the Mavs/Heat can make it into Girls' Night too, you know

I love last minute plans. As I've said before, this whole daily blogging business takes some SERIOUS work, if you are working at it as your "side" job. You know, it's not even the blog writing that takes up the most time for me. It's the sheer effort of having a very active LIFE. Hahaha. I mean, I'm a social person but a girl's gotta have her downtime.

Anyway, there I was working away, pondering what I was going to blog about tonight (yes, that's what my life has come to), when good old Alma's Gchat message came my way. God, I love Gchat... I mean, I love EVERYthing Google, but Gchat is one of the most amaz- no, no. That shall be another blog post for another time, my friends. I know you'll be on the edge of your seats.

Back to the point... So! With that fleeting Gchat conversation, plans for Monday night's blog were set! Off to Hub 51 for some wine and apps, we go!

It also certainly didn't hurt that I had a $25 gift certificate to Hub 51 to redeem.

Hahaha. You know what? It's so funny because I feel like this blog is making me sound like Deal CENTRAL! But I'm really not! I just happen to have had a LOT of deals/coupons/Groupons/promotions to which to attend in the recent past. And come on, the blog's gotta have SOME substance/general themes! Hahah. It all comes back to the blog, doesn't it? Sigh.

Anyway! I ended up getting to Hub 51 a little earlier than Alma, so I quickly snagged an open table by the bar and did what any other girl at a nice (albeit slightly frattastic) bar would do while she waited...

That's right. I picked up my book. And read. I guess that kind of defeats the purpose of being in a bar, but whatever. Can I help it that Julie Andrews' biography is just THAT interesting? I'm only at the part of her teenage, early career years... so how can I NOT be intrigued to see HOW she rises to fame and stardom (in the classiest of ways, mind you)?

Well. About four minutes into my book reading at Hub 51 (how's THAT for an oxymoron?), Alma breezed into the bar... and, well, forget about the book!

I mean, it had been a WHOLE THREE DAYS since we last saw each other! We had lots to catch up on! Hello.

Some topics included in the girl talk dishfest? Well... you would be VERY proud to hear that this whole Mavs/Heat game from last night made it into our conversation. For a whole two minutes and everything! But then... well, we had Pippa and Prince Harry to discuss (I mean, did you hear about how Pippa broke up with her boyfriend and was seen at a local pub with Prince Harry?!)... and Alma HAD to introduce me to the PopSugar app (which you better beLIEVE I will be downloading in the near future)... and, well, I don't know! The Mavs/Heat game can only be discussed for SO long, considering neither of us bothered watching it and were basing a fair amount of our conversation on... well, the Facebook status updates we'd seen dominating the news feeds during the game.

Sigh. Good times. At this point, what more can be said, really?

I'm sorry, but is today Groundhog's Day?

Brunch and Groupon... you really can't go wrong with these two words.

The only thing with Groupon is that I get a little overeager and end up sitting on Groupons for things that, let's be honest, I really don't need. This is not my problem... it's this darn Groupon app. I mean, you literally just click BUY and all of a sudden you've purchased a massage, facial, personal trainer workout, movie tickets... well, whatever. I digress. And you probably just got way too much information.

Anyway, about six months ago, I purchased this Groupon for Bakin' and Eggs

Bakin' and Eggs is this fanTASTic brunch spot to which I had been introduced about a year ago. The food is pretty delish (nothing fancy, but solid brunching cuisine), the waits aren't horrendous, you can help yourself to coffee while you wait... and let's be honest, the dessert case isn't too difficult on the eyes.

So what better way to spend Saturday morning than by reuniting with an old Ohio State friend than through some discounted brunching, really? Haha. So... off to Bakin' and Eggs we went!

I don't know what it is about this place... I just feel so warm and cozy each time I visit. The food isn't so shabby either, who are we kidding here?

My friend, Arpana, ended up getting some sort of banana pecan bread french toast concoction (O.M.G. - I know, right? My thoughts exactly). I can't speak for Arpana's dish, but I think the picture (not to mention the mere TITLE of her dish) can speak for itself. All things good and pure in the world combined into one heavenly brunch meal... come on, you KNOW that's what you were thinking.

I opted for a more savory item and ended up with the cinnamon raisin egg white breakfast sandwich. MAN. You just can't go wrong mixing that salty with sweet. I think the secret to this dish is that it comes with a side of maple syrup... which you would think would taste kind of weird with my egg whites, but on top of my egg whites AND cinnamon raisin toast? Umm... divinity.

All in all, a solid brunch experience. Good food, FAB reunion, and obvi, you can't go wrong with fellow Ohio Staters. But that just goes without saying. Hence the aforementioned "obvi".

So, that was Saturday. Enter Sunday... and another brunch outing. Well, if I'm doing BRUNCH again, why not just go BACK to Bakin' and Eggs? I'm sure most of you would have had the exact same thought, really.

I don't know what it is. I just couldn't get enough. So when one of my other friends texted THAT suggestion for Sunday brunch, what? Was I going to turn it down? Please.

So... to Bakin' and Eggs we go! Again.

Welll, if we're recreating the whole Bakin and Eggs brunch experience, why not just...

That's right. Go ahead and order the exact. same. thing? Twist my arm- cinnamon raisin egg white breakfast sandwich (sans the cheese this time), it is!

Whatever. It is just. that. good.

Also ordered around the table were Jill's whole wheat oatmeal pancakes (that is SO what I'm getting next time I go... I swear I'll stray from the cinnamon raisin sandwich sooner or later), Sam's southern comfort bowl, and Al's good ol' fashioned eggs and potatoes.

