One Extra-Large Post

Are you ready for some photo recap action of my Friday and Saturday nights?? Let me explain a bit before I get to the photos. To be honest, there are so many pictures, I’m just doing a gallery with captions at the end of this post, so feel free to skip ahead.

FRIDAY:

I started working for my day camp in the summer of 2000, and had no idea what I was getting myself into. My friend Amy had worked there and said she thought I’d like it, and it would be fun to work together. So I applied and got the job. It was a decent amount of money for any 19-year-old, and adorable kids. In the summer of 2003, my fourth summer, one of the directors was taken out to celebrate his working there for 10 years, and I had the privilege of going along. It was one of the most fun nights of my life… until Friday night. Friday, it was my 10-year anniversary party, and it was an absolute blast. We took one of our school busses (so no one had to drive) and we were treated to buckets of Mai Tais from Bob Chinns (a great seafood restaurant). Then, we ended up at Trader Vic’s, another tropical themed restaurant in downtown Chicago. There were large vats of alcohol, amazing food (and horrible lighting!) and the best company. The best part? I was taking photos of my food, and next thing I know, all the other people I was with (drunken guys mostly) were taking photos of food too! My friend Bobby did a great job taking pictures of the food I missed whie I was in the bathroom. We ended the night at a very, um, interesting bar with waiters in kilts and barely dressed girls… needless to say, I didn’t choose that one. Adam picked me up back at camp at about 1 a.m. and I passed out with exhaustion. I needed my rest because I had a big day on…

SATURDAY:

Ever since I found out that the BlogHer conference was in Chicago, and that some of my favorite bloggers were going to be there, I’d been planning this evening…at least in my head. I was also sort of figuring out how to sneak into the conference, but thats another story. I was seriously so anxious to meet these bloggers whose sites I’d been reading, in some cases, for years, but as soon as I got to the hotel, I was put at ease. I saw one familiar face immediately, Jenn, who was standing next to Kath, Carla, Sahar, and Mary. We were soon joined by Roni, and we headed to Kamehachi for sushi. I kept saying how cool it was that all these people “really existed” outside of their blogs! Kath filled me in on the FTC information she got, and you can read more about them on her recap, Jenn’s recap, and here. I was truly amazed with how wonderful all these women are. They talk like they write, they’re real, and are just as fantastic as all their blogs. I really wish they all lived closer, because seriously? I want to cook with Roni and work out with Carla!

Now, onto the photo-fest!

Thanks for checking out all the pictures… sorry some of them were SO bad, but the lighting was awful, and honestly? I was quite intoxicated. There are other “food blogger in action” photos out there somewhere… I’ll post them as soon as I get them! I’ll be back in a few hours with a fun dinner!


Also, thanks to Roni, I now know about this amazing WW Points tracking program she developed using Twitter! I started a new Twitter account, and if you want, you can follow what I eat! Just follow me @WhatMaraEats. Then, I input my info on Roni’s cool tool here. Check it out!


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One Year Ago…

One year ago last night, Adam and I got engaged! Since it was LONG before I started blogging, I thought I’d share our engagement story with you all… I wrote this out within a couple days of getting engaged last year, while the details were fresh in my mind. We returned to our favorite sushi place (where we got engaged!) last night to celebrate with these:

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But, a year ago, I wish I’d been a blogger because I would’ve taken way more pictures! In any case, here’s our story, with the few pictures I *did* take!

Adam and I got engaged on July 11, 2008 at our favorite sushi restaurant. I never, in a million years, thought I’d have a “cool” engagement story, but lo and behold, I do!

On July 10, Adam sent me an email that said “Matt (a friend) and his girlfriend are joining us for sushi tomorrow night, so I got us a tea room.” I didn’t think anything of it. That day, Adam went to a Cubs game with work, and called on his way home to say that Matt had gotten way too drunk to come to dinner, but the restaurant was going to charge us $20 to cancel the tea room reservation, so why don’t we just use it? Still, I didn’t think anything of it.

When we got to the sushi place, we were led to the very last tea room, and it was already set with beautiful plates, chopsticks on tiny pink paper cranes, and water in wine glasses. I still thought nothing of it, and assumed that this is what they’re doing in the tea rooms now.

We had a great dinner (as always), and Adam was very anxious and not himself. He blamed it on not eating enough during the day and having a few too many at the game. After dinner, the maitre ‘d came in with a HUGE platter of fruit and cheesecake and said that it was a thank-you for being such loyal customers for 3 years (we go every friday). There was a whole pineapple on the plate, and the pineapple had a handle on it. Adam opened it up, and my ring was inside!! He got on one knee, and said “I love you, will you marry me?” I of course, started crying and said yes! The host came back in with a huge bouquet of gladiolas for me, and the whole restaurant applauded when we left.

The ring was in there!

The ring was in there!

I came to find out that night that Adam had been in cahoots with my dad, a jeweler, for months. He had my dad design and make my ring, and my dad helped him get a beautiful diamond. My mom had known for months too! Adam later told me that the time he “went to the bathroom” during dinner, he was really going over details with the sushi chef, our waitress, and host. The waitress did have to come in a ton of times… and the sushi chef did smile really big when we walked in.

moments after (when Adam started breathing again!)

moments after (when Adam started breathing again!)

The ring, about a month later, when I figured out how to take a picture of it!

The ring, about a month later, when I figured out how to take a picture of it!

Now, we’re 139 days until the wedding! But who’s counting… “see” you all later for a super-exciting post, and giveaway winners!


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