seriously remiss

have been busy living my life and haven't been so good about keeping up with the posts- so I think I left off in Ireland LOL - weeks ago now....  here is a quick catch up on the intervening time and then go back to finishing off the Ireland trip because friends AL & Carol are coming this week for a visit and so we'll be busy until August - wha? August - yes it's here already or will be next week.

That's one thing I have been doing following Fiona updates as she is introduced to her parents and they form a new bloat (family unit in hippo speak) - Fiona is now six months old and weighs in at 350+ but still looks tiny compared to mom and dad LOL

So we came home on the 5th and on the 6th we ran out for an early dinner (time change from Ireland) and ran into Willson Contreras at Bien Me Sabe where we had some more kick butt Venezuelan food - love those arepas and shrimp tostones!

here is Phil with the Cubs catcher...

the next day we went to the Cubs game (Orioles) - a stunning day at the ballpark with my 40K best friends in the friendly confines-

That night Leslie and Mike came over on their way to Ireland through Chicago - we had sushi (on the deck) and caught up with their whirlwind lives - Leslie sold her house in Madison WI and is moving into a condo and Mike is spending the next month basically away from his Houston home - touring Ireland and playing clubs there...

Then the following day Phil went to a concert to catch up with his WFMT friends and followed up with more music at the Irishfest that same weekend...

We caught up with our favorite neighborhood Chinese (Orange Garden) the Beef Chow Fun with pan fired rice noodles was the winner both that evening and for lunch the following day!

and we spent quite a bit of time on the deck - including out door time for Lucy -

We got in the swing of checking things off the lists with dentist appointments and doctor visits (the usual checkups that we handle here in town while living north)

And, we had dinner with Neil at Cafe Orchid  with a champagne and a 1997 Chianti Classico Riserva that Neil brought - the food got mixed reviews with a thumb's up for the hummus and the cheese pastry appetizers....

and then dinner with Sheila & Mary at Oceanique (fabulous meal and great wines - per our usual experience at Oceanique)

We have had some help in the kitchen this summer - Chef Shannon Lynch has been cooking some meals for us - and our first meal last week was in the top of the ones we have enjoyed- and the weather cooperated for a meal on the deck that evening- butter poached lobster with mushroom risotto and a mousse stuffed brownie bombe covered in chocolate sauce YUM!

The next night - Day 14 post trip - we made it back to Oriole and OMG it is still amazing - no surprise but still manages to knock your socks off if you were wearing any LOL

here is the menu and the  photos-

the take home dessert- yum yum

so that was last Wednesday night and on Thursday I shopped and Friday while Phil and friend Zack went off to another Cubs game (Cardinals) - I cooked for a small dinner for friends (Shari & Kevin and Lee) We had Nick's Italian Kitchen's recipe for crab lasagne as the main with poke as a starter and a trifle for the sweet - but the favorite was a "guilty" pleasure of Red lobster's cheddar bay biscuits LOL. We had great weather on Saturday night despite storms for both Thursday (heavy ones) and Friday... so we ate on the deck... is there a theme here?

so you can see we have been busy with catching up socially with friends and having some great meals along the way-  with more to follow...  but now back to Ireland... LOL