I am 22 today

Yep, pretty hard to believe! Friday night, after a long (but great!) day of class, I met Mark in Elmhurst and his parents treated us to a delicious meal at Kona Grill. Saturday, after picking up Mark a new pair of shoes, we watched the Hawkeyes beat the Blue and Maize (although we struggled a little in that last quarter!).We then took the train into the city and dined at The Purple Pig. It is a tapas style restaurant with an amazing cheese and wine selection (their slogan: Cheese, Wine, and Swine). We had to wait about an hour and a half to get a table, but I think we would both agree that it was worth it. We ordered three plates: pork blade, chorizo stuffed olives with a garlic sauce, and bone marrow crustinis. It was incredible, and the perfect amount, and we both agreed that the bone marrow was our fave.

After two and a half days of intense birthday stuff, today (my actual birthday) was pretty quiet. I stopped at Old Navy this morning and picked up these items, the total being under $25!

Then I came home, checked my Facebook salutations (I was curious to see what would be the outcome considering that I don't have a "wall"), ate some lunch, and then decided to head up to Lincoln Park to try Sweet Mandy B's. The line was long, at least 20 people, but it moved fast. And oh my goodness, was it worth it. Since I had red velvet cake on Friday (which is my favorite), I decided to go with something a little more adventurous and I ordered the almond cake with chocolate frosting and a cup of coffee. It was so delicious, but the cake was too crumbly (not very cohesive). I then walked around a bit and stumbled across a sampl sale store called Thread Lounge. They have two outposts in San Francisco as well, with pop-ups all over the country, and they had great things from Tory Burch, Milly, and others. If I find a cheaper place to live, I'll definitely start shopping there :)