Chicago Living :: The Aviary & The Office

Hope you lovelies made the best of daylight savings and slept in an extra hour.  This weekend we finally made our way to The Aviary.  It was a blast.  Not only did we try practically every cocktail on the menu between the 6 of us, my personal favorite was the luau, but we made it downstairs to The Office, where I sipped on the Tikki.  Special shout out to Jeremiah who explained the science behind their ice making and all the fabulous boozegastronomy that goes on at The Aviary!  The Mister had the following off the prefixed drink menu at The Aviary: Anything for Shrub, Lambrucha, and School Lunch.  I had the Tropic Thunder, and 90 Miles to Mexico.  Needless to say I was in bed till past noon on Saturday.  On a side note, I can't believe we are in November already, the holidays will be here in no time!  Happy Monday!

{Drinks at The Aviary from Top Left across: Tropic Thunder, In the Rocks, Dune Buggy; Anything for Shrub, Martinez & Lambrucha, Ford's Model Tea Party & 90 Miles to Mexico; Ford Model's Tea Party, School Lunch, & A Moment of Silence}

 

Monthly Updates :: 5 Months & the Mister's Birthdy Weekend

This weekend we celebrated the Mister's thirtieth birthday (& the little Man's 5 month birthday) with brunch at the Trencherman before he headed out to Lolla.  The Mother's Milk at Trencherman is my new favorite summer cocktail, who knew you could carbonate vodka, it was refreshingly delicious.  Speaking of delicious, I made the mister a yummy birthday cake in the shape of a 3 and a 0, hopefully I'll get a tutorial up here soon.  And in other exciting baby news, my cousin had her little Man last week, welcome to the world baby Max, I can't wait to spoil you.  Hope you lovelies had a wonderful weekend!

Weekend Recap

It was a busy weekend with engagement parties, bridal showers, farmer's markets, and of course the Blackhawks.  Is it sad that I'm glad to be back to work this week?  And on another note, I can't believe it's already July!  We went to watch the beginning of the Blackhawks parade on Friday, and made a pit stop at the French Market on Clinton before heading back to work.  We came back with 2 loafs from the Little Goat Bread Co., I love that place.  After a couple of hours at work we headed out to City Winery for a surprise Tuscan bridal shower for a coworker.  Their soup of the day, a creamy jalapeno soup, was beyond delicious!!  Saturday was the little Man's first trip to the farmer's market, which he handled like a champ.  We feasted, because any trip to the farmer's market isn't complete without a meal, and picked up some veggies, peonies, and hand churned butter.  And we celebrated the engagement of 2 love birds, I can't wait for their wedding this Labor Day weekend, if the engagement party was any indication, the wedding will be a blast. 

30 First Dates

The Mister and I are the worst at deciding where to eat.  After several back and fourths we usually end up at the same restaurant.  So this year we decided to create a list of 30 new (to us) restaurants that we want to try out.  We split the list in half, as you can clearly see some options are all the Mister (anything Mexican or Superdawg Drive In), and some are clearly all me (anything Asian).  This way when it comes to picking a place to eat, we can just refer back to our list.  It's date night, simplified.

1. Antique Taco
2. Au Cheval
3. Avec
4. Bar Pastoral
5. Big Jones
6. Chilam Balam
7. City Winery
8. Embeya
9. Fat Rice
10. Flour and Stone
11. Found
12. Gioco
13. Han 202
14. Handlebar
15. Kai Zan
16. La Cuchara
17. Le Creperie
18. Nellcote
19. Ombra Italian Bar
20. Opart Thai
21. Rickshaw Republic
22. RM Champagne Salon
23. RPM
24. Sienna Tavern
25. Sumi Robata Bar
26. Superdawg Drive In 
27. Tavernita
28. Takito Kitchen
29. The Boarding House
30. Yusho

Monday, Monday: Chicago Brunch Hot Spots



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This weekend we went to two new brunch places that I loved. The Mister and I went to Kanela Breakfast Club on Saturday.  Loved the monkey bread, it was perfection!  We also had the chirizo skillet and the two eggs.  Wished we had tried some of the sweet stuff they had on their menu including their red velvet french toast or their bottomless mimosas.

On Sunday the girls and I hit up Meli's Cafe at their new location on Well St.  I had the crepes, while the girls had a veggie panani, their fruit platter, and their breakfast burrito.  Everything was delicious, and I loved my crepes.  I just had their fresh squeezed orange juice, but next time I think I'll have to try something off their extensive juice bar menu.

And last week a bunch of us ate at Twisted Spoke.  I loved, loved, loved their chilaquiles.  We also had their fish tacos and shrimp  po boy.  And their Bloody Mary's are to die for (even the virgin option that I had).  They also have a huge bar/beer menu to choose from.  With their rooftop patio and amazing food, I can't wait to go back.