Happy Halloween!

I absolutely love Halloween. I love the dressing up, the decorations and all things fall.

I also love making spooking treats!

Eyeball Cookies, an optical delight!

I was all wrapped up in making these Mummy Cupcakes

(did I also mention I love cheesy, Halloween puns?)

These sugar cookies were so tasty... it was scary

There was a steep price for those who came to our door without a costume:

Cheese Ball pumpkins, grown with love 

And of course, a special concoction of Witch's brew

Have a drink, my dearie! 

I have to give my sister Victoria props for giving me the idea for this adorable banner

Robbie loves this banner, too

But my FAVORITE part of Halloween is the family-theme costumes

Have you ever seen a cuter Hamburger? 

I can't get enough of that mini-burger! (Or that mustard)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Toddler

In the past week, Jacob has gone from this:

To this:

This boy is walking!

(And dancing)

(Wannabe) Foodie

I "wannabe" a great many things... and one of those things is full of delicious food! I love knowing about how food is prepared, presented and most of all, how it tastes. Living in Chicago has really provided a great opportunity to fully indulge my foodie tendencies, and I hope to continue my food education... and practice. 

A couples weeks ago, I went to see some cooking demonstrations at the Cultivate Festival (celebrating local farms) in Lincoln Park. Some of my favorite chefs were there, and I totally had stars in my eyes. I once met Rick Bayless at Topolobampo and totally was a nerd, went up to his table to bug him and told him how awesome he was. (We're now best friends.) So I knew I had it in me to not only watch the demos, but stalk and successfully meat my cooking heroes.

 Jonathan Waxman

Before the demonstration started I went up and chatted with him. Mostly telling him what a fan I am. He is a real pioneer in the whole "food to table" movement. I didn't get the nerve in the moment to ask him for a picture, but I hit my paparazzi stride later in the day, no worries. 

Regretting missing my opportunity to get a picture with Mr. Waxman, I saw Tony Mantuano wandering around before his cooking demonstration and I jumped at the chance to fully commit to my nerdiness and tell him what a fan I am.

And snap a picture. 

And then Richard Blais. I have loved him from a far on Top Chef for 2 seasons now, so I knew I was going to really go for the gold and watch his crazy food demo and then meet the hair in person. He did not disappoint, making some salsa jelly and pork chips for an appetizer, and of course busting out the liquid nitrogen before the demonstration was through. 

 Another best friend made. 

And I got his autograph on my festival program. What!? Who am I? Some crazed Beatles fan? Well, whatever. I did it. And I'm glad. I mean, he looks pretty happy to have met me, don't you think?

Hooray for food!

Don't Discount the Men's Section...

Of H&M, that is. H&M has a pretty androgynous men's section, with some downright girly, metro men's ware... which is awesome, don't get me wrong. Real men wear pink and shop at H&M. I realize pointing out the existence of a metro-men's section at H&M is no revelation for anyone who frequents the cheaply made, fashion forward isles of H&M, but I just want to give a shout out to all the ladies out there: the men's department is for you, too! My sisters and I found some pretty cute (yes, they were "cute") hoodies, sweaters and cardigans in the men's section. Who do we thank for this? Women's liberation or metro-sexual/European men? Let's just call it a win, win.

*Dedicated to Liz, who taught me to shop in the men's section and that fashion has no gender or sexual preference! (Take that, Payson Jr. High)

Genius Baby

Jacob is the total package: brains, personality and I think his looks speak for themselves. I know you all have been waiting to hear updates of all skills and talents this little man processes...

He is so curious. He gets into everything and loves to put things in and out of containers, empty all the dresser drawers he can reach, press buttons and loves to lay down completely flat to see what's under the couch. (And tries to go for the camera when we're trying to take a picture.)

Jacob is quite the dancer. (I need to take a video and post it one day.) He will shake his little hips and bob his head back and forth to almost any tune... especially Old McDonald or Maroon 5's Moves Like Jagger. 

He loves to crawl. He is very fast and will wag his little head back and forth when he is really going for what he wants (like racing me to the baby gate before he's trapped).

He doesn't seem too terribly interested in walking. But, he does usually walk when we hold one of his hands or with his little toy walker. He can stand for several seconds on his own, which he really seems to enjoy... 

He points at everything and chats in his own little baby-talk. 

I totally know what he's saying.

He signs "food", "more" and "all done"... which is pretty incredible since I've haven't done that great a job of teaching him baby signs. He really signs "more" for "want", (he uses it for just about everything) but I'll take it. 

He's a master at opening and closing doors.

This boy loves to read. He loves for Mom or Dad to read him a good book, or he is fine to read on his own. His favorite book right now is Heads, although he tries to destroy the flaps each time we read it, which gets old pretty fast. 

He loves fruit. He hates tomatoes. He likes oatmeal.

Jacob has a little green blanket "lovey". He will pull it out from his crib, carry it around in his mouth while he crawls (yes, like a puppy... whatever) and lay it on the ground and then snuggle his little face into it. It's SO cute to watch. 

His personality is so hilarious. He laughs and chuckles all the time. 

He is a total ham. Give this boy an audience, and he'll definitely put on a show.

Baby Genius, I'm telling you!