Housewarming Party, Najwa + Joe

Najwa and Joe have recently moved, and today Liz and I headed out to Elgin for a bit of a housewarming party.
Najwa and Joe have recently moved, and today Liz and I headed out to Elgin for a bit of a housewarming party.
We had a fun time hanging out, catching up a bit over dinner and getting our Trek on. And we also ended up watching an episode of the Lower Decks, as a bonus.
We gathered at a place called The James, in Geneva. We learned that this was formerly a restaurant known as Fiora’s, a place that had been open for 13 years until it shut down recently.
For tonight, three bottles were opened: a Rose (from Risa), a Federation Zinfandel, and some Romulan Ale Vodka.
Interesting tidbit 1: I think a while ago, Liz got to meet Joe for the first time at this very restaurant. And it’s also where she got to taste different scotch whiskies that were outside of the peaty/smoky realm. And I daresay that’s when she got the spark to start exploring scotch whisky a lot more, and started going down her sherry bomb phase.
Liz and I went out to Mike and Michelle’s house today, to hang out with them, Halley, Fritz, and another couple (Nashua and Joe). All of the women know one another via knitting activities they’ve done together, and Joe was part of the group that went out to Rhinebeck last year.
Today, Liz and I headed out to Elburn, Illinois, to attend a fun cocktail party at Heritage Prairie Farm with Michelle and Mike.
The trolls were “hidden” in various spots across the grounds. It would be a big walk to see all of them, so we settled on just visiting the few nearby where we parked. It was helpful to keep an eye out for these signs, which kept you pointed in the right direction.
The place was getting pretty full when we arrived, and we put our names in to ensure a table. After waiting a while, we got seated near the back and were given what felt like a ridiculously large amount of room. While other parties of six were crowded around two tables, we got two tables to ourselves (for just the four [and a half] of us).
A tiny dinosaur, as a gift for Fritz. As you can tell, Liz has been really busy with sewing gifts this year (and she’s still going).
Last weekend, Liz and I met up with Michelle, Mike, and Fritz for an early morning brunch in the suburbs.
Liz and I visited Michelle and Mike on Sunday, and got the chnace to meet baby Fritz for the first time.
Liz and I headed out to the suburbs today, to attend Mike and Michelle’s baby shower. Though I guess technically, it was party baby shower and party playoff party (I think Jacksonville and New England were playing as well).
It was a Friday, with perhaps more traffic than usual. We had a lot of snow in the afternoon, and a lot of accidents on the route we were on. We crawled along I-55 for a good while, and want to say we ended up walking in the door about two hours after we left.
Had brunch plans this morning at Dusek’s. Shortly before our departure, we realized that we’d be right along the Chicago Marathon route! We debated getting a ride versus driving, but ultimately opted to drive ourselves – for the adventure, if nothing else. Surprisingly, we encountered little traffic, and found a decently close place to park.