July recap.

Already a week and a half into August and I haven’t even posted my July recap! Jeez… I am way behind.

Let’s see… July was full of family fun. It kicked off with a visit from my parents for the 4th of July weekend. It is always great seeing my parents and they are such easy houseguests as they are able to entertain themselves and don’t require a lot of hand holding by moi! They have been coming out 1ce or 2ce a year since I moved, and I am hoping they continue that tradition. We used their visit as a good excuse to eat at Tompalabampo. This is Ricky Bayless’ upscale restaurant and although pretty pricey, I felt it was really worth it. My mom, dad and I got the White House tasting menu (the menu Chef Bayless served at the Whitehouse for the state dinner w/ the Mexican president), and Huge got the adventurer’s tasting menu (of course). All the food, flavors and sauces were excellent and definitely a restaurant worth going to if you can get a reservation (We had to book our table over a month out and we ate during the week!) and a little extra cash!

4th of July is one of my favorite holidays because of my LOVE of fireworks snd our apartment is a great place to be on the 4th. We have a western view what is pretty unobstructed, so we can see all the fireworks displays from the western neighborhoods and suburbs and all the way south by the United Center and north to Logan Square. I am not exaggerating when I say that we watched a continuous stream of fireworks for hours! We had some friends over including our friends’ daughter who is 3 and we had a ball watching all the fireworks. It was also fun having a little one hanging out with us –she is a total doll and after a warming up period made friends with everyone there. It’s funny how someone so small captivates so much attention.

Later in the month my brother and sister-in-law came for a visit with their two nieces. I’m not sure if my brother and his wife are crazy, or just the best uncle/aunt ever, but they took the girls on a two week road trip to Montreal, Toronto, Niagra Falls and then to Chicago. It was nice to see them and hang out, but because they came during the week I didn’t get to spend as much time with them. I think they had a good time and the girls were very well behaved, so although it was a full house, it was still fun for everyone.

What else… July also was the month where I finally bought a bike! I haven’t done a ton of biking, and definitely haven’t gone very far on it, but so far have really enjoyed it. It’s been nice to explore a little bit of the city and to get from point A to point B much faster than if I was walking! This is also the summer of Huge being away… he was out of town weekends in July and August is no better. So I think that’s it. I can’t believe it’s August and that the summer is almost over. The next few weeks are going to be very busy w/ Huge’s birthday dinner and then a trip to Montreal at the end of the month for Huge’s brother’s wedding. It’s going to be a fun month and hopefully doesn’t go by too fast!