Tim's Birthday Weekend in Chicago!

We had a great weekend in Chicago. We had a birthday dinner celebration for Tim in Chicago... at a Middle Eastern restaurant called Byblos. My girl friends from out of state also came to celebrate, which was very sweet of them. Our brothers and sister-in-laws partied with us too. It was fun. We had a lot of food, wine, and we all smoked the hookah. We danced a lot and also got to see a belly dancer perform. It was a really fun night. I also tried a dish called kibbeh nayeh for the first time, which is raw meat. It was pretty tasty, actually. Some of my friends tried it too and liked it. It's always good to try something different right? =) It was really fun to hang out with my brother, Tim's brothers, and our friends all in one place. It was good night, for sure.

On Saturday, we hung out at one of Tim's brothers house. We got to play with his nephew, Mena. And of course, we ate there. Every weekend trip to Chicago consists of a lot of eating =) [I'm not complaining, though ; ) ]

The next night was another party.. this time, we celebrated our friend's boyfriend's going away party. He's moving to California pretty soon. The party was at a bar called Delilah's, a punk rock bar. Pretty cool venue. They had some interesting paintings on their walls... which was wei

Here are a few pictures from the weekend...

Here is the Birthday Boy blowing out his candles!

Us with our brothers and sister-in-laws

Our awesome friends =)

Look how cute Mena is!

Happy 26th Birthday Tim!

Tim turned 26 today.. now he's closer to 30 than 20. haha (Just like me) =P He went to work today, so yesterday, I made him a chocolate cake to bring with him. It's like being in elementary school again when you bring a treat in because it's your birthday. (Do they still do that nowadays?) I guess that cake got devoured today - which was nice to hear. People enjoyed it. Tim ate well today. haha I made him breakfast and also prepared his lunch for him. His lunch was a chicken salad croissant sandwich and other things. I followed the Barefoot Contessa recipe for Chicken Salad Veronique.

For dinner, I wanted to make something a bit lighter. We had some gooood fried chicken last night at a local restaurant, so I wanted to counteract it a little. Tonight's menu consisted of a balsamic glazed salmon, with some cous cous and sauteed mushrooms. They all turned out pretty good. Tim enjoyed it. He had a pretty happy birthday today.. =)

Since Tim already brought a chocolate cake to work in, I didn't want to do another cake for his birthday dessert. I made 2 things instead.. chocolate dipped strawberries and a Frozen Berries with Hot White Chocolate dessert. Both were delicious. So, I guess I didn't escape the chocolate part too much .. ; ) oh well, it's his birthday afterall.


Happy 26th Baby!

Fun Night

Last night, we had my oldest brother over for dinner. He just got back from the Philippines early this week. I wanted to make another dish from Barefoot Contessa, of course. And it's always nice to have more people for dinner =) And I wanted to make lasagna, so people are definitely welcomed. This dish was a portobello mushroom lasagna. It turned really good. Not too mushy and saucy like most lasagnas tend to be. And the mushrooms were super delicious. Tim probably could have eaten all of the mushrooms after I sauteed them...=) Tim made the garlic cheese toasts and they were reeeeallly good! =)

After dinner, us three met up my brother's friends at a nearby club/bar. It was pretty nice not having to drive to it. We had a good time there =) And tonight, Tim is hosting a little dinner party for his "little" brother and his real little sisters with their "Big" sisters. (Tim is part of Big Brothers Big Sisters) They're gonna go bowling after.. I'll stay and relax at home with a movie or something =)

Winner winner, chicken dinner!

Ok, so let me tell you our setting right now.. Tim and I are both sitting on the couch - side by side .. with our laptops on our lap, while watching TV. hah I had to email something to Tim too. hah Technology - gotta love it. Tim and I had a late dinner tonight. We went to the gym first.. and then right after I started dinner. I followed another recipe from my new Barefoot Contessa cookbook. It's so fun to try new recipes and have it be delicious =) The meal for tonight was roasted chicken breasts with basil and goat cheese. It turned out really yummy and juicy. Tim and I really enjoyed it tonight. And it didn't feel too greasy after a workout. =)

Blue Cheese Burger

Tonight, Tim and I grilled some Blue Cheese Burger.. recipe courtesy of Barefoot Contessa. =) It was really delicious. Surprisingly delicious. Our smoke alarm went off a million times though 'cause we were using our grill pan and our smoke detector is super sensitive. But it was all worth it. We had a great meal tonight.. after working out (haha). This is our year to get back in working out. =) Hopefully, we can really keep a workout routine a.. routine. Happy New Year!