Valentine's Day Recap

I had an amazing Valentine's Day in Chicago last night!! The day started with a coworker lunch at Uncle Bub's BBQ in Westmont where they were giving out carnations to the ladies...



followed by a work place delivery of Garrett's Popcorn (Chicago Mix - cheese + caramel).

After a horrible bout with traffic, my guy ordered an Uber, who's amazing driver Mark presented me with a beautiful rose and a note from Uber.

The highlight of the day was the amazing pre-fixe dinner at Bar Pastoral - a cheese and wine bistro in the Lakeview neighborhood. The menu is below, followed by the amazing dishes that were served...

We started with the spiked cupid cocktails and mini pancakes with creme fresh and strawberry jam.

The hand pulled mozzarella was my fav dish, by far! It was amazing...

Proscuitto and cheese curds with arugula...

Beef cheeks and celery root puree...

... everything was topped off with cake pops...

...and they sent us home with some salted chocolate chip cookies for a cab-ride snack!

All in all, it was a great night and I can't wait to go back!!

We also celebrated this weekend at the Polar Beer Fest at Rock Bottom Brewery in the Loop. While I'm not a cold weather person, I layered on the Nike Pro Hyperwarm and Under Armour Cold Gear to keep me warm. I'm also not a beer drinker so it was more about the friends and festivities for me.

Easter Trip to DC (Recap)

I spent my Easter weekend in DC with my cousin Cheryl this year. She's the amazing food genius behind The Neurotic Baker blog. I have the pleasure of helping her with a few of her creations and being the live-in taste tester for a weekend. I swear I almost moved in with her after she made the vanilla whoopie pies below. Enjoy the recap...

Brunch at DGS Delicatessen... The Potato Latkes and Crispy Pastrami were TO DIE FOR. The bottom pic is the DGS Reuben, which was good, but I wished I had ordered the pastrami sandwich because I just couldn't get enough of it!

Then we took a trip to Horace and Dickies... after seeing a line down the street everytime we passed by this Man vs Food approved spot, we couldn't take it anymore. The fish was AWESOME and the "atmosphere" was as memorable as they come. We took our "sandwich" - four filets and 2 pieces of white bread - and camped out next door at the Hookah lounge's outdoor seating area.

H & Pizza was my first DC meal, and the pizza I chose was the Farmer's Daughter. The egg yolk was a great touch!

FARMER'S DAUGHTER -

Spicy Tomato, Housemade Mozzarella, Hot Sausage,

Farm Eggs, Spinach, Parmesan Reggiano, Red Pepper Chili Oil

Breakfast at The Diner was prety good... except the "grits". They called it grits on the menu but it was weird, thick grains, and super creamy. The creamy part was fine but the big grains was a little awkward. Either way, the food was overall pretty good. We tried to get mimosas, but the waiter reminded us that it was only 8:30 AM and drinks don't start until 10. Hey. I was on vacation! No judgement.

A couple of scenic shots from the city and the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial that I finally got to visit at the National Mall!

My cousin Cheryl is also the MASTERMIND behind Edith and Ethel - home of the most AWESOME oatmeal raisin cookies in the world!! Her blog http://neuroticbaker.com/ is where I now go for most of my "impress your man" recipes... so far its working too! LOL! We spent most of the day on Sunday baking - whoopie pies, cupcakes, a cake, oatmeal raisin cookies... it was a post-Lent dream!! Everything was tasty but my favorite, hands down, were the Vanilla Whoopie Pies with rhubard filling or lemon-ginger filling.

Birthdays Through the Years

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"See a common theme??? LOL!! #teamMcD"

Its My Birthday!!!

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"Recreating my birthday experience 30 years later at my employer @mcdonalds #imlovinit"

End of the World Suvival Kit - designerstyle

The best part of the holiday season at work is the amazing and tasty gifts our partners send us. There are cookies, sausages, popcorn, chocolates, cheese varieties, etc... and now, an end of the world survival kit!

While the useful and tasty items included are cool, the real start here are the slogans and comments. This must have been a truly exciting project for everyone involved! I took a few photos for your entertainment...

The box came in a very strong black bag with a warning label "Open in case of Armageddon" and below it "Radiation dampening and RF-shielded bag. In case of emergency, bag may be inflated and used as a floatation device."

The box was labeled for the "Apocalypse" and sealed extra tight...

The dramatic dark colors, "scientific" fonts and extra features such as the aluminum panel all gave us second thoughts as to whether we might actually need this in a few days!!

