double date + a high chair

grandma (our loving designated babysitter) was busy,  so we ended up taking our "terrible twos" one-year-old to an elegant early dinner at Home Bistro.
table for 4 + a high chair please!

the Good:
our double daters were entertained by the hilarious kaila - which meant her trying to throw goldfish crackers into their mouths & giggling with joy.

there was never a dull moment from freakishly loud fake cries to kaila somehow quietly escaping to the back kitchen.

our out-of-state friend got to physically squeeze k's chubby cheeks & play with all of her cuteness.

of course, mommy selfishly got to spend more time with her baby despite all the chaos.

the Not so good:
rice dinner we prepared for her was fed mostly to our clothes & not her mouth.

a table for 4 turned into a table for 1.5 after clearing more than half the table to prevent her from dipping her fingers in wine or worse, in the lit candle.

the moment you allowed yourself to enjoy an adult conversation with your friend, kaila was up to no good - standing on her high chair ready to jump down. (please tell me i'm not the only one that doesn't strap her into those things)

at the end of the night, i was thinking, "what did we adults talk about?" 

k saying "hi" & hubby sticking a fork in his head mid-dinner. strange. thanks for letting kaila be our+1!

will we do this again?

probably. :/

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!