Chicago Rocks

Check out this city:

Wow, Chicago is a huge city.  We tried to cram as much into 2 & 1/2 days as possible, but there was still so much that we didn't get to do.  We did get some of the really important things taken care of though. 

We:

Ate White Castles

Ate Chicago Dogs

Drank Green Beer

Ate Deep Dish Stuffed Pizza

Went to the Shedd Aquarium

Walked about 50 miles

Bought a shamrock scarf!

Found a pub that became 'our pub'

Took lots of pictures

Didn't eat anywhere that we could eat at in Denver

Saw the river be dyed green

Attended the St. Patty's day parade

Got drinks 95 floors up at the Signature Room in the John Hancock building

Had a couples massage in the room of our hotel

Did a little shopping

Got rained on

Went to Trader Joe's

Jeff and The Bean

At Giordano's waiting for our table and pizza!

Deep Dish Pizza

Willie Wonka river

The O'Brien's at the St. Patrick's Day green river

The view from our hotel room

The view from the 95th floor of the John Hancock building!

This is what I like to call a Hot Date at 950 feet

Green Beer!!

Doesn't this look like a haunted mansion or something?  I really like this picture!

More Chicago at night

I like to call this one 'Look Ma, No Heads!'

Chicago was amazing.  It really makes me want to travel more and I think Jeff and I should take advantage as much as possible right now while he doesn't have to take time off of work.  I'm already trying to figure out where to go next! 

Crazy week

It was supposed to be a nice calm week last week and it started out that way.  Then our sweet little Rockstar had a run-in with a ski while backcountry skiing with Jeff down Loveland Pass.  Now she looks like this.

Don't let her fool you though.  She really likes this whole, I'm a gimp, I can't go up or down the stairs so you have to carry me, and feed me my pills in lunch meat....and on and on and on like that.  She really enjoys getting her pills.  I think she might actually hope to break a stitch so she can get more lunch meat pills.

But we had her follow up vet appt today and she is doing great!  They said her wounds are healing perfectly and they look great.  The staples come out next Monday, right after we get back from Chicago!!  Hopefully-she remembers this and doesn't run into any more skis any time soon.

Then on Saturday we did our civic duty and donated money to charity.  We did an 80's pub crawl with the monies raised going to Autism Speaks.  The lady who runs the event has a daughter with autism so she runs these pub crawls about twice a year.  It was so much fun.  Wanna see some neon?  Ok-you asked for it!!

That's our awesome team.  We had so much fun.  It doesn't get much better than being able to dress like a freak and drink a bunch of beer.  

Awesome week!

This is a great week.  Did you know that one February 28, 2006, the one and only Rockstar came into our lives from Lousiville, Colorado.  She was just 14 weeks old and the cutest puppy I had ever seen.
 

(Are those pictures blurry to everyone else?  What is with that?  I might have to post these again later.... but it will have to work for now!)

Fast forward two years later and February 24th, 2008 - Kipp officially became a part of Team O'Brien.  He came from somewhere in Wyoming, waiting in rescue for 7 months to find the right family to be with forever.  It was us.  I still can't believe I ever convinced Jeff to get a second dog but I don't think he regrets it for one second!  I mean-look at this face!

So we are celebrating by going to a doggy play date tomorrow, which is also good practice for the upcoming disc dog season!  :)   And they also got some new toys-because let's admit it-it doesn't take a lot for me to want to get them some new toys.  (It helps that Rockstar destroys toys in less than 2.5 seconds.)

Last weekend we also got together with some doggy friends for a long distance competition with floppy Frisbees....it was so much fun!  We all bundled up in our ski gear and loaded the dogs up to take them to the park.

The dogs had a blast in the snow and chilly weather.....the humans got a little too cold at the end and we decided to go and warm up with a beer and some mexican food.  :)

Just One

Rockstar is the most helpful little pup on the planet. See what I mean? Here she is helping Jeff with the dishes!

Kitchen helper

New favorite past time? Shopping at the grocery store. A lot. Last time we were there looking for hoagie rolls for our Italian Beef Sandwiches (more on that to come later) I gravitated toward the clearance section.....and look at what I found!

Isn't she awesome? I know!! My very own My Little Pony. She has a bowl full of batter, half a dozen eggs, a carton of milk, and a pie in a box (which isn't in the picture because it's too big and flies off the top of the microwave when I open the cabinet doors.)

On to the food from the past week and a half!

I have been trying to branch out a little from my usual chicken and rice, spaghetti, and taco dinners. Which I'm sure Jeff appreciates because I've actually been buying beef! Go Amy, go Amy, go Amy.

London Broil with a fresh herb butter:

Homemade Bread:

In honor of World Nutella Day last Friday we had homemade bread with Nutella:

We had 3 other couples over for Italian one night last week. It was lots of fun, we ate a ton of food, and started off with this delicious caesar salad. YUM!

Then we ate lasagna. It was so good, there was only one serving left....you know, the one no one will touch because it's the last piece....
Jeff didn't mind eating it for lunch the next day! He said it was just as good reheated. :)

Valentine's Day!!! I love Valentine's Day! We had such a delicious dinner.

Started off with this! Cheesy artichoke and tomato squares. They are amazing. I found the recipe in a Pampered Chef cookbook that my Grandma gave me when we were out in Texas visiting her in December.

Now onto the entree! Chicken Tikka Masala with saffron rice and homemade naan bread. Indian food is one of my new obsessions. I love the flavors and the simplicity, and the colors. We both really enjoyed this and decided it's going on the list of staple dinners.

