Vrai Amour - Value Wines and Specialty Craft Beers - Chicago

Vrai Amour Wines

As we finished our gourmet hotdogs on Saturday afternoon, we decided to stop in this wine store a few blocks south of our apartment.  It's a very unique little store with a great selection of Michigan wines.  The owners try very hard to keep their prices low so they avoid higher-priced Napa Valley and French wines.  They had a great selection of craft beers and Michigan wines, as well.  The owners are incredibly friendly and knowledgeable.  The store was very simple and peaceful.  It made me feel as if I were back in Napa/Sonoma.  I tried Brassfield Estate Sauvignon Blanc.  It was very light and crisp, without being too sweet.  (I refuse to launch into full-on wine-snobbery as I am out-matched by many of my well-informed friends.)   It was delicious.  A side-note: it is also a screw top. I don't feel quite as bad drinking wine out of a screw top bottle when it costs more than $10 ($15.00 to be exact :) )  That, my friends, is the extent of my wine snobbery.  

My husband decided to put together his own mix-n-match six pack of beer.  He got to try several unique beers, including an apricot ale.  We will definitely be back.  Yum! 

Old and new

We had an amazing time with our families on vacation last week.  I love going back to all of the places I've loved over the years.  Somehow, we managed to hit them all during our week-long roadtrip to KY, IN, and MO.
We started in Indianapolis with our friends from our med/law school days.  They just purchased a beautiful home and were so excited to entertain houseguests.  My girlfriend and I had a blast at TJ Maxx/Homegoods, as well.  However, she has a serious lamp addiction that should be addressed.  I, on the other hand, picked up

Lilly Pulitzer "Charlotte" sunglasses


and a sleeveless pink and green Lilly tunic top, along with a bright pink open sweater, also courtesy of Lilly.



We met up with some old friends for cocktails and dinner before heading south to Evansville for a few days.

We had a great time eating and spending time with my husband's family.  We got lots of sleep, as well.  I'm also pretty sure that we ate bacon five days in a row . . .

More on our vacation later.  Next stop, KY!

Homemade chicken stock

Dinner!

Franks 'n Dawgs

http://www.franksndawgs.com/

In a word, YUM.  This place was absolutely delicious.  We've seen shows about it on the food network and it is across from the grocery store we visit each week.  We've never made the effort to try it until this past weekend, as the lines stretch out the door and down the street most weekends.


I had the Tur-Doggin - 
Turkey & date sausage topped with duck confit, herb garlic aioli, house pickled onion relish & pickled carrots.  It was amazing.  The restaurant makes all of its own sausage in-house.  I spoke with the manager -- who was running the register (I love the personal touch!)-- he was thrilled that his chefs made way too much of the turkey and date sausage last week because it's his personal favorite.  


My husband had the N'awlins Dog.   
Andouille sausage, polenta battered okra, fried shrimp, spicy ketchup & chives


We also shared an order of Triple Truffle Fries.  Perfection. 
They were pretty tasty.  


The best part is that I didn't have that icky feeling I normally have when eating processed food.  The quality of the ingredients and the restaurant's commitment to using fresh, local products result in an excellent end product.  We will definitely be visiting this place again soon!! 

Gemini Bistro

Chicago chef week dessert - Yum!

Super Shopping: Inkling

Inkling is spectacular.  Chicago has its fair share of boutiques and unique neighborhood shops.  It never ceases to amaze me how quickly cute shops pop up around the city.  Inkling is located in the Lakeview neighborhood, a mile or two north of downtown Chicago.  2917 1/2 N Broadway, Chicago, IL 60657.  It has a great assortment of local arts and crafts, vintage cards and stationery, plus great accessories and baby gifts.  I'm in love. Here is a link to its Yelp! page.   

Spring has sprung!

Shepherd's Pie for St. Patty's day

My husband is a great cook!

Garden behind my parents' house

Jack, my mom's cute black Lab

Beautiful spring morning at home in Kentucky

Tobey

Pinch me!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! 

(an obligatory cheesy holiday post)

I did it.

I am not exactly mechanically inclined.  

BUT when my husband was on night float and my exercise bicycle arrived, I couldn't help myself.  It was snowing and I wanted to get it put together in time for NBC Thursday night television. 

It all began with a box containing an 85 pound puzzle. 

With LOTS of pieces

But after 3 episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Glee (and some chocolate) . . . 

I DID IT!! 

Now, to use it. :)

My favorite motivator: Nike+

For the past 4 years, I've used the Nike+ transmitter, along with my iPod nano, and a special pedometer chip to motivate me to run and walk hundreds of miles.  This is truly one of the most innovative workout technologies to date.  I love being able to run anywhere and still be able to track my progress via iPod.  I also love that when you sync your iPod, it charts your progress each day, month, year, etc.  The goal-setting function is especially good if you're getting ready for a particular event or shooting for a fitness level/weight, etc.  

