happy birthday!

Today is Brady's birthday...and he keeps telling me that this birthday is making him feel really old. I don't know if it's the age or the fact he'll be a dad in a couple months, or what. I think he is glad his birthday is on a Sunday this year so we can't go do anything. Seriously. I'm a birthday person, so every year I ask what he wants to do on his birthday, what he wants to eat for breakfast/dinner, and what kind of dessert he wants. For some reason, he doesn't like attention on his birthday, so he usually ends up being grumpy. So this year, we're having cheesy potatoes and banana pudding with Nilla wafers after church. Sounds easy to me!

On a side note, we went out to brunch from some friends from church yesterday and it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. We went to the Bongo Room. I had heard of this place before, they're known for their very decadent, sweet breakfast dishes. I was worried it would be a little much and I'd end up feeling kind of sick afterward. Not so. We decided to get one sweet dish and one savory dish and share. Next time, we're definitely going with 2 sweet dishes. Here's an example dish:

"White Chocolate & Caramel Covered Pretzel Pancakes: crushed pretzel coated pancakes topped with warm white chocolate cream and topped with buttery caramel"

And a picture to get a better idea.

Chocolate Tower French Toast:

We didn't get either of these...um, but I'm pretty sure we'll be going back and trying the entire menu. Maybe this is a little motivation to get someone to come visit us???

Happy Birthday babe! I love you and hope that you have a great day!

i heart free stuff....

I like to get things for free.

So, I was excited when I came across a blog post for a quart of free paint! For some reason, our landlord thought that it would be a good idea to paint our condo in stark white, flat paint. Yuck. First of all, it's really, really white. Second, it's a flat finish, so if you barely touch the wall it leaves a scratch mark. When you try to get rid of the scratch mark it leaves another weird mark on the wall. Why would you do that in a condo you were going to rent? Anyway, I truly hate it. So...I told Brady that we are painting the nursery. (OK, I told him he's doing it while I'm in Utah.) I figure that if we can both get a quart of free paint, maybe we'll have enough to paint the room (or maybe that amount won't even come close and we'll just have 2 quarts of random paint sitting around. I know nothing about painting). Either way, it's free and I'm not passing this up. Here's the link: Free Paint. Note: I just did my research, and a quart of paint will not go very far...but maybe an accent wall??

Next up: Real Chocolate Relief Act. Every Friday Mars gives away 250,000 coupons for a free candy bar. I first heard about this from my friend Allison and got my coupon last week. Today I discovered that they do it every Friday!! Free Chocolate Friday.

Google knows...

I love technology! I love that it makes things so easy! I love that it knows what I want/need. The other day I found myself in an unusual and rather uncomfortable situation, one in which you would not call your mother for advice. Never before have I been in this sort of a predicament. In lieu of calling my mother or trying to figure out myself how to remedy the situation, I decided to Google a solution. In typical Google fashion, as I started to type my search a drop down menu appeared with suggested searches. Oddly enough, Google knew exactly what I was looking for:



How did Google know that strawberries, which were supposed to be in the fruit salad, were stuck on my nipples? I may never know. But I’m glad Google was there, because I was able to get those strawberries off my nipples and back into the fruit salad before the missionaries came over for dinner.

Here is my craftiness for the week. Since I've had some extra time on my hands, I decided to pull out the old sewing machine. I found a Sewing 101 class at a cute shop in Bucktown. So last Friday I found my way north (Red Line-to Blue Line-to #50 Damen bus!!) and took the class. Most of it was pretty basic, and some of it a review, but it was nice to learn some pointers and correct some bad habits. And, I made this pillow. I'll be honest, I was kind of proud of it, especially the zipper!

It's been nice being able to actually have time to things like this that I've always wanted to, but never got around to doing. I also picked up some fabric remnants and cloth diapers and made a few cute burp cloths for the Yut. Still haven't decided on how to decorate her room, but we did make some progress this week by buying a crib and dresser/changing table. We found a good deal online (free shipping!) with good reviews and went with it. I think we were both sick of looking.

Last weekend we had pretty decent weather considering what's been the norm here. Cool, overcast, and rainy. We walked down to the Chicago Blues Fest at Grant/Millenium Park and listened for a while. I didn't last long because we didn't bring chairs to sit on and the ground was soaking wet. Unfortunately we missed out on 'Naked Bike Ride Chicago.' Maybe next year? It has warmed up this week, but it's still rainy, which means it's humid...and that my hair is really ugly.

Hopefully we get some more summer-like weather in the next couple weeks. We headed up to the roof to check out the progress on the pool and patio and it's looking good. It looks like it will be done soon. Here are some pictures from the rooftop (that's Soldier Field in the background, there was a Kenny Chesney concert going on that we could kind of hear. It was kind of weird seeing lots of people walking through our neighborhood wearing cowboy hats). You can also get a glimpse of the 29-week preggo belly...

True Story about Free Doughnuts!

Here's the story: (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Doughnut_Day)

"Donut Day is on the first Friday of June each year. The holiday celebrates the doughnut — an edible, ring-shaped piece of dough which is deep-fried and sweetened. Although the day typically involves the celebration of doughnuts, due to the common misconception of being unhealthy, many celebrate the National Doughnut and Bagel Day. National Doughnut Day started in 1938 as a fund raiser for the Chicago Salvation Army. Their goal was to help the needy during the Great Depression, and to honor the Salvation Army "Lassies" of World War I, who served doughnuts to soldiers behind the front lines in France."

Free Doughnuts! In reverence and honor of this day, Krispy Kreme is giving out free doughnuts, no purchase necessary. Dunkin Doughnuts will give out free doughnuts with the purchase of any beverage. Nice. Since there are about 25 DD's within walking distance of us, I think I may have something to do on Friday. Plus, since this occasion was started here in Chicago, I kind of feel obligated to celebrate.

As a side note, as I was doing my research for this post, I found the gift for Brady's upcoming birthday, The Simpsons Doughnut Maker.

week in review

Here are some random things that have been going on this last week...

28 weeks prego : Yes, it's officially the THIRD trimester. Very weird. Here are the latest shots of the ever-growing belly (plus other pictures from last weekend).
Had my appointment with my Chicago doc, didn't get to meet her because she was delivering a baby. I met her PA and really liked her. Rode the bus to-and-from. Drank yucky orange drink. Now I get to go back every 2 weeks.

Just for the record, Brady and I have not purchased ONE. SINGLE. THING. for this child. For real. OK, I lie, we bought one shirt in Hawaii, but it's a 12-month shirt.

As far as names go, there are a couple that we both like and a couple that one of us likes. In the meantime, we call her 'Yut' or 'Critter,' both monikers given by the hub.

Can't believe that we have less than 3 months!!

Mmm...
Last weekend we went to an Italian deli/market and then to a bakery. Got a very delicious Italian sub and cannoli (M) and eclairs (B) for dessert. The cannoli was amazing. I'm making Brady go back this weekend to get another.

I also discovered this pretzel loaf they sell at Trader Joe's. Basically, it's a soft pretzel baked like a little loaf of bread. And I really, really like them. As an added feature, they are only .99!! I've had 2 since last Saturday.

Other:
We both got callings in church last week. Brady is the 2nd counselor in Young Men's and I am the visiting teaching coordinator in Relief Society. Pretty exciting...