Weekend Recap: 04/15-04/18

Happy Tax Day! Hope you remembered to file them on time. In the past when we were owed a refund we’d be all over it but we waited until mid March since we had to pay. Still waiting to get our money back from Illinois, however. Not surprised they are taking so long either. SMH at this state.

Friday after the Cubs game we stopped at Chipotle to pick up dinner. We used the coupons they sent us in the mail so the total for two burrito bowls plus chips & salsa was $7 which was covered by a Chipotle gift card. Shortly after eating we drove down to see Joe’s son in a music competition at his school.

Saturday morning we did a little shopping at Target and since we have $50 of credit on our Starbucks card thanks to Groupons (gotta love the $10 of credit for only $5 offers) we stopped for a little treat too. Joe had a coffee and I tried one of their shaken iced teas since it was 10% off in the Cartwheel app.

Green Tea with Lemonade

I chose the green tea with lemonade flavor in the smallest size possible since I wasn’t sure if I’d like it. Turns out it was delicious! But $3? Come on. Seems pretty steep (pun intended) for half a glass of tea since the rest was ice.

A little rant – Target needs to get their shit together with their signage. See this little gem?

Target Sign

Guess what? NONE of the Lays chips they sell fall within those size parameters. Luckily I decided to check the Cartwheel app and the size range was different than the sign posted because I was getting very frustrated thinking they’d offer 40% off non-existent chips. Sheesh.

When we got back from the store I wrapped Brother #1’s birthday gifts while doing some laundry.

20160416_183229000_iOS

20160416_183835000_iOS

Yes, my brother is turning 37 next week, what of it? LOL. We also got him a shelf from IKEA to store his overflowing DVDs and video games that were piling up on his bedroom floor due to lack of storage.

We arrived at my parents’ house around 5:30 pm. Brother #2 was already there and Joe put the shelf together while my brothers played video games. It didn’t take long because IKEA makes it simple and you don’t even need more than a hammer which is nice. Once Brother #2’s girlfriend arrived we had dinner which was Dominos pizza, meatloaf, mashed potatos, mac & cheese and some other stuff. We played some games my mom put together where the prizes were $1 bills and lotto scratchers. She’s really into that lately.

After dinner we played Cards Against Humanity and then had cake.

Cake

My brother wanted a purple theme but the pink & purple letters look girlier than the cake my mom had for my birthday!

At some point prior to the CAH Brother #2 brought out glow bracelets and the one he was shaking up had a hole in it so blue glow particles ended up everywhere on the floor, his shirt, and the table. Luckily the cake was covered or it would have been ruined!

We brought our Bears cornhole set with us at Brother #2’s request but didn’t get around to playing since Brother #1 isn’t into it and it didn’t seem right to play something he wasn’t going to participate in at his birthday party.

We ended up staying until a little after 11 pm because that hour drive home is a bitch.

Sunday we went to a craft show at Lisle High School where we ended up paying $14 for this soy candle.

Aloe Candle

It smells soooo good though and it burns for 60 hours so I don’t think it’s too bad. The woman makes them in her kitchen so I didn’t mind spending a little money to help someone with their own business.

We also grabbed two steak tacos (one for each of us) from a booth set up at the show from a place called Taco Diner. I’m always worried about trying a new place since good steak tacos are hard to come by but these were delicious. They had the perfect flavor, no fatty/chewy pieces, and the tacos were stuffed with meat so they were very filling. We took them outside and sat enjoying the nice day. When we were finished we walked around the park that borders the high school.

On the way home we drove through the arboretum to see how the trees are coming along. I want to make sure to catch them in bloom but they haven’t started flowering yet.

We made sure to get home before 2 pm so Joe could watch the Hawks game. I worked out on the elliptical a little and then installed a game on my iPad. I’m completely addicted to Disney’s Tsum Tsum game. Joe alerted me to its existence on Saturday and I haven’t been able to get enough of it. Since you only earn one game play every 15 minutes I had to install it on my iPad so I can play it more often. Puzzle games always get me and this one is super cute on top of it.

