Ryan's Is Into His 30's!

We are usually out at my parent's for Ryan's birthday, so that makes it hard to go out with friends.  On his birthday, I gave him a Chemex, which is a fancy coffee apparatus, and I made him coffee-crusted steak for supper, which turned out totes delish. We went to Westfield for a fire, and Parker and Ryan spent the night in the hammock tent out there.  They said they saw the coolest shooting star ever!  The next day, we had a birthday celebration for them, where I made paleo pumpkin cupcakes for Ryan and angel food cake for Parker.   

The next weekend, I had planned a progressive dinner in the city with our friends. I didn't tell Ryan where we were going, and I got a TON of help from his fireman friends who live there.  They gave me great recommendations and they were all within close proximity.

We rode down with Angie and Lucas, and started off at Gaslight Roasters - one of the premier coffee roaster shops in Chicago.  Angie and I got the best ever vanilla almond milk lattes, complete with a heart on top.  

Ryan got a special kind of bean for his coffee and then his favorite espresso =)

While we were there, more of the group joined us - 

Ian and Bre McGregor and Dan and Kate Haskell.

We were supposed to check out Revolution Brewery next, but they had a three hour wait, haha. 

So we headed up to Websters Wine Bar.  We enjoyed a bottle of wine, and some delicious appetizers - bacon brussel sprouts, marinated olives, and some kind of fancy cheese.  Brad and Klaudia Lindgren (the ones who helped me plan this whole thing) met us there.

Finally, we went to Longman and Eagle, which has a Michelin Star.  It's a special star rating for restaurants in Chicago, New York and LA.  Chicago has one, 3-Star Restaurant, a handful of 2-Stars, and maybe 20, 1-Stars.  The menu was somewhat intimidating at first.  A lot of...unique choices, but we all found something we would like, and it was seriously SO SO good!  Some of the best food ever, and definitely the first time we've ever had puffed beef tendon. ;)  Nick and Katie Borst met us there, too! 

We finished the night off at Lula Cafe.  We didn't get there until 11, so the dessert menu was limited, but we tried some anyway.  It was a great time with friends!  

Happy Birthday, Ryan!  I love your guts =)