Monday, May 30, 2011

Happy Memorial Day!

My mom was in town for the holiday weekend, so we had lots of fun activities planned. I had not seen her since January - which is a lifetime record for me - so it was great to have her in town! John and I both ditched work on Friday and went to the Cubs game. Every single Cubs game we have attended has been totally arctic to the point that we've never made it past the 7th inning stretch, and Friday's game was no exception. It was seriously in the 40s in our shaded seats - definitely not cool for May 27th!

On Saturday we went to high tea at The Drake. We've taken my mom for tea several times and it's always delicious! We rounded out the weekend with an awesome dinner at Friendship Chinese Restaurants, one of our new favorites.

All in all we had a fun weekend and are not ready to head back to work tomorrow!

Mom and me before the game (and before we froze to death)

Brrr. John was smart and wore his winter coat. I was not.

We had awesome seats - right behind home plate!

Mom and I at tea.


Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Busy Weekend

It was a busy weekend around the Beck household! I took advantage of a random burst of energy on Saturday and enlisted John in a little spring cleaning. On Saturday night, I met some girlfriends at Paris Club (delish) and then went to see Bridesmaids (hilarious). While I was out with the girls, John and Jim met some friends at Revolution Brewing for dinner and a few beers. I had to work on Sunday (boo!), but I took a break in the afternoon to go to my friend Nicole's daughter's second birthday party. The party was owl-themed, and the decor was totally amazing. Nicole should really quit her day job and start party planning full-time. Everything was personalized -- she had adorable mason jars with owls on them for the punch, little fondant owls on the cupcakes, and even the bottled water had customized "Happy Birthday Ella" labels complete with, you guessed it, owls! We had a really good time watching the kiddos and chatting with friends -- who knew a children's birthday party could be so fun for adults!

We're almost halfway through a really busy week leading up to an even more busy weekend. My mom is coming in town, so we have lots of fun activities planned. This weekend can't get here soon enough!

Here are some pics from Ella's party. I hope my future children never see the pics from this party because their parties will never be this professional!

Adorable mason jars for the punch.

Look closely and you will see the dessert bar. I put a serious dent in that.

The birthday girl enjoying her cake in semi-privacy.

The yummy spread

Sunday, May 15, 2011

6 Years in Chicago!

Last Monday marked our sixth anniversary of living in Chicago! I can't believe that it has been six years already! A lot has happened in these six years - struggled to find jobs (and then finding the perfect ones), making awesome new friends, buying our first home, and becoming independent adults. Some of it wasn't fun, but we are so glad we made the decision to up and move to a strange new city with nothing waiting for us when we got there. Here's to many more years as Chicagoans!

Our first Thanksgiving in Chicago. We cooked the whole shebang ourselves (and ate it all ourselves, too).

Me running the Trick or Treat Trot. Chicago's many fun races are what got me in to running. There's one nearly every weekend in the spring and summer.

Our balcony after our first real Chicago snow.

Me in front of The Field Museum. Going to the various museums is one of our favorite cold-weather activities.

Us ice skating at Millennium Park.

3rd Annual (for us) Law Prom

Last night we attended the annual American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Gala at The Four Seasons. Somehow we finagled an awesome table, so we spent the evening laughing and being totally inappropriate (my favorite way to be). Our firm had a really great turnout, and it's always fun to hang out with colleagues in a social setting. The food and drinks were great, and the people watching was even better. We will have lots to talk about at work Monday morning.


Lauren and me before dinner.

Drew's killer dance moves. I may use the video footage I got of this to
blackmail him into giving me a bigger raise.


Me, Kirsh, Mary, Mary Beth, and Drew

The ballroom after dinner

WITS Blackboard Affair

On Friday night Sarah and I attended WITS Blackboard Affair to support our friend Sam, who's on WITS' associate board. WITS is a charity that promotes literacy in the Chicago Public Schools. The event was held at Salvage One, a really cool furniture store in a big warehouse. Salvage One has mostly mid-century modern pieces, so it was cool to mingle and have drinks on these awesome mid-century sofas randomly placed in the space. It was a fun event and was great to get out and support such an important cause.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Happy Mother's Day!



Wish we could be home with you guys today! Miss you!

Friday, May 6, 2011

BBQ in the City

Tonight we met some friends at Chicago Q, a barbecue place in the Gold Coast. Everything was delicious and huge - we have lots of leftovers to eat over the weekend. While Q was good, we don't think the food is quite as good as our old faithful barbecue place, Smoque. The atmosphere and drinks, however, were much more sophisticated than Smoque. Q has a great beer selection - John had a couple of Double Dog Double Pale Ales that he thought were amazing. The restaurant is also in this really neat little building on Dearborn, and we sat in the front window with a good view of the goings on in the Gold Cost.

My faves were the bruleed mac and cheese and the bacon cheddar hush puppies. John had a HUGE rack of ribs that he somehow managed to finish. We will definitely have to keep this on our list when we want fancy barbecue.

Jeff, Mary, Lauren, Marty, and us after a delicious dinner.