Friday favorites.

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Happy Friday! Since I work both weekend days and have Fridays off, I've started to really savor this day. While my schedule doesn't allow for what most people consider a "weekend," I've worked weekends most of my life anyway. And this just makes days off like today that much better.

Tonight we're having Andrew's friends over for dinner, and I'm excited to get our apartment all prettied up for a little party. And make butterscotch pot du creme, for a taste of home and MPLS in MKE. And go running, because it's beautiful outside. And study. And that's how a day off fills up oh, so quickly.

In the meantime, here are some additional links for anyone else hosting parties, including "Friendsgiving," this weekend, or are getting down to planning for the big day on the 28th:

I'm obsessed with Williams-Sonoma for Thanksgiving. And with their pumpkin butter. Here's a recipe to make your own!

I like gin. I like PAMA. I want to drink this.

If you've never hosted Thanksgiving and want to go all out for your first shot, NYT has published an everything-you-need-to-know Thanksgiving essentials guide.

One of my favorite traditions from growing up was Thanksgiving Eve. My aunt would come over, we'd eat apples and brie, and start preparing for the next day. Here's a lovely take on what to make for dinner on Thanksgiving Eve.

I'm still searching for one more dessert to make for Thanksgiving dinner. Maybe this one? 

Some Vinni for your Friday.

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And we've made it to Friday. While this has seemed like a long week, the month is actually flying by: how is it that there are only three weeks to Thanksgiving?! 

If you need a break and a laugh today, I suggest you take in some quality YouTube videos of Mr. Winnie the Pooh. No, not the Disney version, but the SoyuzMultifilm version of the 1960s. This is one of the few occasions that will I let my Ukrainian pride step aside and give way to the Soviets (noting, of course, that the second photo in the above link to learning Russian is actually a shot from a Ukrainian dance)...because this bear is just too cute. And his friends are hilarious. And I can't help but laugh each time Vinni dances and sings. The animation is incredible, too; as Andrew says, he actually looks like a bear as imagined by a child. 

And then there's this Buzzfeed link - after watching Vinni and Pyatachok take on the bees, you'll have to agree.

Happy fall weekend!

Tomorrow is the first day of fall! If you haven't figured it out yet, this is my favorite season. The colors are gorgeous, the weather is never too hot or too cold, sweaters, scarves, and boots are new in stores, and all those wonderfully rich fruits and vegetables that have been growing all summer are ready for harvest. And, maybe best of all, pumpkins are back in full force! I'm currently indulging in a pumpkin spice latte, the most autumnal drink around. 

While it's almost officially fall, there was a hint of Christmas morning-like anticipation around here this afternoon, as Andrew was waiting for his new iPhone 5 to arrive. We are now a happy Apple family of four: us and two little iPhones. 

We're going to thoroughly enjoy this first fall weekend of the year; we are, of course, watching Chelsea (a win, please?), and are really looking forward to meeting up with good friends for drinks! What are you up to? 

Happy fall, friends! 

Chicago Day Trip.

Happy Labor Day weekend! It's hard to believe that the unofficial end of summer is already here. We decided to take a short trip to Chicago yesterday - it's so close to Milwaukee! In order to spend as much time in Chicago as possible, we drove to Kenosha to make the 6:50 a.m. train and took that right into downtown. Metra's weekend pass is really reasonable, only $7.00 (and it only costs $2.50 per day to park in Kenosha); this is something we're definitely going to be taking advantage of!

The weather forecast was originally pretty bleak (I had been checking all week), but it turned out to be quite lovely; it sprinkled a bit when we first arrived, but otherwise it was just cloudy and breezy, so we were able to walk around without any trouble.

We went to breakfast at Xoco, one of Rick Bayless' restaurants. We've been to Frontera before, and absolutely loved it, so we were excited (and hungry, as we had been up since 4:30!) for Xoco. It was really good, but we both think it would have been better for lunch. The coffee drinks, though, were amazing. Andrew had a chocolate espresso, and I had a wonderful chocolate cafe con leche: thick, just the right amount of chocolate, and so smooth.

We walked around the city all day, visiting our favorite spots and discovering new ones. We've been to Chicago four times now since we've started dating, and it's the city where we got engaged last October. It's really a special place to us, and we're so excited about how close by it is.  

One of the reasons we love Chicago so much is the fact that there are so many incredible restaurants. On our last trip, we visited Cafe Spiaggia, Q, The Publican, and The Purple Pig, and all were amazing. We knew we only had one day for this trip, so there were certainly fewer meals to plan, but we still made sure we ate well. For lunch, we decided to try Bar Toma, Tony Mantuano's new restaurant. We had guanciale-wrapped sweetbreads with sage and shared the Calabrese pizza, topped with sausage, Calabrian chilies, and mozzarella. The crust on the pizza was the best I've ever had. You could taste the smokiness of the wood from the oven, and it was perfectly soft and crispy at the same time. Amazing. 

We also walked around the Fulton Market District, west of downtown and set in between the highways and the Chicago River. It smells like chocolate, but I'm not sure why. From the outside, it doesn't look like the posh and luxurious neighborhood that's home to some of the country's best restaurants, but famous names like The Publican, Next, Aviary, Blackbird, Avec, and others have found their place and are thriving in the warehouses and brick alleyways of Fulton. During our afternoon walk, we stopped in to Publican Quality Meats, which sells all sorts of local products, from smoked beef heart to artisanal honey (from MN!). Andrew was definitely in his happy place. 

We returned to Fulton for dinner, to a restaurant called g.e.b. The menu had smaller plates to share, which we really like because then we are able to order several dishes and and try more than one. We had calamari with green hummus, oxtail lasagna, a saffron risotto with clams, blueberry cake, and gianduja-filled beignets. Realizing we had some time before our train was to depart, we decided to try RM Champagne Salon, a new champagne lounge we had read about (and which happened to be next door to g.e.b.!). I can't wait to go back! I had a champagne cocktail and Andrew ordered a whiskey with cherry notes; it was the perfect way to end the night. 

We took the train back to Kenosha, and made it back to Shorewood by midnight. We're quite tired today, but already planning the next visit to one of our favorite cities!