Snapshots of Birthday Weekend

It's my birthday! While having a birthday on a Monday kind of sucks (because Mondays), it does give you a great excuse to make the entire weekend before your very own Birthday Weekend. And while last year's 30th birthday weekend was a whirlwind of friends, family, and surprises, this year it was all about laying low with my little family and just enjoying our city and each other.

We kicked the weekend off on Friday night with a visit to the new Coalfire Pizza in Lakeview. I'm ashamed to admit that we lived a walk away from the original Coalfire Pizza in West Town for 4+ years and never went... Since they followed us up north and I had heard the hype, we hurried over to try it and wow! This pizza is seriously good. Stop by tomorrow for more details on the food!

We got up early on Saturday and made the 3 mile(ish) walk to Green City Market. The weather was beautiful and it is absolutely one of my favorite summer Saturday activities-- and building a weekly menu around our farmer's market haul is such a great way to guarantee we eat well in the summertime.

Clery loves it too! The longer the walk, the better. And he got to sample a few blueberries (his favorite) at the market too.

Since we got an extra early start, Alex and I got breakfast at the farmer's market. The plum & cream cheese danishes from Bennison's Bakery were so delicious-- just sweet enough, soft, and fresh. And these fresh raspberry peach smoothies from Seedling Farms were perfect on that almost-90 degree morning.

We spent some time lounging on our deck in the afternoon and found out that we have a decent view of the annual Air & Water Show from there.

And my sweet husband remembered that at one point I had mentioned wanting a bigger cast iron skillet. So as he put it, he bought "the biggest one I could find" for me. I have so many great recipe ideas for this one... can't wait to put it to use!

Sunday started on a lazy note-- my favorite kind of Sunday! A little breakfast at home while I got a little writing done was a perfect way to start the day.

And even though it was crazy hot on Sunday, Clery was ready to get a move on. So, we headed out for a family walk around the neighborhood. It's another one of my favorite simple ways to enjoy the weekend.

The weekend wrapped up on a really delicious note: at Nico Osteria. Alex took me to Nico for my birthday dinner where we got to sit at the chef's table (always an exciting way to dine out), sip wine, and eat a ton of amazing upscale seafood and Italian food. Stay tuned for more details on our dinner!