hb to my hubby.

today is hubby's birthday.  his BIG gift?  he got a home cooked meal.  the thing is, i think i can count on my fingers the times i have used our kitchen in the last year.  maybe add in a few toes.  i think the moment life got hectic, we trusted our box of take-out menus to serve us dinner most nights.  i felt super rusty and out of place, but attempted to make a simple meal of homemade chili and cornbread.  kaila insisted we bake a chocolate brownie as well.  the moment kaila said "thank you mommy for cooking dinner - so yummy", i said to kitchen, "you are going to get sick of seeing me - pinky promise."

{iPhone}

had to show a pic of hubby before marriage and after marriage eating his 3rd bowl.  the things hubby will do to make me happy...   {before pic: Bob & Dawn Davis Photography}

happy birthday.  i love you.

a girl. and a goat.

did i tell you how much i love my hubby's monthly event - nel cielo?
a night of giggling with friends & friends of friends, tasting new chicago finds, & just being me without toddler distractions was absolutely. . . delightful.

this month's destination:  girl and the goat.  (Top Chef's Stephanie Izard's restaurant)
after much anticipation, we finally conquered this restaurant! with 10 friends & a total of 27 dishes to share {yes, you heard me right - 27 dishes!} we filled our bellies with bubblies & lots of scrumptious food.  for some reason though, i was feeling peculiarly self-conscious taking photos & am left with these.

the girl and the goat. i get it. but a little disturbing, no?

pig face. that's all i have to say.

seafood fideo.  this + the seppia, green beans, chickpeas = a few of our favorites.

 4 girls. 6 boys. we ruled the table. :)

can't wait til our next one! but where?

nel cielo: the Publican

hubby & i really enjoy fine dining. actually, eating out in general. ok fine, we love to try anything new & get out of the house!  so a few years ago, he created a "diner's club" called nel cielo.

sounds silly, but i LOVE it!

the last saturday of every month we go out with friends to chow down on scrumptious foods.

we get to meet friends of friends & enjoy each other's company while trying out a new restaurant in chicago.

it was on a long hiatus due to marriage & baby, but i'm so glad nel cielo is back! 

where did we go?

everyone around me shared how amazing the food & beer was at the Publican & it didn't disappoint.
here's a sample of the many dishes we devoured.

porchetta

oysters from new zealand to massachusetts

bouchot mussels

the only group pic of the night

with a group of 10 hungry bellies, we enjoyed a meal of pork, beer, pork, oysters, beer, & more pork.

sadly, i am not the biggest fan of pork & oysters, but was happily satisfied with the fried perch & sweet potatoes, the farm chicken with frites, the bouchot mussels, & of course, the smores tart with cinnamon ice cream. yumm....

i would definitely recommend this place!

good times!