Rockabye Bucktown

Little B - 1; Ben & Jerry - 0

Today Little B tasted his first fro yo courtesy of Ben & Jerry’s (and Papa G and Gigi…).  A small scoop of vanilla frozen yogurt in a cup.  I tried to feed him with the accompanying spoon, but he decided that wasn’t necessary and went face first into the frozen treat!  It was all over his face, hands and clothes, but we barely noticed because we were in tears laughing.  He loved it more than the Hot Chocolate marshmallows (sorry Mindy Segal). What’s next?  Cherry Garcia?  Half-Baked?  Or my personal favorite, Greek Banana Peanut Butter?  Good thing we have the rest of the summer to test them out!

Hello Monday!  After a fantastic weekend of playing, laughing, visiting, indulging and relaxing, I’m ready for you.

Some highlights…

• Our engagement celebration wine tasting was held at Wine Styles, a wine shop we love in Lakeview.  It was definitely a good way to catch up and find some new summer vinos.  My favorites were a crisp Chenin Blanc and a smooth Barolo.  The gals wore ring pops, of course!  We later headed over to Mia Francesca for some rich Italian cooking reminiscent of past summers when we would take an obnoxious limo to Festa Pasta Vino on Taylor Street.  Oh the stories…
• Little B and I took in some park time, as well as a long walk around the neighborhood on Saturday afternoon and stopped into a few boutiques along Damen to check out the sidewalk sale.  Alexander McQueen bangles on sale at Helen Yi…what?!
• A DIY mani (Essie Merino Cool) and flick on Saturday night was perfect for a night in.  However, I made the mistake of watching “Friends with Kids.”  If you have children or plan to have children in the near future, I do not recommend seeing this movie.  The way parenthood is portrayed is far from accurate and severely depressing in this film.  Yes, being a parent is difficult at times, but it doesn’t lead to a bland, boring life.  Quite the opposite, actually!
• We were up early and headed over to the Wicker Park farmers market on Sunday morning.  I think we hit the produce jackpot!  Fingerling potatoes, heirloom tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers…and a veggie frittata and carrot cake (how did that end up in the basket?).  I’m going to use the potatoes and green beans in a Nicoise salad this week.  I have a feeling my new heirloom tomato, yellow pepper and feta salad will also make an appearance for a meal or two.

Hope you are ready for the week, too!

To top off a fabulous food-filled weekend with great friends (girls’ dinner at Rustic House, cocktails and dessert at Balena, impromptu BBQ with the best grilled shrimp I’ve ever eaten and a nostalgic brunch at one of my favorite Old Town spots), we decided to get a little exercise on Sunday afternoon.  Mr. B hit some balls at the Diversey driving range while Little B and I strolled along the lakefront path.  We found ourselves at a park just north of Belmont Harbor.  We watched the boats come in after a day out on the lake, tested out a new swing set and even had a seat on a kid-friendly schooner at the park.  Little B loved all of the “action” - boats, bikers, joggers and a new set of kid faces.  I love introducing him to new pockets of this amazing city…