Chicago Part Deux

Saturday we got up, grabbed breakfast, then headed back to Midway to pick up our rental car. We had a quick drive to Schaumburg and were excited to see some of the Feltis family upon our arrival! The funny thing is they barely recognized Jay with his beard!!

The ceremony & reception was at Maggianos - just down the street from our hotel. They did a great job of decorating & the food was delicious!!! Here are some pictures from the night!

I love this one:

The father & mother of the bride. I just loved Anne's dress!!

Ryan with two ladies by his side:

Bride & Groom! You certainly can't tell here, but Sarah is pregnant too - just 4 weeks behind me!

Ryan, Jay & I go way back to our flight school days. It's always nice to see him!

Beard love:

This dress was nice & stretchy for my bump!

Kisses!

More kisses!

Goofball:

And the ever-so-fun act of trying to get a good picture. Jay has too much fun trying to mess it up. First try: 

Second try:

There was a third try even before I got frustrated:

...and THERE we go :)

We had a great time at the wedding - the Feltis family is...well family to us, so it was such a treat to spend so much time with them!

Sunday the bride & groom hosted a Super Bowl party at their house. Ryan had promised me a "surprise" upon arriving there & I was more in the mindset that it was a cookie or something like that. Well, it was way better! Brett came out from VA to surprise us! It was sooo nice to see him as it had been way too long since we'd last seen each other! (and I'll admit that I even cried when I saw him)

Friends from Westwind...

Goofy as usual...

The couch was packed!!

More beard love:

The two prego ladies before heading off to sleep. It was a crazy, long weekend!!

Coming Soon...

This little bundle of joy will be joining us early August!! We are thrilled!

July Update (i.e. craziness)

Life has been crazy to say the least! 

Not only did we move July 4th weekend, but Jay also accepted a new job after 7 years with the same company. We both had been patiently waiting for the right opportunity to come along for him and it finally did. There are going to be a lot of adjustments to make for both of us - sacrifices really, but we both feel excited and confident about what the future holds with this new opportunity! 

Jay left a company that has become family to us over the years. He started at the bottom flying the smallest planes and worked his way up to management. He did such a great job, gained some great experience, and made many friends that we both will cherish for life. I was the only lucky lady invited to his little going away gig, so took a few pictures: 

There was such a great turnout and I even got a little sappy thinking about all the great memories we've made with these guys (typical me, I know). 

To Jay!

One night we went out to celebrate before Jay left for training. We've always wanted to try Coup Des Tartes and finally booked a reservation! It's the area's longest running BYOB restaurant, so we brought a bottle from our wine fridge that we'd been saving for a nice dinner. 

The food was DELICIOUS. I tried taking pictures of the food, but unfortunately they didn't turn out very good so here's what we had - picture this in your head:

Brie Brulee - Brie covered with caramelized apples and bruleed to perfection. Served with toast points and seasonal fruits.

Fire & Ice Salad - A fresh tower of watermelon dusted with cayenne pepper and topped with organic tomatoes, finished with toasted pistachios (which we did without), and a drizzle of aged balsamic glaze. (this was soooooo good. It sounds strange, but it was the perfect combination!)

Filet Mignon (Jay) - topped with fresh herb butter. Served with pesto, mushroom, and parmesan stuffed tomato and pomme frites.

Mahi Mahi (Amie - yes, I ordered fish!) - Oven roasted & topped with a green gazpacho sauce, served with a medley of Isralei cous cous, sugar snow peas, asparagus tips, and grape tomatoes. (can I tell you it was the best fish ever! I am going to crave this dish!)

Chocolate Fleur de Sel tarte  - I can't find it on the online menu but let me just say that I took a small piece of crust home that I couldn't finish and ate it for breakfast. It was divine!

It was such a perfect date night - we talked about all that the future holds, laughed, and found a new favorite spot.

...and while he was at training I bought a $100 garbage can. 

The end.

xoxo

A Fly On The Wall During The Palm Sunday Pancake Breakfast

Amie: So hun, what do you want to do for Easter dinner this year?

Jay: I dunno.

Amie: Well, I know you're never too excited about ham, so maybe lamb? Or we could be really crazy and get duck!

Jay: How about goat?

Amie: ::silence::

Amie: I think duck sounds so good! And we've never cooked duck before!

Jay: I hear goat is really healthy and we've never cooked it before.

Amie: ::silence::

Amie: But where do you even BUY goat? It's not like Safeway has it over by the pork & beef?

Jay: There's that mediterranean place where we got that really good hummus. I bet they have goat.

Amie: Really? But doesn't duck sound soooo good?! I love duck! And that lamb we made a few years ago was delicious!

Jay: Ready to go? The let's go to the Farmer's Market while it's still early....

10 minutes later at the Farmer's Market we come upon this sign:

Jay: 1 Amie: 0

And I must say I'm surprised nobody noticed the Goat Loin Chop in the last post...

I don't think we're going to have it for Easter Dinner, but we will be having it soon, so stay tuned for details...

                          

Weekend Update: You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile

I got to enjoy the first of my 2 Christmas gifts with Jay this past weekend! On Sunday afternoon, we saw:

It was a great show and since it was at 2pm, the audience consisted of many young girls all dressed up in their party dresses, tutus, etc. It was so cute!! We got in trouble for taking the above picture on my camera phone so snapped this one on the way out in front of ASU's Gammage:
After the show, we headed up to Scottsdale for dinner at Cowboy Ciao. If you live in the area, we definitely recommend you check this place out! The ambiance, food, and wine were fabulous!

