Day 1 of M&D Weekend in Chicago.
We love visitors!

Mom & Dad decided to come to town for my Birthday & for Easter weekend. We had so much fun with them! They stayed here in our apt with us so it was like  a long weekend sleepover-- and they wore us out!!

They arrived Thursday night and we didn't waste any time showing them around. We got ready and went to Trump Tower to eat at Sixteen.

There was a 180 view of Chicago in this restaurant. It was amazing!

The most delicious chocolate mousse dessert.

Not the best picture of us, but it will do!

Birthday Cake. 
Best thing about Birthdays. Well, that and all the LOVE you get. 

I took pictures of some of my favorite things about my birthday. I had such a great day!!

Lobby of the Wrigley building-- one of my favorite buildings for architecture in Chicago. I got to meet a client here-- she works for Wrigley, of course!

First tulips in bloom in Chicago. These are going to be even more gorgeous when they open up!! I love the THOUSANDS of tulips in Chicago every spring. It's my favorite.

There's a big glare on this window, but it's the SPA that Ryan sent me to. Massage, Manicure & Pedicure-- I was spoiled!!

This is what you get when you try to make your own birthday cake-- total failure! Haha, but it was fun to TRY.

Flowers sent to my house!! My dear friend Eliza sent me the most GORGEOUS tulips! These babies lasted for a whole week and were amazing when they opened up. Between these and the Roses Ryan got me I was in flower heaven.

Friends + Cake = Delicious. We had a few friends come over to enjoy cake with us.

I also got showered with love via phone calls, texts and of course Facebook. Facebook is such a boost on your birthday! It's so fun to hear from friends from different parts of my life.

Birthday Week
You get extra presents if you go to Costco during your birthday week.

I've been excited to read Bossypants ever since I learned about it. I think Tina Fey is so funny and I love her style and especially her writing.

Also, Ryan was planning on buying me flowers Wednesday, but offered to buy them early. I fell in love with the gorgeous color of these roses. I had to have them.

  

They are adding color and fragrance to our house, I am LOVING it!!

Ugh, Gas Prices. 
Makes you think twice about driving the car in the city.

Gas in Chicago is out of control. I heard on the news the other day it is the 2nd highest in the nation-- falling short only to San Francisco. It's painful to see how high the prices are climbing. And with our car-- the Nissan Xterra & it's super charger needing premium gas, we are really feeling the pain!!

The other day I drove up north about an hour to go see a client for work. I decided to gas up while I was out there-- knowing it would be significantly cheaper. Well, as I drove back into the city that day, I realized it was at least 50 cents cheaper per gallon!!

Abbott Park, IL. I paid 4.25/gallon. Which was CHEAP.

Downtown Chicago (in the rain) see the small sign on the ground? Would have paid 4.79 for premium gas here.

When will we see the prices drop instead of rise? I'm scared for the reality that we'll be paying over $5/gallon soon. Yikes. Needless to say we are taking the bus more these days and walking!!

Easter Sugar Cookies
What says Easter better than sugar cookies??

Ducks, Eggs, Bunnie, Buterflies, Flowers.

A few months ago I had THE BEST sugar cookie I have ever had. Seriously. So good. Ryan had brought them home from a Ward Missionary meeting-- Sister Beck, one of our senior missionaries had made them for the group. I saw Sister Beck that weekend for a Young Women's event, and another friend and I gushed over her cookies. She was so flattered that she offered to teach us how to make them. Score!!

See, the thing is, Sister Beck was a caterer for 20 years. She is a phenomenal cook, and as this was her livelihood, she doesn't share her recipes. I was informed last night that I was the first person she's given away this recipe to. I feel so lucky.

I only hope that I can remember all of her tips and tricks so I can replicate these amazing cookies. Check them out.

Wish I could spend all day outside. 

Warm sun on my back and face.
Cool brisk breeze.
Listening to the birds and seagulls fly by.
Noticing the trees start to get their cute green buds.
Waiting for the tulips to pop out of their green shells and bloom.
Watching the school kids chase after butterflies.
Secretly wishing I were a school kid chasing after butterflies.

Sigh. What a glorious spring. day.

Spring has Sprung.
Well, at least SIGNS of spring have sprung.

It's been a long winter and yesterday we finally got a taste of spring/summer. It was a glorious 83 degrees in Chicago and I have to say, we made the most of it.

I started by taking my Young Women's class outdoors (I teach the 12-18 year olds in my church congregation). Although the wind proved to be a little difficult, you couldn't beat the amazing weather.

After church Ryan and I took a book and a magazine across the street to our little park. We like to think of it as our "backyard" that we don't have to mow or garden -- ahh city life. Ryan noticed while we were there that some of the trees had started to bud! This was very exciting news as most trees look like this:

However, a few trees now look like this:

That evening we were invited over to dinner by a couple in our ward. We decided to walk the 1.5 miles to their home. As we were walking I noticed the FIRST tulips of the Chicago Spring season!! I CAN NOT WAIT for the hundreds thousands of tulips to bloom in the city! I am getting so excited waiting for them to come out. It's one of my favorite things about Chicago.

