Grand Lux Cafe in downtown Chicago

To celebrate my birthday, we went downtown Chicago this weekend. Our first stop was the Grand Lux Cafe that apparently everyone knew about except for us. We got the beignets, which were amazing! And the decor in this place is really stunning. They have these really creative light fixtures. I looked like a dorky tourist while taking these shots, but that's alright. We will definitely go back there again. They had great service as well, but when you go there be prepared to wait for a table. And even if there's an empty table (or two!!!) in the really spectacular sunroom they won't let you sit in there because it's reserved for the rich fancy people. They also have more than one location, in different states: Grand Lux Cafe

Things I have done this week that are bad for me:

1. Watched True Blood while eating dinner. (Yuck)
2. Ate the Shrimp and Bacon Club at Cheesecake Factory. (1,600 cals) Sure, I had half for    
    lunch the next day, but...Oh, and a Pina Colada. 
3. No flossing because it was my birthday. Don't tell my dentist.
4. Got 5 hours of sleep the night of my birthday and went to sleep at 3 AM. I am a hardcore
    Scattergories partier.
5. I haven't played one game of brain-strengthening Sudoku.


Please, children, don't follow my poor example.

This is why I love my husband...and cupcakes

In honor of my upcoming birthday I had these little presents waiting for me in the front seat of my car after my much dreaded doctors appointment. My wonderful husband surprised me with them. He's very sweet and thoughtful.* I both love him and loathe him for it. But, maybe I gained some muscle doing an extra 30 minutes of elliptical last night. Tonight we'll eat at the Brazilian steakhouse and there's no amount of elliptical that will work that off.

Photos by VivaRevival

The lovely raspberry one actually used real raspberries in the frosting, not that fake flavoring stuff. And if you're in the mood for that, there's a recipe at Making Life Delicious.

*I will show him this post and get extra wife bonus points.