The Boys Turn 1

Pretty unbelievable that Ethan and Lucas are 1! Or actually, this post is a bit late, almost 14 months. They have gone from teeny newborns to running, giggling, hilarious little boys so quickly! And such different personalities which makes it all the more fun to hang out with them. And of course, they are the luckiest set of twins we know since they have their awesome big sis, Emily, who will soon be directing them to do all sorts of things we're sure.


Here's some more fun action shots from their birthday party.

Seriously Love Him

Never thought that I would be so interested in the President of the United States, but he is amazing! He just made us laugh while watching his address to Congress. And is good looking to boot!

I Don't Get It

I'm still not sure why Ryan wants to get a fake tree for Christmas next year. What could be better than picking out a tree, the fresh Christmas-y smell when you get home from work and throwing out the tree year-after-year over our balcony?

Maybe, maybe it is the thousands of needles that we could hear falling from the tree on a daily basis, or the amount of needles that we are continuing to find around our house.

No matter how our tree ends up (see example), I still love getting a live tree every year. Maybe next year we'll try buying one from a tree farm rather than a parking lot.

Quite Possibly the Best Gift Ever

When opening gifts on Christmas day in Jacksonville, Ryan and I were surprised to open a deck of cards and even more surprised at the excited look on my mom's face. Then as we read what was inside, we were nothing less than delighted. 

In this deck is 52 cards representing 52 restaurants in Chicago - categorized by cuisine and neighborhood - that are a $10 giftcard that can be used on food at that particular restaurant.  We were thrilled to see some of our favorite restaurants - Sola, Deleece and Spacca Nopali, but even more excited to see a ton of restaurants we wanted to try and had never even heard of. 

Last Saturday, we chose from the deck and came up with Mixteco Grill in Andersonville. It was delicious! A quaint, BYOB Mexican restaurant that was bursting at the seams with people. The food was AMAZING and we will definitely be returning - all because of this little deck of cards.  We expecially loved that we could enjoy our cans of Miller Light that we had brought in a brown lunch bag.  

The ticket we got on our car afterwards was not amazing though, so we will be spending this weekend battling the City of Chicago. Oh snow and negative 35 degree temperatures, when will you go away?

Merry Merry!

As I downloaded my photos from Christmas in Jacksonville, I noticed 95% of them were of Mya ;) How can I not take that many pictures when she is this cute! Our hearts melted each time she yelled "Auntie", or tried out "Mabolls" (Marbles) and "Uncle". And we all laughed every time she said "Cockle-doodle-do" and "Up! Up!".

Now we just have to figure out to post her Christmas card with her on Santa's lap.

Simon Family Christmas

Our Christmas celebration came early this year with the Simons. With -25 degree temps outside, it was nice to be able to sit by their Christmas tree and eat some delicious Chili's. If only we could celebrate every year with Chili's.

While there, we got to open gifts, put together puzzles and watch the boys tumble around. It is pretty unbelievable that Ethan and Lucas are walking and are already toddlers! And we still get to giggle at the different things that Emily says like "Accidents happen" and " I get to crawl into my mommy and daddy's bed because there are monsters in my room."

We got to open our gifts from the McDaniels as well and we got our NEW LIGHT! Yeah! Can't wait to see Ryan put it up in our dining room! Oh, and of course, to have it displayed will be nice as well.

Da Bulls

Here we are at our third annual Bulls game. This year we had the best seats yet - we weren't in the last row of seats, nor did we have any unruly fans to deal with. Bulls won against the Jazz 106 to 98. It was of course, good to see Deron Williams as well.

Afterwards, we enjoyed one of our Chicago favorites - Ed and Jean's where we took too many Apple Pie shots. Delicious! But, this could be why I had to take a 3 hour nap today. Woops!

Now we're off to enjoy this wonderful -25 degree weather!

Christmas Vacation

Now all we have to do is wrap the mountain of gifts that is in our guestroom. I wish we would have had a camera as Ryan and I walked home with our tree today through the snow. We found it a little more difficult to get a tree home now that we don't have an SUV. Luckily it wasn't too cold. Again, Ryan did a great job negotiating the price of our tree!

Yes He Did

Laura and I were lucky enough to participate in some history last night. This giant video screen was as close as we got to President-Elect Obama at the Grant Park rally, but just being there with the crowd of 65,000 was exciting enough. Here's how I described it to my parents:

It was really great. The atmosphere at Grant Park kind of reminded me of Wrigley Field this summer when there was a sense of inevitability that things would go our way...fortunately Barack performed in the clutch a little better than the Cubs! It was great to see the mix of attendees at the rally - young, old, white, black, you name it. It was amazing how many people showed up, and everyone was in a good mood and very respectful of Mccain's concession speech, so that was nice. Speaking of which, I'm glad that McCain no longer has to pander to the crazy folks and can get back to being the sensible guy that he's always been. I really do admire him and either with a spot in the cabinet, or as a leader in the Senate, I'm sure him and Barack will be able to work together. CTA ran very smoothly (as did the whole operation) considering the massive amounts of people they were moving around, Daley had all hands on deck as I'm sure he wanted to prove that we're ready for the Olympics. It was surreal to see Michigan Avenue swamped with people after the rally, chanting Yes We Can!