Today we went to Cosley Zoo in the morning just so we could enjoy the nice weather. It was way more crowded than I expected for 10:30 am on a Monday. The main parking lot was full and there was only one spot left in the secondary lot. I took a lot of photos and we just sat at one of the tables people-watching. By 11:30 it was half as busy as before so note to self – go closer to lunchtime during the week.

Coyote
More Cosley Zoo photos here

On the way home we stopped to get some food for the meals Joe plans to make this week. I must say, I’ve adapted quite well to him being home. I don’t even miss my alone time as much as I thought I would and I like not having to worry about cooking and cleaning. It’s going to be a rude awakening for yours truly once he goes back to work.

I joined Joe for his weight lifting today and my arms are sore even though I didn’t do much. I wanted to add weights to my routine since all I’ve been doing is cardio, plus right now it’s difficult to go on the elliptical because it’s too warm in the house. Loving this time of year where we don’t have to run the heat or air conditioning, though!

Now I have to get going – we’re making homemade pizza for dinner.

Easter Weekend

Friday morning we drove down to E’s area to have breakfast at Denny’s with him and his new girlfriend so we could meet her. She’s a freshman in high school and very sweet. Needless to say, we liked her a lot. I was a bit stressed about the bill, but much to my relief everyone ordered off the $2 $4 $6 $8 menu so for the four of us it was just under $20.

After breakfast we did a little grocery shopping. We hadn’t decided for sure whether we were going to get a ham this year for Easter but our produce market, Valli, had the butt potion for only 99 cents per pound so we picked up a 10 lb one. I also bought a bunch of carrots for the cake I was planning to bake.

We stopped by the library to drop off a movie and I decided to check the new releases; I was surprised to find a blu-ray copy of Mockingjay Part 2. Unfortunately it wasn’t nearly as good as the first part but free is always good.

Saturday morning I made a carrot cake. Now I remember why it’s been a year since I last made it – it’s very time consuming. Plus when I pulled out the flour I realized it was expired. Joe was nice enough to run to Target to buy some for me. I also had him get sugar since I had forgotten to write the expiration date on the canister lid like I usually do. Once I got the canisters cleaned and filled with the new staples I wrote the expiration dates on them and put a reminder in my phone that the flour expires at the end of December so I won’t run into that issue again.

CarrotCake

The cake turned out pretty good. A little drier than last time, but still better than anything you’d buy at the store.

Sunday morning we cut up the ham and put it in the crockpot with a bunch of glaze I made. We also cut up the cake so we could bring it over to my parents’ house.

We arrived at my parents around 3:30 pm and Brother #2 was already there playing video games with my other brother. My mom put together an egg hunt and some other games all the “kids” played. I don’t care how old you are, stuff like that is still fun! She also gave us candy and money. We already won money during the games so I felt guilty. She said the extra money (and a $50 Red Lobster gift card!) were for us coming out the past two weekends to move the router (and subsequently move it back; long story). I explained that’s what family does but she insisted we keep the gifts.

Oh, I almost failed to mention we got to play my favorite game, Taboo, before Brother #2 left. He said he hates that game because he’s not good at it but his team (which included my other brother) won so now I don’t believe him. We also played Aggravation later on in the evening. It was a nice holiday.

Extended Birthday Weekend

I worked Mon-Fri this past week so I could have my birthday off on Thursday and Joe took Thursday and Friday off to spend it with me.

Thursday I woke up to this:

40th Birthday Decorations

Then we went to Egg Harbor Cafe for brunch and to the Container Store. Believe it or not, I walked out empty-handed. I love browsing that place so much but can’t bring myself to buy anything most visits. There was one thing that caught my eye but the line was ridiculously long for a weekday afternoon so we just left.

For dinner we went to Happy Elephant and then stopped at Carson’s to browse. Joe ended up buying a faux leather jacket that was 60% off. He looks quite sexy in it. I got a small wallet, but I teased him about his purchase and wished him a happy birthday. LOL

We only went into Carson’s to kill time before an improv show at the Laugh Out Loud theater.

