Grand Rapids Nesties
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
TGIF Randoms
Morning! Happy Friday, people.
Re: TGIF Randoms
Happy Friday, indeed! I get to go home today
And I have almost survived pre-orientation.
Next week I have my first class (but only one class meets next week).
They really try to ease us into the program.
We went to Chicago last weekend and had a great time. We ate Saturday brunch at Frontera Grill (one of Rick Baylis's restaurants) and that was pretty reasonably priced and delicious. We took an architecture tour on a boat, which was also great despite the fact that rain forced us inside. We ate dinner saturday night at Giordano's, which is always fantastic. We also had the obligatory stop for Garrett's popcorn. This time we price lined and got the Hyatt Regency on Wacker for $96 after taxes, fees etc. I think my bid was $79 per night.
We went last year on Labor Day weekend and had a great time then as well. I think it's a nice time to visit. Last year we went through the Art Institute museum and walked Navy Pier. We had Sunday brunch at Sunda (amazing) and had an awesome dinner at Moto, which is a molecular gastronomy restaurant, but pretty pricey.
Good morning! I'm so glad it's Friday. I feel like this week has been kicking my ass.
We talked about going to Chicago over Labor Day, but we should really visit family instead. That's okay. Northern Michigan is usually very nice for Labor Day. I'm not sure when we're going to get back to Chicago, though.
Also, every year for the past four years -- including this year -- we've talked about going to Traverse City during the summer or fall, and it's never happened. It's kind of hard for us to go anywhere but home to visit family in the summer, especially if we're heading north.
Your itinerary sounds greats!
Ours is:
Take train on Friday night. Get drunk.
Wake up late and go to Cubs game, start drinking. Hang out in Wrigleyville after game and continue drinking. Go to hotel room and shower/change. Go out to bars and finish drinking.
Wake up late and go shopping. Take train home.
We will squeeze in a Gino's East visit as well.
Have you by chance ever been to Improv Olympics in Wrigleyville? We've been there a couple of times -- the first time it was freaking awesome, the second time it was just okay. It's cheaper than the bigger improve places (Second City) in Chicago, but I still think they put on a good show. Just in case you're looking for something to do after the game. Go on a Friday or Saturday though. I think that was our problem with the second show -- we went on a Sunday and they had their second tier actors, I think.
I started getting realllllllly antsy when I had about 2 weeks to go, and work got realllllllly hard for me. I am SO glad I was able to start my maternity leave a week before my due date. It was great for my mental health, and it was also nice to have all that extra time to go to the mall to walk laps. And I also found time to shovel my sidewalk so my mailman would start coming back.
How are you doing? I feel like you haven't talked much about your pregnancy. How are you feeling? All ready for the baby?
Giordano's for life!
I like Gino's better! Plus we always go to Giordano's when we go to Florida, but Chicago's the only place we get Gino's.
Blasphemy. Seriously.
Eh, it's not for everyone. I love it, though!
Sorry.
It just doesn't seem like "real" pizza to me. I don't dislike it, it just doesn't satisfy a pizza craving because the style and texture is so different. I'm more of a pizza purist, I guess.
Will you still be my friend?
The crust + the sauce = pizza heaven.
Dude, how can you possibly like Gino's better?! I went on a rant last weekend where I said I would do without Chicago-style pizza entirely if my only option was Gino's East.
We waited for two hours at Giordano's when we could have walked right into Gino's East two blocks over. If the two hour wait doesn't tell you which is better, I don't know what will.
lol. Even though I said "seriously" I was just teasing. Sort of.
I get what you're saying. It's kind of like a food category all its own. When I want Giordano's, I want Giordano's not necessarily just pizza. And when I want pizza, it's not like Giordano's is the only thing that will satisfy.
It must vary by location, because we always to have to wait!
Also, I know this can happen anywhere, but there was a fruit fly in my drink there once, and that totally turns me off to them.
A what now?
I love Friday.
I haven't eaten breakfast. I'm still in my PJs. DH and DS left an hour ago for work/daycare. DS stayed home sick on Wednesday (he only goes MWF) so those three days in between daycare days this week made the week feel reeeallly long.
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Okay, I get the fruit fly thing, but from a pure pizza goodness standpoint, Giordano's kicks the ass of Gino's East. Especially on crust. Dammit, now I want Giordano's.
Fortunately Detroit has a really great place that does Chicago-style pizza and I like it just as well as Giordano's. I won't get any this weekend, but I'm thinking that some will have to be procured on my birthday weekend. Calories don't count on your birthday weekend, right?
I feel pretty good. My feet and ankles look like marshmallows by the end of the day, even with putting my fee up.
Sleeping is sometimes difficult, my hips hurt, and I go to the bathroom all.the.time, but I try not to complain. I feel like I've had a fairly easy pregnancy so far. The most annoying thing is driving to the Dr.'s every week for a 10 min appt for them to say "Ok, looks good, see you in another week." I try to stay busy. I don't like just sitting around. I do laundry, I cook elaborate meals, bake, walk the dog.....I even get antsy watching tv. I try to stretch or at least sit on my excercise ball in the evenings while we watch our shows. Yesterday I literally ran around the yard with the dog. LOL. I'm sure I looked ridiculous.
We're 95% ready for baby. We need to get our car seat inspected and finalize our pediatrician decision, and that's pretty much it. It's basically a waiting game now.
We won't 100% decide on a name until she's born and we actually meet her. We have 3 names we're taking with us. Renee, Audra, and Colette. We'll see what she looks like once she's here. She may be nameless for a full day before we decide, who knows. I'm not too worried about it. I'm sure it'll be easier once we meet her.
Whoa. Chatty bunch today. Its only 9!
-I dislike Chicago style pizza too.
-Wop, so exciting... I know everyone says this, but enjoy this time. I love James more then life, but part of me misses being pregnant with him.
-Chicago trips sound like fun! I can't wait till we ventrue out there. Probably this spring.
-We are going "up north" for the 1st time this summer this weekend. And I am freakishly nervous. ( I have been battling anxiety since James' birth. )
Hmmm.... my Chicago style pizza experience has been at Gino's East and some random place by my brother's apartment. I've never tried Giordano's.
Wop, it sounds like you're doing great! Glad to hear that your pregnancy has treated you relatively well.
Your names are very pretty! Love the Frenchiness of them.
Good friends of ours had a baby on Sunday and she was unnamed for about a day. It seems to be getting more common (from my very limited experience) to wait on selecting a name.
Have a great trip! Hope everything goes smoothly. (I'm sure it will.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecular_gastronomy
"a discipline practiced by both scientists and food professionals that studies thephysical and chemical processes that occur while cooking"
I'll also post the link to Moto's menu, but that won't help you at all.
http://www.motorestaurant.com/category/menu/
Sorry that clicky doesn't work on my mac. Basically things on the menu are not what they seem. For example, we had a "mexican cannoli" when we were there. It looked like the sweet Italian dessert, but was really a savory dish with Mexican flavors.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.428953018174.215207.660663174&type=1
I don't know if the FB link will work for you, but it includes pictures and explanatory captions for all of the courses that we had on our visit.