Ba Ba Reeba + Spanish tapas

It was an incredibly fun night with old friends at Ba Ba Reeba, an authentic Spanish tapas restaurant with a trendy Lincoln Park scene. John and Karolina, who moved to the City of Bridges, came back to town for the weekend only, so we got together a small group and chowed down on tapas and white peach and red sangria until our bellies were so full and we couldn't sit up straight. We watched a group of sorority girls celebrating a birthday do a chant and circle-dance around the table; reminisced about the 80s and the others couldn't believe that Karolina and I haven't seen most of the classics; discovered that Karolina thought Helen Keller was Marlee Matlin; and learned some new jokes, courtesy of Eliya and John; "these two peanuts walked into a bar, got into a fight. One left assaulted." (Get it? A salted!)  

All in all, a great night!

{ John + Karolina / Ken + Barbie }

{ ... what happens when John gets control of the camera }

{ the Spanish bull! }

{ toasting to friendship with bacon-wrapped dates }

{ assorted meats platter }

{ pulpo }

{ smoked sausages }

{ fried padron peppers with salt }

{ braised short ribs and mashed potatoes }

{ braised lamb, uh-MAZ-ing! }

{ spinach + manchego stuffed mushrooms }

But there's always room for dessert...

{ dessert platter }

{ satisfied smiles }

{ head to toe: Anthropologie blouse, skinny black jeans and leather belt from our trip to Spain,
Steve Madden heels, vintage locket }