tonight, i was excited to meet up with a long distance friend, linh.

i had just flown in from d.c. {more on that later!} this morning.  so i was happy to be able to make it to dinner with everyone!

linh lived a brief moment here in chicago.  i mean brief.  she moved here from arizona and quickly returned back after a few months…why, you ask?  it was because she moved here to chicago in the dead of winter {and one of the worst winters we had experienced in awhile}!!!!!  no one not from chicago should move here in the beginning of winter!!!  especially someone from an environment of consistent warm weather!  actually, linh had her reasons, although we try to convince her to move back all the time {we believe summertime in chicago will win her over}!

anyhoo, i was able to meet up with the gang at the little goat.  it was me, my sistas, leyla, and linh.  i was looking forward to trying this place {a spawn from the big sister shop…the ever delicious girl and the goat} as i heard great things about this newbie as well.  i was surprised it was more like a diner {reading about the restaurant would help, hehe}.  the interior was very mod and cozy.  the menu can be a bit overwhelming [honestly, everything looked enticing}.  all the dishes are a la carte and breakfast is served all day {whoop, whoop!!!}, my kind of place!

we finally settled on our choices of entrees and drinks {beer, bellini’s, and kimchi bloody mary’s}.  whilst waiting for our drinks + food, we were being quite daft.  we did a lot of catching up by entertaining each other with our animated stories, we laughed a lot, we amused each other, and bonded with our fab waiter, ezra.

our sumptuous food came and we ate, and ate, and ate.  i ordered the pork belly pancakes {i die} and we shared smoked fries, garlic mashed potatoes, and flavorful mac n cheese.  ugh…so stuffed, so excessive, so damn good!  but we weren’t done!  we topped off our meal with rich espresso and desserts!  i willingly inhaled a tiramisu shake…vanilla gelato, coffee, mascarpone cheese whipped cream, and topped off with chunks of chocolate bits {divine}.

[kimchi bloody mary // sistas // linh // little goat // pretty ladies // pork belly pancakes]

life can fly by if you let it, i like to grab it by it’s wings and savor every moment i can.

it was a great time to catch up with the ladies [manger some good grub] and take a moment out of time to create some more wonderful memories.

xoxo

oh, me + dana.  we are such a funny bunch {if i do say so myself}.

i text her late last night asking her on when and where we were going to meet for brunch {late as in 3am}.  amaaazzzingly, she text me back!  whaaaaa?  dana awake at 3am?!  i figured she was at work late but no matter.  we decided that we were going to enjoy an eating fest at southport grocery.  we had two previous failed attempts {long stories}.

anyhoo, i got up and, again, was surprised dana still hadn’t text me!  it was almost noon {snicker}.  i started getting ready when the sleepy head threw me a text stating that she was getting up {rare for this typical early bird}.  well, the cloud or different planets we were living on this morning {or afternoon if you prefer} caused us to completely miscommunicate!

i’m on my way down ashland, driving along the road listening to some happy tunes when i finally get to my destination.  i parked, walked into the restaurant and got seated.  i text dana that i was there, in back {as in back of the restaurant}.  she texts me, ‘on my way down’.  she then calls me, i pick up the phone and she asks me, “where are you?”.  which i thought was an odd question!  i looked up at the front of the restaurant and i said, “in back of the restaurant!”.  dana had thought that i was going to pick her up!!!  omg, i immediately felt bad {why?  because i seriously do pass her place on my way to the restaurant and could have easily picked her up!  duh!  i should have!}.  she was like ‘no, no…i’m on my way!’.  i really did feel bad, it would have made sense!

a few minutes later {she doesn’t live far}, she arrived at southport and we had a good laugh about it!  we were so thinking different things and totally in our own worlds, not really realizing our communication got totally mixed up!

we ordered a plethora amount of food.  it was hard to streamline our greedy tummies!  dana ordered the bread pudding pancakes and hash and i ordered the baked almond oatmeal with a side of bacon.  lots of juice, lots of coffee, and lots of water.

in the midst of consuming our delicious meal, i tried taking a picture of ms. dana. ugh, she’s a horrible picture poser!  it’s a known fact that this little lady will most likely take a crazy looking photo.  i sometimes have to style her.  i will have to give her directions on what to do.  i have to remind her to not close her eyes.  well, today, i was determine to take a ‘good’ photo of her!  i finally realized one of the reasons she photographs so cray cray is the fact that she doesn’t stop talking!!!  i screamed {well, firmly stated} at her to stop talking and she might actually take a good picture.  that worked.

waiting for dana, note empty chair.

more liquids.

hi pretty.

laughing at the fact that it’s awkward for dana

after our late lunch, dana had plans to spend an hour jumping on a trampoline {yes, you read that correctly} and i had plans to do more errands {yaaaayyyy!}.

overall, a successful day.  i feel complete.  thank you checklist for getting checked off.  muwah.

after the volunteer work, o and i had planned to meet up for brunch.  i drove my way towards wrigleyville and proceeded to shop my time away {if anyone knows olivia, she’s fashionable late!}, until olivia was ready to go.

perusing racks and jumping from shop to shop, she finally met me at paper source {who doesn’t love paper shops?!}.  she helped me select some paper for my upcoming project and off we went to brunch!

we decided on wishbone.  southern style cooking.  an oldie but a goodie and it’s been awhile since we’ve eaten at this yummy, yummy place!  we sat in a booth, by the window, and we were giddy to spend some quality time together.

knowing how we are, we jumped right away on deciding what to order {because, typically, we can’t shut up and pause to pick out what we want to eat!}.  then we talked, and talked, and talked.  we ate our food, we talked some more.  it rained a lot and we talked some more.  we gabbed so much we had nooooooo idea that the restaurant closed at 3 {oh my gosh}!!!!!  they were so kind to let us sit there for an hour after {honestly, we didn’t have a clue}, and finally one of the bus boys said…”we closed at 3 but we open back up for dinner at 5.”!  we jumped from our seats {and giggled on how silly we were}, put on our coats and ran out into the rain.  i drove her home {which was literally 3 minutes away and yes, we drove, it was raining!}.  i doubled parked in front of her apartment and yes, we talked for another 45 minutes!!!!  silly!

we finally said our goodbyes and off i went, home to see my hubby charming!!!  yay!