Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Last night Chicago had its first real snow storm and we got ~4-6 inches of snow! Here are a few pics from outside our apartment.

Wow! CGMC sings @ Wrigley Field!!!!!

Yes...this is a very delayed posting as will the next 10 or so entries! Oh well!
Anyway, back on September 22nd, the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus (CGMC), of which both William and I are a part of, sang the National Anthem for the Chicago Cubs game in front of ~30,000 people! It was quite an amazing experience (this was the chorus' 4th time singing @ Wrigley Field and my 3rd year participating). The crowd went wild at the amazing sound that we made (~125 of us) and right at the end of our singing there was a fighter jet fly over...timed perfectly! Here are some pics of us getting ready to sing and then enjoying the game afterwards.

Jeff, Janneke, Will, & Carla

Me & Nate!

Family and great Italian food...

Last night I met up with Will and his relatives for dinner at Anna Maria's Pasteria on Montrose and Clark St. Will's g-ma Nancy (his mom's mother) and her sister Shirley are in town until Saturday visiting Chicago. It also, just so happened, that Will's cousin, Brian, is in Chicago for training for his job. It was great to see Will's grandmother again... she is awesome. We have visited her a few times back in Vermont and have always had a great time.

The food was delicious, as always at Anna Maria's:
Chocolate Martini
Bruscetta
Fried Calamari
Pollo Picatta (lemon chicken)
Lemoncello

After dinner we took them back to our apartment to visit for a little bit before driving them back to their hotel downtown... a very pleasant evening overall!

Rosh Hashanah!

Last night we had the pleasure of celebrating Rosh Hashanah with Will's relatives in Northbrook, Illinois. Anita is Will's step-mother's close cousin. Her and her husband, Don, have a beautiful family: Rachel, Malia, and David. Anita's mother Char was there along with Anita's nephew Matan.
I always love visiting their family as they are so incredibly welcoming, fun, and just full of joy and love for their family and friends. I hope we can have them to dinner soon! Here are a few pics...

Up 2 D-8?

Here we go...

Sunday, August 26th, Will, Janneke, Vincent (Janneke's nephew) and I went up to ravinia to see Patti Lupone and Audra McDonald. It was a very delightful evening and it was nice to meet Vincent who was visiting from Holland. He is ~7 feet tall and play jazz bass... a very nice fellow!

Tuesday, August 28th - I had my friends Minyoung and her boyfriend over for dinner along with Nate and Will. Minyoung and Pompque (sp?) both left to Stanford University on the following Saturday. It was a pleasant evening and the food was excellent...if I say so, myself! I decided to make an Italian/New Mexican menu:

Caprese Salad (Grilled yellow squash, fresh mozzarella, heirloom tomato, fresh roasted sweet corn, basil, a splash of basil-infused olive oil, and a little fresh ground black pepper YUMMY!)

Green Chile Chicken EnchiLasagna (a nice chicken stock reduction with mushrooms, white wine, chicken, green chile, and tons of other stuff!)

Pueblo Feast Day Cookies and Pistachio and Chocolate gelato

Lot's of work but well worth it! I will miss Minyoung and hope that we get to see each other soon!

Labor day weekend - was pretty relaxing. We did a lot of cleaning, sleeping, reading, and drinking. We played miniature golf with Ken Puttbach on Friday (in Skokie... I won), went to Big Chicks and Sidetrack for showtunes with Rob on Sunday. Quite a fun time! Labor day we went to Janneke's for a great BBQ and had grilled bananas (yummy and simple)!

Wednesday, September 5th - Julie and I roasted ~2 pounds of fresh Anaheim chile (green chile) to be used for the party on Friday (read below). We mixed in a few demon peppers to kick up the heat! It was lots of fun and the smell of the chile roasting me made me miss home (Northern New Mexico) which is best best place in the world to be during Fall!

Thursday, September 6th - I went out with Julie to celebrate here b-day. We went to eat appetizers and drink chocolate martinis at La Tache in Andersonville. We shared a very unpleasant dish of scallops which we sent back after one bite, an amazing crab and cod cake in tartar sauce with endive and thyme, and a truly heavenly 'salad' with endive, pomme frit, bacon, pine nuts, and truffle vinaigrette. After this we stumbled over to the Ravenswood Pub to drink more and play some pool where Ivan met up with us. It was a great evening although the next day was quite painful!

