Sharon's Baby Shower

This weekend continues my back-to-back-to-back weekends in Chicago, but it's all good because this time, I get to reunite with the ladies for Sharon's baby shower.  Thanks to Jessica and Sharon, I'm now adding a "babies" tag to this blog (sorry to Margaret, Karen, and Tara who came before these ladies).  Ah, how things have changed.  Let's see if the "babies" tag can beat the "weddings" tag. 

I headed off after work Friday leaving the man home to attend his weekend classes.  Boo!  But thankfully I arrived in time to score some tasty food with Amy before she passed out in hunger.  We were rejected by our first attempt at a restaurant down the street (after all, it was close to 11p.m. at this point), but luckily we came across a sushi place still open for business, GK Sushi.  While we were literally the only ones in there at this point, I didn't feel rushed at all and thoroughly enjoyed their creative rolls.  I think we ended up eating some Edamame,  Spider Roll (so Amy could experience the traditional sushi item), the Sweet Potato roll (that was all Amy, but thank goodness she picked it!), and then the Alaska Maki!  At that hour, the fish still tasted fresh and the rolls had a decent amount of flavor.  I'd go back there, and I'm glad we found some alternative sushi to my usual Tsuki splurge in Chicago.

The next day, we arose quite early to round up Karen and Kitty before heading out to the 'burbs for Sharon's shower.  We spent a nice afternoon out at her folks place eating, showering, and watching Sharon hope up a whole lot of cute, fuzzy, and warm baby attire.  Can I go back to those days?

Post-shower, Amy and I grabbed dinner at a new joint in my old 'hood around Ravenswood called Fountainhead.  I was fired up when Des sent me an article in UrbanDaddy about this "whiskey place" and not because of the whiskey menu, but because of their beer and wine list that was even paired with food.  As UrbanDaddy described it, "a 27-tap strong world tour of Belgium (Cantillion) to Chicago (Metropolis)".  With two-hand pumped beer handles, a rotating list of draft beers, and a menu that included not only grilled cheese, but grilled with brie, I was drooling before even walking into this joint.

Walking into Fountainhead, we immediately enjoyed the vibe.  It was loud in a Chicago restaurant sort of way, a good social, loudness to it, that made us instantly feel welcome.  As we grabbed the last table, we noticed the shades were down to cover the bright sunlight that was still coming in from the West, but as the evening progressed, the shades were slowly lifted, which only added to the atmosphere.  We noticed that a summer beer patio was still in the works, so all in all, this place is a must visit and must return for me.  I ended eating the "Jerk Coffee" (I mean anything with coffee, right?), which "was spicy marinated grilled chicken breast with grilled pineapple & avocado butter on crusty bread."  Yummy!

Thanks for a fun weekend Sharon and Amy!