Author Archives: Liz

Up and Away We Go

Posted in Daily Musings, Liz's Life by

Beyond all the awesome food we sampled last weekend, we also had the opportunity to ride in a hot air balloon! I had never been on one before, so I was pretty excited to hop on board.

We had to get up bright and early (6:00 am) to catch our sunrise ride. When we got to the field I was surprised to see that there wasn’t just one balloon, but a ton! They came from all over to attend the Blueberry festival.

We (meaning I, while Luke watched) got to work helping spread out our balloon so it could get blown up with air.

The propane tank is terrifyingly loud! I jumped out of my skin the first time they used it.

Pretty soon we were in the basket making our way up into the sky.

If you ever get the chance to ride in a balloon, definitely try to do at sunset. The light was amazing.

How many balloons do you see?

A huge house I felt compelled to take a shot of…

Riding in a hot air balloon isn’t scary at all. It really feels like you’re just floating along with no bumbs or sudden drops in altitude.

Landing is the hardest part because if you don’t have it mapped out, then you need to find an open space to land that isn’t near power lines.

There’s a “chase van” that follows your flight and helps direct you on where to land. They also help deflate and pack away the balloon.

After our safe landing, Luke decided to finally pitch in and help his Dad put the balloon away. ;)

We celebrated our first flight with a champagne toast with our Cheri, our pilot.

It was an awesome way to start the day! I highly reccomend you ride in a balloon sometime soon. It was so fun and the views are amazing.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I have EIGHT college girlfriends staying with me for the weekend. Luke is on a boys camping trip, so it worked out perfectly with have the ladies in town.

I’m sure there will be some funny posts/pictures from the shenanigans this weekend.

Indiana Blueberry Festival Culinary Tour

Posted in Sunday Supper Series by

This weekend we went out to the Indiana country-side to visit Luke’s parents and attend the Blueberry Festival nearby. The festival was exactly what you’d think a classic county fair would be…carnival games, rides, tractor pulls, crafts and of course awesome street food.

I was really impressed with the variety of foods they had available beyond the typical carnie treats like elephant ears and corn dogs. We canvassed the food stands for the best places to spend our money…

I was definitely intrigued by the deep-fried candy bars, but decided that might make me really sick.

These polish sausages and grilled onions looked awesome.

For his meat, Luke ended up going for this monstrous turkey leg.

I went for the more lady-like half smoked chicken. It had a really nice lemony flavor and the meat was extra tender.

We sampled some bacon rinds, because I’d never had them before. They tasted fairly bland for something with the word bacon in it.

We washed it all down with some old fashioned cream soda. You can’t go wrong with a good cream soda.

For dessert, we decided to go with the festival theme and try an assortment of blueberry treats…blueberry pie, blueberry donuts and blueberry ice cream.

Despite stuffing ourselves at the festival, we still had room for Luke’s mom’s blueberry milkshake, which successfully put all the other blueberry desserts to shame.

If I had to judge this weekend based on yummy foods eaten and lbs gained, it would be getting a gold medal! It’s definitely back to salads and water this week.

What delicious foods did you guys eat this Labor Day weekend?

Setting Boundaries

Posted in Dating, Love by

Last night I grabbed some dinner with a couple friends and we got onto the topic of setting boundaries in relationships.

One of my friends is in a new long-distance relationship that’s going fabulously. They’ve been taking turns visiting each other and the time spent has been wonderful.

The guy is moving to Chicago soon and while she’s elated to have him so close,  she’s worried about how their relationship will change once they can see each other whenever they want. She doesn’t want to become one of “those” girls.

You know how it goes…girl has a full life with hobbies and friends….girl meets guy….girl falls in love with guy….guy takes over girls entire life….girl ignores her friends and stops doing things she once loved….guy dumps girl because she’s too needy.

It’s a sad cycle that I’ve seen happen to too many great girls! I applaud my friend for realizing that she doesn’t want her relationship to take a turn towards constant-togetherness.

When Luke and I were dating we made a concerted effort to support each other’s separate interests. On average, we’d see each other 3-4 times per week, which seems like a lot when I type it, but is pretty average/ low compared to other relationships I’ve been around.

We would rotate seeing our friends separately and together- making sure that when we were “together” we weren’t making our friends uncomfortable with excessive PDA. We also kept doing the things we loved, like play volleyball or rock climb, before we become a couple.

I know, I know….good for you Liz! The point, I tell my girlfriends,  is that the reason these guys are attracted to you in the first place is because you’re interesting, have tons of friends and have built a full, complete life on your own.

When he sees that you start losing that independence, ignoring your friends, avoiding things that make you YOU, then he feels overly depended-upon and ultimately annoyed that your happiness is so wrapped up in him.

I think when it comes to a new relationship, although it can be tempting to spend every moment together, you’re better off setting some boundaries. It will help make the moments you have together even more special!

What do you think? How often do you guys see your significant other? What interests have you kept up outside your relationship? Do you think I’m full of it and it’s completely ok to spend 24/7 with your love?

A Lovely Chicago Weekend

Posted in Daily Musings, Married Life by

Hey guys- how is your week going? It’s been a hectic one here already…so many meetings at work!

This past weekend Luke and I had a really nice time in Chicago. It was one of those perfect summer weekends with the right mix of relaxing time and fun with friends.

On Friday, we stayed in and made rack of lamb with a Merlot fig sauce. I was trying to channel the rack of lamp recipe inspired from the movie How To Lose a Guy in Ten Days, but was disappointed in the amount of time it took to cook everything.

Luckily it all tasted yummy once I got over having spent 2 hours cooking! Not quite Sunday Supper Series worthy though.

Saturday morning I awoke to a missing husband and a note explaining that he’d gone rock climbing with his brother. So I decided to join my friend Kaycie who was lounging at the East Bank Club pool (an exclusive club here in Chicago).

We had a great time basking in the sun, talking about the new love in her life and gawking at the number of surgically altered women in high heels that surrounded us. It was definitely a scene!

After taking a glorious three-hour nap post-pool, I got my dancing shoes ready for a going away party for a dear friend of ours. He’s moving to Nigeria of all places to do some great work for the Clinton Foundation. Isn’t that cool, or what?

I wanted to make sure he remembered his last night out in Chicago, so I busted out some of the most ridiculous dance-moves in my repertoire in his honor at The Crocodile. Don’t worry, I didn’t embarrass myself too much because everyone else in our crew was participating in the dance-off as well. It was so fun!

On Sunday, we went to a new brunch place nearby called Yolk, which we were really impressed by. We got the Hey Ricky! omelet that consisted of egg (duh), chorizo, avocado, jalapeno, sour cream, cheese and salsa. It was YUMMY!

After brunch, we went for a walk by the lake and discovered a new walking path that had an amazing view of the city. This isn’t exactly the view (we forgot the camera) but it’s close.

Pretty right? It’s sunny days with views like this that remind me why I love Chicago so much.

What did you guys do this weekend? Hope it was a good one for you!