Summer has been pretty busy so posts have been sporadic at best. Since the last post, we attended our trade show in Chicago. One of our salesmen (Terry) and myself went in on Friday, which was two days before the show started, to make sure the booth was set up correctly and to make sure we weren't getting ripped off in labor. Seems that if you are at the show during booth set up, it gets done much quicker than if you're not. We ended up saving almost 50% of our labor cost for set up compared to the last show we exhibited at in Chicago!

Friday after we were done working, we ended up getting lost walking in Downtown Chicago looking for Rush Street trying to find something to eat. When we finally found Rush Street, we ended up eating at Hugo's Frog Bar. I've eaten at Hugo's once before but I was so damn tired by that point, I didn't care what or where I was eating. I had the crab cakes which were by far the best I have ever had!

Being in Chicago a couple of days early with not much to do gave me the chance to hang out with Lisa's brother Brad for a bit on Saturday. I went out of McCormick Place to check on the booth and to finish up what needed to be done cleaning up and Brad headed down to our hotel. Once we all met up at the hotel, I got to have one of Brad's homemade brews which was much better than the Mr. Beer batches that I had done in the past. The fact of the matter is that Brad's beer is as good as any micro brew produced beer I have ever had (don't get a chip on your shoulder Brad)! That afternoon, Brad and I headed out to Goose Island Brewing Company for Lunch and had several of their beers. The Midway IPA was very tasty and went down a bit too smooth. We had a few appetizers, a few beers and a few more beers and then headed back to the hotel where we both proceeded to take a little siesta on the couch to sleep off the alcohol. We woke up just in time to catch the Manager's reception and to have a couple more liquid libations on the hotel. Brad headed back home and I went to the Randolph Street food festival.

The food festival was your typical street fair with a several food vendors and beer carts. The place was very crowded so we had a beer and explored the restaurant scene in the neighborhood. We ended up picking a French place called Marche. Marche was probably a bit too romantic to be there with another guy but the food was great. I had the special that day that was shark on some sort of lentil, fennel gravy mixture and also had a side order of french fries that were the best I have ever had. The fries were ultra thin and fried in animal fat (the secret that the waiter divulged to us). That evening we discovered a bowling alley that was in the same building as our hotel. This wasn't any ordinary bowling alley either. It was more like a really nice bar that just happened to have a bowling alley in it. The bars were loaded with LCD televisions and comfortable seating in the form of overstuffed couches and chairs. Even the bowling alley had overstuffed couch seating and ultra modern chairs and side tables for drinks. We had a couple of drinks there and then I headed back to the hotel for the evening.

Sunday evening was the start of the trade show. I really didn't do much during the day but did take a little walk in the area that surrounded the hotel to see if there was a place for the group to eat that evening that was relatively close to the hotel. I ended up making reservations at Shula's Steak House. The trade show was busy. Brad came downtown to walk the trade show with Lisa who arrived with the others that would work at the booth. Lisa was attending classes. The Sunday trade show hours were 4 pm-7pm and the place was packed. The fact that free food and drinks were being served probably helped fill the exhibit hall. After the show, we headed back to the Hotel for clean up and then off to Shula's. Here it goes....Shula's sucks! Over priced, bad service and the steaks were not all that great. I've had better steaks in my backyard and I could have received better service at McDonald's. I had a "cowboy steak" better known as a big ribeye. The steak was not good. I wouldn't say it was over cooked but it was dry and not what I would have expected for $40. I also ordered a side of creamed spinach and lobster mashed potatoes. The spinach was pretty good but the mash potatoes were just that....mashed potatoes without any flavor of lobster at all. Lisa had a pretty good sized strip steak that was a little better than my steak but still not all that good. Based on the price, the food quality and the $83 tip that was imposed on us because we had 6 or more in our party I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone.

Monday was the start of the full blown trade show. 9:30-4pm. Traffic was good at the show and the conversations we engaged in with the attendees was pretty good compared to other shows I have participated. I think that this show may actually pay off. Time will tell. After the show, we had a few drinks waiting for Lisa to arrive back from a late class and then headed to dinner at Carmine's. We were about 15 minutes late for our reservations and had to wait for awhile for our table. Once we got seated, the menu took awhile to navigate because there was so much to choose from. I ended up with a seafood salad and Lasagna. The seafood salad was excellent but so big, I didn't finish even half of my meal.

Tuesday was the last day of the show. Lisa, however had a late seminar and had another one on Wednesday so she and I stayed Tuesday night while the others traveled home. By Tuesday, we had ran out of a lot of our product samples so I had more sent overnight to the hotel. When I went to the security office to pick up the samples, I bent over and yep, you guessed it, I tore the entire seat out of my pants! It seems that I have gained a bit of my lost weight back and I'm in between pants sizes. I either have pants too big or too small and this pair was just a bit too small. My back was hurting that day so I probably was using more leg to lift than normal and just rip. I though I tore something in my back when I heard the rip but then I began feeling the nice breeze so I knew the back was fine. Thank goodness I over packed and had another pair of pants I could wear.

Tuesday evening, Lisa and I took a walk down Michigan Avenue and stopped in a few stores. Bought a "prize" for Shawn from the Lego store and took a walk through the American Girl Store. The American Girl store is a goldmine. Tons and Tons of little girls getting their doll's hair done, having lunch with their dolls, buying clothes that match their doll's clothes and well you get the idea.

That night we ended up at The Tavern on Rush for dinner. We sat outside and had the best meal of the entire trip. Lisa's steak was very good and my Jambalaya was good as well. After we ate, we took a cab to Navy Pier and wandered around then back to the hotel and to sleep early. Lisa had a morning seminar on Wednesday and then off we went back home.

When we got back, the yard was in a bit of disrepair with all the rain we had while we were gone but the flowers all bloomed and plants grew like weed. The basil I planted needed to be harvested so I did that on Sunday and made Pesto. It's amazing what basil mixed with olive oil, pine nuts, garlic and Parmesan cheese tastes like!

Last weekend, we made a quick visit to the family in Northeast Ohio. My Mom is now in a condo in Strongsville and my brother has his own place in Middleburg Heights. Mom's new place is pretty nice and Mike's isn't too bad either for his first place. The visit was a bit strange with all the new environments everyone was living in now. Even though I never lived in Mom and Dad's last place, it always felt like home. I just couldn't get comfortable in the new place though but maybe time will help with that.

This past week, we bought new patio furniture. The last patio set was bought as a house warming gift by Mom and Dad when Lisa and I bought our first house about 11 years ago. It was definitely showing it's age. This time we opted for the love seat, lounge chairs with ottoman and coffee table set up. It looks nice but I haven't taken pictures to post yet.

Lisa also found a smoker at a garage sale last week so I'm now the proud owner of a charcoal fueled smoker that I will use for the first time tonight. I'm going to smoke a pork shoulder roast and a couple of small chickens. Tonight is also the night for our community's firework display so Lisa's Mom and Dad are coming over for smoked food and to watch the show. I may head for the boarded and buy a few fireworks as well.

That should pretty much put anyone that is still reading this blog up to date with our happenings! Have a great holiday weekend.