Pierogi Fest

We took a ride out to Pierogi Fest in Whiting, Indiana today. According to the like of Oprah and the Travel Channel, it one of the top food festivals in the United States. It was such a sunny day and the festival was packed. But there were about 50 different food vendors and we tried about four different types of pierogis. We also had corn, polish sausage, elephant ears and chocolate dipped blueberries on a stick!

See all pictures from Pierogi Fest here.

"Battlefield" on So You Think You Can Dance

I love watching So You Think You Can Dance for the dancing. But I usually also fall in love with a handful of songs each season that I am introduced to through the performances on this show. And this week I fell in love with Jordin Spark's new single "Battlefield". When I first saw her name pop up I wrinkled my nose expecting it to be some bubblegum pop song, but there is something very catchy about it. And I keep getting flashed of the amazing choreography in my head when I hear it. I love singing this song out loud, especially "I guess you better go and get your armor".

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

We went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince tonight at the new Muvico Rosemont 18 theater. Loved it!

Pitchfork Music Festival 2009

We weren't as wowed by this year's Pitchfork Music Festival as we have been in the past. But the weather was nice and cool so we didn't get overwhelmed by the heat which was nice. We were even bundled up in hoodies!

Friday night we wandered around the festival and spent most of the time in the beer ticket line. Yo La Tengo, The Jesus Lizard and Built to Spill played that night. I was most impressed but Built to Spill and want to make sure to get more familiar with their music. But I heard the The Jesus Lizard put on a hell of a show - they guy came out and dove off the stage and sang most of the songs while on his back being passed around throughout the crowd.

We got there early enough to hear the end of Cymbals Eat Guitars which was a highly recommended band. We spent most of the day walking back and forth between the stages and got to hear most of the bands. I was excited to check out The Dutchess & The Duke but I ended up being really disappointed in them and liked Plants and Animals much better. We squeezed up towards the front and caught the first few songs from Fucked Up - that guy is quite a performer. Their music kinda sucks, just a lot of screaming, but the crowd was into it and he was ripping open beach balls with his teeth and eventually put one on top of his head. Yeasayer was pretty good, which was expected, but I also really enjoyed Doom which I didn't expect because it is hip hop. I was hoping that we'd like Lindstrom because they are dance music, but it was kind of boring. We caught most of Beirut but decided we were exhausted and left before seeing The National or Matt and Kim.

We were refreshed for Sunday and got there early enough to see the first shows again. I was really looking forward to Frightened Rabbit and they played okay - nothing too special. We were more impressed by Blitzen Trapper. I also kind of liked The Thermals but we walked over to see DJ/Rupture and we finally got caught up in some fun music. Both The Walkmen and Japandroids were really good, and other people said M83 was great but I didn't get into them this time. The Flaming Lips was the main headliner of the whole festival, and they didn't disappoint. Their stage had tons of lights and they came out of a woman's vagina! There were these HUGE red and yellow balloons everywhere and they sprayed 5,000 pounds of confetti. The lead singer was INSIDE a big clear ball and sang the first song while the ball was rolled all over the crowd. Pretty friggin' cool! But we also heard good things about The Very Best, an African dance band who was playing opposite The Flaming Lips so we wandered over to check them out too. And they were really good and great to dance too. I would definitely like to get some of their tunes onto my workout playlist.

So overall, a fun weekend and glad that we went. See all photos from the Pitchfork Music Festival 2009 here.

Sears Softball

I'm not quite sure how I got onto this team, but I think the promise of beer and their need for girls was part of it. We play every Monday but that doesn't amount to much since Grant Park is often still closed off on Monday's due to clean up from the prior festivals. We missed a few weeks due to Taste of Chicago and I assume we will also miss the Monday after Lollapalooza. It's more fun than I thought it would be and I'm surprise that I can actually hit the ball! I play better than I did in 5th grade.

Stephen's 51st Bday

My buddy's partner, Stephen, had a fun party for his 51st birthday. It was a perfect summer night and we were able to hang out outside in their awesome backyard. I loved it because I got to catch up with my friend and also meet a whole bunch of new people.

"A Case for Wine" @ the Art Insitute of Chicago

Went to the special member's preview of the new exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago today. "A Case of Wine: From King Tut to Today" explores the use of wine in art throughout time. I think the oldest item in the exhibit was a wine jug found burried with King Tut. It has been proven to contain red wine. The event started with a one-hour lecture from the curator which was quite interesting. Many of the pieces are from the various collections at the Art Institute itself. Some really great glass work of all sorts of wine glasses. They had old jugs and pitchers and even wine cabinets in addition to paintings featuring wine.

Feeling 80's in honor of MJ

Today is the memorial for Michael Jackson. The memorial was part true "memorial" where people spoke about Michael Jackson and part concert. Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder, Usher, Jennifer Hudson and other performed. I watched most of it during my lunch break at work. And I just had to wear my Michael Jackson t-shirt that I picked up in Times Square on my visit to NYC. I cut it up kinda Flashdance-style and tried to dress kinda 80s. No jelly shoes or glove though...

Diane & Paul's Wedding @ The Boathouse in Central Park

Diana had an amazing wedding at The Boathouse in Central Park. We all went to New York for the weekend and had an absolute blast! Everything from the dresses to the flowers to the background was beautiful. The food was great and of course the wine was fab too!

All pictures from the wedding can be found here.

Pictures from the rest of the weekend in NYC can be found here.

Margaret's 35th @ Trattoria Isabella

Margie chose Trattoria Isabella for her birthday dinner this year. Unfortunately I had to work out at Hoffman Estates today and drive all the way into the city for dinner, but she made it late enough so there was enough time. Kurt and Liz also joined the family for dinner so that was nice and it was great to catch up with them.