Valentine's Day Weekend

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We celebrated Valentine's Day weekend in Chicago, and spent some time visiting with my parents as well. My husband and I headed up to my parents' on Thursday night.

On Friday morning, I worked most of the morning and then headed to the gym... downstairs. I had a 6 mile run planned, and busted it out while watching - you guessed it - Netflix. Once 6 miles were up, I spent a while walking and then did some abs.

I followed this until mile 6, when I started 'freestylin' aka jogging at 6mph

There is clearly something wrong with my Polar Heart Rate Monitor, because there is no way this is accurate. It was a good workout, but my heart rate definitely did not reach 204 (I would have probably felt on the verge of death if it had). What's up with that? Do I need to replace my battery?

Did I die and come back to life?

Once my workout was done and dusted, I took a shower and started getting ready for Valentine's Day errands. I realized that I had packed nothing red or pink to wear, and I am a festive girl so this was unacceptable. I took the liberty of raiding my sister's closet and came up with this. The benefits of having a same-sex sibling who is a similar size.

I'll take it!

After I was sufficiently dressed in Valentine's worthy garb, I headed out to pick up some Valentine's Day necessities for the meal I was preparing. My dad recently had surgery and my mom has been busy taking care of him, so I wanted to make a nice meal not only for my husband but also for my parents. I headed to Mariano's Grocery to pick up filets, brussels sprouts, sage, dried apricot, and arugula.

En route, I savored the green juice I had brought from Holland the day before.

My dad had requested a chocolate cake, so my next stop was Portillo's to pick one up. They make such a good chocolate cake, and I am more of a cook than a baker anyway, so it was definitely worth it to leave this one up to the pros (also: less mess to clean up). 

I also picked up lunch for my dad, husband, and I. I went with a chicken breast, sans sandwich, and the staff at Portillo's kept yelling out that I wanted mine "nudie." It was funny. 

Once I got home, I ate my nudie, did a little more work, and then poured myself a glass of wine around 4 as I prepped for dinner. 

My husband knows how to give gifts. While I gave him a Gymboss workout timer, he gave me a David Yurman. Clearly I got the better end of the deal, honey.

I made an appetizer of dried apricots with melted aged cheddar cheese and sage, which was delicious and hard to stop eating. I also prepared roasted brussels sprouts with parmesan and maple syrup, a side salad of arugula and whatever veggies/nuts I could find in my mom's fridge/pantry. My husband roasted up the filets around 6:30 and we went to town.

Dinner fixings, and yes, that would be my plate with two wine glasses. 

After dinner, we were all pretty full and tired, so we laid low. My husband and I started watching the new season of House of Cards and we went to bed early.

The next morning, we met my friend Sara and her husband at Meli Cafe. It is both of our favorite lunch spot in the city, so there was not even a discussion about where we would meet for brunch. It was just Meli's, assumed.

Double fisting like a champ

After brunch, my husband and I headed over to East Bank Club for a workout. My friend is a member and gave us a guest pass for the day, so we made sure to get in a killer workout and took our time.

We left sore and happy, so clearly it was a success. Afterward, we headed to West Loop. I had my final laser hair appointment at Ellehome Med Spa, and it was a painful but necessary fifteen minutes.

Post-pain, we headed back to my parents' house. I had been steeping lemon rind and vodka at my parents' for a while, so I finally strained it and combined with homemade sugar syrup to make some homemade limoncello (I used this recipe). 

God bless my parents for putting up with all of my weird experiments...

My aunt and uncle stopped by, and we hung out with them for a while before having Bill's Pub pizza for dinner and ordering a movie.

Sunday consisted of a lame attempt at a workout (I was cranky, it happens randomly sometimes), an awesome church service, and a visit from our best man. It is always nice to see people you love smiling!

On the way back from church, we had stopped at Sunset grocery to pick up some dinner fixings. I was surprised to see that they now offer a beer counter in the grocery! My kind of shopping, but probably not at noon on a Sunday.

We put together a delicious meal and then spent a few hours helping my parents re-do their internet and wireless set up. Or, I should say, my husband did that... and I sat on Realtor.com and played house.

You win some, you win some.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

• How was your Valentine's Day? 
• Do you have any Valentine's Day traditions? I am not much of a traditionalist, and I end up changing  things up all the time, but I love learning about other people's traditions so I can try them out!

P.S. WANT TO WIN A MONTH'S WORTH OF POP CHIPS!? My giveaway is open until this Friday, so be sure to stop by and check it out!

Hello Moto - Part 3, The Wines

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Happy Friday! It's official; we made it to the weekend. Breathe a sigh of relief in 3...2...1...

Friday might actually be one of my favorite days of the week, even though Saturday involves the most free time. There's so much potential for Fridays.

Especially on a day like today, when I have no plans. After a long and busy week, I'm pretty thrilled to be able to relax, clean my apartment, and watch a movie with my honeyboo. Yes, I said that.

Now that it's been a week since our Moto Excursion (you can read part one, about the general experience, here... or read part two, the juicy details on the food, here), I'm finally ready to share the rest of the info. Writing about bridesmaids dress shopping, proposing to my bridesmaids, and working out apparently took precedence over wine.  What. A. Travesty.

