I met the guys after work a couple days ago for dinner and a few beers at the Hop Haus.  Although the service was a little slow (despite not being crowded), the burgers were really good!  I had a guacamole and bacon burger, which comes on a pretzel roll.  I couldn't finish it all, but it was fantastic!  They have two locations, one in River North at Erie & Franklin, and one up north in Edgewater on Clark.  They also have a great selection of beers (pilsners, IPAs, lagers, etc).  As an added bonus, their house fries were waffle fries!

Two weekends ago, Mary and I took our last vacation before we have Baby in tow.  Mary's parents were going to be in Seattle visiting family, so we decided we'd tag along.

We made it a long weekend, arriving late Thursday night and staying until Monday. Friday, we got to spend the afternoon hanging out with Mary's cousins who live in Seattle. We drove around West Seattle a bit to catch a great view of the skyline.  Afterwards, we walked around Capitol Hill just checking stuff out. There was no shortage of coffee houses, pizza places, and an interesting assortment of shops and bars. All in all, a very cool place.

That night, we all met up for dinner with Mary's parents and aunt and uncle, who came in from outside Seattle to visit as well, at Salty's. I had grilled Alaskan salmon and Mary had king crab legs. After a nice long relaxing dinner, we called it a night.

Saturday, we decided we'd peruse the Pike Place Market.  We spent a few hours just walking around, sampling pastries, baked goods and smoked salmon, and just generally checking things out.  Mary's mom treated us to a few nice little treats.  One of the more interesting things to see was the fish throwers.  Not a lot of people were buying the enormous fish, but the few that did provided a great show for us tourists.  We also discovered what I consider to be the best cupcakes ever.  They were mini cupcakes from a Swedish bakery.  Mary and I split a chai cupcake and a pumpkin cupcake.  They were perfectly moist and delicious! 

That evening we went to a restaurant called Von's Roast House.  Again, the food was great.  Sunday, after Mass, we made a stop at Bakery Nouveau and were fortunate enough to get a table while we sampled some fabulous pastries (twice baked chocolate croissants, parisian macaroons, passion fruit tarts).  Then it was on to some wine tasting!  I felt bad that Mary couldn't participate, but I guess that just means we'll have to go back after the baby is born.  We only made it to one winery, but it was a good one: Chateau Ste. Michelle.  Despite the fact that it was raining, the grounds were beautiful, and the wine was great

After the wine tasting, we said goodbye to Mary's family from Washington, and had one final dinner with Mary's parents at the Pike Brewing Company.  I don't think I had very high expectations for the menu, it being a pub, but the food was actually really good.  I also had one of their beers, and it was great as well.  I definitely recommend stopping there if you're in downtown Seattle.

The next day, Mary and I had breakfast at the hotel, made a quick stop at the market for another pumpkin cookie, and went straight to the airport.  Althought it was only a long weekend, the trip was so relaxing and easy-going, it was just what Mary and I needed!

Earlier this week I was in New York City for work.  My boss and I attended a digital asset management conference at the Hilton.  The conference itself was ok.  I did learn a few new things and met some people that worked for companies like Nickelodeon, Harley-Davidson, and Universal Studios.  We had dinner at a restaurant called Blue Fin near the W Hotel in Times Square.  I even tried some sushi.

I've been to NYC a few times, but being in Times Square always amazes me.  Even if you don't like people watching, you find yourself standing there, just looking and watching.  It also amazed me that they had blocked off a portion of Times Square from traffic to allow people to congregate.  A very cool idea in my opinion.  On my walk back to the hotel, as I walked past the M&Ms World store, I felt compelled to stop in and buy some goodies for my nieces and nephews!  I'm hoping one day Mary will be able to travel with me!

Although Ken already had his bachelor party a few weeks ago, I wanted to try and take him out for a little night on the town with the guys.  Unfotunately, due to timing, two of our good friends couldn't make it, and Steve had to leave early due to a Marley emergency (everything seems to be ok now).

I had a great time, though, and I think Ken had a pretty good time, too.  Most of our night was spent in Chicago's River North neighborhood.  We started with dinner at a place called Theory, which is across the street from Rockit and Howl at the Moon.  The food was pretty good.  They also had a lot of TVs, including small TVs in the booths with the ability for patrons to change the channels.

