Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween everyone! We got back from Disney last night and we had a blast; I will be posting pictures and putting together a post in the next couple of days.

Take a look at our little bumble bee! He will be helping pass out the candy this year.

Blog Break

Well, I didn't get to writing those book reviews. I will do a full review including what I read on vacation when we get back.

Tomorrow morning we leave for Disney! We are so excited. The limo is coming to pick us up at 5:30 am so this will be the last you here of me. We won't be back until Halloween. I will be back soon with a full report and tons of pictures!

I'll leave you with a picture from our Disney trip last November. This is Michael and I in France in the Epcot World Showcase modeling our berets...

Weekend Recap

Well tomorrow is Monday again....but that's ok. I only have to work Monday and Tuesday this week and then we are leaving for Disney on Thursday!!! I can't wait; we really need a vacation.

This weekend was pretty quiet, which was really nice. Saturday we went and picked up Michael's new car. A 2009 Toyota Venza. It's really nice and he is so excited. He ended up getting the metallic gray like in the picture below which was his first color choice. It's a sharp looking car.

Saturday night we went out for dinner for Sweetest day at Bonefish grill in Schaumburg and it was delicious as usual. We love their bang bang spicy shrimp and ahi tuna sashimi, so good!

Sunday we went for breakfast but no grocery shopping this week since we are only going to be home for 3 days and then be gone for 9 days. So no menu Monday this week; we're gonna just use up stuff in the freezer and pantry. I got a lot of laundry and packing done today and will finish everything up on Wednesday since I'm off work. I love taking the day before a trip off and having time off before you go back to work too. We come home on a Friday so we'll have Saturday and Sunday to relax before having to go back to reality.

I am working on my book review posts and will get those posted this week before we leave.

For the love of reading...

I have loved reading books ever since my dad taught me when I was 3. I read everything I could get my hands on. Growing up I loved all the classics from Dr. Seuss to Little Women but I also loved fun series like The Babysitters Club, Nancy Drew or Sweet Valley High. There is something about a series where you can really commit to the characters because you know there will be another story to follow.

I’ve read all the Harry Potter books, which I just couldn’t stop reading until I finished and I’ve re-read all them multiple times. They are also fantastic movies; whenever I am flipping through the guide on TV, if I see one that is on I look just to see what part it is at and somehow end up watching the rest of it!

I got bit by the vampire bug with the Twilight series. I devoured every page of those books. I was so sad when it was over that I didn’t know what to read next. I really struggled trying to find something that would hold my attention like Twilight did. I need to re-read New Moon before the movie comes out next month!

Luckily I discovered Charlaine Harris and her great Southern Vampire Sookie Stackhouse series. These are the books that the True Blood series is based on HBO. There are 8 books so far in the series with the 9th coming out next May. They are definitely more adult vampire stories than Twilight, and if you’ve seen True Blood you already know that. Charlaine Harris has several other series that I’ve read as well. They always revolve around a heroine. I’ve read the Lily Bard series and I’m starting the Aurora Teagarden series next.

Along with reading series, I also enjoy autobiographies. I am currently reading Kathy Griffin’s book, Official book club selection, and it is hilarious. She has a really interesting story that I never knew. Now don’t judge, but two of my favorites are by Tori Spelling. Her books Storitelling and Mommywood were fantastic and extremely honest, especially Mommywood. She was very honest about her struggles adjusting to becoming a mom that very few moms would ever admit to.

I will have to start posting what I am currently reading from now on. I read a lot since I am on the train for almost 2 hours every day. Thank god for my Kindle! It seriously is the best tech device I’ve purchased. I’d choose it over my iPod any day. It is great for trips too. When I would go on vacation before I would bring 2-4 books with me depending how long I was going for and now I just have to bring my Kindle. It is so easy to buy books either on Amazon or on your Kindle and they are delivered in 60 seconds wirelessly! They are cheaper as well. A new release hardcover book is usually $25 in stores or $16 on Amazon and new release Kindle books are only $9.99. If the book has been out for a while it is usually around $6.

I will start posting weekly what I’m reading since I usually go through 1 – 2 books a week. I finished Dan Brown’s latest, The Lost Symbol a couple of weeks ago so I’ll post a review on that as well as the Kathy Griffin autobiography I’m reading.

Menu Monday!

Here is our menu for the week. I swear I will finally make the puff pastry boursin chicken if it kills me. It has been on the menu for weeks and somehow it never gets made, it's really good too!