Let me just start by saying... yum. Most of the wine selections were perfectly paired with the food, so we were thoroughly enjoying them.

EMANUELE SCAMMACCA DEL MURGO, SANTA VENERIA, ITALY, BRUT ROSE, 2009

We started with a yummy rose champagne. I typically am not into roses, but it was actually much less sweet than I expected. Thumbs up.

FORLORN HOPE, QUE SAUDADE, VERDELHO, CALIFORNIA, USA, 2011

The next wine was a white wine from California. My favorite thing about this wine was the story behind the name. Apparently, a forlorn hope is "a band of soldiers or other combatants chosen to take the leading part in a military operation, such as an assault on a defended position, where the risk of casualties is high." Apparently, this vineyard in California tends to go against the grain and grow grapes that most people think are not suited to the region. People told them they were crazy and that the risk for error was high. Hence the title "Forlorn Hope."

That said, the wine, itself, was... decent. Not mind blowing. I'm a sucker for marketing, though, so the story tugged at my heart strings a bit.

DOMAINE GUIBERTEAU, CLOS DE GUICHAUX, CHENIN BLANC, SAUMUR, FRANCE 2008

This was a drier wine that was pretty tasty. Other than that, I don't remember much. Except that I liked it a bit more than Forlorn Hope.

DOMENICO CLERICO, PAJANA, BAROLO, ITALY 2008

Justin and I tend to prefer red wines to whites, so we were excited when the pairings shifted into the darker realm. We kicked off the reds with this wine, which I continued to affectionately refer to as "The Pajamas." Justin really enjoyed it, and kept comparing the other reds to it, so I started asking, "Babe, do you like this one as much as your pajamas?"

This sh*t is PAJAMAS! P-A-J-A-M-A-S! Yeah, this just went from a classy wine post to a trashy parody of Gwen Stefani. I'll move on now.

For some reason, between the pajamas and the next wine (which was my favorite), I stopped taking pictures. Or maybe I took some but I lost them. Either way, my bad. Here's what we tried:

AVELEDA, FOLLIES, TOURINGA NACIONAL/CABERNET SAUVIGNON, BEIRAS, PORTUGAL, 2010

and
BEATRICE ET PASCAL LAMBERT, LES TERRASSES, CHINON, FRANCE 2011

SPRING VALLEY VINEYARD, URIAH, MERLOT/CABERNET FRANC/PETITE VERDOT/MALBEC, WALLA WALLA, USA, 2009

Now, how about this blurry wine picture? Starting to wonder if this was my favorite because it was delicious, or if we were just deep enough in wine that everything was amazing. Either way, I loved it. The bottle featured a picture of Uriah, who is the patriarch of the family that owns the vineyard.

BARRA OF MENDOCINO, BELLA DOLCE, PETITE SIRAH, MENDOCINO, CALIFORNIA, 2008

The final glass of wine was a perfect example of why sommeliers are geniuses. It was a petite sirah, and came in a tiny little glass. When we first sipped it, we both looked at each other with an odd look. It was so sweet. Like, thick and syrupy. Then, they brought our dessert - red velvet cake pieces that burst in your mouth into a sweet, drippy amazingness. And then, when we sipped our wine again, there was more eye contact. Oh. Now I get it. The wine was suddenly delicious and even extended the flavors of the dessert - a perfect pairing.

Hello Moto... Part 1

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Hello Moto Part 1, The Overall Experience
Hello Moto Part 2, The Food - You're reading it!
Hello Moto Part 3, The Wine 

I've been intrigued by Moto for about a year and a half now, and when my fiance sneakily (and far in advance, what a good man) booked us there for Valentine's Day, I was happy ecstatic.

After last night, I've got so many things to say about this place... so, to spare you a total brain (and photo) dump, I'll break it up.

First... the overall experience.




I worked from home yesterday, so public transportation time didn't get its normal chance to cut into my day (I'm really needlessly complaining -- it usually takes me 15 to 20 minutes). That meant I could hop in the shower earlier and let my hair air dry before curling it a bit.

By 6:30 or 7:00, I was prepped and ready. I'm wearing a cowl neck dress that I don't particularly love, but it was my fiance's favorite, and after all, it was Valentine's Day, so I wore the darn thing. I'm also wearing the shoes I wore for my Engagement Pics and toting my new Sam Edelman bag (Oh my gosh, you can fit so many things in there!).




Before we left, we snapped this pic in our huge, 7+foot tall Uber Mirror. Actually, we took 3, but this was the only decent one in which my fiance's eyes aren't closed.



When we arrived, we thought we were early. Our reservation was for 7:30 and it was about 7:10 (my fiance thought it would take longer to catch a cab, I guess). To our delight, Moto had us down for 7:00, so we were seated immediately.

Our table was in view of these chefs, who were hard at work plating our "tasting menu." They were using piping bags, scientific looking tweezers, etc. Seriously, it looked like they were doing food surgery over there.
  
