Taking a Blog Break This Week

Good things are happening guys, and this week is going to be a very busy week for me.  I can’t go into details just yet, but for this week, the blog has to take a back seat to my life.  I promise I’ll share my news next Monday!

Friday I was in Chicago and my sister and I decided to try out Revival Food Hall on Clark Street.   But we made one mistake – going there at noon on a Friday!

Yep!  That was the line at noon – the guys at the front guestimated that it would be a 30 minute wait before getting in, so on to Plan B.  She was on her lunch hour, I had an appointment, so we went to a place I used to go to on the regular but hadn’t been to in probably 20 years – Silk Road off of LaSalle.   Kung Pao chicken with non-breaded chicken.  So many onions, but it was tasty. I barely ate half though – the portions are insane.

We had leftovers for dinner Friday night, and it was early to bed for me since I get up at 3:45 on Saturday mornings.  My boss at the shop was not there because he and his wife were at the hospital having their baby.  I was in charge, and everything went so smoothly.  In an hour and 15 minutes we had four markets packed and ready to roll.  My boss usually does the Kenosha Market, but I took his place, and too his car since mine isn’t big enough for all the stuff that needs to go to that market.  Kenosha is just over an hour drive, and my market didn’t start until 9:00, but I got there by 7:45, even stopping to get gas and coffee.

As I unloaded the car and started walking back to my tent to set up, I saw the skies and thought “I am about to get really wet!”

I barely got my tent up when it started pouring.  I dragged as much of my stuff under the tent as I cook, but I was soaked to the bone.  Then a cool front came in and I was freezing.  I normally have an extra jacket, shirts, etc. in my car, but I didn’t have my car.  It finally cleared up around 10:30, and the sun came out a few times, only to have the market close 30 minutes early for the next bad wave of storms.

My hands always looked like I had just gotten out of a long bath – all pruney!

I was so happy to come home and take a hot shower and get warm.  By the time I made it back to the house at nearly 5:00 p.m., the sun was shining and it was a beautiful 75 degrees.  Which meant grill time.  I stopped at Jewel on my way home from work and noticed that they had New York strip steak on sale for $6.99 a pound.  My steak cost $5.24.

Those mushrooms are from the Lincoln Square farmers market from River Valley Ranch.   The girl at the stand gave me a mixed bag at the end of the market – I believe those are cremini mushrooms.  She also gave me oyster mushrooms, but I was a bit afraid to try them – they are not the most attractive vegetable.  I used my Hardcore Carnivore rub, and grilled it a total of 8 minutes – 2x2x2x2 to get those grill marks.   I added some leftover fries the kadults had in the fridge.

Sunday’s market was a complete opposite to Saturday’s.  Gorgeous blue skies, low 70’s – low humidity.  We also got some new signage which helped with sales, and we sold out of pretty much everything by 1:00 – a full hour before the end of the market.  At one point I had 15 people in line and all the other vendors around me were wondering if we had crack in our veggie burgers – they didn’t mine waiting 15 minutes in line to get frozen burgers or a veggie burger wrap.

My buddy Alberto had to pick up his wife, so after we got everything in the store, I told him to go ahead and I’d take care of inventory and set him up for his market that was this morning.  I was home later than usual, and as I was driving home, passed by Trader Joe’s and I suddenly got the taste for their orange chicken and fried rice.  One cup of the chicken is 9 smart points and one cup of the fried rice is 6 points.  I think I only had eaten 10 points before dinner because it was such a busy day, so it’s all good.

And last night I binge watched another three episodes of Grey’s Anatomy – now on to season 3.  Such a good show.  I don’t know why I didn’t watch it when it was on t.v., must have been opposite something Tony may have like to watch.  Who knows.  I had all the windows open.  The temp was around 60 degrees last night.  I had a light throw blanket on, a glass of merlot, and hung out with the dogs.  It was so nice.  This is where they like to sit when the windows are open – so many smells and sounds.

I am headed back downtown today and tomorrow.  I promise, it will be worth the wait when I tell you what’s going on in my life!  I hope you have a great week – I have a feeling this week is going to be the beginning of something great for me, and I am really happy!