One thing I've been looking forward to is being able to grill out on our balcony.  The only thing missing was the grill!  It turned out that Kristen and Jay had an extra one that they so kindly delivered right to our condo!  I finally got to take it for a spin last week and grilled up some pork chops.  Mary made a fantastic marinade for it as well as a really great red wine vinaigrette salad.  I ended up over-cooking the chops a bit as they were a little dry, but they still had some great flavor.  I'm hoping I'll only get better!

I know there were specific things I meant to blog about, but since I can't remember any of them at the moment, I figure I'd at least post some general updates so that my mom doesn't have to keep going to our site and seeing the same heading day after day. :)  Frankly, for all the blogs I like to follow, I certainly like it when they are regularly updated, so I am trying to get better about keeping up.

Work seems OK for both Jack and I these days.  He has been quite busy, but never enough that he is working at home much, for which I am very glad.  When the really cold weather hit a few weeks ago, I started to drive Jack to work so he wouldn't have to stand in the freezing temps for his bus.  Although it meant both of us getting up earlier, it helped me get up at a consistent good time each morning, so that has been good. 

We are also doing what we can to be healthier.  I took this on in a big way though as I am the one that does the grocery shopping and much of the cooking, so if we are to eat healthier, I figured it starts with me.  Over the weekend, after some quick sale paper scanning, I stopped at Stanley's Produce Market that is maybe just over a mile from us.  They have all kinds of stuff and for so much cheaper generally than at a regular grocery store.  It was PACKED when I was there, but I was patient and it paid off.  I got a huge grocery bag full for just over $18!  We have no excuse not to eat healthier with all the fruits and veggies we have on hand now. 

Jack and I also are trying to commit to some exercise changes.  We always know we feel better when we are in a good routine of being active (plus we'd each love to lose a few pounds), so although our gym membership expires this month, we are still going to give it some good effort.  Before joining another gym near our condo, we want to see what we can do on our own to get more fit.  So, we are committing to walks a couple nights a week (which also is very good for Bentley) and we are attempting to use our Wii Fit before work two mornings a week.  The Wii Fit has been a rough start for me since I already get up earlier than Jack, but I am committing to try.  I'm sure we'll be blogging about our progress.

Thanks, Mom and Jack, for posting your guesses to my previous blog. 

To continue my NOLA story, on Sunday, a coworker and I took a tour of the Garden District and got to have brunch at Commander's Palace, a 5-star restaurant in New Orleans.  We had some very unusual, but delicious, food, including turtle soup.  And before you ask, let me tell you that it does include turtles, but ones that are meant for this - not the kind in your local pond.  Our time there included songs from the traveling jazz trio that they feature each Sunday during brunch as well.  (Strangely enough, one of the musicians from this trio was playing with a different band back at the airport when we left NOLA.) 

That evening was the opening reception for the conference and it was quite a sight!  We were bussed to a place called "Mardi Gras World" that appeared to hold mardi gras floats, and possibly hold events as well.  As soon as we got off the bus, we were instantly greeted with sounds of a fantastic marching band (i love marching bands!) and numerous people in mardi gras costumes.  As we walked down this long carpet through what looked like part of a warehouse, on either side of us were enormous floats used in the mardi gras parades.  Once inside, there were various food stations, drink stations and live entertainment.  We were left to mingle and wander the place as it was quite large.  Afterward, we met up with another coworker, her friend, others I didn't know and the tv reality celebrity I alluded to in my previous post.  I met the season 4 winner from Bravo's show Top Chef: Stephanie Izard.  We went to a pretty well known restaurant for some late night food as the reception only had finger food.  I did not talk to her a ton that night, but did ask her a few questions without trying to be some weird fan.  It was interesting to see her eat though because instead of just enjoying food like most of us, you could see her thinking about the flavors and trying to figure out how it was made.  Afterward, my coworker and I continued our evening at our third and final reception for the night. 

