Wow I can’t believe how fast the last month has gone between summer fun and wedding and party planning and working the month has flown by.   We have been very busy planning Mexico for the Wedding and the Chicago party that is happening 8/13 downtown.  I am very excited to get married and also very excited to put all this planning and spending behind us and get back to normal life.   Here is a quick run down of some things that have been going on the last month,  we have taken lots of trips to the beach and park with Hoober and he is having a great summer besides wearing down his back pads with so much running and activity and has to take a small break.  We went camping over the 4th of July weekend near Galina and came back and watched the fireworks in Wilmette.

Lots of dinners and a couple BBQ’s and got to try out a new place called Quay and even snuck in a night at Cirque Ovo with my dad and Janice.   This weekend we have a wedding shower for Christine to meet a bunch of my relatives hosted by my Sister and my Mom at Jilly’s.  Next weekend it is Bachelor party weekend with all my boys taking me to Lake Geneva for a couple days of fun and Tine is going out with all the girls for her fun night.  Then it is off to Mexico to tie the Knot with 39 friends and a family with a big Chicago party the following weekend.

Well that is a little catch up for now and life is about to get very very interesting and we are adding a new Jacobs to ChicagoJacobs.   Until next time!!!

Busy busy busy is all I can say.  We are busy with invitations and planning and working on trying to get everything done with the wedding like 40 days away.  Christine has been busy looking for a dress and we have been helping each other with all aspects of the wedding and the party.  Christine is finally off for the summer so that should be good to finish all the planning and getting everything ready.  I got to visit Peterson Elementary school the other day to meet the kids and it was pretty cool to see the school my mom went to 60 years ago.

Well there is plenty of other things going but its very hard to catch up.  I am going to try to post a more but after 5 years of saying that it probably wont happen till after the wedding.

Till Next time

I really wish summer would get here so we can enjoy Chicago.   Last couple weeks have been busy with all kinds of good things from I ran the Soldier Field 10 with Tine on the 28th and it was super hard and I need to train much harder.  Went to Pete and Grace’s for a Memorial Day BBQ which was a lot of fun and I brought Hoober and he was great with the kids and funny to watch him on the Slip-n-Slide.  We ran around pretty good the last couple weeks and took care of registering for the wedding and picked out the spot for the Chicago Party,  saw a couple movies and a snuck in a few dinners.   We went to Turk’s and Caicos to plan our Destination wedding and had a nice but very busy weekend meeting photographers and looking at hotels and after all that we came home and decided to do Mexico instead for the big day.

This may down at the worst spring I can remember and that makes it no fun to run and hard to enjoy Hoober or get him the exercise a nutty Lab needs.   As per usual life has been very busy and I am not posting nearly enough to stay on top of what is going on.  The  last couple weeks have been busy with a trip out to the burbs to see Scottie G’s new house and for Tine to meet Scott, Lauren and Emily.  I ran my second Half Marathon on the 15th with Tine and Colleen in some very miserable weather and not feeling great but I beat my time by a few minutes and very happy I did it.   We have been busy between some wedding stuff and working out and trying to get out for dinners and trying to watch the Bulls Playoffs. We went to Salt Lake City for Amy’s graduation and had a nice weekend with Tine’s family and celebrated the graduation.

There is just not enough time to get everything done that you would like, between working out in the morning and running and errands and friends and work and puppy and just every day life it is very hard to get it all in. Seems like I am always on the go and trying to fit everything in and also keep everyone happy. I actually spent a couple days in bed with the flu which hardly ever happens and it sucked but did give me some time to catch up on a few shows and get some much needed rest.

Saturday the 30th was a busy one that started off with a 5K for the Chicago police followed with meeting Betsy and my dad at my cousin Miranda’s new apartment in Oak Park and having lunch with Miranda, Dola and my Aunt Louie. It was really nice to catch up with them and see the new place and Amani and we also celebrated my dads 70th B-day and my Engagement. We went to dinner with Betsy, Janice and my dad to celebrate his birthday at a Shabu Shabu restaurant followed by drinks with Tine and Betsy at LD on the way home. Sunday Tine and I drove to Kenosha to do some shooting at a cool outdoor gun range followed by one of my favorite salads at Saluto’s in Gurnee and saw Fast 5 in the Evanston on the way back to the city. Been pretty busy since that weekend with back and forth to Tine’s and my place and Did some Bikram and ordered in Andie’s one night. Friday the 6th we went to Bikram followed by Mana Food Bar, We ran the Cinco De Miler Saturday morning which was an 8K race that we actually ran 3.5 miles to get to the race and then went to Bite with Sol and I watched the Pacman fight Saturday night. Sunday we went to my moms with Bagels and Lox for mothers day followed by a cruise out to Libertyville to the super cool dog park with Hoober and back home to grill some Tuna. Monday night we went to Carnivalle for dinner and Tuesday I we ran 10 miles to get ready for the Half in Schaumburg we are doing Sunday and the run was super hard for me but glad we did it.

