Family Weekend

Hello there.

It’s safe to say family weekend wore me down.

Being as how they only make it up once or twice a year, it’s assumed that we pack as much stuff in as we possibly can. That includes both sight-seeing and food (starting with my dad’s birthday cake from earlier, of course).

Oh the food…

Anyway, here’s a quick rundown of what I’ve been up to:

1. Favorite spot of the weekend? This house:Recognize it? It’s the Home Alone house! That movie is hands down one of my family’s favorites. It’s watched no less than 5 times in December. And usually once or twice in the summer just as a refresher.

I cannot stress it enough- we LOVE that movie.

2. My deep dish quota for the year has been filled. It may not be very “Chicagoan”, but I’m definitely a thin crust girl. All the way. So usually I only have stuffed when people are in town visiting. And what can I say? July has been full of out-of-towners…We went to Giordano’s (one of my top 3 spots) and got the large. There are still 2 pieces leftover waiting to be consumed in my refrigerator.

Not sure if I can do it. Seriously.

3. Because the summer heat took it down a few notches, we were more able to be outside and enjoy the scenery…Along with nerding out about baking, I’m just a Chicago nut in general. Combine that with my mom being a retired history teacher, and you understand why the Architecture and Skyline cruises are one of our preferred touristy things to go do.

4. An unofficial thing I showed my family about the city is how much we walk. Because the thought of having to drive anywhere in the city makes me shudder. I’m too cheap to cab it everywhere. And even if I take the el, it’s a few blocks away. So yes. I walk. Everywhere.

My mom and I even took a recreational 2-mile stroll before everyone else was up and moving on Saturday morning. This ended with the skies opening up and us coming back home soaked and looking like wet dogs. As a side note, this is also an occurrence that happened to me last night as I attempted to do more than just nap on my couch after everyone left. Lame.

5. Saturday was also the day I made breakfast! My parents said we could just go out for it, but we were eating out all weekend and I sort of love having people to cook for. They were probably just nervous of what I’d end up serving, but I kept it pretty simple:Breakfast pizza! I assured my parents it was just a spin on traditional breakfast casserole- just a little less egg-y. The crust was whole wheat pizza crust from Trader Joe’s that was thrown in the oven like normal. At about half way through, I pulled it out and piled on the ground sausage, black olives (only on half because my dad and I are the only ones who share the love for them) and cheese. I used 3 eggs to pour over the top of everything. Should have been a little more careful- it spilled over the sides a bit. Whoopsie.

The pizza was good. And they ate it, so I guess that says something? But next time, I’d add more chili pepper flakes to give it a kick. Even in the AM I prefer it spicy. Ya hear that, boys?

6. The one breakfast/brunch we did out was at Lou Mitchell’s.They handed milk duds to my mom and I when we walked in. Apparently they do this with all the ladies and children.

Who knew milk duds were part of a balanced breakfast? Mine were stashed for later being as how I was dead set on putting myself into french toast food coma. The mission was a success and part of the reason my entire afternoon (even with the sunshine outside) was spent sleeping off the weekend’s activities on my couch.

All in all, a successful family weekend.So glad my family came over the weekend! Since I moved up to Chicago, it’s been difficult to fit visits into the schedule (a lot of that has to do with the 8-hour drive it takes to get to and from), but we always make the most of it!

Guess it’s my turn to make the trip next….

Oy.

Time to go refill on coffee.

Happy Monday, kids!