Ice Cream Social

Friday Night's Mystery was, once again, simple and at home because the kids and I had to leave for Missouri early the next morning. We opened this play ice cream set that Googie got for Sissy in Chicago...

...and Tornado made this sign for Sissy's table that we carried downstairs...

...and we had ourselves a little icecream social (with crushed pineapple, chopped strawberries and bananas, and sliced almonds for toppings...I'm so annoyed I forgot to set out the cherries.)

SoDelicious strawberry - and we also tried the new Purely Decadent line of coconut milk "icecream." Wow - it was DELICIOUS. I think it was my favorite type of non-dairy icecream yet - and it seems, perhaps, to be the healthiest alternative so far (other than making your own.) I'm going to get another flavor to try today during our trip to Whole Foods.

The porcelain cups were so little Ryan had to have a ridiculous amount of refills - the kids enjoyed filling up their own cups, too! - but it was fun.

Girls' Chicago Trip '09

My mom drove my sisters and I to Chicago last weekend for a celebration of Cary's 30th b-day, which was in April. It also worked out perfectly that it was Mother's Day weekend, and we were able to spend that time with our momma.

Cary had prepared gifts for us all to open,

one every hour during the drive from STL to Chicago.

My gifts included a $10 gift certificate to Whole Foods for snacks during our trip, my favorite gum, chap stick, a headband, and earrings she purchased at her friends' jewelry show.

You can check out Mia Sorella Designs here.

Clearly, Tracy was very excited about her Kombucha drink, which she loves.

We stayed at Hotel Felix, an eco-friendly, hip, boutique hotel.

the lobby

Karyn's Cooked was in close walking distance from our hotel.

This is probably the best vegan food in Chicago I've eaten up to this point.

It's a great restaurant all around.

I ordered the jerk tofu sandwich, which came with potatoes and coleslaw.

Tracy ate half of my sandwich...

and I ate half of hers. I think this was the Philly "Cheese Steak" if I'm not mistaken. Both were very good. I think I liked mine the best, but it was really spicy. Hurt so good. What I did not get a picture of was the fried basket combo - zucchini, tofu, and cauliflower. I don't remember the last time I had anything breaded and deep fried. It was delicious (the cauliflower was my fave), and it was served with ranch and barbeque sauces. (plus I tried some of somebody's wonderful macaroni and cheese.) My meal was so good, but I was so full. When I said I didn't think I could finish, Cary urged me on.

"Yes, you can. You just have to focus. You have to let your mind go someplace else."

Mom and I took dessert back to the hotel to eat with our in-room movie. She ordered bread pudding, and I got the coconut cream pie. That cream on top was amazing, and I can't believe it's vegan. I really wanted the chocolate pie, but I ordered that last time I was in town - and I was trying to be different. I only managed to eat half of my pie because I was so full. I saved the rest on ice and had it for breakfast.

Does anyone else out there choose their hotel due, in part, to its proximity to Whole Foods? We made a few trips here.

For breakfast, I drank the rest of my acai smoothie drink and coconut pie from the night before. Then we walked over to Whole Foods, and I ate some watermelon and one of my latest favorite snacks - Sea's Gift Roasted Seaweed Snacks. I love these...but I admit, they may not be for everyone. No one wanted to try it as it is green, sounds like you're eating paper, and well, it's called seaweed. I think they're great, though - salty and just a few calories.

Sitting in the hotel lobby, preparing for a big day on the town...we (southerners) did not adequately prepare for the nippy Chicago weather. By late afternoon, it had warmed a bit, and the next day was nice and warm.

One of my best friends (since the third grade), Sarah, lives in Chicago, and she met up with us for lunch and a little shopping in hip, artsy area of Wicker Park/Bucktown.

lunch at Handlebar Cafe

I had been to Handlebar before and had the best Buffalo "Chicken" Wrap. I wish I would have ordered that again because I loved it - but again, trying to be different. Tracy ordered that as a sandwich, didn't like it, and let me have half. I liked what I ordered - I think it was "Vegan Diablos"- it just seemed too much like something I would eat at home.

We had an afternoon "snack" at Veggie Bite, which is also in the Wicker Park/Bucktown area. (We all accidentally called it Veggie Bites all day, much to Cary's annoyance.) I'd never even heard of this place, but I will be back. I might go to Chicago again just so I can come here. The milkshakes were delectable, and they were very nice about making mine extra thick for me. Tracy got a chili cheese combo plus a taco for her "snack," heehee.

This might have been my favorite thing all weekend. Sarah ordered these chili cheese fries, and we split them. If I had seen those, I wouldn't have ordered my boring plain fries. I loved Veggie Bites, and I wish we could have eaten a whole meal there. (ha, Cary, as I was proofreading, I realized I just called it Veggie Bites again...I'm going to leave it.)

Okay, so I did order another milkshake for the "road." There, I admit it. It was like fate as we were walking down the street and passed a bit of graffiti art. It seemed like all signs were pointing to it, reassuring me of my two-milkshake decision.