Well that is it till next Time

Well April 15th started very early and went to a 6:30am Bikram class followed by breakfast at Jam on Damen and then picked up Sol and he drove us to Ohare for a flight to Paris. After a short layover in Newark we continue on to Paris and arrived at 8am Saturday morning and took the Metro to Hotel Costes and checked in and dropped our bags and freshened up. We then went for a walk and enjoyed a crepe while I slow rolled it to MonteMare where I had a surprise waiting at Sacre Coeur. I had arranged a small blanket and a picnic to be waiting for us that was set by a photographer, Christine and I casually walked up to the main lawn where I proceeded to lead her to the blanket and right away she knew what was going on. We sat down and the two guys started taking pictures like crazy paparazzi’s and we both got very nervous, they were actually suppose to be in the distance but I guess that got lost in translation. Well to make a long story short, I got on one knee and proposed to Christine and on a 70 degree day in Paris at Sacre Coeur we got engaged.

We had an amazing week in Paris with tons of walking and seeing the sites, we ate like crazy and the weather was beyond perfect. We took a side trip to Amsterdam via train and had a fun time but could have done without the extra travel on such a short trip. Back to Paris where we rented bikes and rode around the entire city saw all the sites from Notre Dame and Muse d’Orsay and the Eiffel Towel and plenty of shopping. The last night went to saw Moulin Rouge late show and both enjoyed it and then an early flight back to Chicago. We came home for a quick repack and headed to Salt Lake City to visit Tine’s family for the weekend.

Got to Salt Lake and relaxed a bit and had some food prepared by Mrs Lim and spent the night getting to know everyone. Saturday morning we woke up an ran a 5K that was really hard after a week of traveling and eating and the high altitude and hills didn’t help but we did pretty good anyways. After the race we cleaned up and went hiking for the afternoon in the mountains of Salt Lake City followed by a trip to Park City for some shopping and snacks and whiskey and High West Brewery and Restaurant. We then headed back to Salt Lake for dinner and pretty early to bed. Woke up Sunday for brunch and then headed to the airport for the flight back to Chicago.

Crazy Crazy Crazy……… I am super happy and the week was perfect. I have put up a few galleries of new pictures.

Till Next Time

Way too much time has passed since my last update and I am going to try my best to document the last month or so. I have been super busy between working out and working and trying to get ready for the Chicago Lincoln Park Half Marathon. The quick run down of the last month has been tons of dinners from Benny’s Chop House with Sol, Ron and the girls to Roy’s, Mixteco, Solga, Ed Debic’s and many other nice nights out and even a couple nights of BBQ’s. I have been doing Bikram Yoga a couple nights a week and running along the lake plus Interval training at the gym to get ready for 13.1 miles. I had a short but great trip to Beaver Creek and Vail to Ski for a couple days and had and amazing time and got to have lunch with Frank in Denver on the way back to the airport. I have been spending a lot of time with Christine and enjoying my new found love for running.

Marcus and Susanna came to town for a weekend visit and we met them at Mastro’s for dinner with PJ, Seth and Paul and had an amazing meal and caught up with some great friends. I met Marcus and Susanna Sunday at Zed451 for brunch and spent a little more time before they went back to Houston. On the 21st my sister came in town with the kids and stayed at my house all week and I got to enjoy a few fun nights our plus spent the day with Evan and my dad taking the train around the city while Betsy, Erin and my mom went for lunch at American Girl. The last month has been very busy and I have been all over the city.

March 27th was the big day for the Half Marathon and it was freezing cold, we got to Lincoln Park at 7:30am and thank god Christine ran with me since I don’t think I would have done nearly as well without that push. I had only been running for 7 weeks and 2 weeks before the race I hurt my foot on my 1st 10 mile run and was forced to rest it for 2 weeks before the race. I finished the Half in 1:56 and it kicked my ass from start to finish but the last 2 miles were really the worst.

Way too much stuff has transpired to catch up in detail so I am just going to blurt it all out to get caught up. Went indoor climbing in Naperville, lots of running and dinners all around town from another dinner at Mastros with Tine and Francine, Bone Fish with my mom, Solga for Korean bbq, Acre in Andersonville, West Town Tavern and a bunch of other places. Enjoyed a game night at my house with Christine, Grace and Pete and went to a group workout at Redefined Fitness. Has a warm couple of days and took Hoober to Montrose beach and he had a blast.