For my own reference, here’s the actors we saw that night:

DJ Cashmere
Jay Gish
Jin Kim
Sean Sullivan
Rudy Voit

There were some other people in the first group we saw (the above are considered the main players) but they aren’t listed on the website which is unfortunate because the one guy really reminded me of someone and I wanted to know more about him. Oh well.

It wasn’t very crowded so we were in the first row which was cool because you could see everything well, but a little nerve-wracking since the actors depend on the audience for suggestions and would put you on the spot sometimes. That stuff makes me anxious but I did ok and by the end was shouting out my own suggestions. It was a good time. The last time we were there was nearly six years ago with a group of friends but two of them didn’t enjoy the experience as much as we did and one is sadly no longer with us as she passed away last year.

After the show we stopped at this interesting burger bar called Kuma’s Corner where they play heavy metal music. Usually that sort of stuff gives me a raging headache but I really liked the atmosphere. Too bad the food wasn’t all that. We shared an order of fried pickles and a burger, neither of which impressed us. That being said, we’d go back to try something else since we liked the place overall and the staff was very nice. Oh, and being a bar there was some interesting graffiti in the bathroom. I memorized a few to relate to my brother since we share the same dirty sense of humor but I won’t post it here other than to say that one gem had to do with farts and the other with penises. Oh, and someone drew a shark wearing a tutu on the wall which cracked me up.

Earlier in the week I asked a couple of friends whether they wanted to meet up for Friday might BINGO but only one of the four was available, so I ended up asking my mom if we could stop by for a game night instead. I would have loved to have a party at our place but my mom can’t visit due to her sensitivities, so I basically invited myself over instead. It was just me, Joe, my parents, and Brother #1. We had Panda Express (for me) and pizza (for my dad, whose birthday was on the 5th) as well as homemade chocolate cupcakes my mom made. She also bought me a yellow cake. “What, no lemon?!?” I exclaimed (she used to bake me lemon cakes when I was a kid).

Birthday Cake

Brother #1, who already gave me my main birthday present back at Christmas since he wasn’t sure when he’d see me next, gave me some dark chocolate, Sour Patch Kids, three boxes of Nerds (“what are you implying?” I asked him with a smirk), and this card because he’s a punk. It did make me laugh, though.

CardFromBrother1

We played Smartass and Taboo which was a blast. My brother was my partner for Taboo and we beat Joe and my mom by one point. It was a fun evening! Even though we left just before 11 pm we didn’t get to bed until 2 am because we were a little wired when we got home.

Saturday we ran some errands including stopping at Noodles & Company for my free bowl of birthday noodles and Jamba Juice for a free five fruit frenzy. Glad I’m done with all that eating now! Once we got home early afternoon we hunkered down to ride out the snow that was expected to fall (although it wasn’t as much as they predicted). We watched Sleeping With Other People which was better than I was expecting, if not predictable.

Sunday I slept in a bit and we lazed around the house until about 4 pm when we decided to go out and grab some boneless wings.

Today I did my regular Monday cleaning and made some banana breakfast muffins. Not exactly looking forward to going back to work. I really enjoyed my five day weekend!

Christmas

Thursday morning we headed to the mall to catch an early matinee of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The theater wasn’t too crowded which was nice. We had watched all six previous films, in release order, leading up to Thursday so the saga was still fresh in our minds. Some people felt the movie was boring and predictable but I thought it was very interesting and I enjoyed all the new characters they introduced. I dare say it was my favorite of all seven episodes.

Before the movie we browsed Kohl’s for a bit and Joe ended up buying a pair of jeans and knitted cap. After a 15% discount and the $5 I earned from spending $100 before Christmas on a pair of shoes for Joe and some bras for myself, the total was only $21.

Christmas Eve was spent at my parents per usual. E was with us and Brother # 1 even got me presents this year! I’m so happy he put an effort into picking out something he thought I’d like too.