I never shop. I really hardly ever do. I would say this was my first real shopping trip. Usually, I don't buy much on vacations because I feel like I already spent too much on everything else. I became a consumer this weekend, though. And it was fun! My complaint about stores is this...nothing opened until 10 or 11. And almost everything closes by 8. It's really hard to maximize your time. Stores, please lengthen your hours!

Mojo Spa smelled delicious. It seemed like most/all of their products were pretty natural. I got the lemon body scrub. I wanted to buy this delicious smelling yellow cake with chocolate frosting soap. I was afraid Dash would try to eat it, though. I did get the kids these fun little soaps.

My favorite store, apparently, was Una Mae's Freak Boutique because I bought a jacket, this hat, earrings, necklace, and another sweater, not pictured. I made three different purchase transactions because I kept seeing something else that I wanted.

Got this vintage shirt from Buffalo Exchange.

I bought this scarf from Free People. It was on sale (I think I am mentioning that to justify my consumerism.) They use shopping bags made of cute fabric, which was such a little bonus. I'm going to give it to Sissy as one of her gifts.

Cab ride back to the hotel, after a long day of shopping...we literally "shopped til we dropped." (I'm sorry; it hurt me to type that as much as it may have hurt you to read it.)

Back out for supper at Pick Me Up Cafe...I gave Cary a b-day gift during every meal.

For some reason, we had so much stress in deciding where to eat supper that night. Cary and I were secretly trying to get reservations at "Rosebud" on Rush Street, which is apparently Mom's favorite place in Chicago. She had been so giving and supportive in eating at all vegetarian places, and I wanted to do that for her. We couldn't get a reservation until 9, and we were all just kind of tired. Yet, it was too early to call it a night.

Anyway, we ended up at Pick Me Up Cafe. It was fine. Not my favorite (It wasn't all vegetarian, and it probably wasn't a place I would have chosen to take Mom) but lots of vegan options to choose from so much better for me than going to a normal restaurant. I ordered the Moo-free Pizza.

the next morning at Chicago Diner for breakfast

It always nice to go to Chicago Diner, my first love. Wish I could have gotten one of their delicious sandwiches or entrees while we were in town, but it's hard to pass up a vegan breakfast. I do love breakfast food. I had a sausage patty, bacon, french toast, fruit, and two pancakes with berry sauce. In my defense, I only ordered one pancake, but they mistakenly made two. Bonus. It was all very yummy.

I wasn't going to get another milkshake. Honestly, I wasn't. But I did.

Chocolate/chocolate chip cookie dough. That's all I need to say.

We made reservations at Karen's Raw

after shopping the little area of CB2, Crate and Barrel, Land of Nod, etc.

We really needed to get on the road, though, as we were already looking at an a.m. arrival time. When we got there, we realized it was a $30/person buffet. The food on the buffet looked really fun, and I wanted us all to try it. However, no one really felt like we were $15/person hungry, let alone $30.

Cary and I got these slushies that were delicious. Mine was acai berry on the bottom, goji berry on the top. I could have drank three of those in a row. I also got a walnut pate/sprouts/tomato/avacado/onion sandwich and a coconut/carob raw "cheese" cake for the road home. They were both pretty good. Not to mention my Acqua Panna water. I am pretty picky about my water, as it is mostly the only thing I drink. I am not too fond of spring water normally, but this kind doesn't have that weird spring water aftertaste. Plus, it comes in a glass bottle, which tasted, well, less plastic-y.

There was plenty of singing going on in the car. You need to maximize this picture to truly appreciate Cary's effort. After much debate over which was the quickest route (it is so clear where we girls get our stubborn, always-think-we're-right personalities), Mom drove the entire way home. (Did I mention how stubborn she is?) I think we got home between 2:30-3:00 a.m. I had a lovely little Mother's Day card (not to mention, the house was very picked up) waiting for me on the counter. It was so good to kiss my sleeping little ones who I missed dearly.

What I Bought in Chicago

I never shop. I really hardly ever do. I would say this was my first real shopping trip. Usually, I don't buy much on vacations because I feel like I already spent too much on everything else. I became a consumer this weekend, though. And it was fun! Most of our shopping happened in the hip, artsy area of Wicker Park/Bucktown. My complaint about stores is this...nothing opened until 10 or 11. And almost everything closes by 8. It's really hard to maximize your time. Stores, please lengthen your hours! because you can never have too many tanks...got these at the Levi store (one of them was on sale)
I got Ryan two shirts, short sleeve leisure shirt (that's what it's called) and hooded sweatshirt, from American Apparel - both in my favorite color, dark gray.
got this short sleeved jacket on sale at Una Mae's Freak Boutique
Mojo Spa smelled delicious. It seemed like most/all of their products were very natural. I got the lemon body scrub. I wanted to buy this delicious smelling yellow cake with chocolate frosting soap. I was afraid Dash would try to eat it, though. I did get the kids these fun little soaps.
My favorite store, apparently, was Una Mae's Freak Boutique because I also bought this hat, earrings, necklace, and another sweater, not pictured. I made three different purchase transactions because I kept seeing something else that I wanted.

some of the kids' gifts...got the book and dress from Psycho Baby...I had to get the dress for Sissy because she had the same one when she was just a few months old, and I loved it so. It was the first thing I had bought for her (got it on Robertson Blvd. in Los Angeles), upon finding out I was having a girl. The book Adventures of Cow is really cute. I got the puzzle from Red Balloon. The kids always love a good puzzle, and I thought it would be a good color vocabulary lesson as it has more shades of colors listed, like teal, magenta, and taupe, etc.