A close-up of the contents... whisky (with a note to remember that the bottle is "portable"), rope (not to be used too close to the whiskey), duct tape with a "not edible" warning label, soap - to keep it clean, anti-rad pills (i.e. tic tacs), a glow stick which can also be used for light during surgical procedures, a chocolate bar that provides an aphrodisiac if needed, and a box of matches to burn the chocolate wrapper and prevent any zombies from following the smell. I can't forget the coffee labeled "Stay awake, stay alive!" and lastly, the white flag to wave, in the event you need to surrender!



In the event you aren't sure of what qualifies as "Armageddon", there is a graphic-list of possible scenarios...

Hands down the BEST and most creative I've seen so far! Kudos to the amazing designers of Hexanine!

*bonus for all of you marketing and brand geeks - Check out their book Damn Good: Top Designers Discuss Their All-Time Favorite Projects

Happy 4th of July WEEK!!

Since the Fourth falls on a Wednesday (stupid for work calendars) its only right we celebrate ALL WEEK!!! Since I didn't get to go back to Detroit and spend it with my family, it was only right that I have an equally appropriate meal in Chicago. Enter "Chicago's Home of Chicken and Waffles" in Oak Park, IL. (Un)Fortunately I have become a near regular at this place! My wallet forgives me, my waistline cringes unless I get up the energy to walk to two miles there) and my friends love me for bringing them along!

This visit I had my usual Reverend C.E. Robinson's smothered wings and potatoes with collard greens. It gets NO better. Drool away... Then go check it out for yourself!!

 

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Waffles (Chicago South Loop)

So, I'm finally in the South Loop about to check out Waffles, one of Chicago's newer brunch spot!

The menu looks amazing and I had to post a pic of the waffle selection... They also offer a hot chocolate flight as part of the Groupon deal I snatched up weeks ago. Hmmmm... Decisions, decisions!!!

*edited* I ordered the Hot Chocolate flight with the Cheddar and Short Rib Waffle... SOOOOO GOOOD!

All in the Details

Working on a Saturday afternoon (BOOOOO) and figured a Red Bull might help. After reading an awesome article earlier this week on Harvard Business Review about the attention to detail given by companies such as Disney and Apple, I'm so much more aware of the "little things" that companies do to make us enjoy their products that much more.
As I opened my Red Bull, the tab caught my eye. Most soft drink tabs are those plain ones with the middle opening... But this Red Bull tab opening is shaped like the bull in their logo. How cool is that???

TheRealCherish is One Year Older...

I had an amazing birthday week!!! Its so great to hear from old friends, share cake with coworkers and even a semi-surprise visit from the family. Between Smith & Wollensky, Salud Tequila Lounge, Papa's Cache Sabroso, Crumbs cupcakes and all of the restaurants that send me free dining vouchers that I have yet to use... This week has been great for eating!!!!!! I got some awesome gifts too :-)

Headed to brunch now and then a day of relaxing... Topped off by a great Sunday night of commercials... I mean football. LOL!

Thanks to everyone who sent well wishes and helped make this birthday as amazing as it is!!

New Chicago Fav... Pierrot Gourmet

I know I owe a summer compilation blog of my food fun in Chicago, but this spot deserved its own recognition. Pierrot Gourmet, in The Peninsula Hotel on the corner of Superior and Rush, was such an amazing experience. The ambiance felt like a small European bistro, and the service was great! When we couldn't decide what to order, our waitress recommended sharing two items, and they even split the plates up for us... skimping on nothing (see photo)! The cheese platter was a great touch and while I skipped dessert, the selection was very tempting.

Two thumbs up for one of my new fav spots!

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Sorting through my Mobile Uploads–2011 Random

Every once in a while I gather all of the photos I meant to post into a single blog… here is your entertainment for the week with a summary of some of the year’s events so far…

Valentine’s Day/February Birthday celebrations with the girls at Benihana – the chef left me a message *smile*.

Took this pic of a page in the Macy’s ad and went to find it… In the end didn’t buy it. The model must be way taller than me.

My dad was in Chicago the weekend I took my license and took me on a father daughter movie date that night.

A manager posting this after repeatedly telling me to stop walking/running so fast in the office.

I made it to the United Center taping of the Oprah show. It was the BEST concert ever!!!! I had a blast!!

Spent the holidays with my favorite little cousins at Navy Pier.

Took a trip to Detroit and got to see my Papa’s growing urban garden, including the cantaloupe along the fence (its hanging in the bag in the 3rd pic above).

Oh, and I grew my hair out!!! This pic is from June/July when I first straightened it after a few months of wearing it curly.

When I get a chance, I’ll post the food pics… there were too many to include on this post!!