Holiday Cocktail Party

adminCocktail party, Friends, home team, party planning, Uncategorized, wine, Winter Sangria%s Comments

Ryan and I both love entertaining, love our friends and love Christmas so it was a no-brainer to have a cocktail party to ring in the Holidays!

After a few days of cookbook scouring, grocery trips (4 in all!) and apartment cleaning, we were ready to host 15+ of our friends.  On the menu?  Caprese Crostini, Bacon-Wrapped Scallops, Arancini balls, Maryland Crab Dip, Spinach Artichoke Dip, Turkey Meatballs in a Cranberry Sauce, Brie with Fig Jelly, Gingerbread and Oreo Balls.  And Winter Sangria.  And a Champagne Cocktail.  And beer.

Despite our initial plan of keeping it simple (a house drink, beer, and some appetizers), our menu grew and grew until we had 2 house cocktails and 10 different dishes.  We got carried away but we enjoy preparing both our home and our kitchen so much that I think it was as much a gift for us as it was for our guests, a fun little project to take on together.  After all, ’tis the season, right?

Here’s a pic I snapped right before the party wrapped up.

Merry, Merry!

 

Cookies, Wine, Love, and Girlfriends

adminbaking, chocolate covered pretzels, cookie baking, girlfriends, love, Oreo Balls, tofu lasagna, Uncategorized, wine%s Comments

Last night was one of those “I don’t want to be anywhere else or with anyone else in the world right now” kind of nights.

I’ve been feeling lately like my female friendships are the things that go by the wayside when work/life gets hectic and busy, which is way super lame, I know.  But last night, we made being together a priority and I can truly say that I haven’t felt that whole, that content in quite a while.

Tofu lasagna, 6 bottles of wine, 6 different kinds of cookies and the girls that definitely make up a part of my “home team”…I can’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday night.

Cooking Lesson Learned: melt chocolate in the microwave.  Doing it on the store without a double boiler makes for chocolate that closely resembles hummus.  Super gross and inedible.

Life Lesson Learned:  girlfriends are one of the best gifts in the world, not only just at Christmas.  Get together, drink wine, and bake more often.

Cookie Roundup:

Chocolate Covered Pretzels, Peanut Butter cookies w/ Kisses, Chocolate Covered Oreo Balls, Wreaths, Almond Balls, and Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Vino and Vinyasa

adminChicago views, The W Hotel, Uncategorized, Vino and Vinyasa, wine, yoga%s Comment

Wine.  Yoga.  360 degree views of Lake Michigan and downtown Chicago.  One of my favorite yoga instructors in the city.  Wine.

Did I mention that I had a great night last night?

The Vino  and Vinyasa event at The W Hotel Lakeshore combined a majority of my favorite things (if someone would have thrown in Christmas carols, I would have been beside myself).  55 people getting their yoga on in the incredible Altitude room, unreal views, and a glass of wine at the uber chic Wave Lounge made for one of those evenings where you go “I can’t believe I get to do this.”

It never ceases to inspire me to see people make the choice to be invest in their health after work when they could have instead chosen to go home and sit on the couch.  I saw 55 people take the time to be good and connect to themselves  so that they, in turn, will be able to offer up more light and love to everyone they come in contact with.  Totally powerful stuff.  The fabulous Jonny Vu was there, Leah from Bright Pink, my lulu girls, girlfriends from Lincoln Park… like I said, powerful evening!

Getting back into yoga full force post-marathon feels A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.  I attribute getting through the marathon entirely to continuing to practice during my training.  It feels really good to give my body some yoga love for hanging in there with me through 26.2 miles of pounding the pavements.

Namaste and Happy Hump Day!

(“I’m gonna make you girls a Hump Day treat!” Name the movie….)

Volare

adminbaby cow, Italian, Man Friend, pasta, Signature Lounge on the 96th, Uncategorized, Volare, wine%s Comments

I haven’t done a restaurant review in awhile and after an amazing dinner at Volare last Saturday night, it is high time.

I’ve walked by Volare a dozen times but since it’s not much to look at from the outside (c’mon–you know we all judge books by their covers on occasion), I’ve never pushed to go there.  But after countless recommendations from my parents and from my man friend’s colleagues, we decided to make it the dinner portion of our old school Chicago date.  After drinks at the Signature Lounge on the 96th Floor of the Hancock Tower (best view of the city is out of the women’s restroom, btw), we went a few blocks south to Volare, located at 201 E. Grand Ave.

Walking in, we weren’t so much greeted by the hosts but by waiters running in and out of the busiest kitchen I’ve ever seen.  Waiting for our table was almost painful, watching dish after amazing smelling dish go by.  To say I struggle making decisions about ordering food is an understatement but even my man friend had a hard time at Volare because everything we had seen run by us was just mouth watering.  The veal medallion with porcini risotto (for him) and the frutti di mare (for me) were the final decisions and I’d say we hit the jackpot.  Well, you’ll have to take his word on the veal–even though I was bribed with lots of things I want in exchange for taking a bite, you will never catch me eating baby cow.  No way.  But the calamari was uber tender, the shrimp ginormous, the seabass perfection and the pasta was perfectly al dente (my big pet peeve with Italian restaurants) so we left very full and happy. Topped off with a bottle of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and we were in love.  With Volare.

We always say we want to go back to places just for some wine and to maybe split a dish but with Volare, I know neither of us are going to be willing to share.

High Five of the Day:  http://smittenkitchen.com/ I follow them on Twitter (ninainthechi) and now that the Green City Market is up and going on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, I can’t wait to turn all the fabulous fresh things I buy there into the fabulous fresh recipes Smitten Kitchen gives me.  First on my list is absolutely Homemade Pop Tarts.  Go ahead, start salivating now.