It's Baby Time!

Our good friends Heather and Bob will be heading to the hospital tonight to be induced. I wanted to wish them all the best and let them know we are all thinking of them. We can't wait to meet baby Baby Glynn (and to finally found out what his name is)!!!! Many many best wishes tonight and always!!!

Speaking of babies...I wanted to say CONGRATULATIONS to all our friends who are expecting in the upcoming months. Enjoy your pregnancy and we can't wait to meet the little ones.

Laura and Matt Gibson

Gina and Tom Les

Jennifer and Sean Connolly

Nicole and Nick Hartman

Sarah and Nathan Dill

Betsy and Chad Felde

Gretchen and Brent Landry

Kim and Andy Doyle

Anna and Mike Garcia

Christine and Nick Rasche

Nichole and Michael Lewis

Katherine and Bryan Bottarelli

Erin and Rob Livermore

Happy Anniversary Kelly and Jim!

Matt and I wanted to wish Kelly and Jim a very Happy 1st Anniversary!!! Kelly and Jim Thomas were married July 29, 2006 in Lafayette, Indiana. Although it was one of the hottest, most humid days of the year, their wedding was absolutely gorgeous! The color palate for the wedding was bright, bright, bright. Pinks, oranges, yellows, and greens created the prettiest church and reception. Kelly was an absolutely gorgeous bride and Jim, a handsome groom. Congratulations to you both!! Many more happy years to come!

Cute Jacket

I saw this jacket on the Urban Outfitters website and thought it was adorable. It is perfect for fall, either casually with jeans or for work.

Monaco, Italy, France...Oh My!!

Matt and I were lucky enough to travel to Monaco, Italy, and France recently and I have just posted 3 albums from our trip. Matt had to be in Monaco for work (nice, huh?) and we thought this was a perfect opportunity to extend the trip and travel a bit since taking a trip to Europe together was on our list of things to do.

I flew over about halfway through Matt's week in Monaco. Monaco is a small principality located along the French Riviera and just gorgeous. Although we were only together in Monaco for about a day and a half, we thoroughly enjoyed walking around, people watching, and checking out some of the biggest yachts I have ever seen in the harbor. We also saw the castle/palace where Princess Grace Kelly lived with Prince Rainier, it was absolutely gorgeous and the views are breath-taking.

From Monaco, we took the train to Monterosso, Italy, which is about a 4 hour train ride. Our first trip on the European train system was very interesting and not much fun. Note to anyone traveling via train in Europe: do not bring a lot of luggage. I know for some of us ladies, that might be difficult with lots of outfits and shoes, but I promise you, traveling with a smaller suitcase will be well worth leaving that 6th pair of shoes behind!!! Needless to say, we were very happy when we arrived in Monterosso. We stayed at this great little hotel, Il Maestrale, which only has 5 rooms and a beautiful veranda where we ate breakfast. The Cinque Terre is a group of 5 small towns along the Mediterranean Sea, in which Monterosso is the western most town. Our favorite part of our trip to Cinque Terre was the 7 mile hike we did from Riomaggiore to Monterosso. There are not enough words to describe how amazing this part of our trip was. Hiking along the cliff with the most beautiful scenery and stopping in each of the 5 towns along the way was a day that could not be topped. Italy, by far, was my favorite place we traveled. I love the quaintness of the towns and the laid back attitude of all the people. It is definitely a place I would love to visit again someday.

Our last stop on the trip was to Nice, France. After our time in Italy, we decided to head back to Nice, as that is where we were flying out of. We spent about a day and a half in Nice, just relaxing and walking around. Nice reminded me a lot of New York City, lots of people, restaurants, and shopping. Matt loved Vieux Nice - Old Nice - which was a section of town a few blocks in size. The alleyways went in all directions and sizes. It was a lot of fun to see little cafes and bars in these 10 foot wide alleys. Again, it is along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea so, the scenery is just gorgeous. Our hotel was located across the street from the Promenade and the beach, which made for a perfect running path in the morning.

All in all, we had a truly amazing time in Europe. While we did not do a lot of historical site seeing, we enjoyed 3 completely different places, that allowed for touristy activities, relaxation and a ton of fun.

Kristin's Bridal Shower

My sister is getting married in October and last Saturday, her bridesmaids and I hosted her first shower at Cafe Ba Ba Reeba, here in Chicago. It was great to catch up with many of my sister's friends that I have not seen in a long time. My sister is truly blessed to have great friends in her life, as they are all extremely warm, kind, and generous. It meant so much to my sister to be surrounded by so many friends and family. Thank you to everyone who was able to make it. I am hoping to post pictures from the shower this weekend.

On a side note, if you ever need a place to host a shower of any kind, I highly recommend Cafe Ba Ba Reeba. We had a private room in the back of the restaurant, where the staff was extremely attentive and took care of everything. The food was quite delicious as well. We were served 3 cold and 5 warm tapas, along with dessert and plenty of white and red Sangria. From the food to the decor, not a detail was over-looked by the staff at Cafe Ba Ba Reeba. Even if you aren't looking for a place to host an event, I highly recommend trying Cafe Ba Ba Reeba for lunch or dinner. I assure you, it will not disappoint.

