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…
Brian & Halle (she was distracted by the kids behind me!)
Cousin & Kristin
Catie with daughters Bridget & Tess
Jen’s parents, Terry/Cappy and Nancy/Nana, with the kids in the play room.
Fitz, Cousin, Kristin
Quinn, all set to ring in the new year!
Jen, Kristin, Loden
Ed, Cousin, Trent, Chad, Brian, Dallas
Jill getting in on the fun!
This was the 7th year in a row that we have gone to Jen and Chad’s house for New Years Eve. As has become the tradition the last few years we went to this party early and then went to a second party later. It was fun to see everyone, visit with friends, eat and drink, and play with the kids. I made Irish Car Bomb cupcakes for the parties and Dallas make ahi poke, which reminded everyone of Hawaii.
This year for Dallas’s birthday we sort of hopped around a bit. A lot of people had a bunch of plans, holiday parties, etc. so we wanted them to be able to meet up with us whnever they could.
We started out at The Whistler, nearby our condo, in Logan Square. This was the 3rd year in a row that we started off Dallas’s birthday at The Whistler! (See 2010, 2009). Brian was especially happy about this, since The Whistler is a little out of his sphere, but he’s enjoyed his yearly trip there for Dallas’s birthday.
After the Whistler we headed up to Roscoe Village to our favorite, The Village Tap. I’d emailed with the owner, Mike, and our favorite waitress, Carolyn, ahead of time to make sure they could reserve some space for us in the back. We had a great turn out here. Quinn came early on and sang Dallas the birthday song and made him a gingerbread man decoration. (Somewhere around 2 am I reached into my purse and accidentally ripped this guy’s leg off, but that can be taped!) We probably had 20+ people, coming and going. Not too shabby. We had dinner, some drinks, and at least 2 rounds of Irish Car Bombs. A typical night at The Tap.
Finally, we went back to Logan Square to a newer late-night bar called The Owl. I’d been really wanting to visit this place since it opened. Aside from a dramatic incident of someone getting thrown out and then someone else having to pay a bribe to get us back in, I thought it was a cool place. I don’t know if I can brush these shenanigans aside to want to go back though. It was not dealt with in a very good way and the guy at the door was just being a total jerk. But we had fun here. A bunch of people that had plans earlier in the night met up with us here for some late-night drinks. I think Dallas and I left around 2:30 a.m. or so. I was just getting over a cold and lost my voice, so I had to go.
Overall, a successful birthday celebration! Thanks to everyone for coming out and making it a fun night.
After 18 years in America, Limey Dave is leaving. His work Visa has expired and without a sponsor he has to go. We have done a few things over the past few weeks as part of Limey’s going away period – cooking class, dinner and football – but this past weekend was the big blowout.
Limey & Kevin :: Bar Celona
Limey & Trent :: Bar Celona
Loden & Limey :: Bar Celona
Limes will still be here for a few more weeks and then he’s off to explore the world. I think he’s still unsure of where he’ll end up. I heard Australia and Asia are in the running, as well as England, of course. All nice places to visit, I hear, so I can’t wait to see where he lands.
Chad & Limey :: John Barleycorn
Limey & Rachelle :: John Barleycorn
Wrigley Field
Limey has lived in Wrigleyville the whole time he’s lived in Chicago, so for his going away party he coordinated a pub crawl around the neighborhood. As well, he’s always loved the Cubs so he chose to make the pub crawl baseball themed. Game time began at 1:20 p.m. with a celebratory shot and then we went to 9 bars around Wrigley Field, one bar for each “inning.”
Ted, Trent, Kevin, Chad, Danny :: Cubby Bear
Natalie, Limey, Annie :: Cubby Bear
Paulie & Limey :: Sports Corner
Dallas and I actually missed the first inning at Mullens, but made it for inning two at Rockwood Place. From there we went to Bar Celona from 3 p.m. – 5 p.m. Bar Celona opened the bar just for Limey, their most loyal customer, so we spent two hours here instead of one. From 5 – 6 p.m. we were at John Barleycorn, from 6 – 7 p.m. we were at Cubby Bear and from 7 – 8 p.m. we were at Sports Corner.