We also got some VERY exciting news over the weekend-- my parents have decided to come to Chicago for Easter/my Birthday weekend!! I am hopeful that our trees will be in bloom with cherry blossoms and that these gorgeous tulips will be filling the streets with their vibrant color. That would be a perfect birthday gift from Chicago to me.

Lucky in Love.
I love weddings. 


One of my roommates from college got married this weekend and I was lucky enough to join them for their big day. I love weddings and especially when I know both people when they were dating and fell in love. It was so great to be their for their sealing and also for their beautiful reception. It was also great to have a mom who lives in Virginia and was willing to be my date all weekend!! It made it extra special to spend a couple of days with one of my favorite people. Somehow I didn't take TOO many photos from this weekend (it must've been the jet-lag) but I captured a few. Congratulations to Brooke & Troy!!!

Brooke hand made each of these delicious cake bites.

The reception was in Baltimore so mom and I took the grand tour of Baltimore. The good and the bad. We first headed over to this AMAZING crab house --- seriously so good.

Isn't this the cutest neighborhood ever? I love the cherry blossoms.

Seafood cajun pasta. AMAZING.

On our way to the reception site we decided to take a side road to avoid interstate traffic. It was a colorful experience to say the least and luckily we didn't have any problems...but its always good to think twice before taking a detour in a city you don't know too well....

 We finished our weekend by driving through the Mall on the way to the airport. The Cherry Blossoms were ALMOST in full bloom -- a few of them were especially gorgeous so I took a few photos from the car.

Isn't it amazing how something so tiny can represent such a big concept-- rebirth each spring.

I LOVE these blossoms.

Austin. 
My first trip to Texas. 

I went to Austin this week for work and had a fantastic time. I love the city and the "hill country" of Texas. I didn't take too many photos (Lots of working on this trip!) but here are a few of downtown in case you haven't been... 

I lucked out and had AMAZING weather, so I tried to spend as much time as possible outside! It was also funny to see leaves on trees and some blossoms-- Chicago is far from that stage in terms of spring!!

 

I feel like I've made it in life. 
This weekend I accomplished one of my goals: Re-creating Grandma Pixton's cinnamon rolls. And they were really great. 


It's kind of late, I just got into Austin, Texas for a business trip this week so I won't go into too much detail, but I had to brag. I followed all of Grandma Pixton's 42 rules of thumb that I learned a few weeks ago in Utah, and I actually did it-- I made really great rolls! My husband said "WOW" and even said they tasted like Grandma's. I couldn't ask for a better response. See my progress below: 

The dough MORE than doubled in size!

Adding the filling. Yum.

 

Do you LOVE my gorgeous Ranunculas? I do.

Just after I rolled the dough and cute the rolls.

An hour later after they had time to RISE.

After baked in the oven with the frosting. Sigh. They are so good.

The full pan of rolls.

Delicious.

 Thank you, Grandma Pixton for teaching me how to make your fluffy yummy rolls! I still have a lot to learn, but I feel like this was a great start!

I need Surgery. 
April Fools!

Seriously, that has been my life story for the last few weeks months. Let me back up and start at the beginning. 

October 2010- 
Out of no where I get this intense burning sensation from my lower back, through my leg to my foot. I stretch, take anti-inflammatory meds, massage it, heating pad, nothing works. It stays for 2 weeks straight.
I mention it to my mom, who thinks it might be my periformus muscle. She advises me to take a break from running to let it heal. 

November 2010-
Pain is still there. Not as intense, but whenever I try to run, the pain returns. 
I see my uncle, who is a chiropractor while I am in CA for Thanksgiving. He diagnosis it as a herniated disc. Yikes. But I don't really know what that means... so I don't see a doctor yet, but I decide to stop all cardio exercise. 

January 2011-
Try to start exercising; core muscles and 10-20 minutes on the bike. At first, the bike doesn't bother it, but eventually it does. I try walking up 3 flights of stairs...the pain is back. Finally I go to the doctor (because I had a sinus infection, I also asked about my leg). He refers me to an orthopedic surgeon.

February 2011-
Orthopedic surgeon tells me I have a herniated disc and will need surgery if I want to get rid of the pain as soon as possible to get back to my active lifestyle. Seriously?! Herniated disc? I'm 25 how does this happen? I was totally freaked out.

March 2011- 
MRI- I had to get an MRI! Those things are a LOT smaller in person than in movies. Seriously. I got a little claustrophobic but just closed my eyes and tried to take a nap.

 Othorpedic Surgeon- Oh man let's not get into my doctor's visit, but I'll just tell you that I DO NOT need surgery. Instead of a herniated disc, I have 3 bulging discs; one of which is pressing on my siatic nerve, which is causing the pain down my leg.