As for Barack, John Kass had a great column today about how far we've come - It wasn't too long ago that MLK, on a visit to Chicago, was hit in the head with a brick and experienced some pretty violent racism. 40 years may seem like a long time to us, but in the context of history it really isn't. It really is inspiring that we live in a country that can not only evolve enough to elect a black man as president, but can evolve quickly enough in 8 years to realize that George W. had this country on a terrible path and we needed to send a message that we were fed up with it.

Here's what the crowd looked like right before they announced that Obama had clinched it. I'm looking forward to showing this post to our grandkids when they're old enough to understand.

Dr. Seuss Would Be Proud

Although we didn't win any awards at the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Halloween party we were at, we did have "the most original costumes" according to a couple of guys standing outside the Belmont El-stop.

In my eyes, that's a better first-place than the party - the guys must have seen atleast 1,000 costumes pass by that night, right?

New York, New York

(photo taken at 4:30am at SNL after after party)










Another fun trip to NYC to visit Pavun and George and of course, to see SNL. Unfortunately, we did not do much sightseeing besides walking around SoHo in the rain, but we did get to watch SNL from Lorne Michael's office (where Eddie Izzard and the cast of Mad Men were also watching it!).

Jon Hamm, from one of our favorite shows, Mad Men was the host, and Coldplay was the musical guest. Ryan will probably even admit that Jon Hamm is one of the most attractive men we have ever seen.

After the show, we attended the cast after-party (where I once again chickened out on getting a photo taken with a celebrity), then the after-after-party and needless to say, I am just now beginning to feel normal. Guess I can't stay out until 5am anymore. Nor should we stay out all night, then fly the next day. Especially when the pilot lands at O'Hare, decides it is too windy, then proceeds to take off again. Scary!

Looking forward to a few weekends of not traveling, but also thinking about our next trip to NYC, whenever that may be.

Pool Party

A couple weeks ago we had the honor and pleasure of being half of the godparenting team for our two favorite little dudes. It was obvious that Ethan and Lucas both had an excellent time at the baptism. What with all the oil and swimming that was going on they probably just figured they were at the local pool. As you can see they broke out their best threads for the occasion. You'll probably see James Bond sporting the same tuxedo in his next film.

After the baptism, we had a great lunch at Maggiano's courtesy of the Simons. Lucas made sure that we would always remember his big day by giving his Auntie Laura an unconventional parting gift...the contents of his partially digested lunch. Now, his big sister Emily likes to talk about her 'highs and lows' of the day every night at dinner. Seeing the look of amusement on Laura's face as she realized what just happened would have been my high for the day, if not for the whole godfather thing. It's great to have a wife who takes things in stride, and a nephew who's willing to exploit that to provide me with a cheap laugh. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before Uncle Ryan is the butt of the joke...I will remain vigilant.

European Vacation

Best. Vacation. Ever.
Or atleast this year. We started off our trip in Barcelona (Sagria Familia, Gaudi Park, Port Olympic - all on the highly recommened Double Decker Bus Tour!) then boarded the beautiful Gem. We grew to realize the boat design was pretty obnoxious, but the inside was great (and by inside I mean rooms and restuarants, not the carpet).

First stop was in Valetta, Malta. The most interesting thing there was that was where Troy was filmed, although St. John's was pretty cool. We then continued on to Capri (photos in previous post), the most beautiful place I have ever seen.

Next up was a run through Rome. I mean it when I say we ran. That place is huge and of course, all of the places we wanted to see were on opposite sides of the city - St. Peter's/Vatican, the Colluseum, and Trevi Fountain. We left the city with a sheen of sweat. Thank goodness we came in a season when it wasn't too hot! Rome was incredible with all of the history. We will definitely be planning another trip there soon.

Then there was Florence where we waited in line for an hour to see David and it was well worth it. Then climbed to Michelango's Park where we got the best views of the city and the countryside. Seriously some of the most amazing views. Everything almost looked fake it was so beautiful. Plus, it was awesome since Ashley studied abroard there so she mapped out the entire day.

And finally we headed over to the French Riviera where we visited Monte Carlo, Monaco, and Villafranche. Another beautiful day of wondering around and enjoying the sites. Maybe one day we will have enough money to drive our Bentley to the Monte Carlo Casino and play the $100 slots. Or not.

We would definitely recommend visiting all of these places and are hoping to visit most of them again. It was a bummer when the vacation ended, but luckily we got to come home just in time for the Cubs to start the playoffs. GO CUBS!

CA-pree

Thinking about retiring here in a few years. More Europe photos to come. This is just the place I am missing the most right now.

