Chicago, Part II

Chicago, continued...

Lucky for us, the Cubs were in town during our trip. After I discovered this gem in San Francisco last year before the Giant's game, Walker was charged with finding an equally appealing and spirited location for us to eat in Wrigleyville. Much google searching and customer reviewing led him here...

We ordered drinks from our very pretty waitress in a VERY short yellow-plaid kilt and sat back to take in the local flavor of the restaurant. We quickly realized all of the waitresses were very pretty and dressed in the same very short kilt. 

W: "Ohhh, no wonder all the reviews said 'good food, GREAT service'". 

We likened it to a home-grown Tilted Kilt. 

The food was in fact quite good, and after some artery-clogging cheesy fries, wings, and chicken fingers, we headed into Wrigley Field.

The photo may appear to some that we are in fact standing on the field, which would be close to the truth. Thanks to an E&Y Chicago connection, our seats were on Row 3, directly behind third base.

By the 4th inning we looked like this...

Chicago is indeed a very cold and windy place.

Day #4 of vacation started with this place. Any ~2007 AU grads remember it? I must have purchased over 100 of their bagels and cups of Vanilla Hazelnut coffee during my senior year!

We took an architecture tour on the river and it was well worth it. The river runs through the heart of the city and it was a wonderful way to see all of the beautiful buildings Chicago has to offer.

Trump Tower

Chicago Merchandise Mart

Sears Tower

And now a little humor and the perfect way to end our vacation... In an attempt to capture the photo below, I had a little misadventure. This interesting building is at the intersection of North Michigan and Chicago Avenue, a VERY busy and populated area on Magnificent Mile. 

On first attempt I couldn't quite capture the height of the entire building in my camera frame, so I started inching backwards until it came into full view. Suddenly I found myself falling backwards into, you guessed it, a fountain. My husband and his cat-like reflexes caught me before I (and the camera) face-planted, but it did result in one completely soaked and very cold leg (it was in the mid-forties) for the next several hours until I could change. For you Office fans out there, I like to think of it as my koi pond.

For those of you still reading, thanks for letting me indulge the details and photos of our vacation. These posts will be an easy way to remember all the little details of our trip since I'm sure some will fade with time. 

Chicago, Part I

After 5 glorious days of vacation, we have returned south of the Mason-Dixon line feeling rested and refreshed! Even a couple of days of horrendous weather couldn't spoil our time in Chicago. It doesn't get much better than vacationing with your best friend. Walker kept me laughing the whole time and shares my type A personality (and therefore, OCD-tendencies), which makes us excellent travel partners. I took lots (read: way too many) photos, so I can't say for certain how many "Parts" there will be, but here goes...

Our arrival was met with rain, rain, and rain, with some wind gusts thrown in for good measure. Our first priority upon on arrival was food (of course), and what better way to start a Chicago vacation than deep dish pizza? Oh man, the pizza. Deep dish = more CHEESE, which made us happy campers.

That afternoon we took the train (have I mentioned that we mastered Chicago's public transportation system during our stay? Because we did. And it was dirt cheap. And made life so much easier. We were so proud of ourselves.) several blocks north to attend a show at Second City, a famous comedy club that has produced such notables as Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, and Steve Carell, and it did not disappoint. I don't think we stopped laughing the entire time!

We attempted to hit up some local Mexican fare for dinner, and were saddened to learn that people in Chicago do not believe in cheese dip. They have some weird alternatives (i.e., greasy Mexican sausage covered in a poor excuse for cheese), but no where during our entire vacation did we come across the creamy, white queso we are so accustomed to in the South (and believe me, we checked). Ah, I digress.

The next day brought worse weather than day #1, 

so we decided to redeem it as best we could.

Chicago is full of this place, making my husband one happy man (he loves to make pretty faces during solo shots, more of these coming).

Lucky for us, our hotel was a few short blocks away from Magnificent Mile on North Michigan Avenue, home of some of the best shopping in the country (photo taken on a later date when I could pull out my camera without fear of rain damage).

Sunday night we ate here (delicious),

then used our newly acquired public transportation skills and headed out to the suburbs to visit a blast from the past, the Hogan family. For those non-Montgomery folks out there, Brian Hogan was mine and Walker's youth minister during junior high and high school, making a huge impact on both of our lives. His family moved to Chicago the year we graduated from high school, and he now is the worship leader at Wheaton Bible Church. He and his wife Amy's three boys were merely babies when they left, and it was so wonderful to catch up with their sweet family and see and hear how they have grown!

Day #3 of vacation brought SUN, and the chance to finally bring out the camera. Our first stop was Millennium Park...

I introduce you to... the future father of my children...

Let's take a closer look...

Walker lost 15 cool points when he committed this fashion faux pas. Alas, he would not be deterred.

Our next stop was Navy Pier...

Attempt at photo with cool view of skyline, take #1...

Yikes, Walker's hair is tall. Let's try again...

This will have to do. Clearly more takes are not going to help our hair or make the wind go away.

We finished our time at Navy Pier with a taste of home...

For those of you still reading, my apologies for the length of the post. I make no promises that Part II will be any shorter. It will also likely be posted tomorrow, as my week of vacation (and therefore free time) is slowly dwindling.

Until tomorrow...

belated birthday and a quick trip home...

My sweet hubby celebrated the big 2-6 almost two weeks ago. While crazy schedules didn't leave much time for an "I love you and you are the best" birthday post (I owe him one), we did manage to have a wonderful night out to celebrate. We often rate the quality of our celebrations based on the quality of food consumed... Gian Marco's + Laura Self's red velvet cake = five stars in my book!

(I am not typically a huge fan of red velvet, but you better believe not one single slice of this delicious beauty went to waste!)

This past weekend we made a quick trip to Montgomery for a baby shower for Lele. It's hard to believe little Laney Kathryn will be here in just a couple of months!

We swiped a few minutes with my beautiful niece Lauren on Saturday...

Then headed to the shower on Sunday...

Why must weekends pass so quickly?

And in other news, on Friday I will be DONE with my surgery rotation. Ah, how I look forward to sleeping past 4:30 a.m. again!

Happy Easter!

In Christ alone my hope is found,

He is my light, my strength, my song;

this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,

firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!

My Comforter, my All in All,

here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone who took on flesh

Fullness of God in helpless babe;

This gift of love and righteousness

Scorned by the ones he came to save:

Till on that cross as Jesus died,

The wrath of God was satisfied -

For every sin on Him was laid;

Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay

Light of the world by darkness slain:

Then bursting forth in glorious Day

Up from the grave he rose again!

And as He stands in victory

Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,

For I am His and He is mine -

Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,

This is the power of Christ in me;

From life's first cry to final breath.

Jesus commands my destiny.

No power of hell, no scheme of man,

Can ever pluck me from His hand;

Till He returns or calls me home,

Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen as he said. Come see the place where he lay."

Matthew 28:5

Hope everyone has had a lovely Easter!

(We had no idea these beautiful tulips were planted in our front yard. They were quite the lovely surprise to come home to this week!)