Friday, September 7th - A great party over at Julie's house celebrating here birthday and the return of Carla from Down Under after three months by eating tons of New Mexican food and wine. We also got to see a short slide show session of Carla's trip. New Zealand is absolutely beautiful and I cannot wait to visit!

Saturday, September 8th - Went and did paperwork at Starbucks. Ate with Will at Pauline's. Bought a vacuum at Target (Will is in 7th heaven)!

Sunday, September 9th - Went to church, baked cookies, and went to our first chorus rehearsal of the season! (Chicago Gay Men's Chorus)

A Day @ the Museum

On Saturday, August 25th (yes, I'm post-dating!) Will and I went to the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History and had an absolute blast! Here are some pics from that beautiful day.

A Mighty Wind...

Wow! Yesterday evening there was quite a storm here in Chicagoland! Tons of trees were blown over, power lines down, trains delayed, flights canceled, tornado sightings, flooding, and a really crappy commute home for many people. I fortunately left work a little early and it only took ~45 minutes to get home... pretty standard. I got to enjoy the lightning and sound of the rain against the windows at our apartment while reading "401(k)s for Dummies" as our company is starting up this benefit in October. Life doesn't get much more exciting than that!

My commute to work this morning was quite crappy... 45 minutes when it usually takes 15. Lot's of interestions without working lights and idiotic people that don't know how to drive. Oh well, work has been pleasant... liquid-liquid extraction method development! Sounds exciting, I know! However, Samantha and I went out to eat at Ruby of Siam and gorged ourselves on the all-you-can-eat buffet... is it a good idea to eat all you the thai food you can? I'm sure I'll know soon! :)

Already playing catch-up or is it ketchup or is it catsup...?

Work has been pretty crazy lately so haven't had much time to devote here. But let's get caught up today!

Last Thursday, Will (my partner-in-crime) and I went for dinner at our friends Janneke and Jeff who live in Riverside, Illinois. It takes ~30-45 minutes to get to Riverside which is southwest of downtown Chicago but it is a beautiful suburb. We had an absolutely wonderful time. They have a great home, a modified Chicago bungalow in a pleasant neighborhood. While William and Janneke were busy visiting and getting dinner ready (lamb and veggies), Jeff and I played some Xbox 360 on their massive television. Wow, I learned very quickly on how behind-the-times I am in the gaming world. My poor little Nintendo GameCube just can't compete...oh well, I don't really have the time to devote to serious gaming anyway! What a great night!

On Saturday, my company Midwest BioResearch, had an outside social. We were originally going to Ravinia to hear the Gypsy Kings but we got rained out. Instead we went over to a co-workers home in Northbrook, Illinois and partied it up there. It was good to finally introduce Will to all of my co-workers...they loved him, of course! After enjoying a lot of wine and a few shots of Jack Daniels and even some Jose' (yes, I know...) it was time to come home... Will drove as I was not in any condition to be driving (woohoo, he has his liscence, finally!)

Sunday was a nice laid back day... church, laundry, and naptime! In the evening, my friends Nate and Stephen came over for some baby-gaming. I call it that now after seeing/playing on the Xbox on Thursday. We played some Tetris, Pac-man vs., and Mario Kart Double Dash all while eating lot's of bad snacks...it was great!

Tuesday evening we finally got to celebrate Nate's birthday (July 31st) by going out to eat at Indie Cafe. It was a great group of peeps: Will, Nate, Stephen, Julie, Ivan, and myself. We had an absolutely wonderful time...the best dinner I've had in quite some time, both food and company! Ivan left yesterday to join his woman, gal-pal Carla, who has been down-under researching God-knows-what in Australia/New Zealand for the last few months. We miss her tons and can't wait for them to return in September!

Well, I think that's it for now...whew!

Let's Do It!!!

So, what the heck...let's see what happens! I'm mostly starting this to keep a record of what cool events I've attended/seen and people I've met. I've tried a few actual bound journals before and never kept it going...mostly because my hand writing sucks and I get tired after a few paragraphs. Typing on the other hand, or with both hands, is much easier! :0)

So, Let's get this party started!