Here’s a secret: Limey’s shot only had Monster energy drink in it! :: Yak-Zie’s
Somewhere between Yak-Zie’s and Guthrie’s we saw this snowmobile and Sara and Jess had to get on it.
We were supposed to go to Murphy’s Bleachers next, but it was too packed to get in. Limey’s entourage was about 50 people strong and there was just no way we could fit in there. So, we were going to go to an alternate, Bernie’s Tavern, but we ended up going right to the next inning at Yak-Zie’s. The final inning, beginning at 10 p.m., was at Guthrie’s, of course, and we stayed there til close.
Dan, Limey, Maria, Jill, Danny :: Guthrie’s Tavern
Limey & Maria :: Guthrie’s Tavern
Chad, Ted, Danny :: Guthrie’s Tavern
Time to go!!!
It was a fun day and great to see all of Limey’s friends come together. He is a great guy, which is reflected in how many people made a point to be there. We were taking over whole entire bars and making them open for business when usually they’re closed. It was such a fun day. Bittersweet. I’ll miss The Limes, but I know this will not be the last we’ve seen of him. Maybe he’ll even move back one day, who knows. Hopefully we can get to see him a time or two more before his actual move date.
Last weekend was my 3rd annual visit to Miller Park to see the Cubs take on the Brewers. Sara, Kristin and Cousin met me at my house for the drive up to Milwaukee. Alden was at his parent’s house in the Milwaukee suburbs and was going to meet us at the game. Except, when I went out to the garage to leave, this is what I found:
Ok. Plan B. Kristin drove to my house so we took her car to my brother’s house. Then we switched cars because his fit all of us in it and he had a premium parking pass.
Alden, Sara
Note to self: Don’t place the jalapeno poppers on the grill this way. We lost a few!
Cousin, Kristin
Brats!
My brother also bought and prepared all of our tailgating stuff and we threw in money on it. I was expecting a few brews, a few sausages, some cheese curds… but he went all out! We had fresh, homemade guacamole, brats, Italian sausages, some jalepeno poppers, three kinds of cheese curds, a ton of chips and all the condiments. We had not only one, but TWO grills! Also, not one but TWO kinds of cookies. I made a chocolate mint one and some snickerdoodles.
Wisconsin Microbrews
Also, my brother didn’t just grab a case of Miller Lite and call it a day. He brought so many different Wisconsin microbrews. I took photos of some of them. I think there were a few more that I didn’t get. A Leinies one for sure, but I can’t remember which. These are the ones I know for sure:
We mixed the Sand Creek Hard Lemonade together with the New Glarus Belgian Red and it was so delicious. It tasted like a tart juice.
Richard, Rachelle, Danny
Caroline, Sara
UFO?
Danny and Caroline were tailgating nearby with Caroline’s parents and they came over to visit for a while. I meant to go visit their tailgate but got caught up in our stuff. Sorry!
Sara & Alden. Check out all the Cubs fans!
Alden, Sara
The weather was perfect. A little windy, but sunny and very comfortable. My brother brought his urban horseshoes/washers game and we played that for a bit. Somebody (not me) managed to toss a washer down the sewer, but otherwise it was a fun game. I guess a sewer hazard is appropriate for urban horseshoes. Sara had never tailgated before and had never played urban horseshoes and had never been to Miller Park, so it was fun to show her the ropes!
AAA to the rescue!
After two games of urban horseshoes it was time to head in for the baseball game. We packed everything into the car and my brother was going to roll the window up… well, I mean press the button that puts the window up. Time for car problem #2! His battery was dead and we couldn’t put the window up. We tried to have the guy next to us jump our car (note to Alden’s mom, he didn’t jump ON our car), but it didn’t work. We tracked down the free AAA service at Miller Park and somehow the guy got our car started. We then had to run it between 10-20 minutes to make sure it would start later on when we wanted to leave. We ended up missing 2 innings of the game, but at least we got it sorted out.
Alden
On the walk to the stadium, we found this file folder on the ground. For some reason it was HILARIOUS. Someone had made this folder, slipped in their tickets, and filed it somewhere up until VERY recently. The 7 almost looks like a 9. Very dangerously close to going on the wrong day! We made up a lot of stories about this folder before throwing it back on the ground.
