Category Archives: Friends and Family

Oct 13 2012
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Food/Drink Fun, Friends and Family

Day 19: Way Better than Takeout

Today was quite a busy day, but any time I got stressed or worried, I reminded myself that my in-laws would be waiting at my house when I got home with a hot, homemade Indian dinner. They live in the suburbs, so usually my husband and I go to see them. Our visits dwindled over the summer though. Any time I was not working, I was usually resting. My husband went to see them without me a few times when I was not feeling up to it, but I hadn’t seen them since mid July.

So when my husband got a call from his mother asking if they could come see us in the city, and could they bring us dinner, I told him, “say YES immediately.” I have missed out on a lot of things and going to see them is definitely one of them. And my mother-in-law’s cooking is amazing! Anyone who has tasted her food knows this is true. She is more than happy to give cooking lessons, but no chicken turns out so tender, no sauce so creamy, as hers.

She prepared everything at home, transported it to the city and then heated things up in our meager kitchen. It was ready to go when I got home from work, shortly after 9pm. (That’s the other part, it was late). Even so, we sat down to a delicious meal of chicken curry, rice, cabbage curry, and samosas. We reminisced about our wedding trip to Mexico, teased my husband’s cousin about all the studying she does (she is in the country looking to get in to a medical residency program) and looked at old pictures. They made it easier for me by bringing everything in to Chicago and, for that, I am so grateful.

My only regret is that I was so hungry when I got home that I did not even think to take a picture of the delicious food! You’ll just have to imagine…

 

 

 

Oct 06 2012
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Friends and Family

Day 12: Full

On the dance floor at the wedding tonight, someone suggested that because so many fun things happened throughout the day, I would have to use bullet points in my post. And it’s true that so many great, fun things did happen from eating my dad’s biscuits and gravy to getting a manicure from my mom. From seeing two amazing people pledge their love to one another in front of their family and friends to booty popping with my brother-in-law.

However what I found most fun, and what will count as today’s activity, is that I spent the entire day in the company of people I dearly love. One or a few or all of the following people were with me at any given point today: my parents, my sister and her husband, the happy couple, other friends and of course, my husband.

As I sat to start writing tonight, it dawned on me that the above is totally true and totally amazing. I’m so lucky to have all these people in my life and to have spent the entire day in their company. Today’s festivities were full of love. It was a special event to be sure, and those are the times when we do and should come together. But I think I’ll make more of an effort to reserve full days for family and friends and no one or nothing else. It was a great reminder of how important it is to just be with the people you care about most.

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Oct 05 2012
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Friends and Family, Fun for Couples, Games

Day 11: GHOST

Tonight’s post is brought to you by toll road 88 in the middle of northern Illinois. My husband and I are driving to Iowa tonight for a dear friend’s wedding happening tomorrow. My parents are hosting the bride and her bridesmaids for brunch as they get ready, so our morning will be full of dresses, photographers, hair products, champagne, and probably some happy tears.

For now though, it’s starry skies and the open road. On road trips, my husband and I like to do two things: sing musicals and play GHOST. (I may be signing a musical while I write this. “Hello. My name is Elder Price”) But before that, we played GHOST.

Rules: One person starts by saying a letter. The next person adds a letter. The goal is to get your opponent to spell a word without spelling one yourself. However you must always have a word in mind, meaning you can’t just add letters that don’t ultimately result in the spelling of a word. Two letter words don’t count. If you spell a word, you take a G and so on (Like in HORSE).

Example: In our first round I said “p.” He added “h.” Me: “o” Him: “t” Me: “crap, o.” I completed a word with photo and I had to take a G.

It took seven more words for me to beat him (ten, kale, sank, left, dancing, rise and masochist) but beat him I did. I do enjoy winning. But really this game is a lot of fun and more challenging than you might think.

Sep 30 2012
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Food/Drink Fun, Friends and Family

Day 6: Sunday Dinner

Every Sunday, a close group of friends gets together for dinner. We take turns hosting. The host provides a main dish, usually vegetarian, and everyone else brings something. This used to happen sporadically but now it is organized. We have a Google Calendar and all of October is booked. Tonight my husband and I hosted with the theme of football (yes, you can have a theme if you want). We ate chili with tortilla chips and/or cornbread and roasted vegetables while watching the Giants v. Eagles game. (I am a big Giants fan. Sorry Bears. I know I live in Chicago and I really appreciate you and will even more so if you beat the Cowboys tomorrow night). We also shared the Peak and Pit of our weeks. It seemed appropriate that I share this project as the peak of my week. So it’s out there, which means I can’t stop now. (Not that I was thinking about it). I’ve already received some amazing words of support from great friends!

These dinners are a great way to stay connected in an ever busy city with careers and family and many other important priorities pulling us in all directions. Facebook, Twitter and, yes, blogs masquerade as closeness. I check social media multiple times every day and they do keep me updated on everything from births to weddings to team spirit to political rants to how cute your cat is when he/she sits on your laptop. And I love that! But Sunday Dinner reminds me how important it is to get together, to sit around a table with friends and talk about the week.

Sep 26 2012
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Friends and Family, Fun for Couples, Games

Day 2: Bananagrams!

Today marked the start of a particularly busy period at work and a shift to longer days. This will last about 6 weeks before another slow period and I’m definitely worried about getting burned out. But today was just the first day, a day to get back in to the routine and celebrate the future bump in my bank account. If only the transition could have been so easy. My day was busy, hectic at times, full of nonstop calls, last minute projects and stress. I forgot to drink water, barely ate and had a headache by 3:00pm. By the time I pulled on to Lake Shore Drive, I was smack in the middle of an 8:00pm traffic jam. Needless to say I was a little grumpy when I got home, not to mention hungry and exhausted.

However, I love games. After reheating some Thai food and downing a glass of water, my husband and I got out an old favorite, Bananagrams! (Which I’m convinced you must always say and spell with an !)

TV off, cellphones down, we sat at our dinning table and played an intense game that came down to the last tile. I won. And it was really really fun.

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