A Three Day Weekend....

My daughter has been wanting us to come up for a visit, so late Friday night my son and I hopped in the car and drove up to Chicago to see her. I thought it was mostly going to be time to hang out, but once we got there my kids had other plans. I swear they walked me from one end of Chicago to the other! Ok, besides that I was some what spoiled while I was there. After walking me every where during the day, we got to enjoy the hot tub on the rooftop of her building. Not only that, but she grilled us a special supper that we also ate out on the rooftop.(We ate out while we were there too, but I think her supper was even better than some of the restaurants we went to that cost a small fortune! She's a wonderful cook!) The view was fabulous! You could see the Chicago skyline from there...and all the buildings lit up at night. A lot of them had special pink lights on in honor of breast cancer awareness, and the marathon that took place this weekend.

Most of the pictures above are just snap shots taken while we walked through the city. My kids got into a photo taking contest...LOL , ya the bland ones are probably mine!

Chicago Loopy Yarns Knit Shop

Yes, I tortured my children by making them take me to a knit shop! We had a long walk and a short ride on the "L" to get there, but there was no way I was skipping it this trip. Needless to say, they waited outside and found some where to sit and have a soda while I took my time, but they were good sports about it if you don't count the eye rolls ...hahaha.

Chicago Millennium Park

Since we had an open afternoon my daughter asked if there was any where we wanted to go while visiting...
we've been to Chicago many times, but have never made it to see "The Bean" yet. Our visit ended up being one of those unexpected heart warming good times, it was just fun! We laughed till we cried and I'm sure we got the stink eye from some of the people around us, but it was worth it! We enjoyed taking pictures and just goofing around while taking in the all the great scenery.

Breakfast at Elly's

Last but not least, we had breakfast at Elly's. This is one of my daughter's favorite places, so she took us there before we had to head back home.They had every thing here .... and I finally got to try a Dutch Baby Pancake! I have no idea how to make one myself, but I think one on special occasions here and there is enough. Yummmm!!

Culinary Arts at The Dragon Cafe'

My son is taking Culinary Arts for one of his classes...and the school has a restaurant," The Dragon Cafe & The Hot Spot Bakery",  that serves lunch and is open to the public. So, a few of us got together and decided to go check it out. I was hoping to get some pictures behind the scenes in the kitchen, but we finished our meal right before the afternoon rush started arriving, so maybe next time.
Today's menu was an Italian themed meal chosen by my son and his Culinary Arts partner....

Today's Menu:
* Bread sticks with parmesan-butter
* Spinach salad with raspberry vinaigrette
* Warm Apple Twisted shrimp & pasta
* Chocolate Italian cookies

I have to say lunch was amazing!! The bread was fresh and warm, really liked the subtle parmesan flavor. The vinaigrette was on the sweet side which complimented the spinach salad (loved it). The shrimp and pasta was along the lines of shrimp scampi. This was actually my first time having shrimp and pasta together. Usually I'm being picky and it's either one or the other, but I have to say that it surprised me and was really good. The Italian cookie~ hummm, how do you describe a chocolate cookie?...Yummm!! I think it was the perfect finish to a nice meal! ( Ok, the cookie was my favorite. Can't help but love sweets!)

Thanks for lunch guys, you all can cook for me any time...hint hint =)

Knit Ruffle Scarves

Sorry I have been mia for so long, the last month has not exactly been blog material! In spite of some set backs, I have managed to knit up some scarves and have a few more colors to work on before they are all finished.
These ruffle scarves are not new, but they are new for me.
There are both knit and crochet patterns available for these scarves, but for me, the knit pattern was the easiest.Since the "yarn" opens up into a mesh it was sorta awkward to get started until you figure out how to hold it comfortably. These are beginner easy, and I love all the colors they have to choose from. It only took a little more than an evening to finish up one of these. Some of these are for my cousin, who found all this fun yarn on sale and sent it to me through the mail. We are each keeping some and giving some for Christmas presents. Sounds like a plan!

The scarves pictured above were all made with Red Heart Boutique Sashay Yarns.