CakeBeard the Pirate

All ye who enter, surrender your sweets and your treasures. Look on in despair at the plunderer of cakes and the destroyer of frostings.
- Mya Verticchio's Journal 8/31/2008

I happened to see Mya's journal laying open on her workdesk the day after her 1st birthday party, and that's what she wrote. I'm not surprised that such a sharp little girl has already taught herself to read and write, but the pirate dialect she writes in was pretty impressive. I also admire her ability to concisely describe how completely she dominated her personal birthday cake. And she even managed to strike a nice pose for the cake papparazzi.

We had an excellent Labor Day weekend with Mya and all of her friends and family. The weather was great, Tony and Kristy threw a raging party with plenty of beer and cake, and the Ohio River fireworks were spectacular. The only negatives of the weekend were the terrible Illini defense against Mizzou and the disturbing sight of two rather portly Ohioans getting a little too romantic during the fireworks show. But when you've got CakeBeard the Pirate to keep you entertained, it's hard to get upset about anything.

Oh Chicago, How I Love Thee

Two weekends ago we got to enjoy our city a little bit with some out-of-towners. Nicole had a friend in from California so we decided to show off Chicago in a way we hadn't ever seen it before - by taking the Architectural Tour. I was so surprised when I got the pamphlet as we boarded the boat and saw the photo that you can see posted here. I wondered how I had never seen this building before and was excited to see it that day.

Ryan later politely told me that that was just a picture, the building hadn't been built yet. Woops! Looks like I still have a lot to learn about Chicago. The tour was awesome even though I didn't get to see everything pictured in the pamphlet.

Later we joined Ryan's family, including Margaret and Rob from England, at Ravinia. How have we missed out on this for the past 5 years? A $15 ticket to see a concert (we saw Tony Bennett) where you bring a picnic and all you can drink? We will definitely be training it up there again. Although I don't think we will ever be having our picnic catered with waiters and candelabra as some North Shore folks did.

115 Degrees and Rising

Yup, that's us, posing around a trashcan...early Sunday morning. And yes, that is a travel scarf around Sarah's neck.

I got to celebrate Nicole's bachelorette party this weekend in Vegas at Planet Hollywood. Needless to say it was amazing! How could it not be with 13 ladies, a play-doh contest and two free tables? I am still trying to catch up on sleep, but looking very forward to our upcoming trip to EUROPE!!

The Best Excuse

Slumber party with Emily = Treats for Ryan and Laura

I'm not sure who had a better time this weekend - Emily got to eat Uncle Donald's, build forts, visit the zoo, and eat a Brownie Earthquake from DQ (if you haven't tried this yet, we highly, highly recommend that you do), but we got to do all of those things plus hang out with her!

And we learned that she has developed an excellent vocabulary!

For example:
"Oh, what a nice breeze."
"Is this kind of healthy, or really healthy?"
And my favorite, in response to Ryan asking why she continued to throw Stinky Ducky, "Because you keep picking him up."

Like Mother Like Daughter

I mean really. If you don't recognize her, you're not looking hard enough. Bright eyes, trendy pink butterfly ensemble, a pose that says "What? You're taking a picture? Well thank God I look so gorgeous."

It's Lucy Carter!

We were lucky enough to catch up with Darlene and Lucy this weekend in Jacksonville after attending the Cardinals / Padres game in St. Louis. She is so much fun and impressed us with her roly poly moves and her scooting abilities. Plus her smiles and giggles are amazing! Can't wait til the entire Carter family comes to stay with us when the Cubs go to the World Series!

Read more about Lucy and family here.

David Blaine is a Hack

Well, I've managed to fool Laura yet again. Obviously, my first and most important illusion (GOB would be proud) was to trick her into marrying me. My latest ruse was even more important...convincing her to STAY married to me for an entire year. You might be asking yourself - how did I manage to pull off such an impressive feat? By distracting her with a trip to beautiful San Diego, of course!

Our trip out west to celebrate our anniversary was quite a success. Other than a few complaints about the ballpark (as you can see on the right), we saw an exciting Mets-Padres game and feasted on a couple foot longs to kick off the weekend. The next day, we did what any sensible married couple looking for romance would do...went to the zoo. The San Diego Zoo was quite impressive...we both got to spend some time with the panda bears, and Laura got to check out the koala bears that I'd already seen in Australia (no big deal). That night we had a great Mexican meal, at a place where some nice old ladies prepare your tortillas from scratch. We took advantage of the great weather by spending our last day checking out a surf competition at Mission Beach (no Laird Hamilton sightings) and dining outside at a nice Italian place. I'm already looking forward to our next anniversary trip - I hear downtown Detroit is beautiful in June.

It's been long enough since our last post that we've had some other good stuff to report. We spent a great 4th of July weekend at the beach in Michigan. We fattened up on some Redamak's, watched a hellacious display of illegal fireworks (now I know what Brad Gardner's version of heaven looks like), and got to spend some quality time with the family. I challenge any of our thousands of readers to tell me a better way of celebrating the birth of our great nation.

And finally, the Cubs just traded for Rich Harden. Sure it's a big if, but if Rich can stay healthy, he and Big Z will be quite the tandem when October rolls around. Then I can use my powers of mind control on Laura for my most daring stunt yet...to convince her that we should buy World Series tickets.