Who can turn the world on with her smile? MARY!

This past Thursday I got to meet fellow blogger, Fightin Mad Mary from THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT . She is even more lovely, funny, warm, stylish, pretty, and FABULOUS in person than she is on her blog. I have been reading Mary's blog for over a year now. She writes about restaurants (she lives in L.A. so she has access to all kinds of cool restaurants), makeup, Trader Joe's, her dog Day-Z, consumerism, stores, people who spy on dog walkers, Toys for Troops, Runyan Canyon, clothes, fragrance, all her delightful friends and family, nail polish, etc ---which just happen to be all things I love to read about. Mary is in Chicago for work, so I was so excited to get to meet her.

This is Mary and me in the Signature Room Lounge bathroom...yes bathroom. It is serioulsy one of the best views of the city. I would live in that bathroom if I could. The Signature Room Lounge is on the 96th floor of the John Hancock building and has sweeping views atop the city of Chicago--the bathroom is all glass so the view is incredible. This photo has a strange green cast, and is slightly blurry, but it is the best out of the bunch. A very nice girl visiting Chicago from Canada took about 5 photos for us and they were all blurry and not good. Not that I am saying people from Canada are bad photographers, I am just sayin'.

Here are 2 other photos from the Signature Room Lounge taken about 3 weeks ago. I took these photos and they are not blurry. Not to state the obvious, but I am not from Canada--again--I am just sayin'.

Mary and I laughed and laughed and visited and visited. Mary has a very cool and interesting job so I had tons or questions for her. I hope I did not annoy her with all my queries. We also had a couple of lovely libations. The Signature Room Lounge is known all across the country for their award winning Sidecar Martini....or Sidebar Martini depending on how many you have consumed.

The Sidecar Martini is a delicious drink--very refreshing for a late summer night. Here is the recipe courtesy of Giada de Laurentiis which she got from The Signature Room Lounge when she visited last year.

SIDECAR MARTINI

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

1 lime, zested

1 lime wedge

10 ounces cognac (recommended: Hennessy)

4 ounces Triple Sec liqueur (recommended: Cointreau)

4 ounces sweet and sour mix

4 ounces Limoncello 2 ounces lime juice

Ice

Instructions: Chill 4 martini glasses. In a small shallow dish combine the sugar and the lime zest. Run the lime wedge around the rim of each glass. Dip in the sugar and zest mixture.

If you try a Sidecar Martini, I hope you get to enjoy it with someone as great as Mary.

Thanks Mary, I had a wonderful time. Enjoy the rest of your time in Chicago!

Lovely day to all!