Christmas Gifts from Btother #1

Funny books, candy (Sour Patch Kids), and some fuzzy slippers for my perpetually cold feet. I got him a Funko Pop Olaf character and a $30 Netflix card for the whole family (even though I doubt my parents will really use it, but my brothers will more than make up for it). We also brought a couple of gifts for E to open (CDs). There was no crazy BINGO this year but my cousin stopped by with some yummy cookies and we all played a fun game of Aggravation.

By the time we dropped E back off at home and got settled down it was past 1 am, yet we were still up at 7 am on Christmas day. It was a very lazy one with just the two of us. I didn’t even cook since we had leftovers from the night before. My mom made the same Parmesan chicken recipe that I make but hers came out so much better. I think it was the mayo she used; it had olive oil in it which contributed to the flavor.

Here’s all the gifts Joe got me:

Gifts from Joe 1

Gifts from Joe 2

Here’s what I got him:

Joe's Gifts

I actually insisted he open the Star Wars t-shirt on the right and the orange hat before Christmas so he could wear them to see the new movie.

Saturday E came over for our Christmas celebration. He arrived at noon and opened the rest of his presents.

E's Gifts

Not pictured: a 32″ Samsung Smart HDTV we gave him for his bedroom at home. We wanted to get him one last year but he kept mentioning that his grandma was talking about getting him one. We waited to make sure he hadn’t already gotten a new TV before bringing it downstairs. Funny thing is when he was opening his CDs he’d joke, “it’s a TV”, so when he started unwrapping the actual TV, he made the same joke, and then kinda gasped and exclaimed “it really IS a TV!” It was so funny; I wish I had recorded it.

We had bought a shank ham from Walmart this year and decided to cut it up and heat it in the crockpot. I still made a glaze which I poured over the pieces. It turned out so good! Very moist and flavorful. I think we’ll be doing it that way every year.

Weekend Happenings

I saw two new animals I’ve never seen in the wild before this weekend:

A skunk on our street when we were coming home after spending the evening at my parents’ house on Saturday.
A Blue Jay being quite vocal at the arboretum on Sunday morning.

I know both of these animals are native to the area but I have never seen either. I certainly can smell the skunks most nights, though! I swear our town is overflowing with them.

The weekend as a whole looked like this:

Friday night we were invited to play BINGO with a friend at the VFW. Didn’t win squat (but at the least the pizza was good).

Saturday morning we stopped at the newly opened Chik-fil-a for breakfast, then did some grocery shopping at Meijer.

Saturday evening we headed to my parents house to celebrate my mom’s birthday. We brought over fried chicken, a rotisserie chicken, chicken tenders (specifically for Brother # 1), broccoli, and mashed potatoes. After dinner we played What’s Yours Like and Pictionary Jr. with my mom and both brothers. My mom tried to give me $10 for some of the food; we ended up playing a game of giving back the money by “hiding” it. I won because I slipped it under the rug by the stairs when I was putting my boots on to leave. Right in front of everyone, no less! No one found it (even though my mom admitted she went around the house after I left looking for it because she knew I had left it there) until the next day when I told them where to look. I don’t want their money. I’m not rich by any means but I don’t feel right taking money from them either.

Sunday morning Joe went with a friend of ours to a gun show and then when he got home we headed over to the arboretum to check out the scarecrows (photos will be posted later this week). On the way home we picked up some Mexican food which we ate while watching the Bears game (they finally won this year).

Our DVR decided to act like a jerk and not show the Bears game on it until after the game was over. That sucked because we got home a half hour into the game and had planned to catch up via the recording. It usually shows everything even while it’s recording so I don’t know why it didn’t this time. On top of that, last night a bunch of really old recordings, some dating back to January of this year, reappeared on the DVR. I had to go through it and delete all the stuff we’ve already watched. Way to go, cable company! It’s not like I don’t spend a fortune on your service or anything.

Monday was cleaning day since I put it off all weekend.

By the way, I am already hating the cold. Even though it was 70 degrees when I left work today it was freezing in the office and I had to pull out my heated floor mat. I’m going to have to dress in multiple layers from now until April and I’m not happy about it.