Pizza, Lilacs, and Tulips

Friday we decided to use a gift certificate to get a yummy large deep dish pizza from Lou Malnati’s. I thought I had good pizza in college when I discovered Gino’s East. Wrong. Then in my early twenties I thought Giordano’s had the deep dish pizza of my dreams. Wrong again. It turns out Lou Malnati’s deep dish is sent straight from heaven. And during the holidays they offer incentives to purchase a gift card as they give you free money. Delicious pizza is great but delicious free pizza is even better. We bought a $100 gift card and in exchange got a free $25 gift certificate good until the end of June. But it’s gone, gone, gone because while their deep dish pizza is awesome, it’s not cheap. A large deep dish pizza with half sausage and butter crust is around $20 plus some because we order an extra helping of their delicious chunky tomato sauce on the side. This would very likely be my preferred last meal if I had to choose one. But I digress. If you’ve never had Lou’s, what the heck are you waiting for?

On Saturday we took E to see Godzilla. Loved it! I especially enjoyed the twist on how Godzilla was portrayed. I’ll say no more so as not to spoil it for anyone. We also watched two other movies over the weekend – Jack Ryan, Shadow Recruit (2 stars) and Robocop (4 stars).

On Sunday we went a little nuts at Target and spent $113.25 on groceries. Well, that’s the value of the groceries we bought. See, they had a spend $50 get $10 off deal going so we strategized and split our purchases up so we could use two coupons. With all the other coupons, Cartwheel discounts, and deals (including the $15 in free gift cards we received), our true out of pocket expense was more like $65. Now our freezer and pantry is full full full, just the way I like it (mostly; sometimes all the stuff makes me a bit anxious). We loaded up on Skinny Cow ice cream since it was a steal and makes for a nice portion-controlled snack (see: fewer calories than a bowl of ice cream).

After dropping off all our goodies at home and putting away the perishables, we packed a lunch and set out for Lilacia Park in Lombard. This time of year is the only time we visit, and for good reason – it is chuck full of sweet-smelling lilac trees and bushes. It was crowded to say the least. It was a beautiful day to enjoy nature and the intoxicating smells of the lilacs. And while that is what the park is known for, I was more excited by the various tulips on display. I’ve never seen so many and so many different shapes and colors. It was an awesome way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Tulips

Lilacs

The rest of the weekend consisted of cleaning the house and cooking good food including this stuffed shells recipe I plan on adding to our regular rotation. I also baked some pumpkin bars that my SIL gave me when she moved out and was clearing out her pantry with the intention of pawning them off on my coworkers since I’m not a fan of pumpkin stuff. I ended up making homemade cream cheese frosting for them that came out amazing. Joe and I loved the combo so there will be no sharing after all, haha!