Ok. Inside the park, finally, we were headed for our seats when we ran into these degenerates:
Lycke, Trent, Biefel
And I mean degenerate! They had been drinking since about noon (it was a 6pm start for the game) and it showed! I ran into them a couple times, actually. They didn’t have seats even. Just standing room tickets.
Miller Park at Sunset
Miller Park Scoreboard
Bernie’s Dugout
Sara had a hankering for some ballpark nachos so we asked a lady where she got hers and scoped it out. They were no ordinary ballpark nachos, though. They were piled high with meat and peppers and everything. We picked up a couple Lites and a couple Leinies Honey Weiss while we were up. Actually, that was the only beer I had all game. One beer, because I thought I was driving back to Chicago.
Miller Park Sausage Race
Miller Park Sausage Race
It was a gorgeous night in the ballpark. I brought a light long sleeved shirt but I didn’t even wear it. During the 6th inning, the sausage came running out right in front of us.
Miller Park Sausage Race
I cheered for chorizo like always, and Sara cheered for chorizo as well. Too bad he got spanked! Polish sausage smoked everyone!
Take Me Out To The Ball Game, Roll Out The Barrel
During the 7th inning stretch they played Take Me Out To the Ball Game, but the people who’d never been to a ballpark in Wisconsin were surprised with the Roll Out the Barrel follow-up song!
A few notes on the players:
1. I really wish the player called Corey Hart would play Sunglasses at Night for his at-bat song.
2. Alfonso Soriano was fielding right in front of us and gave Sara a nod when she was screaming “FOOOONNNNZIIIIEEEEE GO FOOONZIIIIIIIIEEEE!!!!” I don’t know much about Soriano, only that he wears the tightest pants in the MLB.
Miller Park Scoreboard
3. I love the scoreboard at Miller Park, which is new this year. It shows a huge photo of each player when they’re at bat and shows the stats so far for each player. Sara taught me what Strikeout Looking is when a guy’s stats said at one at bat he struck out swinging and at another turn he struck out looking. She definitely knows a lot more about baseball and the Cubs than I do, but the big board definitely helped me keep track of what was going on and helped me get to know the players better.
The Wrigley Field Road Tour
In the stadium there must have been a hundred(s?) of people wearing this same red tshirt. They’d biked to Miller Park from Wrigley Field in Chicago for The Wrigley Field Road Tour. I think I’d have been sleeping in the stands if I’d done that.
In the end, the Cubs lost 4-6. They made a rally in the 8th inning when they made 3 runs, but it wasn’t enough. The Brewers actually swept the Cubs in the series. But that’s ok. We all still had a great time.
Miller Park at Night
After the game I had to go to the bathroom so I said I’d just meet people at the car. I didn’t even make it to the car when I found that everyone I was with had made new friends and was drinking all their beer. After the game is pretty much like another big tailgate. We’d run out of beer, so how convenient that these fans were willing to share. They didn’t want to share with the Cubs fans, but they were convinced when I broke out the extra cookies I’d baked. Also, they liked that Alden and I were from Wisconsin. Also, we met a couple from Milwaukee whose daughter lives a few blocks from Alden in Chicago. Alden asked if the guy would put in the good word with his daughter, but the guy said the daughter was getting married in a matter of weeks. He said he’d let Alden know in October if it didn’t work out. He also asked that Alden please refrain from stalking his daughter now that her location had been revealed!
Sobriety isn’t an accident, but getting drunk many times is!
I drove the car back to my brother’s because he’d had a few too many. On the way Alden was texting his mom and she invited us over for more drinks, but I vetoed that plan. My brother and cousin and Alden were all for it. Of course, because they were the drunkest ones! My brother was busy typing Alden’s parent’s address into the GPS and when it was shouting out instructions it was so confusing to get back to my brother’s place! It would have been fun to visit the Almagro family, but it was getting late, especially since we still had to drive to Chicago. At my brother’s house we all made a pit stop. Alden had a special moment with Milo, the dog, and then we were off to Chicago. I thought I’d be driving but Kristin insisted. We all knocked pretty hard on wood and it worked because that car made it home without incident. I think we got home at about midnight? Long night, but so fun! Thanks to all my friends for making it a fun day and special thanks to my brother for organizing the tailgate and getting the tickets for us! A new set of washers in IN THE MAIL!!!