A few minutes after we sat, after we'd had just the right amount of time to look around, the server arrived with the "tasting menu." Instead of giving you a real menu, they give you a small bite that is meant to tease you for the taste to come. These aren't just a smaller version of the larger plates - they're actually a bit different than what we would later taste. It was very exciting to get a taste of what was to come.

I absolutely loved what tasted like a carmelized onion jam. Onion is one of my favorite flavors, and this bite really brought it out. There was also a Cauliflower Panna Cotta, which my fiance thought tasted like sea food, but I thought was pretty delish.



After we tasted the tasting menu (ha), the wine director brought out our wine tasting menu. The sommelier at Moto put together this list of wines to accompany the courses.



I'm not going to go into all the details yet -- because the wines, themselves, deserve a post of their own. Which they will get. Trust me.

Buttt, I will tell you that we started out with some yummy pink champagne, and it was the perfect toast to start the night.



The restaurant really does go with their "sciencey" food theme. Check out the wall to my left - complete with tiles that are science inspired, test tubes and various items that look as though they belong in a laboratory.

Let's just say that food was had, drinks were ... drank? drunk?

And the night closed with a perfect, heart-shaped dessert (trust me, there were 3 desserts, this one was the best... more to come on that).



SOMEBODY devoured it :)

Don't worry, a real, picture-laden run-down of the food and wine is on its way to you soon!

The Gentle Bath Company Giveaway!

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There's something about pampering yourself that makes the world feel like a softer, gentler place. Whether you're treating yourself or a loved one, the gift of care and pampering says, I love you. I appreciate you. You matter to me, and I wish for you to feel comfort and joy.

The weekend before I got engaged, I planned a special date weekend of pampering and fun for my soon-to-be-fiance. It even culminated in me fake-proposing at Cite, on the 70th floor of Lake Point Tower (Little did I know that he would be proposing to me not even a full week later. We were just on the same page, I guess!). Anyway, part of my gift to him was to set him up for his first massage at Lillie Ann's in West Loop. He absolutely loved it, and I think it made him feel surprisingly relaxed and special.

Sounds like the perfect gift, doesn't it? :)

Well, go figure... I have a wonderful giveaway for you today! Brenda from The Gentle Bath Company contacted me to set up a Valentine's Day Giveaway. That's right. She doesn't even know you, yet she wants to give you free stuff! What on earth could be better?

We're giving one awesome reader a One Hundred Roses Soak & Scrub Basket, designed to help you pamper yourself or a loved one this Valentine's Day. It retails at $60.00, but you're getting it for a whopping 0. That's right, people. ONE HUNDRED PERCENT OFF.

You will win:
One Belaire Hand Towel in White (Valued at $14.95), a One-hundred Roses Exfoliating Sugar Scrub (Valued at $14.95), Self Magazine's Award Winning Bubble Bath (Valued at $9.95), a Natural Sea Wool Sponge (Valued at $6.95), a Bath Pillow in your chosen color (Valued at $8.95), and a Square Corn Husk Basket with Suede Handles also included (Valued at $9.95).

There are four ways to enter this giveaway.  
You can enter once, twice, three times, or four times. Whatever suits your fancy. To make my life a little easier, please leave a separate comment for each thing you do, because I use a random number generator to choose one of the comments as the winner.

1. Leave a comment telling us someone who YOU think deserves to be pampered this Valentine's Day! It could be your husband, your wife, your mother, or even yourself! Anything goes!

2. Like The Gentle Bath Company on Facebook, then leave a comment on this post saying, "I liked The Gentle Bath Company on Facebook!" I'm going to make this one verrryy easy for you by embedding the Facebook Like button below:

3. Like Createlive on Facebook, then leave a comment on this post saying, "I liked Createlive on Facebook!" If you've already liked Createlive on Facebook, that's fine - just leave a comment letting us know!

4. Send the URL to this giveaway to a friend or loved one, telling them to get in on the action! Then, leave a comment on this post saying, "I forwarded to a friend!"

Note: This giveaway will close at 12:00CST on Sunday, February 10th, so that the winner can hopefully have their box by February 14th!

Free Valentines Day Printables!

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Happy Valentines Day :)

Just in case you're looking for a cute little message to send, I whipped up these free printable JPEGs. Enjoy :)

Vote for your favorite by Pinning it! :)

"I am already yours... Happy Valentine's Day." Pin It

Recipe | Raspberry Cupcake Tarts (OO fancy!)

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Teacher: Happy Valentine's Day, boys and girls! Time to get your fancy on.

Students: But what does that mean, Miss. Taylor?


Teacher: Why, class, it simply means that Valentine's Day is a day to treat your loved ones with extra special love.

Student: So that's what my dad means when he tells my mom they're going to get fancy?!


Teacher: Err -- yes, Johnny. It means he is going to be extra nice and give her extra love.

Students: Gross!

But really. Happy Valentines Day. What are you doing to get fancy for your boy or girl (or, gosh darn it, for yourself?!)? If you're flat out of ideas or just have extra love to give, here's a quick and easy recipe for a dessert that looks and tastes like love!