Half Acre Brewery

Half Acre Beer Co. is a brewing company in the Northcenter neighborhood of Chicago, IL. It's a brewery in the middle of the city where they brew small batch beers as well as a small store.

A year ago, Half Acre decided to open their doors for a brewery tour every Saturday. The brewery is pretty small, so they only allow 60 people in at a time.

They set up a reservation program on their site and within months, they were booked up 3 years in advance. 

They decided to put a halt on the reservation program, but still have to honor reservations up until the last reservation which is July 2012. Because people set up these reservations so early, it's really rare that 60 people actually show up for the event. For that reason, people line up at the door every Saturday morning and see if they can get it. 

We call ahead and they told us in order for us to try and get in, we would have to be in line by 11:30. Thankfully we were apart of the 19 people that were let in, so waiting over an hour in the 85 degree hit was totally worth it!

 

It costs $10 to participate in the tour, however the 10 dollars gets you a glass cup and 3 cups of fresh beer along the tour. 

 

Our tour guide was a really chill, funny guy who walked us through the history and process of brewing at Half Acre.

My favorite fact of the day; Beer is safer to drink than water.

 

 

 The tour lasted a good 2.5 hours and was a perfect Saturday activity. If you are ever in Chicago and have a chance to check it out you won't be disappointed!

Workdrobe

My office dress code is business casual, but I'm not a big fan of dressing like a schlum to work, so I try to keep the jeans and shorts out of the equation. 

I would say I'm one of the dressiest workers on my floor, but my motto at work is, "fake it til you make it" and as a young manager, I feel like dressing up gives me a better sense of confidence.

***

Have a lovely weekend girls. I'm way late for work.....

My NYC Wardrobe

Emergency, Emergency, Emergency.

I am going to NYC in 23 days and basically have no clue what the hell I'm going to wear.

Picking out outfits for trips is one of my absolute favorite parts of traveling. However, when you travel to NYC, it ain't no joke. This is the big leagues girls....and I don't want to look like a tourist.

We will be staying at the W hotel, visiting the US Open, and having some luxurious dinners at Craft and Brasserie . My wardrobe needs to be classy, sophisticated, and stylish.

For the next few days I'm going to show you my fashion inspiration boards for each of the activities we'll be participating in. Below is what I'm feeling for the US Open.

Thoughts?

WILW

• I am loving that the temperatures in Chicago are cooling down significantly. I honestly couldn't handle the +100 degree heat any longer

• I am loving that one of my college besties, Lauren, is coming into the city on Friday. We are going to hit up one of my favorite restaurants in the city, Quartiono's, and just have a great time getting up to speed on each other's lives

 

• I am loving my new boss. He is a breath of fresh air, super positive, very focused and energetic, and someone I can learn a lot from. He is a needed addition and is going to make my entire job 

• I am loving lots of the lots of yummy recipes I've been trying lately. Last nights dinner was our favorite so far; breaded chicken wraps with a cheddar chipotle dressing with a side of corn with cayenne pepper. Yum! 
• I am loving the arm parties I've been hosting

• I am loving that my littlest sister is leaving to go to college on Friday. She is going to be a Wildcat at the University of Kentucky and I can't wait to hear about all of her stories.

Yea, that's my sister.....and she is an incredibly talented artist....remember I told you about "Nellie Tyrrell" here first...

• I am loving leftovers. This is crazy, because I've always hated them....but as an adult, they make life so much easier, taste better than lean cuisine, and cost less than Corner Bakery. You gotta take what you can get!

• I am loving this clean and crisp laundry room

• I am loving that I'm heading to NYC is only 24 days. Plus, I love that I have lots of fun activities planned up until we head out, so it won't feel too long!

• I am loving life these days. Family is good. Health is here. I've got a great boyfriend. I see my friends often and have tons of fun with them. Work is fulfilling (enough). What more can you ask for?
•  

Don't you love that we are half way through the week?

Tasty Tuesday

Since my last post was all about healthy moderation, I thought I'd give you a glimpse of what we've been eating around here.

Let's start with the healthy dish I made on Sunday night to bring over to a friends house. They were having a BBQ and I wanted to bring a fancy, but light, summer salad and this recipe from SkinnyTaste.com totally fit the bill.

Tasty Treat #1. Crab Summer Salad

• 12 oz lump crab meat
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 hass avocado, diced
• 1 hot pepper jalapeños, diced fine (seeds removed for mild)
• 1 can roasted corn kernels
• 1/3 cup chopped red onion
• 2 limes, juice of (or more to taste)
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp chopped cilantro
• salt and fresh pepper to taste

1. In a small bowl combine red onion, lime juice, olive oil, pinch of salt and pepper. Let them marinate at least 5 minutes. 

2. In a large bowl combine chopped crab meat, avocado, tomatoes, hot pepper and corn. Combine all the ingredients together, add cilantro and gently toss. 

***

You really can't make an easier salad. The only adjustments that I made was that I used 2 cans of lump crab ($6/can) and 1 can of white crab ($2/crab). I was able to save some money, and since the white crab was mixed in, it really didn't make a difference.

Ohh...and since I can't chop up a jalapeno pepper, I enlisted a helper

Tasty Treat #2. Cake Batter Krispies

original recipe on the back of the cereal box!

