Hi! My name is Angie and I just got back from a trip and I STILL have a spilling problem!

So, we just got back from a fabulous trip to Illinois to see our dear, dear friend Allen and his absolutely adorable bride, Lindsey get hitched! We met Allen while Andrew was at BOLC III/OBC in Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD. After BOLC III, he ventured to Ft. Hood where we quickly became good friends and I grew quite fond of our weekly cook-outs. Allen is now out of the Army and has moved back to Illinois. I know our paths will likely not cross often but I will always be grateful to the Army for bringing such a dear friend into our lives.

Let me start by saying that I love traveling and in particular I love experiencing regional cuisine. OK, I'll go ahead and say it...I'm a foodie! I *heart* food! I like to try new foods and experience different cultures through their food. Sometimes this works out...sometimes it doesn't (i.e. my cream of asparagus experience this weekend).

Before we left for Chicago I told Andrew that if we are in Chicago and I don't get to try a deep-dish Chicago style pizza, I was going to be VERY, VERY sad! And of course my husband doesn't want me to be sad (and in truth, he probably really wanted to try the pizza too) so he agreed. We asked some native Illini about must eat pizza joints and they suggested Lou Malnati's. http://www.loumalnatis.com/
And I will admit, it was probably one of the best pizzas I have ever eaten. Every bite, was scrumptious. My mouth is actually watering a little right now just thinking about it. The anatomy of a Chicago deep-dish pizza is a little different than traditional pizza. They start with a thick, crunchy crust (we are talking really crisp crust....like need to use a knife crisp), then pile on fresh mozzarella, romano and I think I might have tasted cheddar too, then the toppings (they were famous for their sausage...so of course we had to try it) THEN the pizza sauce, which was thick and chunky and delicious. I made Andrew document my first bite....man was it good!
If you are ever in Chicago, you have got to try the pizza. Lou's gets 5 stars from me, but I'm not saying there aren't other great deep-dish pizza places out there...in fact, I believe that it may require an additional trip to Chicago to research which pizza place does in fact have the best pizza.

And finally, because admittance is the first step, the weekend did not completely go spill free....after all no weekend would be complete without the dreaded Angie spill. And it had to happen with the worst possible drink to spill......RED WINE.....Merlot to be exact! Thats right folks, I spilled red wine all over myself. But not just any glass....er...plastic cup I should say, a freshly refilled cup of red wine! I spilled a freshly refilled cup of red wine all into my lap! I have a problem....a big, BIG, spilling problem! The good news is that my dress camouflaged the red wine, so despite being a little damp and sticky...it was as if the spill never happened at all...or so I will keep telling myself!