So what does this all mean? Well, 
#1: No Surgery
#2: Physical Therapy
#3: Chiropractor- I need one in Chicago
#4: Pain meds while I work through this
#5: I probably need to pay better attention to my posture while I sit all day and work from home. 
#6: I'm totally going to start exercising again and losing the extra lbs I gained from being depressed about not exercising.

3rd time's the charm. Yes, I'm a little crazy. 
For the iPad2. 

Rewind 3.5 months. I'm at our Company Holiday Retreat in Snowbird. I get handed my Christmas gift, which was in the form of an envelope. Imagine my surprise (and excitement) when I open up a note that says, Merry Christmas! You will get an iPad! Wahoo!! We decided as a company to wait until the new iPad2 was announced so my waiting began...

I watched the news feed when they announced the new iPad2. Have I ever cared before? No. I was online on March 11, the first day available to order it, and I got stuck trying to decide what to engrave on the back...I went back to work and two weeks later I forgot to order it.

All of a sudden it was a 5-week wait to order it online. Ugh. I do not have the kind of patience.

A week goes by, and I still haven't ordered it. I don't want to wait 5 weeks. I finally decide I will go wait in line at the Apple Store in Lincoln Park. With all the crazies who actually go wait in line before the store opens.

Monday:
I was not going to go at 3am like the Apple people said people were doing. Instead, I went Monday morning at 7:45. At 8:15, Apple employees came out and informed us they received 0 iPads in their shipment today. Bummer.

Tuesday:
Since Monday only had 12 people in line in front of me, I figured I could show up at 8:15 and still be OK. Nope. I was wrong. There were at least 50-75 people in front of me. Yikes. I was just 3 people away from getting a ticket.

This picture isn't the best, but there are tons of people in line.

Thursday:
I show up at 7:15, with a book in hand. Finally I am prepared. By 8:15, we are inside of the store. Only 20 people in front of me. I got my choice of iPad. It felt so good to have a ticket in my hand. Finally!

I chose a pink cover, white iPad with 3G. Super excited about it. And still can't believe I went 3 different days before the store opened to go and get one. I never thought I would be that girl. Well, today I was and I got what I wanted.

I love it!

Sometimes we get a little Fussy.
Spring please hurry up and get here.

It's March 28th and it's still 30 degrees, feels like 20 outside. I'll try to be positive and name off a few good things about the weather today:

1. It's SUNNY. Like, super sunny. I mean HOT in my office right now with the curtains closed because the SUN is beating down on me and it feels so good. It's makes me think that maybe, just maybe, it's the same 70 degrees outside as it is inside of my office.

2. The cold air wakes you up. I went outside this morning bundled up in my down coat and 180's (ear warmers) and it was a tiny bit refreshing, but only for 2.5 seconds and then the wind hit my back and i was freezing and realized, why is it so cold?

3. Snow Free. So, at least there isn't any snow outside. That's a plus.

4. I have a warm place to live with lots of blankets to keep me toasty. Wow, that should be higher on the list.

Ok, that's it.

SO here are the negatives:

1. It's freezing outside.

2. EVERYONE is cranky because of it. Although I did meet this sweet hispanic woman from the Chicago 3rd ward the other night who brightly said "I love the cold, and I'm from Guatamala!" -- I wish I had her spirit.

3. Wind. The wind totally makes it worse. As if it isn't bad enough that it's 30 degrees outside, it has to feel like 20 degrees with the wind chill.

4. I still need to wear gloves and ear warmers AND my down coat to keep me warm. Who wants to still be bundled up like this on March 28? Not me. Can I pack up my crazy winter wardrobe yet? 

5. There is no sign of re-birth yet. No wonder Easter isn't until April 24th this year-- we need a whole extra Month to see the trees start budding again and flowers to peak out from the ground. It's totally depressing to still see the bare branches on the trees.

6. Remember last year at this time how I was blogging about our new BBQ, the sunny 50 degree St Patricks day we had, and how i was running on the trails every day with Katie Robinson? Yeah, that makes this Chicago cold even worse because I remember what an awesome LONG spring we had last year.

I could probably go on and on but I'll stop there. If anyone has any positive energy they want to send my way or remedies, please do. Let's just say I'm excited to travel to Texas next week to see the Sun accompanied with some warm temperatures. Wish my hubbie could come with me.

Friday Night Date Night. 
Location: Our neighborhood- the West Loop. 


It's March 26th but it's still winter here in Chicago. The good news is that by 6:30 we still have 30 minutes of solid light before it goes dark-- and that's something to celebrate. On Friday night Ryan took me to this awesome restaurant, Avec. As it is only a few blocks away so we decided to walk in the brisk spring night over there.

Note: we are still wearing our down coats outside -- can't wait to celebrate not needing that!!

Avec is a great little restaurant- and when I say little, I mean little! I didn't take photos myself but here are some from online to give you a taste of this place:
 

The restaurant.

Ok, now with people.

My favorite part of the mean- bacon wrapped chorizo dates. yum!

 I hope you all enjoyed a fun date this weekend! It's so refreshing to get out and try new things. One of my favorite things about living in Chicago is that great new experiences are all around us.