chicago [photo] dump

just realized i am way behind in posts from travels. actually, i forgot.
here's the remainder of we captured on our instagram during our trip to the windy city.

post-avec with the loveliest, tessa (look at her amazing belly!)

 bird poop under the el. welcome to chicago, ramona.

 at the bean with little bean!

 family photo session/nap time at the pavilion

 dropping joy's on the baby

farewell breakfast at the doughnut vault

city kids

later that afternoon, after all the good food we had eaten, the three of us met tessa and dorian* at avec. tessa is a fabulous photographer and agreed to take some shots. here are some she snagged of papa and ramona after our fabulous shared-small-plate lunch. 

pre-pacifier (more on that later) ramona would always be a bit fussy post-eating and right before she fell asleep. rarely does she fall asleep on the boob. her routine is more of eat a ton, play a ton, and then get extremely grumpy before she passes out for a good, long nap. jp discovered that his finger is a good way to get her to settle down when mama and the wrap isn't readily available. that's why he has his thumb in her mouth in all of these photos: ramona's figuring out how to fall asleep and jp's trying to avoid a meltdown. the teamwork works!

it's crazy to look at these photos taken only three weeks ago (ramona was eight weeks on friday!) and see how much she has grown and developed. her thighs and arms have more rolls, her hair has lightened, her hands have found her mouth, her eyes track things a bit more observantly (today she discovered [or finally cared about] the mobile above her swing), and she makes noises other than crying (coos and conversational squawks).

*these two deserve a post of their own and will get one. i'm nervous about writing it, unsure if i will be able to convey their awesomeness.

food city

it is no secret: jp and i like to eat. and chicago, as we all know (this is not up for debate), is the best food city in the u.s. of a. so sunday, the day after the wedding, jp and i (w ramona too!) set out to conquer some food gods, old and new. we started at lovely and then meandered up milwaukee ave, skipping the el at division and wandering into wicker park. we window shopped and considered the brunch-crowds (glad we weren't part of them) and completely over-caffeinated ourselves. we asked each other why we had not taken advantage of more great eateries when we actually lived here? no good reason really. suckers.

quiche at lovely bake shop

cortados at the wormhole

tacos, tecate, and tequila at big star

and this was just the beginning. later that day we dined at avec and longman & eagle (i was distracted by the good company of great friends at the last two places and so forgot to instagram the moments).

crema coffee house now serving food

for those of you just not quite with it, crema coffee house is now serving food. and it's jp's menu!

if you're in the denver area, stop by monday thru friday (7-3) or saturday and sunday (8-3) for some scrumptious breakfast and lunch options.

and he's been getting some love. take a look at this article posted on the westword blog.

going to chicago

we're going to chicago today to see our friend susan marry her beau, robert, here.

we plan on eating here, here, here, here, here, and -- my personal favorite-- here.
we're going to see some great friends, all of whom don't have blogs so i can't link. boo.
we're taking ramona on her very first airplane and hope that it goes smoothly. not so sure about our 8:30AM flight. yikes.

this video makes us extra excited to be going back to the city where we first started our life together.

jp and i last summer in chicago

poor man's dessert

jonathan learned this from his sister: spoonful of peanut butter topped with chocolate chips.

coming soon!

"The menu will be simple and straight forward, with a focus on creativity." says Price -- and with Power in on the project, we don't doubt it. (And we hear more surprises are in store, too.)


this line makes me so extra proud of my hubby.
read the entire article here.

doughnuts

there is little in life better for breakfast than a doughnut. and, unfortunately, there are absolutely zero good doughnut places in denver. zilch. this is not even an exaggeration. winchell's has got to be the most depressing place on earth, lamar's is constantly hit or miss (and it's a chain), and there's a shall-remain-nameless independent doughnut shop that doesn't seem to care that their donuts lack flavor, moisture, and inspiration. i cannot even bring myself to link to these places bc, as an avid doughnut lover, i am so disappointed.

lucky me i have man that likes to tinker in the kitchen. late one night jp got the harebrained idea to make doughnut batter for the next morning. well, he did it. and the next morning he woke up early to get the oil sizzling and fried those SOBs. omg. so good. the first ones came out a little too brown as he had the oil too hot and they fried too fast on the outside. but he adjusted the oil's temp and the next batch came out moist and delicious. old boy even put chevre in the batter to satiate my need for a sour cream doughnut (the closet ingredient to sour cream we had in our fridge). amazing and scrumptious.

we have a couple of ideas up our sleeves for sharing these with the denver masses. stay tuned.