After dinner, we went to a recently opened cigar lounge called Tesa Cigar Co.  Tesa, which is in River West (and closer to where Mary and I live), specializes in Nicaraguan cigars.  We bought cigars there, and although we didn't know it at the time, you can bring your own beverages.  There were several groups of comfortable leather chairs, perfect for smaller groups to sit around, relax, and enjoy a cigar.

From here, we went to a newly opened bar called District.  It had only opened the night before we went, so there weren't many people there.  I think this place may have been my favorite of the evening.  It was fairly spacious and the main area in the center of the bar was arranged in a large circle.  The circle was outlined with couches and several low-rise bar tables and ottomans, perfect for groups to congregate and unwind.  It was very slick without being pretentious.  Although our server was a little slow, the rest of the service staff was very friendly.  They also had a secluded party room with private bar that was hidden by a secret bookshelf/door, much like an old time speakeasy or hideout. 

While at District, Steve had to depart.  Shortly after he left, Ken and I started our "club" tour!  The first stop was Vertigo Sky in the Dana Hotel.  This place looked really cool on their website, however, it wasn't that great.  The pictures on their site show the place empty and with the lights on.  In reality, it was totally packed, and most of the lights were out, which drastically took away from the "lounge" atmosphere and just made it feel like someone forgot to pay the electric bill.  There were two bars, but they were small and the bartenders seemed to be on top of each other trying to serve drinks.  The only cool thing was the outside deck with a night view of the city, but since it was raining, no one was outside.  We left after about 25 minutes (as long as it took us to finish our drinks).  Since there was no cover, I'd recommend going there some time just to see the view from the outdoor sky deck.

From Verigo Sky, we made it to our last stop, The Underground.  Although this really isn't our normal scene, and there was a $20 cover, it was pretty cool.  It was crowded and there was no where to sit unless you paid for bottle service (starting at $300), but it was a good last stop for our night on the town.  The music was good and the crowd was energetic.  We stayed for about an hour before deciding to call it quits.  Ken and I climbed into a cab and immediately crashed when we got back to our place.  When all was said and done, we had a pretty good time.  Hopefully it was just the thing Ken needed before tying the knot, although, I doubt you'll see either of us in the clubs any time soon!

This past weekend, the guys went out to celebrate for Ken's bachelor party.  It was organized by Ken's brother-in-law, Tom, and we all had a great time!  The only part that was a little tough was the travel to and from all our destinations.  We spent time in Downers Grove, Addison, St. Charles, Elgin, and West Chicago! Fortunately, we had a couple guys volunteer to do most of the driving.

The first activity was by far the best.  Tom had organized racing for us at Chicago Indoor Racing in Addison.  This place was fantastic.  It was like a huge man-cave!  Aside from the race tracks, they had multiple bars, tables, games, leather couches, tvs, and even whirlyball!  If they had one of these in the city, I have a feeling we'd be spending a little more time there.

The racing itself was great.  We raced on track seven in what were basically high-performance go-karts.  We got up to about 30-40 mph around the track and raced four times total.  The first three races earned us points, and we took turns starting toward the beginning of the pack.  The driver with the most points from the three heats started in the poll position for the final, championship race.  Jen's brother, Steve, ended up winning the whole thing, which we pretty much all attributed to him being the lightest. 

After the racing, we drove out to St. Charles and ate dinner at Al Capone's Hideaway and Steakhouse.  Aside from the several wrong turns, and a reservation mix-up by the restaurant, this was also a great time.  The meal came with a LOT of food.  I ordered a ribeye steak, which was great, and it came with cream of potatoe soup with bacon and cheese, a chef's salad, bread and garlic mashed potatoes.  Had we known, we probably wouldn't have also ordered the appetizer platter! 

The restaurant was completely decked out with '20s style decor.  Large photographs of Al Capone and family were everywhere.  It also seemed as if the restaurant couldn't have actually been in operation in the days of Capone.  After dinner, we ended up bar hopping a bit, at the end of which we took at $100 cab ride from Elgin back to Downers Grove.  Only a few more weeks, and Jen & Ken will be married!