Poke Bowls Have Gone Mainstream

Do you know the poke bowl has gone mainstream when they start opening locations in the mall next to Sbarro? I’m actually excited for this opening in the Shops at North Bridge, since it’s very close to my office. Aloha Poke Co. is just one of the poke restaurants in Chicago and it plans to open 14 new locations this year!

Birthday Weekend at the Spa

Dallas is away in New Hampshire this weekend at Ross and Chelsea’s wedding. My doctor was really iffy about me traveling for this wedding, so I decided to stay home. Dallas thought about staying home too, but we’d already paid for the room at the inn and when we looked at airfare to Boston it was only $200(and some)! That’s pretty much a deal you can’t pass up. I used to travel to Boston every week for work and I’ve NEVER seen airfare close to that cheap. Anyway, with Dallas away and it being my birthday weekend, I had no other choice but to spend the day at the spa!

spa_nordstrom

For my birthday gift, Dallas got me a prenatal massage. The prenatal at Spa Nordstrom is the kind where you get to lay on your stomach… which is like ZOMG IT HAS BEEN SIX MONTHS SINCE I LAYED ON MY STOMACH!!! To do this the massage therapist puts a big cushion on the massage table. The cushion has indentations for your face, chest and stomach so that your body is supporting your weight and no weight is put on these areas. It looks like this. The massage therapist at Spa Nordstrom told me that there are only a couple places in Chicago that use these cushions that allow a pregnant woman to lay on their stomach for the massage. And as for the actual massage, yeh. It was pretty much the best thing ever. My back issues have subsided a lot since seeing the physical therapist and by sleeping on the couch a few nights a week, but it was still pretty great.

birthday_cupcake

After my massage, I got a quick eyebrow wax and then met up with Kristin, who was also at the spa. We headed to Cafe Nordstrom to lunch on some delicious salads and we split this decadent chocolate birthday cupcake. We were catching up and talking a lot and before I knew it I had to run! The spa was calling me!! My day there was not over. I also treated myself to a pedicure with an amazing leg and foot massage and a quick manicure. I may have also treated myself to some Vosges chocolates afterwards :).

Later on that night I met up with Trent and Loden at Ed’s house to watch some ND/Michigan football. I didn’t really care about the game, even though Ed and Trent are big Michigan fans, but I was interested in the meat from Paulina Market that Ed grilled and, more importantly, the famous s’mores desert he made for us!

What a fun and relaxing day. Thanks to Dallas, Kristin, Ed, Trent and Loden for making it awesome. Let’s do it again today!! (It is still my birthday weekend!)

Saturday in Chicago with Stephanie


Stephanie enjoying some hot Asian buns at Wow Bao.


We almost dropped!


Welcome to the Briar Street Theatre. Have a fruit rollup.

Last weekend Stephanie came to Chicago for a visit. I wasn’t sure what a 16-year-old would be interested in doing, but then I realized. .. duh. . shopping! We spent the day on Michigan Avenue. We hit H&M first because Steph had some money leftover on a gift card that I gave her for her birthday. After that we went to Wow Bao for lunch where we split a thai curry chicken bowl, 5 different flavors of bao, and hibiscus tea and lemonade. Wow Bao is in Water Tower Place and we spent about the next million hours in that mall going from store to store, before heading back out onto Michigan Avenue. We hit up a few more stores and then had a smoothie break at The Shops at North BridgeWhispers Coffee and Tea. And then we cabbed it home.

We rested for a bit at home because we had a big night coming up. We were going to see Blue Man Group at the Briar Street Theatre. I took mom to see this show way back in 2007 and she loved it. I thought Steph would like it too.. and luckily she did. She laughed like crazy and was super into it. I’m so happy she had a great time.

What a fun day hanging out with Steph. Talks of high school, grades, drivers ed, jobs, and college, such a teenager now!

By the way, this is Steph’s 6th visit to Chicago. Check out previous visits:

2011: Trapeze School, Summer Sessions, Manicures
2010: Segway Tour, Tour de Fat, Summer Sessions, Skate Park
2009: Adler Planetarium, Cirque, Navy Pier
2008: Sears Tower, Millennium Park, Art Institute, Retro on Roscoe
2006: Shedd Aquarium

Mark Seaman at North Bridge

Mark Seaman
Cake Sculpting with Mark Seaman, Westfield North Bridge Mall, Magnificent Mile, Chicago

Yesterday when I went to get lunch at the mall, pastry chef and cake stylist Mark Seaman from Marked for Dessert was doing a presentation on cake sculpting. Some of the cakes on his website are amazing. Hard to even imagine cutting and eating them. I’m sure they’re mega expensive!