ashley and danny do america

my dear dear friend, ashley, is back from 3.5 years in the middle east (syria and israel). she'll be attending columbia university school of social work in the fall. but before she gets down to business she and her boyfriend, danny (an amazing gent she met in israel) are doing a cross country, real american road trip (american meaning it's already involved baseball, hot dogs, and they're on their way to a rodeo as i type this!). 

their first stop was denver (lucky me!).  aren't they the most adorable couple ever? i had so much fun showing them around denver and jp's and my favorite spots. additionally, they are wonderful house guests: game for anything, enthusiastic about life and food, and extremely adventurous -- with a local guide or by themselves (this big mama [me] needed to be picked up in downtown denver when my belly and i had reached our max physical exertion for the day and they kept strolling out and about even finding their own way back to the powerdriver farm).

here's the second of two photos i snapped of the dashleys at dinner at new saigon. see more photos of their time in denver at their totally awesome tumblr,  the dashleys.

last sexy night out

as a farewell to our date nights (at least baby-free date nights for a while) jp and i splurged on a dinner at frasca food and wine in boulder. easily one of the best restaurants 1,000 miles around, it did not disappoint. 

they sat us at a table in the kitchen(!) where we were greeted with homemade potato chips and a glass of very welcoming white wine. our server, jeremy, was so gracious and knowledgeable and just the right amount of attentive. we were in love: with him, with the food, with his wine pairings, with our table in the midst of the kitchen, with each other. 

the employees at frasca really do their job well and with passion. we were so taken care of and they truly went above and beyond to make our "last sexy night out" a memorable one. we love food and value dining experiences, but our budget does not always allow us to enjoy the finer dining venues that we have on our "eating out bucket list." this meal was worth every dime.

we each had ordered the four-course option and they generously split each of these courses into two so that we could savor and enjoy each plate together. so eight courses! we lingered for almost three hours alternating between excited convo of food and anticipation of little bean.  we will not forget that night. thank you, frasca! 

little bean cake

my mother-in-law graciously sent me home with the red velvet leftovers of the cake she got for my baby shower. jonathan and i enjoyed it together one morning with a cup of aeropressed espresso.

pho

jp was feeling ill and pho was the only thing that sounded good to him. we found some of the best pho we've had at thai bao, a real hole-in-the-wall at some no-name strip mall area on north federal.

egg collection

so happy the new ordinance passed. our ladies can come out of hiding!

bittersweet

halibut, avocado marble, heirloom tomato salad. at bittersweet.

los carboncitos.

our neighborhood taco joint.

eggs and hashbrowns

ain't the same in the powerdriver household.

most mornings it's granola and yogurt, or juiced veggies and toast, or instant couscous with a fried egg mixed in. on this particular morning, i got treated to over-easy eggs from our ladies, with mixed greens from red wagon, on top of home fries all over a tomato [insert french word synonymous with 'fancy sauce' here].

don't you wish YOU had your own personal chef?

how does your garden grow?

quite well, in fact!
had kale for breakfast and dinner today. so good.
tomato plants in their cages.
bok choy ready to be grubbed on.
radishes are nice and peppery.
carrots have beautiful greens on them.
and the beans are starting to grow up the lattice.

cookshop caters a wedding

our memorial day weekend was busy! jp finished up 11 days of working in a row and then we went straight into a bridal shower at our house and onto pulling an all-nighter to cater our friend samm's wedding. it was our second event jp and i have catered (dba cookshop) and it is so much fun to be able to work side-by-side w jp at something we love (cooking and organizing). 

 roast beef w horseradish, banh mi, turkey avocado, roasted beet and goat cheese

 simple fresh fruit, poppy seed coleslaw, potato salad w truffle salt, potato chips

sneak peek of the gorgeous bride before she walked down the aisle

thanks, samm and kent, for choosing us to help you out at your beautiful wedding. we are so happy for you two and loved being a part of your big day!

strawberry plant

as a thank you gift for throwing her a shower, lizzie got me this really fun strawberry planter. it came with soil pellets (just add water!) and teeny tiny strawberry seeds. it has a perfect home on the front steps next to the garlic, basil and parsley.

shower for lizzie

my dear friend, lizzie, is getting married on fourth of july weekend. i received the honor of being asked to be a bridesmaid (matron?) in her party -- one week before my due date! last saturday another bridesmaid and myself threw her a small bridal shower in my backyard. 

leave a love note for the bride

croissants, cheese, lemonade, fresh fruit, mimosas, hard-boiled eggs

dan loves lizzie and lizzie loves dan

red velvet and funfetti cupcakes. lizzie's favorite!