Unfortunately, I didn't snap a picture of Sam's and Al's food, since they were sitting across the table and I didn't want to cause TOO big a raucous (especially considering this was Sam's first time meeting me... hello! If I'm not discretion personified, I just don't know who is. HA.)... but, oh whatever. Discretion, schmiscretion! Smile for the cam, Al and Sam!

I have to admit though. Becoming a regular at Bakin and Eggs (that's right- I've already deemed myself a regular) certainly has its perks. The host seating people yesterday was also there today... and totally recognized me!!! I was shocked! I mean, he seats so MANY people during weekend brunch... he HAS to be one of those people with a photographic memory.

BUT!! Not only did he greet me with a "Welcome back!" (sigh. Heartstring-tugging moment, if you will), he TOTALLY gave our table a complimentary bacon flight (one of the dishes on their menu)!

Now come ON! Even though I'm not the biggest bacon fan, how is that NOT thoughtfulness at. its. finest? As if the "Welcome back!" weren't ENOUGH!lksafdjlk!

Wellll, since the owner and I were totally now like family... what? You think I'm NOT going to snag a picture with him? Um. Please.

So, there you have it! My Saturday morning... my Sunday morning... and, let's face it, another weekend morning in the very near future. I am, after all, a REGULAR!!! I've always wanted to be one of those! You think I'm giving THAT title up easily?

Burgers for a $1.50? Don't mind if I do...

Burgers for a $1.50?! That Twitter-headline making news is how I started off my Friday. And you know me... a sucker for pretty much any deal under the sun. I didn't really have an appetite for a burger but hey, for a $1.50 at RJ Grunts (a bar/restaurant which I had yet to try), I can MAKE an appetite.

At first, I was a little put off. I mean, burgers for a $1.50? Alarm bells quickly went off in my head... especially with all those recent unknown E. Coli strains hurry scurrying about the world. What can I say? Health and safety is my middle name.

But of course, thanks to the tweet by good old @nbcchicago (GOD, I love Twitter!), a link was included which thoroughly detailed that this was Lettuce Entertain You's 40th anniversary. Lettuce Entertain You is a company that owns a ton of seriously legit restaurants primarily in Chicago (RJ Grunts is one of them), and in honor of their 40th anniversary, they were rolling back the prices of burgers to the prices of 40 years ago...

Well, in honor of this whole attempt at daily blogging bit, I knew I had my entry for the day all ready and set. The thought of any sort of wait was the only reason I was still half-minded about going to RJ Grunts...

But it CERTAINLY didn't hurt that Lettuce Entertain You TOTALLY RETWEETED ME!

They clearly know the way into my heart. Who are we kidding here?

I figured I might as well just stop by RJ Grunts (it's literally less than half a mile from my place) at an "off hour" so I could avoid any waits.

Wrong-o. Even at the off hour of 3:30 PM, there was a wait! Not to mention a BUMPIN' live DJ already in FULL swing... who would've thought? Sigh. I decided to settle down at the bar for my 40th anniversary burger experience.

I totally felt like a food critic... I never usually go out to eat on my own, but hey, I needed a liberating experience (or something like that) and hello, some serious blog research was at hand here, people! Hahah.

YUM-O! Check out RJ Grunts' MENU!! So many OPTIONS! I was delighted!

And ALL for a $1.50?? Yowza burger it is (sans the bacon... I mean, I didn't want to keel over from an ACTUAL coronary right in the bar)! You better believe the thought of saving NINE whole dollars put an actual smile on my face. It was all rather ridiculous. But WOWZA (no pun intended... hahah)! Check out this YOWZA of a burger!


Juicy, delicious, ketchupy... all kinds of heaven wrapped up in one burger, if you will. Ironically, my appetite quickly developed upon my first bite. And it was totally worth it... every. last. bite.


And all for...


Weeeee!!! A $1.50 (plus tax)!!!!! Best anniversary celebration EVER!!!

As I was savoring each and every bite of my Wowza of a Yowza (like that one? Just thought of it all on my own. Hahaha), I also ended up chatting with one of the other guys at the bar who was eating on his own. You know me, Chicago ambassador, that I am. But this is exactly what I mean about my love for Chicago... you can TOTALLY chat with the stranger sitting next to you and feel like you've made a new friend. Midwestern charm and all that.

Well... okay, so seven hours later (yeah, yeah, I know- the Chicago ambassador can get carried away at some points), my new male twin/self-designated BFF Reggie and I were STILL seated at our barstools at RJ Grunts, chatting away. I think they should dedicate those barstools to us, really. A little plaque wouldn't hurt. Just a thought!

I mean, neither of us really knows what happened. It's one thing to be able to chat with a random stranger, but this dude was like my new MALE TWIN! I mean, come ON. When the dude said he loved Christmas... UMM! It was at this conversational juncture that I knew the BFFness was totally signed, sealed and DELIVERED.

Granted... I proceeded to then introduce him to the ridiculousness that can only be ChristIEmas, but whatever. I've never really had a filter, WHY would one suddenly magically develop at this point?

All in all, SUCH a FESTIVE NIGHT! RJ Grunts was alive and HOPPING the ENTIRE time... only getting busier (and thus more festive!) as the night progressed. At one point, I turned to my right and seated at the bar was this little old lady (she had to be in her 70s/80s), and... well, you know me and old people. Pitter patter SO GOES MY HEART! I nearly swooned (and wish I'd shamelessly snapped a picture, of course)...

And then there were these two men (mid-60s, I would guess) totally rockin' out to some of the DJ's blasts from the past...

And THEN we met a couple of the Lettuce Entertain You folks... whom I totally thanked for retweeting me. Appreciation meets shamelessness, if you will. Haha.

At the end of the day, I guess who can really say no to $1.50 burgers, a live DJ or a seriously festive anniversary celebration, for that matter?

Happy 40th Anniversary, Lettuce Entertain You! Cheers!