On Monday, we headed to sessions all day at the conference, a couple of which were great.  Then it was on to that night's festivities.  We headed to a chapter reception for the midwest, and then I was off to an extravagent dinner hosted by one of our vendors.  It was a 6 course meal that was absolutley delicious, but so very rich - 1) appetizer course (too many to remember), 2) soup (I can't remember), 3) fish (something I was not familiar with, but my favorite course of the night), 4) sorbet (pear sorbet served with pear vodka), 5) steak (pepper crusted filet) and 6) desserts (trio of Devastation Chocolate Cake, creme brulee, and my favorite of the three, a praline crepe).  After this, I was headed to "Party with a Purpose" where the ticket price benefits a local charity.  Upon arriving, I got to talk with someone I met the previous night for a while and discovered that she and her fiance live less than a mile from Jack and I - small world!  But after a while, coworkers arrived with Stephanie and she hung out with us the whole time at this party.  She was a lot of fun and very laid back. 

Tuesday was my last day at the conference so we headed to some sessions, wandered the French Quarter for a bit and then headed to the airport.  Once we were at the airport, I was on my way back to the gate after taking a quick walk and ran into Stephanie again.  She ended up coming to sit with our group while we all waited to board.  Again, very laid back and friendly.  Upon arriving back in Chicago, I was greeted by some bone chilling temperatures and my husband who picked me up from the airport!

I have pics of Mardi Gras World and of us with Stephanie on my phone, but until I learn how to post pics on our blog, they'll have to wait.  I hope to learn that from Jack soon. :)

Although this was a couple weeks ago, it still deserves mention.  For Mary's 28th birthday, we went out to dinner with several of our friends.  There were 12 of us in total, and we went to Scoozi! after having a great meal there with Mary's Dad a few weeks earlier.  It was also fun because some people stopped by our place beforehand for a drink, and the rest stopped by our place afterwards.  All in all, a great evening with good food and good friends!

On a side note, Mary and I both had the exact same food and wine as our previous trip to Scoozi, tagliatelle bolognese and the gnocchi trio.  Maybe we'll try something different next time!

I have been fortunate to have almost the entire last two weeks (except for one day) off from work.  I took my birthday off right before Christmas, but my job gives all employees off from Christmas Eve through New Year's and because of how the days landed this year, it was extended through this weekend.  So, today was my last day off.  Anytime throughout my life when I would have vacations, time off of school, or even just a long weekend, I would come down with what my mom called "Sunday Night Syndrome" in that I would just start to feel punky about the fact that starting the following day, I would have to go back to normal life, be it school or work. 

I got to thinking today though about what has filled my time the past two weeks.  Clearly, Christmas celebrations with families take up a good amount of time, along with the final preparations for Christmas, such as wrapping all the gifts just right,  but I would not have any of those events any other way.  Then there was a case of food poisoning or something that really made me somewhat useless for a few days (yuck!).  Jack and I were also able to do some furniture shopping.  All of our shopping around paid off in the last few days in that we finally found some things we liked and made some purchases (hooray!).  I am not so great yet at adding pictures to our blog, so I might have to leave those to Jack in regards to the items we bought and such.  Let me just say though that we are quite pleased, and I would guess that Jack is somewhat relieved, that we won't have to keep shopping for dining room chairs.  Our New Year's Eve celebration with friends was of course a lot of fun and we only wish we could have spent it with all of our friends.  Jack and I also had a wonderful home-cooked meal on New Year's Day involving "super colossal" crab legs - yum!  My parents have long had a tradition of having their own new year's eve celebration at home involving lobster tails and crab legs, so now that I have a husband and a home, I felt compelled to institute a similar tradition for us. 

There are always things I don't get to on breaks like this.  I start it with the best of intentions and a list a mile long, but the time available and my expectations never match.  There were boxes I didn't get unpacked like I thought, though I did get to some, so I have to be at least glad for the progress.  There were things that we did get to do that weren't in my original plan for these weeks that I am glad we were able to fit in.  Tonight happened to be one of those items in that we got to take Jack's parents out to dinner to Cooper's Hawk in Burr Ridge.  It was a nice leisurely meal with wine, good food, and even better company.  There was never a quiet moment and I even learned some things throughout the night.  I am sure I will have a lot of nights in the future with them where I will learn something though.  I will say that, in and of itself, it was a great night, but it was even better for me because tonight's dinner provided just the right amount of distraction to my "Sunday Night Syndrome".  I wasn't left to stew at home on the thought that my vacation was ending, but rather, I was able to end my vacation on a high note.

Now that I have spilled my guts, what did everyone else do on their Christmas/New Year's time off?  (Leave your answers in the comments section please)