Chicago is my second favorite big city (SF, of course, being number one, and NYC holding third place) in the U.S., and I am sad to report that in the two years since moving to the Midwest, Kevin and I had never made it back to Chicago until last weekend.It's only a 6 hour drive (which, for two people previously accustomed to semi- regularly making the 6 hour drive between the Bay Area and Ventura County, is nothing), and we have a few friends who live there, so you'd think we would have made it out there at least a couple of times in the past two years. Well, no time like the present to remedy that, right?
We left the Twin Cities at around 5:30 on Friday evening, full or energy (we love road trips, and spent the 6-hour drive rocking out to music on our iPod - I am an excellent air-drummer, ask Kevin), and were in Chicago by 12:30 am. We stayed up for a couple of hours catching up with Holly and Jesse (whom we know from our days in Ithaca), and then were up early on Saturday morning to take Owen to his toddler gymnastics class, which was totally adorable. Owen is almost 2, and is a seriously great little kid - super sweet, cute, smart, talkative, and very fun to be around - and Kevin and I both enjoyed hanging out with him and his awesome parents. After gymnastics, the men went on an 8-mile run along the lakeshore, and then the five us set out to explore Millenium Park. It was a gorgeous spring day, there were loads of people out and about, and live music to boot - a great afternoon! I was having some serious "Oh man, oh man! I wish we lived Chicago!" pangs, but I got through okay.
That evening the four of us adults met up with five other former Johnson School people for dinner in the Oak Park neighborhood, at a delicious Mexican restaurant (margaritas and fish tacos!), and had a great time catching up on what everyone's been up to since graduation ( marriages, babies, divorces, trips, new jobs, lost jobs, adventures). My good friend, Emily, and her husband Tyler, were there, and it was great to see them - especially since Em is about 4 months pregnant now! After dinner, Holly and Jesse took Kevin and me out for beers at a great bar near their neighborhood, the Hopleaf.
Sunday morning, we hung out down by the lake, took some silly pictures, and then took the El to Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs take on the Astros. It was Kevin's and my first trip to Wrigley (and O's too), and we loved it! It's such an awesome venue, and I think we'll definitely be back some time this summer. After the game, we said goodbye to our awesome hosts, and then hit the road to make it back into Minneapolis by 12:30...whew! The drive home was uneventful, besides the bummer of a speeding ticket we got somewhere in the middle of Wisconsin (BUMMER!). Despite the ticket, it was a great trip with great friends and we are already making plans for another get-together with Holly, Jess, and Owen (Yellowstone?!).
Here are some pictures from the weekend (to see them all, look here, and here) - enjoy!
i love your hair blooooonde!! also i have that same black shirt that your wore with your orange cardigan!
ReplyDeletelove you!