bubbler
Sign at the crazy bike corral entrance.
Rachelle
Stephanie
Stephanie & Rachelle
Stephanie & Rachelle
Rachelle
After the Tour de Fat bike parade, Jen and Quinn had to head out but the rest of us went over to Palmer Square for the Tour de Fat festival. Last year we had just a few people with us at Tour de Fat, but this year we had something like 10, plus we ran into our condo neighbors and hung out with them. Last year Brian, Dallas and Killian’s friend from college, drove in from out of town for the event and has so much fun that this year he brought his wife with him.
There were a few new things at Tour de Fat this year, but generally things were the same as last year. Same crazy bikes, some of the same music and performance acts. Dallas wished they had switched it up a little, but I still had a fun time. It had stormed in the night before the fest so the grounds were pretty muddy. And while it didn’t rain the day of, it was so hot and humid. My hair was wet with sweat. Kind of gross, but still a good time.
After a while some of our friends headed over to Dunlay’s to check in on World Cup soccer. Steph and I walked around a little bit then met them at Dunlay’s. We sat outside, though, with all the other people who didn’t care about soccer. Then a bit later on Jess (my friend, not my niece!), Dallas, Steph and I had dinner at Rocking Horse.
On Saturday Jen and Quinn came over early in the morning to watch the Tour de Fat bike parade, which goes right by our house. It seemed shorter than last year, and not as crazy. Most people were ringing bells and wishing us a good morning or happy Saturday as they rode past our stoop. Quinn was a little shy about waving and saying hi to people when they went past, but maybe next year he’ll be more into it. Killian and Brian rode along with the parade. When they got to our house they jumped off the route and joined Dallas for a 10 a.m. beer. Yeh, it was going to be one of those days!
Last year I had a lot of fun with my brother going to a Cubs vs. Brewers game at Miller Park in Milwaukee so this year he got us tickets again. This year I brought Dallas and Killian with me.
We road tripped up to Milwaukee and hung out at my brother’s house for a while. I drank some beer from the Horny Goat Brewing Co., a craft brewery in Wisconsin. I liked the light Horny Blonde. I bet this is a good summer beer.
Stephanie’s 14th birthday was a few weeks ago so Dallas and I brought a gift that we went in on with my parents.
Her gift? A digital camera! This is the year that Stephanie got a cell phone for her birthday, then was allowed to join Facebook, and now she can post photos with her new camera. Big year!
Steph is pretty much taller than me now. I wonder if she’ll grow more or just stay around 5’4″ or so like I did. In 5th grade I was the tallest kid in my class then I never grew any more. Also, check out her hair. She dyed it a dark brownish red. I think it looks really cool.
Jessica’s birthday is in a few weeks. She wouldn’t talk to me while we visited (of course) but i told her she needs to tell me what to get her, or else I won’t know. She still wouldn’t tell me!
After visiting for a while, we headed out to meet Amanda (who had been at work) for a bit of dinner before the game. We’d wanted to tailgate but it was cold and rainy. We decided to go to the Milwaukee Ale House, where we ordered a bunch of appetizers to share. I tried a beer they make there called Downtown Lites, a light beer made with a bit of Wisconsin honey. Yum!
This was on the back of my coaster at the Milwaukee Ale House:
After the Ale House we said adios to Amanda and headed to the game. My brother had preferred parking so we got to drive right up to the stadium to park. Score! Before the game started, I got my photo with the German sausage, otherwise known as the brat, and the Italian sausage.
Our seats were right down from where this sausage display was. Last year we were just out from 3rd base and this year we were about the same distance out from 1st base. This was the view:
At the park I didn’t really eat much because I was stuffed from the Ale House, but I did enjoy some Leinie’s Honey Weiss and Lakefront Brewery’s River West Stein Lager. Killian kept making fun of the beer vendors because they were all wearing these florescent yellow vests, but I thought the hotdog vendor’s uniforms were even funnier:
Dallas was interested in trying some chorizo sausage so we went for a walk around the concourse. Not every stand had all the different sausages so we had to walk around a little bit. When we found the place, it sold a bunch of different kinds of sausage, maybe all the ones in the sausage race? When Dallas got his chorizo it was in a bun, like a regular sausage. Not strange, but last year when my brother and I shared chorizo it came in a tortilla with salsa. Dallas put the secret stadium sauce on his chorizo.