3 tablespoons butter

1  bag of mini marshmallows

1/2 cup yellow cake mix

6 cups rice krispies cereal

sprinkles

Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat and add marshmallows. Stir until they begin to melt, adding in cake mix one spoonful at a time so its combined. Stir in cereal so it is completely coated with marshmallow mixture. Sprinkle in half of the sprinkles and mix. Press into a baking dish (any size will do) and top with remaining sprinkles

***

These are ammmmazing.

Tasty Treat #3. Black Bean Pizza

• 1  15-ounce can  re-fried black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1  cup  thawed frozen corn kernels
• 1/2  cup  chopped red onions
• 1  teaspoon  ground cumin
• 1  teaspoon  chili powder
• 1   avocado, dice half and bake, use other half and slice on top after pizza cooks
• 1 Wheat pizza dough, regular or whole-wheat
• 1  cup  finely shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar

Bake at 425 degrees for 35 minutes.

***

This doesn't exactly taste like "pizza" but it is nonetheless delicious.

Let me know if you try one of these treats - and also if you have a few other recipes for me to try. Like the lovely A.Liz Adventures, I'm really trying to make new recipes every week, so I'd love some suggestions!

Motivating Monday

Sometimes when I know I need a run, and I can't find the energy or the motivation to get my butt out there, I put on some upbeat jams and take to google.

Quotes and sayings inspire me to get out a move.

Putting on my workout clothes is always the first step in actually working out

I'm also a big fan of completing tasks. I like to look at a schedule and be able to physically put an X through the day when I successfully finished my planned run or workout.

When I'm being active and diligant with my workouts, I like to immerse myself in a whole healthy lifestyle. I like to cook reciepes from Skinnytaste.com and check up on daily tips at Fitsugar.com

I am, by no means, a perfect example of how to stay healthy, but with what I'm doing, I get have fun and enjoy being active and eating right, and it allows me to better enjoy the days and meals where I'm not.

Life is all about moderation, no?

Fashion Friday

Remember this outfit that I posted on Wednesday?

Well, all of those pretty pieces are some brand new lovies that I picked up last weekend in hopes of starting to build my NYC wardrobe.

I thought about saving all of the goods, but I honestly couldn't look at a pretty outfit and not take it out on the crowd.

Can I tell you how long I've been looking for skinny, white jeans? Banana Republic was the last place I thought I would find them and when I put them on in the fitting room, I literally squealed - they were totally coming home with me!

Also, can I tell you about these shoes?

See how the leather is 2 different colors? Well, I asked the manager if that was intentional, and she told me it was not, however, that the pair was the last they had in the store.

The difference of color in the leather didn't bother me one bit, and I would have paid full price for them, but she told me should give me a 20% discount. When I got up to the register, the cashier told me they were part of the 40% off sale. When she *incorrectly* added up all of my discounts, the grand total for these puppies was $22.00

No big deal.

Oh, and the top, while I love it, doesn't have a fun story. I snagged it up at the Gap on their 30% off Wednesday.

 Also, Joel is going to make a cameo since I had to snap his OOTD. He picked up a new blazer for NYC from J.Crew and I can't get over how stylish he is looking! We should make a pretty good pair for our trip - and more shopping to come...don't you fret!

Closet DIY

Over the weekend, I had to do something about the top shelf of my closet. 

For the last few months (like 12) the top shelf has been the pit that collects the clothes I don't care about, but want in arms length. Read: Sweats.

Joel tells me that I have a box obsession and for some reason, I felt like I shouldn't spend another $18/box, so I decided to get crafty. 

I had Joel haul up 3 moving boxes from our storage room so that I could fancy them up. After a roll of pretty pink, paisley wrapping paper, I now have 3 pretty boxes on my shelf that hide all of my junk.

 

Pretty handy...and even better when I think about the fact that my closet looks much more organized, and only cost me $2.99

Let It Be

Good morning!

How are you?

It's already half way through the week - and I'm just now getting to my blog for the first time this week! It's been a pretty busy week.

Friday night, Joel and I stayed in to do laundry, and we treated ourselves with some yummy wine and thin crust pizza.

On Saturday morning I woke up and got a manicure.

I went with Essie's summer color "Braziliant"

Can you spot the small chip on my middle finger? Ugh!

Unfortunately, I had to go to the nail salon 3 times on Saturday because my freaking nails kept chipping!

On Saturday night, we had all of Joel's high school friends in town and went out to dinner and to the bars. Sunday included a day at the pool in Crystal Lake and a big family dinner.

On Monday, I was lucky enough to get a chance to see Sir Paul McCartney, play live, at Wrigley Field. I went with an amazing friend, Jenna, and it was honestly the best concert I've ever been to.

Jenna's brother Justin, and his darling girlfriend Amy, joined us at the concert

At 70 years old, Mr. McCartney is one hot dude. He rocked out for over 3 hours, non-stop. Concerts at Wrigley are such an experience, so even though it was hot (and the smell of lots of sweaty bodies was intoxicating) it was an event I'll never forget.

 

Today, I'm getting on the golf course for work....again! Who am I?

Wish me luck.