Chicago skyline before opening night of the Chicago Outdoor Film Festval

Yep, you're reading that right. Beef lips.

Fridge Friday

Fridge Friday 6-26-09
Originally uploaded by geg5150

Click through to read the notes and see the freezer!

Let me see your fridge!

Picnic Dinner

Wednesday night we went to watch The Producers at a beach park on Lake Michigan. It was great fun. We're doing picnics in the park before the movie. I love it.

I didn't want to do traditional picnic food or sandwiches, I wanted a real meal. Something that was easy enough to eat and that would be tasty at room temp.

I kinda invented Lemon & Olive Chicken with Couscous



6 chix thighs, no skin on the bone

In a large skillet that has a lid heat 2-3 tbsp of oil. Salt and pepper your chicken and brown on both sides for a total of 6-8 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate and add chopped onion to saute for about 3 minutes. Add 1 clove of mined garlic and cook for another minute. Add 1 cup of chix stock to deglaze the pan. Add the chicken back to the skillet along with 1 cup of chopped green Spanish olives and Kalamata olive (or whatever you like), six lemon quarters (that's 1 1/2 lemons) and a tsp or so of dried marjoram. Bring to a low simmer, cover and cook for about 45 minutes...the chicken will be almost falling off the bone.

This is very lemony. The chix broth & olive have plenty of salt, so don't add extra. I did add extra pepper and a slash of Tobasco sauce in the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Serve atop couscous with plenty of the yummy sauce.

I served it with grilled veggies, pickled radishes and fresh pineapple for dessert.


Saturday night it's The Goonies at Chase Park. The Boy is responsible for the picnic, I think it'll be pot roast.

This must end

Happy Father's Day

G's first Christmas
Originally uploaded by geg5150

This was my dad's first Christmas as a dad. This year will be his 37th. He's pretty great. It's amazing to me that he's 26 in this picture. Yikes! That's so young to have so much responsibility.

I'm so lucky to have great parents. My dad has always be a terrific provider, has put his family first and afforded us so many adventures throughout my childhood (and adult life)!

I love you, Dad.

(And yes, that baby is me.)

Hot Town, Summer in the City

Not exactly dirty and gritty, but it is getting humid here in Chicago. I'm fighting the urge to turn on the air conditioning. It's hovered at 78 in the house all day, now that it's 10 p.m., I'm hoping that it will cool down. The windows are wide open and the fans are on full blast. After a slow start, it appears that summer is here.

Last night was a great summer night! The Boy and I started with dinner at Moody's Pub, an institution since 1959. A damn fine burger and a lovely beer garden. It's always summer at Moody's.

Our dinner choice was strategically located just three blocks from Berger Park, the location for our Movie in the Park! Last night's film was Rear Window with Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly. Grace Kelly was exquisite, such a beauty. Her outfits were just stunning! I'd seen parts of the movie, but not all of it. 1954 was so very different from anything I know in my life! So formal and reserved.

The park had a great sound system and the screen was huge. The grassy area was littered with couples and small groups of three and four on blankets with bottles of wine, picnics and snacks. It did get a little cool and by the last 15 minutes of the movie, I had on my sweatshirt and was more under the blanket than on top of it.

The next movie on our list is The Producers in Lincoln Park next week.

Tomorrow night is Happy Hour with two guys that I met at a work function a few weeks ago. They're friends with each other and I met each of them independently. I nice surprise to find that they know each other. An instant circle of friends, I'd say. Hmmm, which one of them will I choose for my gay husband. Can I have two?

The rest of the weekend will be spent working around the house, organizing and such.

Oh, and tomorrow morning, I'm going to get my new 32G iPhone 3G(s). Excited!

Right, About that To Do List

The progress:

• Final trip to the old condo to pick up random crappe, including: telephone, lamp, box of books, hanging picture, dead Christmas cactus, vacuum, etc. DONE!
  
• Go to Petsmart to pick up a scratching post for Buttercup, she's scratching my brand new bedroom rug. DONE!
  
• Change the cat litter. DONE!
  
• Meet a lady from Craigslist to give her some boxes and packing paper. DONE!
  
• Shower! Zoiks, I'm a lil' stinky. DONE!
  
• Unload the diswasher. DONE!
  
• Throw a down comforter in the washer. Fail.
  
• Bring 2 boxes down to the basement. DONE!
  
• Take the trash out. DONE!
  
• Find a home for the ironing board. Not done, but I like Anna's idea!
  
• Ask the downstairs neighbor who is moving out if she'd like some empty boxes. Not yet. I think I'm saving them for The Boy.
  