Got this vintage shirt from Buffalo Exchange.

I bought this scarf from Free People. It was on sale (I think I keep mentioning that to justify my consumerism.) They use shopping bags made of cute fabric, which was such a little bonus. I'm going to give it to Sissy as one of her gifts.

I was sad that the one thing I planned on getting from Land of Nod was on backorder. I saw a lot of things I wanted to buy, and I spent entirely too long inside the store. I ended up buying this pack of origami airplanes. There are so many sheets there are plenty for the kids to make and play with, along with hanging some from the ceiling in their room.

I bought the big frame from CB2...(how I wanted to buy so much more, but I was having shopper anxiety over what to choose)...and Mom bought me the cool hour glass as a Mothers' Day gift. Got the little fork and spoon (that matches our other ones at home...yeah, that's what those little things are in the pic) and these glass containers.

t-shirt and scarf from Whole Foods...because I never have enough t-shirts to wear to the fitness center, etc., and one can never have too many scarves

I Need a Nap

I haven't had a nap in DAYS - like, a week. My eyes want so badly to shut, but I still have miles to go before I sleep. We went out of town this weekend, and I am behind on reporting about the happenings in our lives. Thursday and Friday, beyond my regular duties, I was getting ready for our trip to Missouri. Had to shop, get a new tire, make party favors, etc. (more on the bridal and baby showers later).For Friday Night Mystery (They were waiting on the couch for their surprise.), Ryan brought home a mega-box of sidewalk chalk and a new soccer ball for the kids. (They've really enjoyed playing soccer lately with Ryan at the park - especially Dash, and their old ball was tearing up.) He also rented Bedtime Stories. We ran out of time to watch it, though, and we had to postpone. I just had too much packing/preparing to do in order to leave our house first thing Saturday morning. I wanted to SIT on the couch with my children and watch the movie, too. I'm trying to be more "present" during things like this - instead of always rushing around, doing something else. We watched it Monday night, though, while we ate strawberry cupcakes and popcorn. Lots of laughter out of Tornado. (And he ate three cupcakes and a big bowl of popcorn.)

Tornado and I had a morning full of fun learning Tuesday. I'm trying to get back into our RightStart Math, a curriculum we had started long ago but somehow deviated away from. I know why we stopped; it's because I hate math. And this whole kind of approach - it doesn't come natural to me, and it feels like a stressful chore/nightmare to look at it. I think my heart starts beating faster, and it brings back memories of having math tutors in college and STILL not being able to pass algebra. We started doing other things and doing "life" math and math out of his workbooks. And he hated it and didn't understand it. THIS makes sense to him, though, and I feel ashamed for burying it out of my own discomfort. I'm going to do better.

We love our Highlights Hidden Pictures Game. It is just as challenging for me as it is for them (arguably MORE challenging for me), and I like playing it with them. Tornado and I were racing to see who could find all the pictures on our cards, and I was having trouble finding a few of them. He leaned over and helped me find one. I said, "Thanks! I'll help you find one now." He said, "No, that's okay." That little turkey felt sorry for me and was trying to help me! That made me smile.

Cinco de Mayo '09 was a hit. Tornado just finished off the leftover bowl of jicama yesterday. He couldn't get enough of it. Dash and Sissy ate it okay, nothing special to them. I'm trying to go a little more "green" with my parties. As a lover of all things balloon-y and decorative, it's a challenge for me. However, I made steps this time by not getting paper plates and napkins and decorating with items like potted flowers and pineapples and bananas. (and reusing what I already own) I don't know - do bananas work for "Mexican"? I think so. I was thinking of the song we always sang in elementary - "Mama Paquita," but I just looked it up, and apparently it's Brazilian.

It may look like I photoshopped in those moustaches, but they were really wearing them. And that's also Ryan's real chest hair, heehee. :) These two had a little too much fun posing for me.

Mi senorita bonita even insisted on wearing a moustache, but she took if off to down her pineapple margarita. (I used Santa Cruz pineapple coconut juice mixed with frozen pineapple, and it was one of the best smoothies we've had in awhile.)

I think the moustache was having a sobering effect on Tornado because Ryan took about five pictures of us, and he couldn't quite get a good one.

yummy nachos

For dessert, I veganized this recipe for banana quesadillas. (And I added chopped bananas inside because it seemed to make it healthier.) It was good; everyone polished theirs off - especially Dash, in record speed. I wished I would have waited to serve them until they were cool because I think they tasted better after they had sat for awhile. That's what I would do next time.

This picture sort of displays how I felt today. Dash was, once again, supposed to be in bed taking a nap. I found him asleep in the hallway, covered up with a pillow sham. And that's our still-not-put-away luggage, spilling out, mixed with toys spilling out of their room. I WILL get organized one of these days.