Back In B-Town

Currently back in B-Town - stopped at Laughing Planet for a lunch burrito. Heard a mom call her son over to the table, the son's name was Cosmo.

Zagrebs and Nick's tonight. My ability to post tomorrow will depend on how many times I sink the Bismark tonight. Fortunately, I am playing against three rookies.

Recipes

As most of you know, I am blessed to have a mother and mother-in-law who are fabulous in the kitchen. I think they have recipes for every occasion that are both fantastic and fairly easy to make (once you have mastered them, of course). The thing I love and admire about both moms is that cooking for family and friends is both something they enjoy. One of my favorite things about going home to Crystal Lake, Green Lake, or Lafayette, is knowing there will be a delicious home cooked meal and plenty of treats waiting when we arrive.

Although I have not mastered the art of cooking like our moms, I do enjoy trying new recipes now and again, while still using old standbys that both moms have given me over the years. I wanted to share two recipes with you that we made in the past week. One, the Wild Rice Chicken Salad, an old standby that is perfect for BBQ's, showers, and family get togethers. Not only does it taste great, but 1 recipe makes a large quantity, which is perfect for entertaining. The second, Oven Baked French Toast, is a new recipe Carol tried this weekend, as she so kindly made breakfast for the Hunt's and the Konneker's. It is a great alternative to egg casserole. Again, delicious and easy to make.

Enjoy!!

Wild Rice Chicken Salad
2 (6.2 oz) pkgs Uncle Ben’s Long Grain and Wild Rice (can use instant)
2 (6 oz) jars marinated artichoke quarters, undrained and chopped
4 cups chopped cooked chicken (4-5 breasts depending on size)
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
2 celery ribs, thinly sliced
5 green onions, chopped
1 (2.25 oz) can sliced ripe olives, drained
1 tsp. salt
1 cup mayonnaise
1 ½ tsp. curry powder
Leaf lettuce (optional, for serving)

Cook rice mix according to package
Drain artichoke quarters, reserving ½ c. liquid
Stir together rice, artichoke, chicken, and next 4 ingredients.
Stir together artichoke liquid, salt, mayonnaise, and curry powder; toss with rice mixture.
Cover and chill 8 hours. Serve on leaf lettuce

Couple of notes:
Last night I made half a recipe and it still made a decent amount. Enough to fill a medium sized serving bowl.
Matt was kind enough to get all the ingredients for me at the grocery store. He bought the 90 second Wild and Long Grain rice and it worked perfectly. Although the bag is a little larger than the recipe calls for (8.8 oz vs. 6.6), the additional rice did not pose a problem.
I also used light mayo and this did not affect the taste at all.

Oven Baked French Toast
1 loaf (8 oz.) French Bread
6 eggs
1 1/2 c. milk
4 tbsp. sugar, divided
1 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt
Ground cinnamon (optional, but highly recommended)
Powered sugar
1 lb. strawberries sliced
1/2 tsp. lemon zest
1 tsp. lemon juice

Spray 9x13 pan to grease. Cut bread into 1 in. thick slices (10-16 slices); arrange closely in a single layer in pan. Beat eggs with whisk in 2 qt. bowl. Whisk in milk, 3 tbsp. sugar, vanilla, and salt; pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hr. or overnight.
Preheat oven to 400. Sprinkle bread with cinnamon, if desired. Bake, uncovered, 30-40 minutes; or until golden brown. Remove from oven; sprinkle with powered sugar. Slice strawberries; add lemon zest, lemon juice, and remaining 1 tbsp. sugar. Mix lightly and serve over warm French Toast.

Couple of notes:
We did not use the lemon zest and lemon juice with the strawberries and it still tasted good. I am thinking you could use blueberries or raspberries as well for a garnish.
We found that serving the French Toast with syrup was a nice addition.

New? Blog

I wonder if this blog will just turn out to be me responding to everything my wife puts up on the internet for all 6 of you to check.

First off, I am not just now getting into the blogging game. For those of you who remember, I was pretty much the first blogger in the world (just after Al Gore invented the internet) - on the blog I called, The Wet Weasel. After one of my extreme lower back surgeries, I would lay on the floor of my parents basement and post onto a geocities site everything that happened that day. This was circa 1999. Therefore, I am pretty much the world's first blogger - and this is not something new to me. (Seasoned professional.)

Secondly, my lovely wife also states that we both check some blogs religiously. Just to be correct, whenever I am on the internet and go to my favorites, I am not saying a prayer that the site comes up, which I figure is what she means when she says I check things religiously.

On a lighter note - I am going to Bloomington tomorrow - yes, for work. It seems we have a plant and mine about 45 minutes south of Bloomington. So, I will go down, eat a steak at Zagrebs, sink the Bismark a few times, hit up Sports, and go 1.5 miles below the earth's surface, all within about 14 hours. Sounds like a plan to me.

Godspeed - Matthews

Welcome To Our Blog

Well, Matt and I decided to jump on the bandwagon and start a blog. Both of us have blogs we check religiously and thought what a better way to keep up with friends and family. We are hoping you enjoy our blog as much as we enjoy other's blogs. We hope that this will be a means to share things that are going on in our lives and any fun/interesting things we uncover. Enjoy!