a bit of wedding news

So, the wedding plans are back on track. I'll let you in on a little secret...I might be a little dramatic. Shocker! I get paid to be dramatic, mmmmkay? But when it comes to wedding planning, drama is no good. So I'm vowing (haha, vow, get it) to keep the drama out of it from now on. And now that the church and reception venue are booked, things should calm down for quite a while. Update: Apparently, the excitement is never ending -- the Greek church called me yesterday to tell me that we could not be married on the date we chose (the date they told us we could have a week ago) because it's some sort of religious fast day and they will perform no marriages. So the date is moved yet again...I'm starting to think it will never be final.

But the biggest news is....I bought my gown!!! Now, I cannot reveal too much but I will say it is a Melissa Sweet gown, and it is absolutely GORGEOUS! I fell in love with it the moment I put it on. My dear friends Allison and Stasi were great shopping companions, especially since they've both been through the gown shopping recently. I purchased the dress at Vanessa's Modern Bride in Arlington Heights, which I would highly recommend--the service was friendly and helpful and HONEST (none of this "oh that looks so fabulous on you" about EVERY SINGLE dress). After we were finished, we headed across the street to a great little Mexican restaurant for a round of margaritas and lunch to celebrate the finding of the gown!



And I am happy to announce....

The 2nd Birthday of The Midwest Princess II!!!!!!

Some of you (not many) may remember the original Midwest Princess, which I began in January 2005 and ended in October 2005. Sadly, she was deleted (an action I will always regret), but her spirit lives on in this here blog. So Happy 2nd Birthday, dear blog, and wishing you many more birthdays to come.

a l'il trip to the Indiana Dunes

what a lovely way to spend a Sunday...

yelping about yelp, via blog

Last night's Yelp Event was super fun...I mean, what's not to love about free food and alchohol? The sweets were definitely the highlight of the event. We tasted some amazing chocolate -- one was a basil chocolate that I couldn't quite wrap my mind around, it was that good. I may seek it out and purchase some for my next party; it's quite the conversation starter. There were some very tasty cupcakes and a chocolate fountain from the Melting Pot, too! It was a bit overwhelming.

The savory items were not quite as plentiful or inspired, but good nonetheless. There was a pizza/pasta station, small plates from a restaurant called Dine! that included a fresh tuna and watermelon salad and some scallops with a delicious smoky apple sauce. They were also handing out mini red velvet martinis which were amazing. Sadly, the Thai food had run out before we arrived, so we didn't get to sample any. There were some mussels that we deemed too difficult to eat whilst standing up and holding a drink, but I heard they were good. Venus, a Greek restaurant, had some rather dry tasteless meatballs, which saddened me because I love Greek food and had heard great things about the restaurant.

There was wine and beer and vodka o'plenty, but lucky for me I only had two glasses of Merlot, because I got called in for a last minute reception job today and had to get my butt out of bed earrrrly (well, for me anything before 8:00 am is early).

Weekend plans include some bridal gown shopping tomorrow with Allison and Stasi. I'll be honest, wedding planning isn't going well for me. Nick and I have had more disagreements about the stupid wedding than we've had in our whole relationship, and I'm about ready to throw in the towel and elope. I was ready to cancel the day of gown shopping, but Nick convinced me to go, and I really want to see my gals. We are usually so good at compromising, and we have many of the same views about things and what we want in life, but a wedding is not one of them. I've worked really hard to create what I thought was a great compromise, but it doesn't seem to be enough. So I'm kind of stuck at the moment and thinking that eloping sounds like a lot more fun than fighting for the next year. We'll see...

Have a great weekend!

A Yelp Event.

After a bit of a hiatus, I've gotten back to writing Yelp reviews. It is a really entertaining site, if you've never been there, and chances are, there are tons of reviews of everything from nail salons to fine dining restaurants in your neck of the woods.

Tonight, we are attending a Yelp event! See, I knew eventually all my eating and talking about eating and writing about eating would pay off...in the form of an evening filled with free food, drink, sweets, and entertainment. Yelp Around the World, Chicago Yelp's biggest event yet, goes down tonight at the German Cultural Center in Lincoln Square, and Nick and I will be in attendance! Expect a full report tomorrow.

For now, head over to my yelp profile and check out my recent reviews and my yelp friends' reviews. I thought I'd been to a lot of restaurants...some of these people put me to shame! Maybe you want to start yelping too? Join in the fun!

The T-Shirt Deli

Over the weekend, I ventured out for a stroll along the Andersonville "strip" (as I like to call it), and happened upon a new shop that recently opened its doors. The T-Shirt Deli's flagship store in Wicker Park has been around for several years, but in the past month they have opened a second shop in Andersonville. The concept is a simple one, they put logos on t-shirts, but the way they present it is the fun part. The whole shop is decorated like a deli, with ketchup and mustard bottles lining the shelves and traditional red and white checkered tablecloths on every available surface. Binders and binders full of different logos take up a table in the center of the shop. There are political logos, pop culture logos, logos for kids, or you can just make up your own and choose from a variety of fonts and colors. All of the t-shirts are American Apparel, and they have many different styles and every color you can imagine. After spending a good thirty minutes leafing through the binders, I decided to order my very own t-shirt.


It came wrapped up like a sandwich in deli paper


and was served with a bag of chips!

Click to enlarge and get a better view of the logo. I got so many great ideas for fun gifts while leafing through the binders at T-Shirt Deli. Don't be surprised if your next gift from me is an amusing and unique tee!

An Evening at Wrigley

Last week we spent a lovely evening at Wrigley Field, courtesy of my parents. My dad gets tickets every year, but my cousin's boyfriend offered them some better seats (right behind Cubs dugout!) so Nick and I got the cast off tickets. We happily took them and had a great night -- and cheered the Cubs to victory!!




me and my cousin Angela


Aunt Lynn bought a Fukudome headband on the street


getting the field ready for play


the infamous Wrigley bleachers, aka The Friendly Confines

It was a great time had by all. Nothing like a warm summer evening at Wrigley!

Updated 7.14.08
It was an amazing "vacation" week spent in Fort Wayne, and I have to say, I was not ready for it to end. I guess I needed that time away more than I thought. It is taking me a couple of days to get motivated and get back to working diligently at my career, but I think the break was just what I needed. We had lots of relaxing pool time, lots of good meals with even better company, and a fantastic time at the wedding of a dear friend. It was great to get to spend lots of quality time with my sister, mom, and dad; and I even got to see my brother and his girlfriend for a short time on Sunday afternoon.

Here are some pics from the week/weekend.


bridesmaids entering the sanctuary


the browns getting hitched!




giant cupcake tower


my handsome fiance!

I'm having a lot of trouble loading pictures right now (hence the week back dating on this post). Does anybody know a better way to load pics? Maybe it's my Mac...

Anyways, I'm way behind on posting, but I have lots of fun summer activities to report. Trip to Wrigley last week (Go Cubbies!), wedding planning news, trips to the beach....it's turning out to be a fabulous summer. Stay tuned...