Another Wknd Recap

This past weekend my in-laws were in town for a Bruce Springsteen concert at Wrigley field (SIL/BIL had bought the ILs tickets for Father's Day).

 

Friday:

I had an annoying Friday afternoon at work.  Not only did I start having a reoccurring meeting 1:30-4pm on Fridays (really people?!) but I also made the mistake of answering my phone once I got back to my desk, after the meeting had run 40 minutes late.  Thus, I ended up leaving at 5:15 on a Friday instead of my usual 4pm.

 

The pleasant surprise was that the in-laws invited us to meet them for dinner but the downfall was that they wanted to eat in Wrigleyville.  If you've ever been to a Cub's game, you probably now how crowded the bars get before games; well concerts at Wrigley as just the same, if not worse.

 

We'll not sure why they didn't choose to eat right up the street, but, we walked over to Rebel Bar to meet everyone (ILs/BIL/SIL) for dinner.  I tried Blue Moon's Seasonal Harvest Moon, which was surprisingly good (the past few falls we've been on a mission to find the best pumpkin bears out there.  Our reigning champ is Southern Tier's Pumpking)

 

Saturday:

The guys went golfing so MIL/SIL picked me up and we drove down to the Renegade Craft Fair.  I'd made us reservations for Prasino, which a restaurant right on the main strip where the fair was that I'd heard great things about, but had never actually ate at.  Their outdoor patio is huge and their brunch menu is pretty diverse.

 

I ended up with the carrot cakes, which as you may guess are carrot cake pancakes.  They were amazing and now on my list to try to recreate at home.



 

The fair itself was just as good as I remembered.  I often find events like this too overwhelming to purchase anything because there are so many options.  Thus, I picked up several business cards. I have so many that I'm going to create a separate post to share the artist's websites and some examples of their work.



That night the whole family piled into the car and we drove to Toyota Park to tailgate for and attend the Chicago Fire Soccer Game. 

 



 The other team had several fan's wearing these strange hats that were faux babies hanging onto the fan's head:

Note: To the right is a real child

 Sunday:

Bulldog day!  Well, not really, but we were signed up to take Slater to Renegrade to volunteer with the bulldog rescue as "bulldog ambassadors".  Once Ben and Slater walked out to the car, Oscar started crying because he knew he was getting left behind.  I checked the roster and there was only one other bulldog signed up to "volunteer"; since it was a nice day and a fundraising event, I figured what the hell and put his leash on to come with.

 

I liked Prasino so much the day before, that I offered to buy Ben and I's brunch there on Sunday morning (which is a rare proposal from me; so Ben must have known it was going to be good).  It was a bit of a challenge having two dogs on the patio with us (allowed they were allowed), but we managed.  This time I got a chicken sausage, spinach and goat cheese omelet.  Absolutely to die for!  I can't wait to take my parents to this spot when they're here next.

 

As for the fest, the boys (aka dogs) were a hit! They did a thrived on the attention and pets while fundraising.  The weather was perfect.  The only downfall to the day was that Ben had gotten a pink lemonade and set it a few feet away from us on the ground since it didn't have a lid. Unfortunately, another dog from the crowd thought it was a potty, so he lifted his leg and peed in Ben's drink.  Thankfully I saw it happen (can you imagine drinking it not knowing?!) and the owner was so mortified she gave us $5.

 

After the game we picked up a Piece Pizza Sunday carryout special (a growler of their beer and a large pizza for $25!) and finished off our night by watching the Bears defeat the Colts (via TiVo; looks like we got it just in time!)