• Mentally prep for work tomorrow. BOO! Well, it's Monday and I'm working, semi-prepared mentally.
  
• Meet the old landlord to give her the keys and get the security deposit back. Whoo hoo, free money to pay the mortgage! (Actually, I think I'll use it to buy my new 32G iPhone 3G(s) phone and put the remainder towards my bedroom furniture that I'm getting next month.) DONE! I met her in the courtyard and can you believe that she didn't even go in to look at the condo? Crazy! She gave me a check for the security deposit without looking at the place. I can't get over it.
  

I actually didn't do too bad on my list. Of course, it's a never ending cycle of to do lists. Today's list includes:

• Going to the bank.
• Working...yes, that. After being off on Thursday and Friday, I'm playing alot of catch up.
  
• Prepare for tomorrow's meeting. I have a pretty important meeting tomorrow to prepare for. Lots of documentation to gather and organize. Fortunately, it's not until 3:30 tomorrow, so I can prepare today and then look at everything with fresh eyes in the morning.
  
• Take a walk! Always a constant battle to get exercise in. The bonus is that I'll enjoy my new neighborhood walks.
• UNPACKING. I'd like to finish up the office and get a little more accomplished in the living room which still continues to be the dumping ground.

Today's To Dos

It is a ridiculously glorious day here in Chicago. I think it may finally be heading towards summer here. High of 75 with blue skies, breezes and big fluffy clouds. Perfect for spending the afternoon at Ribfest with The Boy.

Before I meet him, though, here's my to do list:

• Final trip to the old condo to pick up random crappe, including: telephone, lamp, box of books, hanging picture, dead Christmas cactus, vacuum, etc.
• Go to Petsmart to pick up a scratching post for Buttercup, she's scratching my brand new bedroom rug.
  
• Change the cat litter.
• Meet a lady from Craigslist to give her some boxes and packing paper.
• Shower! Zoiks, I'm a lil' stinky.
• Unload the diswasher.
• Throw a down comforter in the washer.
• Bring 2 boxes down to the basement.
• Take the trash out.
• Find a home for the ironing board.
• Ask the downstairs neighbor who is moving out if she'd like some empty boxes.
• Mentally prep for work tomorrow. BOO!
• Meet the old landlord to give her the keys and get the security deposit back. Whoo hoo, free money to pay the mortgage! (Actually, I think I'll use it to buy my new 32G iPhone 3G(s) phone and put the remainder towards my bedroom furniture that I'm getting next month.)

What are you doing today?

The Mess

Mess
Originally uploaded by geg5150

I think I'm past the "getting worse before it gets better stage". It should be only getting better at this point.

The Metro Rack has been assembled in the basement. I did that by myself, it was hairy for a second or two. Seriously, I have so much room in the basement, I'll be able to free up a lot of space in my closets. Holla!

The office is coming along nicely and so is the kitchen.

The living room and bedroom continue to be the dumping ground for everything that doesn't have a home yet.

A HUGE shout out to The Boy for helping me like crazy for 24 hours! From packing, cleaning, talking off the ledge, to organizing, assembling and making me laugh, he's been awesome. I don't think I'll be able to properly repay him.

I'm hoping to have most everything done by Sunday night. Still have the Serve-a-thon tomorrow and RibFest on Sunday, so I have bunches to do!

Moving and Shaking

Didn't I just do this? Yes, less than a year ago I moved from VA to Chicago, now I'm moving again. This is my fourth move in 27 months. I'm over it.

Today is moving day. The movers should be here in about a half an hour. I'm feeling pretty good about the move. Everything is packed. I've been trying to clean as I go along so that the final cleaning won't be so bad.

I know that I'll have to made a trip back for the final contents of the fridge and any last minute things that are sure to be left behind. Oh, and to pick up the cats. Sadly, they'll be trapped in the master bathroom for most of the day as they are escape artists.

It's raining here in Chicago today, so that adds a nice twist to the moving experience. On a good note, I picked up the U-Haul and parallel parked it like a rock star! The things that you do out of necessity when you're a single gal in the city! The movers will load the truck, I'll drive it to the new place and they'll unload.

I'm really not looking forward to the move, but it's here and I can't stop it. This is a super busy weekend with the move, the Chicago Cares Serve-a-thon on Saturday, Ribfest & Midsommarfest on Sunday. Unfortunately, I have a happy hour planned with two new friends tomorrow night that I think I'm going to have to cancel in order to get everything done.

Check you later!