Sunday, June 11
Today was a hot, sunny summer day, so we treated the girls (and knocked off another bucket list item) by getting the pool out for the first time. This is, I think, our fourth summer with the pool, and it has been well worth the investment. While the girls played, Josh and I got some gardening work done, including replanting some corn, fixing up the rest of the tomato cages, and weeding.
Monday, June 12
Tonight, Josh let the girls unwind with some Lego City (he's teaching them how to play, and it's hilarious). I decided to use my extra time by taking a bath. Winston, as he is wont to do, followed me into the bathroom to see if he could score a few drips of water from my fingers. He's done this since he was a kitten, and his intensity hasn't lessened in the 13 years I've had him. He is a good, if persistent, kitty.
Tuesday, June 13
Today I had the opportunity to work from home. It's so nice to have that option, particularly when it seems I'm being pulled in 15 different directions most days. I started working around 6, saw Josh and the girls off, and was kept company by the critters for most of the morning. Chappu even ventured to the half wall (quite uncommon). Once he disappeared back behind the gate, Yuna took up her usual position in the chair and snoozed quite happily for most of the day.
Wednesday, June 14
Today was busy and eventful. My morning consisted of preparing for and then attending a meeting one of my projects had with upper level management (no pressure, haha), which went well, and then I headed to lunch with my old work group, where I got to see Jim and Susan, whom I both miss so much since their respective retirements. I was lucky enough to score a close parking spot on my way back in, which turned out to be particularly fortuitous when a very strong storm hit about 10 minutes before I left to get Josh. Driving was a stressful ordeal, since for much of the drive I couldn't make out the lines in the road and, when I could, could tell I wasn't actually driving on pavement. We made it to my mother-in-law's thankfully without incident, though we saw several trees and limbs down on our way. When we made it home, we found little damage, but our power was out and remained as such for most of the evening. The girls busied themselves playing upstairs and then picked berries outside after dinner, and then we took a drive around town to survey the damage, hoping our power would be restored by the time we got home. No such luck. The girls settled down to bed, and as they were falling asleep, the power came back on, briefly, went out again, and finally came back on for good around 9:30. It was quite a day!
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| I asked Elaina to pose. This was what she gave me. |
Thursday, June 15
Today was a day Josh and I have been looking forward to since last September. After dropping the girls (and the dog) off at Rita's, we headed for the train station, on our way to Chicago to see
Hamilton.
Josh made sure we were well supplied with snacks.
We got to Chicago at about 10:40 and walked to our hotel, where, thankfully, our room was ready and we were able to check in. Then, it was time to hit the road. Our first stop was
The Haymarket brewpub, where we both enjoyed a flight and a tasty lunch (a pizza for Josh, a Cuban for me). After lunch, we had our first experience with Lyft, which made us both feel a bit like country bumpkins, but thankful that we could catch a ride with someone who actually knew where she was going. We went to the
National Museum of Mexican Art. The modern displays were interesting (protest signs were my favorite exhibit), but we enjoyed the ancient relics more.
When we finished up at the museum, we grabbed another Lyft (our driver was from the same town in Mexico where Josh's uncle Angelo lives now--small world!) and headed down to the Water Tower Place mall and Michigan Avenue to do some shopping and guffawing at some of the ridiculously priced wares. We found a skillet on sale for the low, low price of $699; the same store had cookie cutters for a buck. We didn't buy much, but we had a very enjoyable time looking at things we would never justify spending money on, and exploring Michigan Avenue and its various architectural wonders. We stopped for a quick dinner and finally made it back to our hotel; my pedometer had logged about 18,500 steps--no small feat, considering we had more walking to do.
