Dinner at Purple Pig

We went to dinner with Craig's friend Chris and his wife Karla at the Purple Pig. It's a new restaurant on Michigan Ave. The owner is the son of the founder of Heaven on Seven. It's a very unique concept with lots of tappas centered around pork. The food was good, but Craig enjoyed a lot more than I did. I'm glad we went, but I'm not dying to go back. After dinner we stopped by a bar and watched the 3rd quarter of the Blackhawks game. What a great game! And we just watched the second game...they are on fire. Go Blackhawks.

Phil, Kat and Pax in Chicago

Craig's client Phil, his wife Katherine (Kat) and son Paxton (Pax) came to Chicago for Phil's work and stayed Thurs - Sun. Craig was in London for work for 5 days so he was not in town. Thurs we went to a work party for Phil and then went out to dinner at Hugo's Frog Bar. That's one of our favorite places so we had fun. Friday Kat, Pax and I had breakfast at The Metropolitan Club in the old Sears Tower (now Willis Tower). The first picture is the view from the club. It was so foggy at first that you could not even see the buildings, but then after we finished eating it cleared up. After breakfast we went shopping and then for dinner I cooked dutch style pork tenderloin, new potatoes, and brocoli. Saturday we went to Shedd Aquarium and saw penguins, dolphins, beluga whales and fish. Paxton loved it. He was so cute. After the aquarium we went to dinner at Ben Pao. It's a great Chinese restaurant that is another one of our favorites. We ate sesame chicken, cherry bomb shrimp and fried rice.

Below: Pax in the bottom of the Sears Tower

Below: Walking down State street by the river

Below: Jelly fish at the Shedd Aquarium

Ethan's baseball game

We went to Ethan's game on Friday and Sunday. Friday we got to Ethan's game at 7 and I met my good friend Jenn from college. We had dinner and some wine and caught up. It was a great time and we both agreed we need to do it more. She lives right by the kids. Craig and the kids met us for dessert at the restaurant. We didn't get home until after 10 and we were all so tired that we pretty much crashed. Saturday we ordered Maggiano's for dinner (spagetti, bread sticks and the chopped salad). They have the best spagetti and salad. After dinner we saw Iron Man 2. Great movie! The theater was so packed Craig and Ethan sat in front of us. Sunday Ethan had a baseball game. His team is undefeated so we were all surprised when they were down by 2 and couldn't hit the ball, but all of a sudden they started hitting the ball and ended up winning by a lot. Ethan knocked the ball out of the infield and ended up getting a double. He stole third base and scored after another hit. He played third base and center field.

He almost got hit in this picture...

Craig and Julia played a little volleyball while they watched the game

Bella in her cute dress. She was so cold so I had to put a sweater and sweatshirt on her and she was still shaking so I used Craig's coat. It wasn't that cold out, but the wind was crazy so it made it a lot colder. There was another yorkie named Zoey, but Bella didn't really want anything to do with her. Zoey is only 2.5 pounds and she's such a cutie. Bella did not really like us paying attention to her. It was cute to see them together.

Doggy Day Care

Bella started doggy day care today at a place right down the street. She was very nervous and spent a lot of time laying in the worker's lap, but then she finally warmed up and made some new friends. She is totally pooped! She is going to go one to two days a week and the other days we have a dog walker.

We are very happy with the results of the dog trainer. She is now potty trained to go outside instead of going on puppy pads (she thought everything shaped like a pad was one like rugs). She goes to the backdoor and cries or barks when she wants to go out. Her licking is much better, but we are still working on her barking. She only barks when someone rings the door bell or sometimes at other dogs. If Robin the dog trainer was here Bella would never do that, but I'm not as scary as Robin. Hopefully we will figure this one out. Too funny...the doorbell just rang on the tv and she started to jump off the couch, but I caught her in time and told her no and she didn't bark.

Blogging MIA

Sorry I have been blogging MIA. We have been very busy here at the Braham Household. We moved into our new place on April 7th, three days after we got back from spring break with the kids. Then we went to Vegas and New York/New Jersey (see posts below). I finally unpacked the house, caught up on all my shows (we were without the tivo for a few weeks so I watched my shows online), and now I'm all caught up with blogging. YAY! It feels great. Next up, getting a new key (have to take the key to the dealership with proof that we own the car), getting our car inspected because we have to turn it in since our lease is up soon, and getting our new car. Our range rover sport should be in the dealership in the next couple of weeks. Finally we leased out our old place and they are moving in on Saturday.

Cora's Baptism

Cora was baptised on Mother's Day at our church, 4th Presbyterian on Michigan Ave. It is such a beautiful church! Allison, Scott, Craig and I joined the church about 6 months ago. Cora did such a good job during church. She was so cute in her adorable dress and hair bow. After the service we went into the court yard and took pictures. There were about 6 people taking pictures so I didn't get very good pictures, but I really like this one. Craig took over the camera and took the second picture...pretty cool shot though. Afterwards we went to Scott and Allison's for a party. It was nice to see everyone. Congrats Cora on your baptism! Check out Allison's blog for more pictures...www.ourlilonelove.blogspot.com.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there!

A special shout out to my mom and grandmother Jones...You are such amazing women - so caring and loving. Thanks for everything you do. Love you both so much!

Dinner with Allison & Andrea

Allison, Andrea and I went to dinner at Lux Bar in the Gold Coast. Andrea is another Charleston towny and we have not seen her in ages, but we picked up right where we left off. It's so great to have friends from home up here in Chicago. Andrea just moved here from the burbs so I think we will all be hanging out a lot. We talked and talked during dinner and caught up on our lives. Andrea still has a notebook that Stephanie, her and I wrote in when we were in Junior High. Ha! Can't wait to read through that. We had so much fun at dinner! Can't wait until next time.

Craig and his friends met us at Lux Bar for drinks

Mom & Dad in Chicago

My Mom and Dad came in town for the weekend. Thursday we went to Hugo's Frog Bar for dinner and then went to see Billy Elliott the musical. We treated my parents for their anniversary. Friday Craig and my Dad went to a Cubs game and had great seats. They got the tickets for free so it was even better. Afterwards they went out in Wrigleyville and my brother Bryan met them for some drinks. We eventually met them at Moe's Cantina, but first had a slight issue...they valet guy at lunch lost our key. I took my Mom to lunch at The Chicago Club, which is a really nice club Craig belongs for work. The key is not just a regular key, but a programmable one that allows for keyless entry, etc. It's not a cheap key, but luckily the club will pay for a new one. It was quite a hassle getting the other key. I called/texted Craig about 20 times, but his battery was low so it was off while he was at the game. My Dad could not hear his phone ringing at the game so it was very frustrating. Finally, Craig sent me a text and told me the key was at home. The valet guy drove me home to get my key and then we finally met them around 7 for drinks.

Here we are at a chinese restaurant in Wrigleyville.