Tavern 750

I must say I never thought a small lounge like Tavern 750 would have exceptionally good food…After buying the groupon my date and I decided to give this a shot! (Although we ended up loving it so much we decided to save the groupon for another night because we will be heading back for sure!)

I ordered the Spinach Penne -
caramelized cauliflower, heirloom tomato, spinach pesto, ricotta

The penne was nothing compared to these brussels sprouts (pictured above). Smothered in bacon bits and a crisped to perfection, no wonder they tasted so good!

My man went with the Pesto and Dijon Hanger Steak -
bacon and porcini crust, whipped purple potato, smoked shiitakes, sugar snap peas

We also ordered bruschetta,
Which was my second favorite of the three things we ordered. (After the Brussels sprouts of course! )

Overall I was extremely impressed with the side dish and the appetizer. My entree, not so much. My date agreed. Although he did enjoy his steak, the brussels sprouts really were out of this world.

The service was excellent as well and the portions were extremely well sized. The price was very reasonable, my pasta dish was only $10.00! Although my date was left feeling like he could have eaten more, for a girl of my size the portions were just right. Our awesome waiter even brought us a free chocolate mouse shot for dessert!

Overall, great service, great food, amazing company = successful night!

PS the necklace I was sporting last night is vintage! It was my grandmother’s and she decided to give it to me for Christmas this past year #blessed #loveit #vintage #yiayia #family

Much love! Angie

Cookies n Sushi?

Dinner last night was a good one…

After a hard day of cookie decorating sushi was much deserved… Love this place

The cookies were a hit at the party

Feeling so blessed for the people in my life
Enjoy your day!

“Hash House a Go Go”

Today was awesome due to a spur of the moment day date suggested by my date at, “Hash House a Go Go” a newer restaurant on State Street in downtown Chicago. This new joint just opened up about 5 months ago and has been tried by the one and only Adam Richman of “Man vs. Food.” Of course my date suggested we order what Adam loved…
Adam loves “Andy’s Sage Fried Chicken” and this thing was huge.

Andy’s Sage Fried Chicken Benedict w/ maple reduction, 2 eggs, bacon mashed potatoes & biscuit

The creamy sauce was very good and so were the mashed potatoes and the biscuits but I wasn’t a huge fan on the chicken bacon or eggs on there… Far too much piled on top of each other for me… We each got our own main courses I went with a House Hash with…
Roasted Chicken, garlic, onions, asparagus and rosemary,crispy potatoes, biscuit and fresh fruit…

To be really honest this place didn’t Wow me. I thought the potatoes were good but the eggs were nothing special and the chicken was a tad dry. Overall, I would go to Meli Cafe on Halsted before this place any day. My go-to Meli omelet, the veggie is much more tasty…Take a look…

The picture above was taken with my camera lens before I got it fixed so it doesn’t do the meal justice.

Anyways, back to the Hash House review, my date ordered a Chorizo Sausage House Hash because he loves spicy and hot things aka no wonder he dates me, totally kidding

And yes he’s reppin da bulls smart guy!
He enjoyed his hash more than I did but I think we both agreed that Meli Cafe has much better quality food. It’s safe to say that this new joint, Hash House, is rated high online for its super unique and fun atmosphere. Either way it was fun to try something new and out of my comfort zone (greasy food!)

Just finished my 5 mile run now and I’m ready to watch a movie and snuggle. I have a ton of baking and decorating to do for a Christmas party tomorrow night!

This awesome sugar cookie set was a gift from my date and he had a great card to go with it…

Everyone loves Justin Beiber right? lol well at least I do. After all, all I need is a beauty and the beat. On that corny note ttyl! Enjoy your Friday!

Much love, Ang

Christmas 2012

Pictures speak a thousand words… Merry Christmas….  Feeling so blessed today and happy to have come so far this past year… I’m extremely ready for 2012 to be OVER and ready to ring in 2013 with a grand ‘ol meal (date! ) at Pete Miller’s steak house followed by a little hotel party of our own! I’ve been really hitting the gym hard lately and I even ran my best 5k time this past week at my P.R. of 23:55! With that being said I’m ready to commit to some new goals for January, 2013 which I will be blogging more in depth about shortly…

Goal 1: Running a 10k by March

Goal 2: Volunteering at a place to help children who are orphaned

Goal 3: Trying a new recipe every thursday night for dinner! (fun one!)

BRING ON the New Year!

Much love, Ang

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Student Teaching is Over! :)

Well, after a busy. busy, BUSY Fall student teaching is finally over. I have received an A in my student teaching course and can’t be happier with how far I’ve come at this point! I think that getting through as much as I have this past year has made me realize how strong I am. I never thought I could do as well as I did considering some of the things I had been going through this year but like Harvey Dent (from The Dark Knight) says,

“The night is darkest just before the dawn.”

It truly is!

I know I probably sound extremely corny and sappy right now but I’m extremely proud of myself for doing some of the things I have done this year and coming through a much stronger and happier person because of it. I really am sorry for neglecting this blog the past 6 months but taking the time to better myself and my kids (2nd graders) has made me see what is truly important in life.

I realized that I can do a lot more than I believed. I thank God everyday for giving me some of the issues I have had in the past couple years because I realized he has a lot more faith in me than I thought. I know there is still room for improvement but I have accomplished many things that I wanted to this year.