We got back to the hotel around 5:30, plenty of time to get ready for the show. Josh tried to get a nice picture of us before the show, but the room logistics weren't cooperative (he got an A for effort, though), so we made due and left a smidge before 7:00 to get to the theater. We walked down about 6 blocks when I finally spotted a sign for Hamilton, and from there my excitement only grew. The crowd outside was as diverse as the cast, but all of us were excited to take pictures with the signs and get inside where the magic happens. We made our way inside and to our seats, and it was upon seeing the stage that the perm-grin settled on my face and barely left for the remainder of the evening. It was an amazing, amazing show. So rarely are things live in your hope and imagination experienced in real life without a twinge of disappointment that all was not what you thought it would be, but this was one of those times. I loved every single minute.
Friday, June 16
After yesterday, I could have gone home happily, but as luck would have it, we had another fun day in store. Our morning started off fabulously by sleeping in (past 5:30, anyway), and we discussed our agenda over the continental breakfast. We decided to make today a bit more or a "Serranos Do Chicago" day and hit up some of the better known tourist traps. Our first stop was a few blocks over to the
Willis Sears Tower, where we headed up 103 floors to the sky deck. If I thought for a moment my fear of closed in spaces had dissipated, I was sadly mistaken and spent most of the 60 second ride to the top praying silently and squeezing the blood out of Josh's hand. The views from the top were, as expected, quite spectacular. Perhaps not worth the $23 a pop spectacular, but worth doing at least once.
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| A teensy spider enjoying the view |
Once our feet were back on terra firma, we walked back to the hotel to drop off a few unnecessary items and then called a Lyft to take us to
Revolution Brew Pub. The ride was a little bit terrifying--we ended up driving into oncoming traffic a mail truck jammed halfway across both lanes--but we made it safely. The brewery is situated in strongly Latino neighborhood, so we breathed in the smell of fresh corn tortillas as we enjoyed our lunch--mussels and arugula pizza with a lemon-infused olive oil (delish).
We walked down a couple of blocks to
Gaslight Coffee and bought a bag of beans to go, which scored us a free small drink (3030 should really take the approach of roasters in St. Louis and Chicago and do the same), and then grabbed another Lyft to take us to Navy Pier.
Most of the locals we talked to said Navy Pier is something you do once, and they were right. Most things were exorbitantly priced (think of the fleecing you experience at a local fair, and multiply it), and the one exhibit we wanted to see, the stained glass museum, had been moved. We walked our way over to Millennium Park, rested in the shade for a bit, and cooled off in the tower fountain. We decided to wander back to the hotel with minimal direction, stopping in whatever stores caught our fancy. This included a Target that had an escalator inside, and a Sketchers store where Josh finally found the casual shoes he'd been looking for. The only minor disappointment was not finding an ice cream shop for a cool treat, but otherwise it was a perfectly lovely afternoon.
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| My most favorite plant on all the earth...the coffee plant |
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| Obligatory bean shot |
After a busy afternoon, we finally made it back to the hotel to shower and get ready for dinner with Josh's friend, Matt, and his wife, Maddie. They gave us the real local treatment, including dinner at a great neighborhood restaurant,
Daisies, drinks at
The Whistler, a cocktail bar, and a quiet evening at their home where we enjoyed their patio, their sweet dog Lola, and time together. It was a very good end to a very good day.
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| Matt and Maddie |
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| Paparradelle with mushroom rags |
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Carrot Rillettes
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| Dusk at The Whistler |
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Saturday, June 17
Today Josh and I celebrated our 11th anniversary. We slept in, had a quick breakfast, and lazed around the hotel until it was time to check out. We walked to
Cruz Blanca, Rick Bayless's new restaurant, which had, in Josh's words, "the best taco I have ever had". We're already trying to find was to replicate some of its magic at home, but the restaurant itself is already on our list for a return trip later this year, if the stars align. After relaxing at the restaurant a bit, it was time to head to Union Station to grab our train back home. The return train was nicer, so we stretched out a bit and napped on the way home. We met the girls at Josh's grandpa's, where the family was had a cookout for Father's Day, and then came home to relax together. It was a nice end to a great weekend.
