Michigan Weekend

We woke up Saturday morning and realized neither of us had work to do, we actually had the WHOLE weekend to just have fun. So we jumped on the opportunity and decided to go on a mini-road trip to Michigan. A quick google search and we were on our way to a brewery hopping, tulip peeping, adventure. I had never been to Michigan before - it was much more rural than what I was expecting. Lots of farms, little towns, and open spaces.We visited four micro-breweries on our way to Holland, Michigan: Greenbush (the clear favorite), Holland, Ours, and Saugatuck. In Holland we checked out the local tulip gardens and the Dutch clog factory. 

Lunch Hour DIY

This week a co-worker and fellow blogger, Christie, and I decided to do a quick DIY during our lunch break. To keep with the office theme, I decided to spruce up some of my workspace accessories. I brought in a roll of gold tape from home and used the office hole puncher and scissors. One purchase, two tools, and endless possibilities. Using the hole puncher, I made metallic polk-a-dots to embellish a simple white mug .... also known as my new pen holder. I then crinkled the tape and applied it the corner of my notebooks in an attempt to create a "dipped in gold" effect. Easy, quick, and fun. 

Top photo credit to Christie Edwards. 

Chinatown

My parents came to visit this past weekend. They brought with them warmer weather which made our walking-food-tour of Chinatown even more enjoyable. 

To get things started we were educated on the four main culinary regions of China: Mandarin, Szechuan, Canton, and Shanghai. The Mandarin style of food focuses on noodles, breads, and dumplings since the climate in this region is too cold to grow rice. The Szechuan style of cooking revolves around spices such as chilies, garlic, and peppers - we are talking spicy! The Canton region has a warmer climate and is located by the sea, producing smaller seafood and meat dishes. The Shanghai style of food is typically sweet and more eclectic than the other regions. During our 3 hour tour we tasted food from three of the four regions, including dim sum, spicy cabbage, pepper chicken, "old puck-face lady tofu", sweet eggplant, peeking duck, and egg tarts. 

 

As we waddled or way through the neighborhood we came across Chinatown's Chinese Zodiac Square. Unlike the Greek zodiac, which assigns an animal or sign to the month you were born, the Chinese zodiac is assigned by the year you were born. Jason and I are both Tigers - we were pretty happy to discover our inner-tigers. My mom is a rabbit - the plaque said "a fun person to be around" so she too was satisfied with this new animal persona. My Dad discovered he is a rat. As you can tell by the photo, he was far from thrilled.

                        

Francophile

There are a number of cooking school restaurants in Chicago. Spaces were you and friends can go, take a class, and then enjoy the fruits of your labor. Most recently, I went with a friend to Flip (http://www.flipcrepes.com/) for a crepe making brunch. We were instructed on the art of crepe making and then let loose to mix, flip, and eat to our hearts content. 

Eggspiration

Some people go with the bunny theme for Easter, I opted for the egg theme this year.

Dye some...

Things started off with a new egg-dying technique I came across on Pinterst. You swirl different nail polish colors in a bowl of water to create a marbleized effect on the egg shell. A little messy but a lot of fun. (note: be sure to have a generous amount of nail polish remover assessable for you fingers afterwards).

Find some...

I am a big fan of the egg hunt. It's one of the big upsets of getting older - all of the sudden there's no more eggs filled with candy hiding in every corner. As a child, my sister and I would wake up early Easter morning to begin the hunt. We would hunt for hours and once we had found all the eggs, I would request that my parents hide them again. This year, Jason surprised me with an egg hunt in our apartment. I went to the grocery store to grab a few things for dinner and came back to "there are 20 plus eggs hiding in this apartment with girl scout cookies and reasons why I love you inside - good luck". What more could a girl ask for!?

Here I am in action...

Eat some...

Next up was consumption. I thought it would be fun to do a new rendition of a traditional Easter recipe- the deviled egg. I soaked the eggs in a beat juice brine and then added bacon, spicy mustard, and chives to the filling. The eggs turned out a beautiful shade of pink and the inside provided a nice salty/spicy contrast. 

Utah, here we come...

In spite of snow storms, delayed flights, loss of vision (not even kidding), and an exhausting work week, Rachel, Jeff, Megan, Bryan, Jason, and myself reunited for a fun-filled weekend in Park City, Utah. Park City welcomed us with open, snowy, arms and we accepted. We hit the slopes and skied/snowboarded on fresh beautiful powder. In an effort to see more of Park City (and to not cook) we ate out every night in town. Park City has a very charming "Old Town" with lots of restaurants, bars, and shops.

And then something happened on Sunday....

pure panic broke out in the group when the Californians discovered there is something called Blue State Laws and Utah was one of those states. Some very serious conversations occurred discussing the feasibility of driving to Wyoming. Until, a nice gentleman in the hot tub (we were obviously really in a panic) educated us on a Mormon-loop hole. There was a whiskey distillery in town where you could eat, drink, and buy whiskey on Sundays. A cloud of calm swept over the hot tub. Order was restored. High West Distillery ended up being a really cool place with delicious food. Bacon, carmel, bourbon popcorn anyone? 

Overall, a very successful weekend - minus one door and one toe (sorry Jeff). Some much needed relaxation in a beautiful setting with great friends. 

50 Shades of Green

Saint Paddy's Day is not to taken lightly in Chicago. There's traditions, and traditions start early. Bars open at 8:00am, breakfast and cocktails are served at 8:30am, the river is dyed at 10am, and an all-day pub-crawl ensues. It's a magical time when everyone claims to be Irish, a sea of green fills the streets, and our beautiful river turns florescent green. And it wouldn't be a true Chicago experience if it didn't snow - one more reason to layer on every green item in your closet.