Monday: Take-out (I have to work a 14 hour day today so cooking is not an option)
Tuesday: Katsudon - one of our favorite asian dishes that we are going to try and replicate
Wednesday: Fresh polish sausage and pierogis
Thursday: Hash brown turkey tenderloins (one of Michael's favorites)
Friday: Puff Pastry boursin cheese chicken

Weekend Recap

Well another weekend has come and gone. They always seem to go by so fast. Luckily we had a pretty low key weekend which is always nice. On Saturday we did a bunch of running around and went to look at new cars for Michael. He is getting a new business car since his lease is almost up and the deals are so great right now. He really needs something bigger and more comfortable since he is in the car a lot for work. So after a few test rides and thinking we were going to get the Toyota Rav4, we discovered the Toyota Venza. It is one of their newer models and it is a crossover SUV. It is super comfortable, luxe and spacious for hauling everything he needs. He is really excited; he should hopefully get it this week. They are just trying to find one in the colors he likes. They only had red or white and he wants the metallic grey like in the picture below or black.

So after a few hours at the dealer and lunch we came home and took a nice little nap...Porkchop decided to join in!

Today we did our usual Sunday routine of breakfast and grocery shopping, I will post my menu later. Then we came home and carved our pumpkins that we got last week at the pumpkin farm! Michael is in a Disney mood since we are going to be there in 10 days! I replicated a cute owl that I saw in a magazine and Porkchop got a fun pumpkin decorated with the power drill.

The before shot:

The after:

 

 

Vacation Countdown!

I am so excited; two weeks from today we will be on vacation! Michael and I, along with my parents, and my sister and her fiance are heading to Orlando and Walt Disney World for 8 days. To be honest I would go to Iowa at this point, because I need a vacation so bad, but honestly Disney is one of our favorite places! I have been there about 15 times. My parents belong to the Disney Vacation club so we are lucky to be able to go a lot and it costs very little. I know not everyone gets the Disney thing, but we love it. It's just one of the few places that brings back so many memories for me and makes you feel like a kid again. I can't wait until we have kids and can bring them there. The parks are all decked out for Halloween right now and we are going to this special event called Mickey's Halloween Party one of the nights. Last year we were there for Christmas and went to the Mickey's Christmas Party and it was awesome, so I am really looking forward to that. I am also excited to be celebrating my birthday there for the first time, especially since my sisters' birthday is on the same day! I will have tons of pictures when we get back and will make sure to post them.

Giraffes at a pumpkin farm?

We had a blast today at Goebbert's farm in South Barrington. We went for pumpkins and ended up feeding some giraffes while we were there! We went to Goebberts last year for pumpkins but we only walked around the pumpkin patch thinking the animal farm just had smelly goats and things like that. But they had everything from zebras to bengal tigers, kangaroos, giraffes, it was awesome! They had all the typical petting zoo animals as well. They also had pig races which is always fun and a corn maze. I would definitely recommend checking it out, there is plenty to see. It was pretty cheap as well, it's free to get in and park and only $7 a person and $3 for kids to enter the animal farm which gets you access to all the animals (there are 3 tents), pig races, haunted house, corn maze, and hayride. We did get our pumpkins but we're not carving them until sometime this week or next weekend. I'll post pictures when we're finished carving. Here are some pictures from today.

 

 

 

The weekend is here!

So happy the weekend is here!! We don't have a ton of things planned for this weekend and I am pretty excited about it. After last weekend's craziness of Oktoberfest and then a baby shower on Sunday, we can use a relaxing weekend.

Today we went to breakfast and did some grocery shopping and that is pretty much all we have to do today. We are going out for sushi tonight for dinner which I'm excited about because we are trying a new place. We tend to go to the same few places all the time so hopefully we will find a new favorite.

Tomorrow we are going to Goebbert's pumpkin farm to get our pumpkins for carving! We plan to spend the rest of the day just relaxing and watching football. Michael and I bet each week on football picks and whoever has the most correct picks wins that week. At the end of the year whoever wins the most weeks wins for the year and we each have our prize picked out. So far this year, I'm 3-0 so I'm hoping to keep my undefeated streak alive! Because if I win I get this beauty from Tiffany!

Since we did our grocery shopping today the menu is already planned for the week so I'll post it a few days early.

Saturday dinner: Sushi Ya (Schaumburg)
Sunday dinner: Pesto Parmesan crusted pork tenderloin
Monday: Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches
Tuesday: Hamburgers
Wednesday: Lasagne
Thursday: Chicken puff pastry pockets (this has been pushed off for 3 weeks for some reason)
Friday: Pizza night