For our appetizer, we had the Buffalo Carpaccio. I had trouble taking photos due to the low lighting, but bear with me. Here it is - rolled in a cumin/espresso dry rub, seared, and then topped with red onion/honey marmalade, greens (arugula?) and goat cheese (I think - it just says "chevre" on the menu). SO GOOD!
We each also enjoyed a flight of wine. They have 3 generous 3oz. pours per flight:
::sidenote:: I just adore Photoshop! I'm still learning, but it totally saved the above photo! I thought it was way too dark to even fix, but with a few tweaks here & there, I just love how it turned out!

For dinner, Jay had the house specialty - Exotic Mushroom Pan Fry. Nine different kinds of mushrooms in an ancho cream over double-cooked polenta topped with grilled portabellini, avocado, tomato and cojita cheese. He loved it! And get this. I tried it too. I ate mushrooms and didn't gag! They were actually pretty good (it's the texture that gets me) but that sauce was amazing! I think it would be delicious with pasta & chicken. Or really anything!

I had the New Zealand Lamb Loin - pepper crusted, grilled medium-rare, with roasted tomato/anise butter, served with roasted artichoke risotto cabernet demi-glace and vegetables. The lamb was amazing as was everything else but the risotto. I think I was expecting it to taste more like spinach-artichoke dip or something, but instead it tasted...well....the only way I can describe it is that it tasted like a hair salon? Like how I think Aveda products would taste if you could eat them. Clean? Fresh? Anyway - it wasn't my favorite, but mixed with the demi-glace, it was a-ok!
What is date night without dessert?? After much deliberation, we ordered some coffee and the Cuppa' Red Hot Chocolate (sort of). Basically it's a big hot chocolate mug filled with a chocolate-ey, cinnamon-ey, cayenne-ey fudge-ey YUMMINESS (it's cold though - the "hot" in the hot chocolate is due to the cayenne), topped with this creamy goodness (to look like the froth on the hot chocolate), and is served with 2 spice cookies. Can I say again - DELICIOUS. I have been salivating for more of both the Buffalo Carpaccio and this dessert ever since we got home. I want more.

So there you go. Christmas Date Night #1. Awesome. I can't wait for the next one - just a few more weeks (and a Spoonful of Sugar)! :)

From our Kitchen: A Christmas Tradition (does that rhyme?)

One of my favorite Christmas traditions growing up was cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. I'm not completely sure of the origin of the tradition, but I do know that those lovely Pillsbury Sweet Rolls my mom baked up were quick & easy on mornings when the usual focus of food switched over to what Santa brought.

The past few years, I've been able to hold onto this tradition in my new family. This year however, Jay wanted to make them from scratch! I pointed out to him that the whole point of the cinnamon rolls was (besides their yumminess) how easy they were to make, but he wouldn't have any of it. We made Martha Stewart's Truck Stop Cinnamon Rolls several years ago & he pulled out the recipe.

In order to expedite the process in the morning, I spent some time on Christmas Eve measuring out everything we'd need. I wish I took a picture because I just know you'd roll your eyes. Everything was measured & labeled & ready to go. I was very careful to have it all measured just right because we cut the recipe in half (which worked fine, but next year I think we'll make the whole batch & give some away).

Jay had been up for about an hour or so by the time I dragged my butt downstairs. He had already mixed up the dough and it was rising nicely.

Once it was ready to roll, we rolled it out nice and thin & sprinkled on the melted butter, cinnamon & sugar. If you make this recipe yourself, it will seem like a TON of sugar & cinnamon (and it is), but use it all. Trust me on this.
After it's all sprinkled, roll it up nice & tight and then slice it up. We cut it into 8 equal portions.
Don't they already look delicious?? Just you wait - it gets better!
Then you put the pretty little rolls facing up on a buttered cookie sheet, cover & let rise for a little longer.
Put them in the oven & smell your house fill with the most beautiful, mouth-watering scent imaginable. They look like this when they're done (ok, maybe next time we'd cut a couple minutes off the cooking time).
Now, whatever anyone tells you, DO NOT stop there! Even if the recipe says they're ready to go (ahem, Martha) and even if someone (ahem, Jay) says they look good as they are.

Make the glaze.

Just make it. I know, it is a lot of sugar, but it is just not a cinnamon roll without it. I didn't use a particular recipe but you can if you like. Or just eyeball it: mix up some confectioners sugar, a little milk and vanilla until its the right consistency. Then you just pour. it. all. over.

Let it soak into all the nooks & crannies until they look like this.
Now they are ready to eat. And it may be lunchtime by then, but that's ok too.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

I thought of the perfect title for a blog post yesterday when I was coming home from work. Ready to hear it?

"No Christmas Tree, No Christmas Tree"

Isn't that clever? You see, it was December 11th and we were treeless. I was to the point where I had come to terms with the fact that we weren't going to have a tree this year. My lovely new computer and desk were now in the only space we had for a tree in our living room. I was thinking of picking up a tiny potted tree to use instead, but never got around to finding the right one (you see, Christmas trees, no matter what the size, must be real in my book).

It didn't really matter though. I came home from work to this beautiful sight:

This 2009 photo ornament (it's our tradition) was tucked inside:

Photo Source

I was so happy that I cried tears of joy. Anyone surprised? Jay sure wasn't when I called him at work to thank him. :)

I had the tree decorated and lit up before I went to bed. And here I sit peeking over at it every now and then, reminded of how simply sweet my husband is.