The newest member of our group... the WIENER WHEEL!!!

Meet Walter the Wiener Wheel!!

Dear to our hearts, this little fellow was left in the middle of the road to fight for his life. Thankfully as we left Luke's, our day took a turn for the awesome, because we found him stranded and decided he would become part of our group. I lept out of the car, and if anyone from up above was watching, they were able to witness a 2011 version of Frogger, live in action. Weaving in and out of semi's, women on bicycles, hot air balloons, and heavy jet stream.... I was able to rescue Walter from the road and toss him in to the car. Remnants of oil, crap, garbage, and dirt stained my jeans and the back of Amys car... but it was well worth it. We gained a wheel. A wiener wheel.

Oh Walter, you're so funny! 

The Wiener Wheel will be passed down to a member of the group each week - there is no set standards, requirements, or specifications. Sometimes it's the best order, sometimes its the dedication, sometimes its the gossip they bring to the lunch table. It's up in the air for now...as well as also sitting in Renee & I's office. Come on by and wish Walter the Wiener Wheel a warm welcome!

Luke's of Chicago

Truth be told, this last WW doesn't stand out among the crowd. We were one chode man short (Renee, again) and everything was a tad on the greasy side. Grease doesn't necessary = bad, in most cases.... grease = good. But, I should have known we were in for a wild ride when Zach's hot dog came out first, and as he walked to the counter to grab some napkins, his hot dog had dripped grease down his plate, onto his chair, and then down to the floor. It kind of reminded me of that song "On top of Spaghetti... all covered with cheese... I lost my poor meatball, til somebody sneezed"... except we are talking about the meat, not the potatoes (wieners, not balls.) But it was covered with cheese, and the grease drippings for SURE rolled down onto the floor. Nobody had to sneeze though, this all occurred on its own doing.

Amy ordered a bratwurst, only to take a bite and remember... she doesn't even like bratwursts. Minus one for her.


Alex & Sara ordered the Maxwell Sweet Polish - it came with grilled onions & sweet peppers, with spicy mustard. Alex seemed to enjoy hers... I thought mine was so so and ate more of the crinkle fries than I did anything else on my plate. 

Ashley ordered the Chicago Dog in its pretty little sesame bun (always a good decision).


Zach ordered an Italian Sausage on a toasted buttered french baguette, with melted cheese (again, he always wins for the best looking hot dog).

I'm wrapping this one up short & sweet - because I don't have too much to say about it. In all honesty... and this goes against my hot dog policy, but if I were to ever visit this establishment again, I would order the meatball sub on a toasted roll with melted provolone with fresh parmesan. Yes, I would order the balls over the wiener. Whatever. :)

Luke's: 5.5 / 10

Hotdog at the Happiest Place on Earth

As we've already established... hot dogs are one of the small luxuries in life. On top of our minor obsession with these wonderful wieners (and Costco, again... already established), I am obsessed with The Happiest Place on Earth. There is no better feeling than running around 107 acres of the Magic Kingdom, full of Disney Princesses, Characters, Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, It's a Small World... and so much more. Stepping inside of this enchanting park is like transporting to a mesmerizing world of fantasy - something, no matter how old you get, can never change or be taken away from you. It's magnetic, imaginary, and downright blows my mind each time I go. Since 1971 this place has left its footprint in hearts around the world.

A couple weeks ago I got the chance to visit Disneyworld & the Magic Kingdom with my beautiful family. We entered the park the second the mystical gates opened, and hit the ground running.

Within a few short hours, we had hopped on and off (sometimes multiple times) our favorites rides, before the crowds took over. By noon, we were famished. Our feet had taken us on a magical 7 mile journey, and we needed to feed our poor bodies with something other than happiness and laughs. My parents & my husband (now you all will understand why I married this man) immediately took off towards the hot dog grille. Not to be outdone, I jumped ahead of the line and felt my stomach flip-flop. Could it be true? I was ordering a hot dog, at the happiest place on earth. Cinderella's fairy godmother must have been looking over me that day, not poor Cinderelly. What a dream! We placed our order, hit up the condiment station, and found a table to drool over our delicacies.

Low and behold, my hot dog was ice cold. "Nooooooooooooooooooo" I screamed as I fell to the floor of the Magic Kingdom. (I could have majored in drama if I had so chosen). Sirens went off in my head and I slightly blacked out, as my Disney Wiener Dreams vanished before my tear filled eyes. But, with the wave of a wand, Cinderella's Fairy Godmother was back, with a vengeance. I knew there was a reason I placed an order for two lunches for myself. I quickly grabbed the corn dog bites, and smiled. All was right in the world... these were the most amazing things I'd ever eaten. Crunchy on the outside, (warm) and delicious on the inside. Corn dog bites sprouted Minnie Mouse ears to grow on my head, and I bounced off like Tiger to watch the 3pm parade.  

Disneys Dogs: 7.75 / 10

Costco Cashes In

With limited time and a limited budget, Costco is my new best friend. Well, let me clarify. Costco has always been my best friend. When I first started dating my now-husband, he thought it was strange that I squealed like it was Christmas morning when it was time to hit up Costco. It is absolutely my favorite place to shop - I get lost with large puppy eyes in the aisles shelving wine, cookies & toilet paper  - all sold in packs of 100, so my days were usually set for quite some time. Fast forward a few years, and he's pretty much used to my fascination with the dreamy distribution center.

So when last Monday rolled around and we all sat hungry in our offices wondering what we were going to do for lunch - Costco came to mind. Where else can you buy a hot dog and large fountain drink for under $2.99. What a bargain! It's like stealing from the poor.... so wrong, but it feels so right. Costco has this lunch thing in the bag - the line was easily 30 people deep to order their stuffed chicken rolls, pretzels, slices of pizza, and... hot dogs. Ironically, everyone from the group except for myself & Ashley Mullins brought cash, so lunch was on us (the only negative thing I have to say about Costco is the fact that their food line only accepts cash & checks). We ordered 6 hot dogs, 6 drinks, 2 slices of pizza & 1 churro - and the total was a whopping $15.23.

 They have a mini condiment station set up, complete with an onion machine that spits out freshly diced onions.

We were in and out of Costco with lots of time to spare. If I had my way, I would have stayed and skipped down the aisles... throwing things into my basket with glee. Unfortunately, work called... so back we went.


Oh - and for those of you that were confused on why 2 slices of pizza were ordered... it's quite simple. Zach had the brilliant idea of taking the pepperoni & cheese off of the pizza slice, and adding it to his Costco hot dog. It looked incredible. The rest of the group just took a few bites of the greasy pizza, in between bites of our wieners!

And no trip would be complete without their foot long churro.
Warm cinnamon... mmm.

COSTCO - 9.0