Cupcakes

Isabella and Antonio, my brother's kids, stopped over tonight to bake cupcakes with Aunt Letty.   They have been spending a lot of time with our family while my my sister-in-law is in Croatia with her side of the family for her twin sister's wedding.    

Isabella cracked the eggs and said that in the bowl the eggs look like a smiley face.   I think she's right.   Antonio was instrumental stirring all the ingredients and while the cupcakes baked we played Wii.    

Busy Blog Day

Tons to report today.   First, the walking is going well and special thanks to Christine, my friend and co-worker, who went walking with me at lunch.   We walked around Grant and Millennium Parks and spotted a new exhibit of interesting objects made from recycled car parts.   This flower was one of the three sculptures on display and was my favorite.

Here's your first GREEN tip on my blog, courtesy of my friend Linda Pastorello.  She wants to spread the word about a new product called Clear2Go and says "It is BPA free and it filters out tap water so you have clean water anywhere you go and you are not buying plastic bottled water. I know it filters chlorine and bacteria.....not sure about lead or any other trace metals but I am researching that of course:) Pass this on please!!!"    Linda, I hope you are reading this and will let me know when you learn more about chlorine and bacteria.   

This evening I had a wonderful dinner with Deb and her brother Gary Esayian.  We ate at Deb's home away from home, and one of our favorite Chicago restaurants, Lockwood.  For those of you who haven't tried it, or haven't heard of it, Lockwood was voted one of the 10 best new restaurants in Chicago in 2008.  Lucky for us our office is less than a block away.   Phillip Foss, their Executive Chef, came out to greet us as he's done many times but he did not recognize me today so I will definitely comment on his blog and encourage you all to check it out.   I find AMAZING cooking and presentation ideas on it and am just fascinated with the content.   It's better than the FOOD NETWORK.       

Margarita Night

It was a margarita night, but not for me.   Tonight I had dinner with my girlfriends Chrissy and Courtney.   I've known Chrissy since 3rd grade and Courtney since high school.   We get together for birthdays and a few times a year to catch up and gossip.  This time we were celebrating Chris' 40th birthday so she had a margarita and Courtney and I enjoyed lemonade. It's always fun to get together with the girls.   It would probably be easier to get together if we lived closer; we are about 45 miles apart, but it's always a good time!    Chris and Courtney will be a wealth of knowledge for me since they are two of my few friends that are moms and I hope they don't sugar coat the reality of it for me.   

Jason's Birthday

We celebrated Jason's birthday yesterday with his family and I received gifts too.  My sister-in-law Jennifer (Jason's sister) and her husband Eric were kind enough to bring some of their favorite books over for us.   Jen and Eric have two kids, Melody (4) and Carter (2).     

Another special treat at the party was my father-in-law Fred's potato salad.... probably the best I've ever tasted.  What good pregnant woman doesn't have cravings?!   I have had a taste for this for weeks and tailored the menu for Jason's party to go with potato salad.   (Thanks Fred!)

Jason was pleased that I made his favorite cake, the Lazy Daisy Cake, which is also known as a Southern Hot Milk cake.   It reminds me of a white version of German Chocolate Cake.   I didn't include a photo here because Jason made funny faces when I was taking his picture with the cake and I want to be sure that I can remind him that I didn't post his photos if he takes a not so flattering one of me in the near future. 

More walking...

What a difference a day makes.   Friday was so beautiful and Saturday was rainy, foggy and cold.   I had to rely  on the treadmill for my walk.   The hour goes by especially fast while listening to a podcast.   I have recently found two that I enjoy on iTunes, Pea in the Podcast and Pregtastic.