Over Two Months Gone By...

How many times do I start a post with..."Where should I start?" or "It's been a while..." So, no excuses (I feel like I have a baby on my hands and it occupies the majority of my time so it's not really an excuse, it's a reality, right?).

Finn is growing like crazy. He is 6 months old today! Yesterday, B & my lil' bro, F. & his lil' bro golfed 36 holes so I had a full-Finnegan day. We started out the beautiful Saturday morning by heading to 12th Street Beach, right next to the Planetarium at 5:55 am. Yes, wicked early for a Saturday. What a find! Dogs can be at any beach when the beach is closed...not great for my tan, but fantastic for my puppy! We played with a tennis ball & Finn frolicked in the water. We met 4 retrievers who were NUTS about swimming. Finn observed carefully but he is still trepidacious about "swimming-swimming". He typically swim-swims two times to get a ball. We are careful to throw the ball close to shore to build his confidence in the water. The other dogs we saw charged into the water and started swimming out to sea, without a ball being thrown! The owners all have 2 ball with them so they can "steer" their dogs when they get too far out. Enjoy a couple of photos of the Birthday Boy!






The photos in the water were taken in Michigan at my parents house the weekend following Mother's Day, hence the waders, the water was more than chilly. It was Finn's first time in the water. The first photo is a snapshot of what we call "Hog Dog". In subsequent visits to the beach, he looked like Tigger from Winnie the Pooh bounding through the water, almost like he thought he should be able to walk on top of the water. The last picture is Finn at 5 months or so. He's now about 50 pounds. I'll post a picture from this week...we'll be seeing Brooklyn, LR's puppy-Finn & Brooks are BFF.

While at my parents, we prepared a fancy Mother's Day Brunch. Crab Cakes with Mixed Greens, French Toast, Asparagus Fritatta with a Salsa thing, and Fruit Salad. Oh, I forgot to mention B & lil' bro's favorite, Maple Glazed Bacon.





I was commissioned to sew two aprons for Mother's Day for a friend which was such an honor. Of course, I was completely paranoid that first, she wouldn't like them, and second the recipients wouldn't like them. They must have liked them because the younger sister asked for one for her birthday! It starts small, right? LR is my model below.




B's cousin recently got married and I was invited to the Bridal Shower before hand. Here's the Bride-to-Be in a cute Brown & Orange Bistro I made.


I will leave you with my Appreciation Dinner from last night. Finn is going through a little phase...separation anxiety. Lil' bro has helped me out TREMENDOUSLY, getting a 6:45 am Saturday phone call, begging him to get in a cab asap and rescue Finn as the neighbors called the front desk to complain...taking a cab directly from the airport after a 2-week business trip so we could enjoy the Cubs/Sox game at Wrigley where they SWEPT the boys in black. Our friend, F. has also puppy-sat on a Saturday night. He couldn't even go out to get take out from downstairs! He put Finn in his kennel and by the time he was halfway down the hall, the crying/screaming/barking was too much for him. He called and asked for delivery! I wanted to give my puppy-sitters a well deserved meal...I don't think the Chicken was great but they seemed to enjoy everything. For your viewing pleasure:

We had Pommes Frites with Roasted Garlic Rosemary Aioli (the vegan version, of course).

The Vegetable Platter makes me miss catering...isn't it gorgeous? I made my new favorite Herbed Farm Dip to go along with the bounty. Another Vegan find. I also discovered that blanching the carrot boards & the pea pods makes them even tastier.

Appetizer time needed some meat for the boys so meat disks it was! Chorizo meatballs and Bratwurst. The boys were ecstatic!

And the main course, Garlic & Lemon Roasted Chicken with Bacon. Plating this also made me sad my profession isn't in food anymore.

What's an appreciation dinner without dessert? How do Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Ganache & Buttercream sound? Yeah, I thought so...the table was quite for a while when it was time for the sweet treats. They honestly, are the best cupcakes I ever made. Would you like to purchase some? :)