More Fun!

I have had a fun weekend!

Ruben and I went out Friday night to see the Chicago Golden Gloves Championship bouts. I was excited, because I have never been to a boxing tournament and was looking forward to see exactly what the boxers do. I actually learned a lot!

We became more interested in the Golden Gloves, when Ruben started boxing with a friend named Tony. They got together and would practicing their boxing techniques in the ring. Through Tony, Ruben met a boxer named Dana, and he invited Ruben to come and work out with him at his gym. So, for the past few weeks Ruben has been getting his butt kicked in these strenuous workouts for champion boxers! It's awesome!

Dana was prepping for his championship bout at the Chicago Golden Gloves. So, we went to support him!
Ruben got some great shots of the night! He has these and more posted at http://www.flickr.com/photos/boxingbass/.

Here's me, looking silly, and hanging out before the fights started.

Here's the view from our seats.

We saw about 6 fights before Dana's. One of my favorites was in the girls division.

These girls rocked! And the girl on the right won the bout! I learned that the fighters who won, weren't the ones who went out there swinging and trying to hit as hard as they could. They were the ones, who observed, avoided, & popped. It was interesting.

This is Dana, he's with his manager (the tall guy in the back)-The Fonz but Ruben calls him Alfonzo. :)

This is a great shot! Dana was great at avoiding punches and delivering one at the same time.

All the hard work, and Ruben beatings paid off! Dana Won!

What a blast!

On Saturday I went to the Chicago History Museum with my friend Jane. She lives out in the suburb called La Grange Park, and she drove in to my house and from there we went to lunch then the museum. There is an exhibit there called ChicChicago. It's about fashion design through history with dresses of famous designers that were owned by Chicago women. I was able to get a free pass through the public library. It's a really awesome service they provide. So we were able to get in with out paying a penny! We were not able to photograph the exhibit, but were so glad to be able to hang out and spend some time together.

These are some of the dresses that we saw on the exhibit. The one on the right is Paul Poiret "Sorbet" evening gown, 1913. Middle dress is Charles James, "Butterfly" ball gown, 1954. Finally, a Halston, evening gown 1976.

I love how you can see a change with in the designs through out the years.

Today Ruben is playing in a bass recital. One of his fellow bassist at DePaul asked him to play in a ensemble piece for his recital. So, I'll be there supporting their playing.

Who could ask for more?

Hope that everyone is having a wonderful day!

Finally! Spring!!

Greetings from Chicago! Finally this month we are experiencing some sunshine. However, it's still with some cool temperatures. April is becoming a busy month, with some project or event planned for every weekend, which is so much fun!

Ruben and I finally have finished our bedroom, by painting the last wall and fixing our hanging clothes. One thing that is unique in our place, is that we have no closets. So we have to be creative and use armoires and clothing racks. However, the current clothing rack was not suiting us, and taking up a lot of room, so we took it out painted the wall and Ruben installed a great chain and poll system.

Here we are getting ready to get started.

We had done a test patch with the color Ruben chose.


And we had the wall painted in about an hour.
After letting it dry for 24hrs. Ruben set out to put up the hanging clothes and I think he did a great job! The only thing we bought, was the chain and hooks. Other than that he used some left over wood and the polls from the former rolling rack that we used. :) I love being eco-conscious.

This set up gives us a lot more room, in our tiny bedroom! It's a vast improvement!!!

We did this in time for a special visit from my longest friend!

Last weekend Ashley Dunagan came to Chicago with her date Chris. I haven't seen her since last summer, so it was great to have her in my town! Below is a pic of her and Chris at the 31st Street Beach with the skyline behind them. This is the beach that Heather, Lindsay and I went to during their visit. However, it was 40degrees last weekend, and definitely not a good idea to go swimming.

They also came by and saw our house. Chris had never seen or heard a bass before, so Ruben played a little for them. It is always nice to have friends and family over to see the place. We're really pleased with it, and love how it completely embodies our style. Plus having company definitely encourages me to make the house look great! I love that kind of motivation. :)

Here's us chatting in our living room.

That night we all went to dinner at a great fondue place downtown called The Melting Pot. Here we are having a drink at the bar. It is obvious that Chris is from Austin, isn't it? :)

I love this pic of Ash and I.

Dinner was amazing! It was a 4 course meal! Starting with a cheese fondue served with veggies and apples and bread for dipping. Whats cool is that the burners are right on the table, and they fix the cheese right there in front of you, and keep the burners on to keep the fondue warm. Next they served a salad. The main meal consisted of a pot of oil and a pot of broth (flavors that we chose.) Then they brought raw meat to our table, which we pierced with the forks and cook in the boiling oil and broth. It's so much fun, cause it's an interactive meal! We got to try the meats cooked in the different flavors, and it was so good! Last was the desert meal, which is a chocolate fondue pot. served with all kinds of sweet things to dip in! Chris and I aren't the biggest fans of chocolate, but the dippers were good! :)

I love this shot below, cause Ashley took it just as Ruben had dipped into the chocolate, and you can see it dripping down in the shot! Plus I think we look cute! (he he)

Here's Ash and I together at the end of the evening. Coats and hats and scarves were definitely needed that evening!

The next morning Ashley and Chris met us for a late breakfast at Ruben and mines favorite place, the Windy City Cafe. When you visit Chicago, more than likely we will take you to this place!

Breakfast was good, and so was the conversation! It was really great to spend a couple of days with Ashley!