Morning!  I have today off in anticipation of going to Dallas tomorrow for my nieces wedding!  My brother wrote one of my favorite posts about his oldest daughter leaving for college – you can check it out here.

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I am sure my SIL Laura and brother are like “how did my baby get so big!”  It seems like one day you are walking them to their first day of school, and in a blink you are watching them get married.  I am looking forward to seeing everyone and the weather is supposed to be sunny and 70 – I’ll take it!

Because this is what it was like yesterday – cold, windy and rainy.

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Since yesterday was my Friday, my sister and I met an old co-worker of hers for lunch at State and Lake Tavern next to the Wit Hotel.  I ate a protein bar and coffee on the train ride to work, because I knew I was going to have to try their burger.  Their Tavern Burger is described as “cheddar cheese, old style caramelized onions (nope!), red wine and cracked peppercorn mayo, pickles, lettuce, on a toasted bun.”

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Here it is all together:

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This burger makes my Top 5 burgers I’ve had in Chicago!  Perfectly seasoned beef patty, cooked medium rare, soft bun and the pickles and the cheddar cheese were just the icing on the cake.  So good!  I only ate half the burger, a few fries and used 2 ounces of the fries to make a breakfast frittata.  #leftoverqueen!

I still left work on my desk, and realized it would still be there on Monday.  Even after taking today and tomorrow off, I still have two more days to take, but I may just take a couple Friday’s off before Christmas to make my family gift baskets this year.  I owe my cousin Lynn pepper jelly, I’ve talked about sending her some for over a year now!

I will not be blogging tomorrow, but you can follow my stories and pics on Instagram if you want – my bizzy kitchen over there too.

I hope you have a great weekend – almost Thanksgiving!   Make it a great day!