That being said . . . I need motivation.  I dropped my gym membership because of the cost and my unwillingness to go out into the cold to get to the gym.  I felt like my money and time could be better spent.  I replaced my gym membership with an exercise bicycle.  So far, it has been a great investment.  I drag it out in front of the television on Tuesday/Wednesday nights so that I can watch The Biggest Loser and/or American Idol.  As soon as I return from vacation, I am going to see if I can wake myself up early enough to get half an hour in before work.  I hope to motivate myself to start running as soon as the icy sidewalks are completely clear!! Yay for spring! 

The Vegetable Trick

We eat lots of veggies in this house.  I'm typically a huge fan of veggies; however, it can get tiresome.  In order to incorporate as many different types of vegetables as possible into our diet, my husband makes what he calls "stir-fry"  -- it's not really like typical Asian stir fry.  He takes all of the veggies in the house, chops them up, and sautes them in olive oil.  We store them in a sealed container in the refrigerator and use them in different recipes throughout the week.  Last week, we had a combination of red peppers, broccoli, carrots, peas, Lima beans and black olives.  We mixed them with past one night, rice another night, pork chops the next night, etc.  I ate the final serving with egg whites as an omelette.  Yum! It's an incredibly inexpensive way to eat quickly and healthily during the week.  

My favorite part about visiting the in-laws

Baby photos of my husband :)

Bailey: cutest dog ever

Road Trip: We're taking vacation this week!

I am SO excited to visit home, my friends and family, and a place where you can't travel more than 10 miles without running into a Cracker Barrel. YUM! (Bacon, biscuits and my personal favorite: GRAVY!!!!!!)

I'm also thrilled to make a pit stop in Indianapolis for the weekend so that we can visit some of our best friends from Indianapolis.  We'll also hit up Southern Indiana to visit one of my best friends and my in-laws! Yay! 

I'll post pictures as we go! 

Slippers on the dashboard

. . . Because my sweet husband thought I might want them during our weeklong/multi-state roadtrip.

That's love :)

The ultimate in temperature battles: Midnight edition

**If you're not familiar with my air temperature battles with my husband, see previous posts re: this issue.

Last night was the ultimate battle.  If we were to commemorate it with a catch phrase, I would call it: THE SNEAK ATTACK.

  

But seriously, let me set this up for you: 

It's around 1:30 a.m.  I am SLEEPING.  We have a space heater and an electric blanket in our room to keep us extra warm, since most of our bedroom walls are outer walls.  ANYWAY,  I'm sleeping.  I wake up to this. 

H: "I'm ROAASSTTTING!"

Me: "Mhmmm...." 

Cue H getting up out of bed.  Stomping around the bed to the electric blanket.  Snapping it off and snapping at me: 

H:  "YOU forgot to turn off the blanket!!! AND you're hot too! You're sleeping on top of the covers!! In a bathrobe!" 

Then he remembered that I turned the house heat up to 68 right before I went to bed -- as previously discussed -- an unGodly temperature in this household :) 

In the midst of tossing and turning, I slipped out to turn the heat back down.  I know when I am losing. . . 

Me: <awake-ish and a little annoyed> "I did NOT know that there were rules about who turns the blanket off.  Now, I am wide-awake!!!"  

Grumbles from both of us. 

Cue both of us tossing and turning for the next hour.  

However, he made me a waffle this morning.  TRUCE.  I'm over it :) 

I don't know that I've ever watched the City raise the bridges

Boredom Baking

Angel Food Cake 

It was my first attempt at making one of these.  Apparently, if you're going to eat cake, this is the way to go.  It only has 160 calories in a slice and 0 fat.  However, I thought that it was a little too sweet.  I prefer the challenge of not screwing it up to actually eating the finished product.  Luckily, my husband is a trash compactor.  

The most fun part was using my KitchenAid Mixer to turn 12 egg whites into the perfect "peaks." 

I LOOOOVVEEE that mixer. 

My BFF Betty Crocker says that if you whip the egg whites too much, the cake will be dry.  Luckily, I found the happy medium.  The cake was very moist without being runny. HOWEVER, it was way too sweet.  

Again, my husband, the trash compactor saved the day.

I think my next challenge will be attempting to make red velvet cake -- my past attempts have been a little dry. :( 

In love with West Elm table settings

Smooooshed

Some bad days are worse than others . . .

Yum!

Bakery surprise Saturday!

My husband surprised me with a key lime tart for us to share!

Happy Friday night!

Blanton's