Well I know this post was a total mess but I want to get the last month or so out there. Till next time

Solga
5828 N Lincoln Ave, (773) 728-0802
http://www.solgabbq.com/

Spring can’t get here quick enough and I am sick and tired of the cold and the short days. I mentioned a few posts ago that I have become a runner or better yet I am trying to become a runner. Over the last month I have started doing one of my life’s most dreaded tasks and that is running more than a couple miles and I am absolutely hooked and loving it. My 1st run on the January 24th was 4.5 miles and in the last month of running a couple times a week for distance and interval work at the gym I just completed 7.6 miles at a little under a 9 minute mile this past Saturday. I have been working out like a champ and really getting addicted to the running and the runners high is a real thing. I can’t wait for it to get warm outside so I can really enjoy it plus throw in some biking as well.

The last week has been very busy since I got back from India, I started with a run Saturday after I got home from India and Sunday was a full day that started with a 5 mile run with Christine and a great brunch at Zed451 and after getting shut out of Yogen Fruz since they were closed we went to Red Mango but it was just mediocre. Monday night since the weather so nice we decided to grill some Chilean Sea Bass and roasted some veggies plus enjoyed some amazing stone crabs from Dirk’s. Tuesday I kicked ass with a 7 mile run and Wednesday was a fun night at the Black Hawks game followed by meeting Sol and a friend at Old Town Social Club for some cheese and wine.

Thursday night I went to dinner at Mastro’s with my dad for my second time and it was as good as the first with PJ and Ari. We drank and enjoyed some amazing food that started with some Oysters and Tuna Tare Tare and my dad had a steak and I had the rack of lamb. We had our usual great time and got into a fun ball breaking conversation about racquetball and it got pretty heated in a fun way and we decided to play Friday morning to once and for all see who is better and of course he bailed with some lame text excuse in the morning. At the end of the night my dad decided to walk home so I decided to walk home also since it was so nice and enjoyed a 4 mile walk and a 60 degree night. The walk was great and I was feeling goo and in such a good mood and I stopped by Lockdown for a quick hello

This past weekend started Saturday with my longest run of 7.6 miles, we took a cab to Navy Pier and ran to the start of LSD one way which was awesome, besides some cramping under my rib I felt great. Had Toast for brunch and Saturday night we met Pete and Grace at Bob San for some Sushi followed by a visit to Salud Tequila Lounge which was really cool and gthe drinks were really good. Sunday was a busy day also that started with Bikram Yoga then a trip out to my new favorite Asian market H Mart which seemed better than the one in Arlington heights and much closer. After H Mart we headed to Evanston to see Biutiful staring Javier Bardem which was an excellent movie but not really what I expected and a tad long but very interesting and well done.

Lockdown is getting busier every week and we just had our best weekend yet and February is one of the slowest months in the restaurant business. Sol and PJ are kicking ass and we are looking forward to spring and getting more outside seating approved and set up. Busy busy and feeling great and working hard on some great projects for 2011.

Wow that was quite long…. Till Next Time!!!!!

So I just got back from the craziest travel week of my life as far as distance and travel verse time spent at destination.  I left Monday night on the 7th for New Delhi India for my very good friends wedding that was taking place on Wednesday night.  I flew 9 hours to Heathrow with a 5 hour layover followed by another 9 hour flight to Delhi to arrive Wednesday morning at 1:30am.  I slept for a couple hours and woke up to hit the gym at the hotel followed by a nice run around the streets of Delhi and the run was much more interesting runs than am used to.  I spent the afternoon hitting a few markets and some places I always go for some of my favorite foods and I needed a belt for my suit plus a quick hair trim for the wedding.   The wedding was great and it was awesome to meet Nav’s family and Garima’s family and many of their friends.  The food was amazing and the night was awesome and Navneet was grateful for me making the journey.

Thursday morning I woke up super early for an 8am flight to Mumbai to see the girls and after a 2hr flight and a hot shitty taxi ride I made it the Gate of India and the Taj Mahal hotel to meet them at our usual spot.  They were so happy to see me and I was also very happy to see them.  It had been over a year since I saw them on my last trip and I was shocked by how much Rhoni and Ashwani had grown.  I have known them all for the last 7 years and the 2 youngest were only around 3-4 years old and now they are 10 and 11.  We spend the afternoon together with a visit to the Hanging Gardens and a visit to the beach followed by a great lunch for the 5 girls and myself.  After lunch we went to the market to buy some new bangles for Rhoni since she was the only one with bare wrists and everyone ended up getting some new ones.   As always they took the the long Taxi ride to the airport with me and we spent some time outside drinking milkshakes and finishing our visit which was way shorter than usual but worth the effort.  The girls are all doing great and Kanti is actually married and hopefully the older 2 will find someone and be married soon.  The 2 youngest girls are doing well and excelling in  school and growing up so fast.

I got back to Delhi around midnight Thursday night and had a 7am flight back to Heathrow with another 5hr layover and then 9 hours to O’hare.  Crazy trip but I will have to say that I have new favorite Airline,  British Airways is awesome and the business class seats made the trip bearable and the lounge in London was amazing with a incredible spread of food and drink.

Till next time