Dallas loved the chorizo and was still talking about it long after the game. My brother said they sell the sauce at the gift shop, but Dallas said it mostly just tasted like barbecue sauce. Klement’s is the official sausage of the Milwaukee Brewers and supposedly they’re making the chorizo and it’s in stores so we might have to look for it next time we go to WI. In the meantime, we just cheered for chorizo in the sausage race and guess what? He won! If you look close you can see him racing to victory here:
Side note: I was just on the Klement’s site and you can play a sausage race game. I like how 6/10 high scores are by someone called “Cubs Rule”. haha
The Cubs trounced the Brewers, who only made one run. For some reason this made it ok for Killian and I to act inappropriately towards the Brat. Poor guy!
Fun day with friends, family, baseball & WI microbrews! Looking forward to next year!
On Sunday Dallas and I planned to spend the day together. In the morning we didn’t really do anything. Just hung around the house, picked up a little bit. At about noon we left. He was going to help me get an iPhone for my birthday so we went to the AT&T store and then to a few other store in the shopping center.. Game Stop, Bath & Body Works.. nothing crazy. We stopped for a quick bite at Taco Bell (secretly love!) and then bought some groceries at Dominick’s. I was having a good time just doing nothing and hanging out with Dallas. We don’t often run these kinds of errands together or go shopping together. I remember commenting about it and how it was nice. Little did I know, we were just killing time while people assembled at our house. I thought the plan was to run these errands, go home and chill for a while, then go to a movie. But when we got home I opened the door, and SURPRISE!
There were about 15 people standing in our living room when I opened the door. I remember being so in shock. Dallas and I were just discussing what movie to see as we pulled into the garage! I couldn’t even take it all in. Everyone yelling “SURPRISE!,” Cory was standing on a chair taking my photo. A few people had never been to our place and I remember thinking that I hadn’t cleaned. And there was a cake with candles on the counter. This was running through my head instantly that first second. I didn’t even know what to do. SHOCK. 30 minutes later my hands were still a little shaky, my heart beating a little fast. Get me a beer – STAT!
Dallas is pretty laid back and “no nonsense” about birthdays and holidays. He doesn’t really care if a gift is given or a celebration is held right on the day. He doesn’t really plan ahead, what he wants to get or do. When it’s my birthday or Christmas, I’ll tell him what I want and he’ll go buy it, or we’ll go together and he’ll pay for it. With restaurants or parties, I usually say where I want to go, or what I want to do, then we do it. I’ve gotten pretty used to this over the last 5 years. I think this was half the shock. How did he manage to actually PLAN something, prepare everything ahead of time, and not only that, pull it off. I honestly had NO IDEA anything was going on. Of course, in hindsight I put two and two together on a lot of things…. why are you texting so much while driving? Why do we have to buy all this cream at Dominick’s? Things that didn’t seem odd when they happened but when you added them all up…
To plan for this, Dallas had secret lunches with Jess to talk about details and to give her keys. That Friday when he was just hanging out with Danny? They slow cooked 14 pounds of pork in the smoker to make pulled pork for the party. Danny also made a cold corn soup that was to die for. That pulled pork was gone lickity split. 14 pounds! It was soooo delicious. And Jess made me a birthday cake. Probably the first birthday cake that I’ve had in … I don’t know? A decade? Did I mention the cake was double chocolate Kahlua? The bar has been knocked up so high, I don’t know how we’re ever going to top this dinner!
Killian took these nice photos of me blowing out my candles. I was so happy I’d taken a shower that day. And dried my hair. And put on a trace of makeup. I didn’t get to jewelry or a nice outfit, but it could have been worse.
The party was great. We hung around inside. We hung out on the roof deck. It was nice out, not too hot, not too cold. We played cornhole all night. Our upstairs neighbors came down and made me do shots at their house. We played Rock Band later in the night. I hadn’t played Rock Band for so long and was having a great time doing it. Such an overwhelming day. Honestly, it felt like 3 am, but it was only 11 pm. Here’s a video of me dancing around holding a bottle of champagne and singing along to the song “Buddy Holly,” by Weezer. The video is kind of messed up because Danny was laying on the ground messing with my iPhone. Maybe also because we were all taking swigs directly from that bottle of champagne.
I had the best time and most of all it felt really great that everyone went through the extra trouble. For me! For my birthday. And I didn’t really lift a finger. I’m not used to that! It was so nice. I have the best friends and the best boyfriend! Thanks everyone for such a great day!
(Cory took more photos of the party. I’ll have to get them from her and post them later. It felt really weird that I was not the photographer for once!)
. Sai-Shan-Tea is being sent to the Great American Beer Fest in Denver for award consideration and I sure do hope they win!
