Weekend Bites

I do not think that weekends bite. I think that weekends rule. My insanely hectic schedule during the week makes it difficult for me to welcome the start of the week again, but I don't have a choice. Only six more weeks to go!

I ate a lot this weekend, which is why I am calling this post "Weekend Bites". 

I haven't dropped in and said hello since Wednesday night, so I'll catch ya up!

I also think it's ironic that I wrote a post on Wednesday about how I was addicted to blogging, and then I took three days off. Who am I?!?!

On Thursday, I had leftover pizza with baby carrots and grapes for lunch. I'm not sure why I need to include this photo, but I'm once again showing you my love of leftovers. And baby carrots and grapes. 

I had dinner plans that night that fell through, so I decided to maximize my study time. I met Irene at Panera for dinner and homework. Irene is taking 4 summer school classes online, so she will be my occasional study buddy. I honestly don't know how she manages, since I get vomitously (that's not a real word) stressed from my two classes. 

For dinner, I got half of a Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich (from the menu: Zesty Peppadew™ piquant peppers, feta cheese, cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and cilantro jalapeno hummus on tomato basil bread)  and a small Thai Chopped Chicken Salad (from the menu: antibiotic free chicken, romaine, wonton strips,a blend of  fire-roasted edamame, red bell pepper and carrot tossed in a Thai chili vinaigrette. Topped with strips of seasoned grilled chicken, Thai cashews, fresh cilantro and peanut drizzle) . 

For a side item, I had a choice of bread, a bag of chips or an apple. I chose an apple.

Everything tasted great!

Irene got a free bakery item since she had a Panera card, so she let me pick out an Oatmeal Raisin cookie. They have the best bakery goods. I ate the cookie while studying later on, and it was so soft that I could roll it into a ball. It was like eating cookie dough. It was amazing. 

I studied with Irene for a while, but I knew it was time to go when everything started blurring together on my laptop. My schedule is making me exhausted! I was too tired to blog...for a few days. 

Friday

I slept in until almost 9:30 on Friday (it's a big improvement from 5 am!) and then completed a full body workout with weights. I tried Giant Sets, which is where you do one set of 5 different routines without resting. Then you rest, and you complete it 2-3 more times. I'll probably try it again tomorrow, so I'll tell you about it in more detail. It's a good way to get in and out of your workout fast. 

After that, my friend Ednalice stopped by my house. She was my best friend from my graduate school program, and we've stayed in touch. I haven't seen her in almost a year, so we had so much catching up to do. We don't stop talking when we get together, so I had a blast with her.

We went to Champps by my house and sat outside in the beautiful weather. We started with a pitcher of Summer Sangria. 

To eat, I got the chicken ranch wrap. I used to work there, and I can tell you that it is probably the most popular thing on their menu. It usually comes with tortilla chips, but I upgraded to fries. They have spectacular waffle fries. 

Ednalice got the Bourbon Salmon, which came with grilled veggies and mashed potatoes. She was really craving mashed potatoes before, so she was thrilled with her dish. 

I was a little tipsy after lunch due to the fact that Ednalice drove and couldn't have too much sangria, so I drank the majority of it. I accompanied my mom while she ran a few errands, and then I insisted (nicely) that she take me to Dairy Queen for soft serve. I got vanilla soft serve with strawberry and hot fudge sauce (I love them both) and rainbow sprinkles. I've been going there since I was little girl, and my order never changes. 

After that, I fell asleep for an hour. I then woke up and did homework. It was a very uneventful Friday night, but at least I finished some work. 

Saturday

On Saturday, I was busy for a large portion of the afternoon with wedding stuff. During all of that, my brother and his girlfriend Nicole arrived in Chicago. I'm sure I mentioned this before, but my brother Jon is finally moving back to Chicago after spending five years in Houston doing his residency (and one year as Chief Resident- we were so proud). He got a fellowship position here, and he starts in a few weeks. In about 17 hours, they drove all the way here from Texas. That's very impressive!

To celebrate, we went to dinner at Cooper's Hawk. I mentioned it before when I went there a few months ago with my parents and Irene. They import their grapes and make their own wine. Don't let the imported grapes fool you; their wine is fabulous. 

To get to the restaurant, you go through a wine shop/tasting room. There are so many cute things to buy, as well as wine. 

My dad, the wine enthusiast, belongs to their wine club. He gets a bottle a month, so we drank our bottle during dinner. We had Pinot Noir and Sangiovese. Okay, so maybe we got one more bottle. I requested the Sangiovese, since it is my favorite!

In true Cooper's Hawk style, we dispensed our wine from a decanter. 

We started out with Over the Border Egg Rolls for the table. We also had pretzel bread. I didn't take a picture, but you can see it in the post from last time. 

From the menu: Southwest chicken, corn and black bean relish, cilantro and trio of cheeses all wrapped up in an egg roll and served with tomatillo salsa, cilantro ranch dressing, cashew dipping sauce and Asian slaw. 

For my main course, I ordered the Ahi Tuna Tacos from the appetizer menu. They were certainly enough for a full meal for one person. 

From the menu: mini crispy white corn tortillas filled with citrus slaw, Srirahca, ceam, pico de gallo and sliced blackened Ahi tuna. Garnished with avocado, cilantro, and wisabi cream. 

Then, we came home. Do you see a new dog in the photo? It's confusing, because so many of my dogs are the same color. 

It's my brother's dog Libby! She's the one on the right.

I am unhealthily obsessed with his dog. I haven't seen her since right before I moved to Australia, so it's been over two years! I think she remembers me. 

Libby was not good about posing for the camera last night. My dad had to give her a hug to get her to stay in one place. 

Like Mickey and Cody, she looks away when I point the camera at her!

Cody, while he usually doesn't pose, let me catch him cuddling with his toy. I think it was because he was sleeping. 

Sunday

Today is Father's Day. Happy Father's Day to all of the fathers out there!

We invited some family over for lunch. There were lox (smoked salmon).

We had homemade Asian Chicken Salad. 

The was kugel. 

There was spinach cheese casserole.

My plate.

Desserts.

Candid shots. 

Buffy.

Cody and Buffy.

That's all! I hope you enjoyed my weekend recap! I paid big time for skipping three days. It's always harder to catch up. Grrrr.

Happy (almost) Monday!