1) Receiving an A in my Student Teaching and being told by my Supervisor at Loyola University that I am one of the most natural teachers he has ever seen, and he is a 25 year veteran and former principal!

2) Giving up drinking all together until Christmas!

3) Dressing less provocative and more sophisticated

4) Running my first 5k!!

6) enjoying time with my brother, sister and family

Overall, been a great Fall, time for Christmas season, cooking and baking holiday style! After all… it is December!

Much Love Angie

Off Limits

Hey There… I have been so busy with teaching full time that I haven’t had a second to even post. Between lesson planning, grading, gathering materials and helping out 22 + kids a day, I have put a lot of things that I do for myself on hold. Unfortunately, I have contracted laryngitis from my kids. I was told by my advisor today that during your first year of teaching is when you contract the most colds and sicknesses because you need to become immune to ALL the germs the kids carry (coughing with their mouths open is the norm in my second grade class and for a germaphob like me that really sucks)!

I was supposed to have my midterm observation tomorrow  but since I literally have NO VOICE there is no way that is going to happen… I’m taking tomorrow off and instead shooting for Tuesday to be observed.

Anyways, my birthday was amazing, I got to hang out with some awesome/amazing/fun people that I love very much! Not to mention my dress totally rocked!

I also received photos from Derek a friend of mine who asks me to do photo shoots for him. These are from a recent photoshoot I had done with him! He asked me to do these shoots for him because his goal is to be one of the most well known photographers in the city. His work is awesome so I think he’s well on his way there!

Ok so heres the big question I have for you guys.

I want to know if any of you know how to go about dating a guy who is friends with someone you dated in the past. I’m not sure how I could do this because I would never want to hurt the person I used to date but truth is I have developed feelings elsewhere at this point… How do I go about this without hurting anyone? I feel like this guy is off limits because we share a mutual friend  but to be honest it kinda makes me want him even more I  know he has feelings for me its something I can tell through his actions….

Any comments would be greatly appreciated!

Angie

I’m still here ….

SO sorry for the lack of posting once again. All is well and student teaching is great I love my kids so much! I also just have committed  getting my personal training license starting in January of 2013! I always wanted to do this since  I love fitness and food! I also would love to  learn more about nutrition and healthy diet choices to make an even better blog in the future. I have just been so busy these last few weeks with teaching and also being sick tear! I was all week last week which reallllllly sucked. I am so happy I can start tomorrow with a fresh attitude! tonight I went to dinner with my cousins and Mark THE BEST GUY EVER aka my brother!….

This past weekend was my birthday…

And I finally committed to going to BOSTON to meet up with some of the most fun people I met while in Greece during Novemeber. I have A TON of things to do for student teaching and keeping track of lesson plans is hard so I will apologize in advance if you don’t here from me in a bit but just KNOW I still am here… I still read all of your wonderful blogs that I follow and I hope by December when I am pretty much done with school I can start up again full speed on this wonderful thing called my blog

I’m still here have no fear! I miss blogging a ton but a lot has taken priority in my life now that I am almost in the real world! I will always be grateful for the transition I made in my life while having a blog (aka LOSING 30 lbs!)

Thanks for your support always ladies…

Love ya-

Ang

CPS Strike is Over… AKA I’m Back!

Hey everyone,

So sorry for the lack of posting. As many of you know I have started my student teaching this fall and unfortunately it was at a CPS (Chicago Public School.) I had to be transferred to a COMPLETELY different school last week and ever since the strike occurred I placed my blog on private. I didn’t want my blog to be a hinderance to any new school that might accept me as a student teacher (AKA I wanted my name off the internet for a while.) Now that the strike is over and I am settled in a a great Catholic school on the northside of Chicago I can blog again.

Get ready for some foodie/fun/workout posts soon!

Looking forward to hearing what everyone has been up to!

Much love-Ang

Greece 2012…

tanning time!

BEACH TIME in Tyros Greece

Party In Mykonos AKA best party island of Greece, :)

Sunrise in Tyros final day!

Between Tyros and Argos

Best Friends <3

<3 :)

She said YES! ;)

:)

me and grandpa John

my mom and I

at the panigiri (festival) for August 15th Panayia (Virgin Mary celebration)

<3 my papou

tyros and sapouni

mykonos random church

craziest night ever. Mykonos

Can’t believe I took this pic!

Windmill in Mykonos

alcoholic drinks at 3 pm? sure why not. Vacation!

gelato! Cherry yogurt flavor for me

beautiful pastels of Nafplio (old capital of Greece!)

my grandmother and I !

Mousaka and calamari (which was the least chewy calamari I had ever had #addicted)

my gorgeous mother and I… I mean look at that body! :) shes sexy

of course getting 2 or 3 workouts in while Greece that didn’t even feel like workouts because the scenery was so gorgeous for the runs!

tanning time!

 

London 2012 pictures will be posted shortly. I apologize for the lack of posting but I have been trying to get things together for wor (yes I am teaching 6th 7th and 8th grade social studies!) and I’m still jet-lag from Long and Greece which has killed me. I’ve having dinner tonight with my girlfriends Sarah, Kristen and Jessica. but I will be posting London shortly! Hope you enjoy the pictures i have posted in Greece there are still more I want to share with you (especially the food pictures since we all love that on blogs!)

 

Much love- Ang

glad to be back

BEST month yet

I think that August was the most fun I have had in forever… why? details coming soon