A picture of our V-day dinner table. Look at those lillies!

And last but not least, Italian Beef Sandwiches with munster cheese and giardiniera. Jeff was in meat heaven. Since we are going to be in Chicago in less than a month I figured we better get to practicing our 'Chicago Lean'.

What's that? You don't know what the Chicago Lean is? Blasphemous! From italianbeef.com:

The Chicago Lean (a step-by-step guide)

Put your sandwich on the counter and stand in front of it, with your chest about 12 inches from the edge of the counter.

Lean forward so your chest is at a 45-degree angle to the counter (Note: if you’re wearing a tie, make sure it’s tucked inside your shirt)

Pick up your sandwich, resting your elbows on the counter

Angle the sandwich at a 45-degree angle to the counter, with the top end towards your mouth. (Imagine making a triangle: the counter is the bottom, your head and chest are one side, the sandwich is another)

Eat and enjoy. For best results, keep the sandwich wrapped in the wax paper it most likely came in, unwrapping it as you go.

I think we are ready to go to Chicago now. I know I am ready for the food! I can't wait.

Random awesomeness

Today at work I received a ketchup bottle in the mail. Say whaaaaa? Yup-as a reminder from the company that catered our (fun, fantastic, rad) company holiday party that we had this past year, that they also cater picnics as well. I adored our catering company. They were SO easy to work with, had friendly, knowledgeable staff, and the price was right! You can't beat that combination any day of the week.

I can't imagine paying someone to cook burgers and hot dogs though-but in any case I love my ketchup bottle and plan on taking it home and using it for oil. The little fun things like this (paired with the delicious food and great service) will always keep me coming back to a company because it shows a little personality. Job well done, Catering By Design!

Weekend plans

Well, let me start this post by telling you all about my predicament. I hate shredding cheese. Yep-there in lies my predicament. For Christmas I received a most wonderful present - a KitchenAid Slicer and Shredder attachment. I was in love! See the picture of my love below:

But alas when I got home and pulled out my mixer to put my lovely Christmas gift to good use.....I discover that my mixer is no KitchenAid at ALL!! I didn't even know that other manufacturers made stand mixers! Ha! So, in an effort to never shred cheese by hand again I was on a mission to find a KitchenAid mixer. I just so happened to run across one on eBay-so WEIRD!

3-5 business days later this lovely little beast arrived on my doorstep.

Beautiful, isn't it? Well I sure think so! And I am going to put it to good use this weekend. I haven't made homemade bread yet, but I think it's time. We just ran out, and I have a delicious recipe waiting to be made!

Other than that we are helping a friend move back to Colorado tomorrow, and then it's Super Bowl Sunday time!

Food!!

Who doesn't like food? I have been working on really trying to not be intimidated in the kitchen and really get our $$ worth out of my awesome appliances that Jeffrey picked out for me. I have even signed myself up for a cooking class (that was full until April! Apparently cooking classes are the bees knees around here.) It is a 'basics' of cooking, 4 hours long and 2 class sessions a week apart. I'm SO excited to learn some new tips and tricks for the kitchen.

I seriously think I have a secret love affair with food. But it's ok-Jeff is completely ok with that. :)

On to pictures!

From our last family dinner:

Green beans, pasta salad, green salad....

Close up of the green salad and pasta salad:

The meat! Steaks, stuffed pork chops, and cedar plank smoked salmon:

Mmmmm-chili! I made this chili for a chili cook-off we had at work. It was delicious, but alas-I lost. :( It's ok though-more for us! I should add-this was before it cooked in the slow cooker for about 6 hours....

A picture of Jeff visiting his dad on his birthday - January 28th. Could it be more picture perfect? (And still involving food?)

We miss you Jim O'Brien!

We love border collies!

Jeff and I are temporarily fostering 2 dogs for WBCR right now. Their names are Bryn and Chyna and they came in on a transport from UT on Tuesday. The transport was due to arrive at 4:15, and after an hour and a half of waiting in the freezing cold they finally showed up with these 2 lovely ladies!

Meet Chyna:

Chyna is a border collie/aussie mix. She is about 3 years old and is a little on the shy side. She is very sweet though and likes to be snuggled. It seems being in a shelter has effected her quite a bit more than Bryn. She took a while to come hang out with the rest of us on the first day I picked them up. She stayed by the front door for about an hour, decided that we weren't so scary after all, and came upstairs. Now she has integrated into the house well and is coming around slowly. She loves treats, so I know I can always bribe her with those!

And here is Miss Bryn:

Bryn is about a year old and 100% borderc ollie! She loooooves to herd Rockstar outside and she won't leave Kipp alone in the house. She is very friendly and smart, smart, smart! She already knows sit and down and I think she is going to make a fantastic pet for someone wanting a very energetic pup. She is crate trained and just a really easy going lass. I don't think either of these girls will stay in rescue long!

Last years Quadruped

This is a video from last year, in August, at the Quadruped. The Quadruped is a long distance Frisbee competition that people from all over the US come to compete in. It's super fun. Kipp and I took 3rd in our first Quad, and we were wanting to do better this last year-we did! Kipp and I took 1st place in our division (the Women's division) as well as taking the longest throw of the day home too! :) It was just put up on Discdogger Weekly. Check out my boy!!

http://www.Discdogger.blip.tv

It's weird hearing my old last name, even though it wasn't that long ago I was using it..... So funny.