r u serious

So, last might I made lasagna for the first time ever. It was delicious. I went to buy some ricotta cheese, but reading the label confused me. Who would want a "sweet dessert cheese" in their lasagna? Weird. Next I went to check out the Feta. Can you believe that a dinky little 4 oz container cost 6 dollars??!!! What?! It must have come from a pristine baby llama or something. So, I settled for good ole Mozzarella. Again, the outcome was "yum," so whatever.

I must say that I will be glad to leave behind the Jewel prices. A bag of Doritos was on sale for almost 4 dollars. No wonder we've been so broke...

Here's a list of things that I will not miss about Chicagoland:
-the worst and longest rush hour I have ever seen in 28 years (sunup to sundown)
-people honking at me to "DRIVE!" b4 the light even turns green
-the sun setting at 4pm in the winter
-the -20 windchill
-afforementioned prices at the Jewel/Osco

Here's a list of things that I will dearly miss about Chicagoland:
-Donna and Laura-these ladies are like kin to me, even though I never actually SEE them
-The Mt. Prospect library
-A park every mile or so
-A great job w/ a very understanding boss
-The mile long lake that is across the street from my apt. building (perfect for runs that I rarely go on.)
-The view from my balcony
-random glimpses that I catch of the Sear's Tower in the distance...
-an outstanding public trasnportation system (that I NEVER use, but it's nice to have options)

Motor City or Bust!!!

Well, excuse me (for real!!)

Manners. Somewhat over-rated, but always appreciated, right?

So, Carlton, Noah, Juan (my-brother-in-law), and I went downtown to pick up our nephew, Terrence, from the bus stop. The plan was to take them to Ed DeBevic's without telling them a thing about it. (If you don't know, Ed's is a burger joint where the waitstaff are totally rude to the customers.) We began to set the scene before leaving the house:

Carlton: "Honey, we could probably just eat downtown."

Me: "Sounds great, I really want a burger, I'm sure we can find something..."

Juan: (unsuspecting)no comment


Once we got to the bus stop, the Chicago natives helped with the set-up:

Bus Security Officer: "You all unloading? Well you're gonna have to hurry up!!!"

Cars and Taxi Drivers:(HONK!!!!HONK!!!!!HONKHONKHONKHONK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Terrence to Juan: "Dang, they honk a lot."

Carlton: "Yeah, they do that here." (additional conversation about the fast paced and self-centered life in a big city)


So, we arrived and went inside the restaurant. Carlton and I couldn't wait to sit down. We actually had to sit next to each other, or we would have DIED laughing and spoiled the whole thing.


Long story short, the waiter REALLY cut into Juan. Here are a few of my favorite pictures:









My brother-in-law is incredibly patient and sweet, but the guy was very good at his job. At one point, Juan jeered and threw a napkin toward the man in utter disgust. Here's a pic just before the throw...



"Big Chopper" the rudest dude in town (really, he was THAT good!!!)



We had EXCELLENT burgers, Noah ate a ton of sweet potato puffs, and we never did tell Juan or Terrence what was going on. They are completely convinced that Chicagoians are some of the rudest folks around!


(First time in a restaurant high chair-thoroughly sanitized by yours truly...)




If you know anyone with a short fuse or a really good sense of humor, I highly recommend Ed's- on the corner of Ontario and N. Wells. Happy eatin'!