Leaving for Idaho Soon

I am leaving this weekend to go up to Idaho for 2 weeks....yay!

I am soooooo excited to see all of my amazing family and also to do new things like going to a Food Truck Rally!

  

I can't wait to see how much all of my cousins have grown up in a year!!! :)

If you know of any cool things to do in Boise, please share them with me! :)

Aloha Friday #42 - New Shoes

Welcome to this week’s edition of Aloha Friday. Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response. If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog . Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the Mr. Linky there if you are participating.

How many pairs of shoes do you own?  What is your favorite kind of shoe?


I just bought two new pairs of shoes yesterday at Nine West.  I can't walk in heels and am tired of trying so I bought wedges and flats.  I own about 30 pairs of shoes :)

Aren't they both so cute? :)

Brookfield Zoo Highlights Part 2

I think I have enough Brookfield Zoo pictures to last all month...but I will only do this post and maybe one more ;)

I know this is kind of blurry but I loved how the face of this fish looked almost human.

Who can resist such cutie penguins?

I love the bright colors!

Monkeys are so awesome!  Look how it is just chillin!

The zoo was supposed to have two types of zebras but I only saw this one.  Pretty cool though!

What is your favorite animal at the zoo?

Bucktown / Wicker Park Food Tour!!!

We took an awesome food tour through the Bucktown / Wicker Park area while in Chicago. We found it through Chicago Food Planet.  We went to six different places, all of which were amazing.  Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and made our tour that much better!  I'm sure it helped that her other job is acting :)

We started with a Chicago-style hot dog at George's Hot Dogs.  I think our tour guide said this is either the oldest or one of the oldest places in the area.  A true Chicago-style hot dog has seven toppings...tomato, mustard, pickle relish, onion, pickle, hot pepper and celery salt.  Everyone really liked it but I scraped off most of the toppings LOL

Next we went to Hot Chocolate.  That was my favorite!  We had iced hot chocolates with homemade marshmallows.  I drank mine down so fast!!  The owner is a pastry chef who has won numerous awards.  Their menu looked good too, and I would love to eat there on a return trip.

Next we went to Goddess and Grocer where we were given a veggie salad.  I don't like veggies but I loved it.  My family loves veggies and didn't love it...go figure.  This place is owned by a woman who used to do international catering for famous bands...so cool!  This is also where I bought Hunter a doggie pie :)

After that we went to Piece, a pizza place with pizza and beer brewed on site.  I don't love beer but I heard positive things from everyone on the tour about it.  The pizza was amazing!  We had white pizza which was fantastic because I am not a sauce lover.

Next we walked through the residential neighborhood, looking at the various types of architecture on the houses.  Many houses used to be single-family mansions, then after the war were boarding houses, and are now being returned to their original amazingness.

This is from a movie with John Cusack...I forget which one.

How can this be a house?  It looks like a museum or something!

So many details!

Tons of balconies!

So insane!

Our fifth stop was Sultan's Market.  They have tons of Mediterranean food, a food bar and more.  One great thing about them is their generous food portions and their low prices!  We were served a half portion of the falafel sandwhich.  We we all so stuffed by this point that we only wished we could have eaten more.  My mom graciously offered to let me take a picture of hers.

Our last stop was iCream, one of my favorites but the only one where I forgot to take a photo.  This place makes you ice cream on the spot using liquid nitrogen.  We got to try a flavor called "That Guy From Florida", which is white chocolate and cream soda flavored ice cream with nutella mixed in.  Amazing!!!

If you are ever in Chicago, I would highly recommend this food tour and/or any of the places we stopped at!

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Food and Love Giveaway

Food is an expression of love — both the romantic kind and the comforting kind between family and friends. With its savory, sweet, and sometimes spicy stories, this delightful collection will sprinkle in laughs, warm hearts of readers, and stir up memories that certain aromas and tastes always bring. Readers will relish the stories on how love and food together played a flavorful part in life. Some recipes included too!

The book is divided into 10 sections, including Learning to Cook, Having a Little Helpers, Always Room for Dessert, and more.  She Tricked Me! is a cute story about one mom's healthy treats for her family.  Love by the Spoonful is a touching story about a post-Thanksgiving family meal.  Crazy for Cupcakes caught my eye because I have definitely joined the cupcake loving trend!

I am pleased to offer a copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Food and Love - 101 Stories Celebrating Special Times with Family and Friends...and Recipes Too to 3 winners.


To enter Rafflecopter giveaways, read the directions for each task, do each task and click "I did this" after completing each one.


a Rafflecopter giveaway


I was sent a copy of the book to review and the company is sending out the books to the winners.  All opinions are honest and my own.

Winner - Midsummer's Eve Giveaway Hop

Congratulations to the winner of a $10 Amazon gift card.

Alinka - aidicka@xxx.cz

Winner has been emailed and has 72 hours to get back to me confirming her email address.

Brookfield Zoo Highlights Part 1

I am a total animal lover!  I talked my family into visiting the Brookfield Zoo while we were in Chicago.  This zoo spreads over 200 acres and is really awesome!

I am a lot shorter than a bear...but I am also taller than 4"...the picture lies LOL

This polar bear was awesome.  We got to see it eat marrow from a bone in the water...so neat!

Points to anyone who knows what this animal is.  I couldn't find a sign anywhere.

I love this rhino!  It looks so sweet :)

I am just gonna do a few pictures here and there so as not to overwhelm anyone!