I'm going to Graceland

Tonight I'm hopping on the late night train and by the time I wake tomorrow I'll be spending the weekend in my favorite city. I can't wait for some good ole Memphis love! Every time I turn on the radio a song about Memphis is playing and every time I watch the food network Memphis restaurants are featured. Needless to say, the thought of being in Memphis has been teasing me all summer and now I finally get to go back to that wonderful city! What are your plans for the last weekend in July?!

Taste on Taste on Taste

The Taste of Chicago is always a good time! Even when you have to limp and lag behind everyone else as a result of a stupid orthopedic boot that you have to wear because you sprained your ankle ;) My dad, Luke, and I went together and nommed up a storm, which is why I didn't take too many pictures of the food! My favorite tastes we had were BJ's Market & Bakery Mustard-Fried Catfish (my favorite for the past 6+ years) and the Tamales from Carbon Live Fire Mexican Grill. Unfortunately, I don't have photos of those tastes since we ate them so fast! Here are a few shots from our short, gimpy morning at the Taste and here is a post from last years Taste of Chicago!

 Can you see an orange theme here (^^ and below)?! Above: Panades from Garifuna Flava. 

The guy demanded we take a picture with him :)^^ Cafe Vienna's Schnitzel

Kentucky style vinegar based BBQ sauce - Pulled Pork Sandwich from Wishbone

Key Lime Cheesecake!

Downtown Sound - Dawes

This past Monday, Luke was home for a quick 24 hours (he was in between vacations - that lucky man). We tried to make the most of it and went downtown for Chicago's Downtown Sound, which is when the city hosts free concerts at Millennium Park all summer long. This week Dawes was playing and I couldn't have been more excited since I had never seen them before! We packed a picnic, made a date of it, and enjoyed the short time we had together :)

The weather started like this ^^ and it rained a little at first, but we didn't let that ruin the concert!  

My semi-beautiful and clearly staged picnic photo ^^ And what our picnic really looked like...

The 4th & More

Oh hey everyone! It's been a while hasn't it?! Life has been a little nutso lately - my sister and friends came into town, the 4th of July flew by, Chicago Gay Pride Parade took place, and I got a promotion and a raise at work! Woohoo!! So here are a few pictures from the past two weeks.

The fourth of July in my hometown is the most amazing day of the year. The whole town is out celebrating and enjoying the holiday. It's a mixture of a seeing old friends, partying, watching a HUGE parade, and finally fireworks at the pier. This year my sister and a few of our friends came into town for the 4th, which made the day even better! We decided to end the holiday weekend at a Cub's game - and what is super awesome is that the tickets we bought off craigstlist came with free t-shirts! Right now I'm attempting to recover from this crazy, fast paced weekend! What did you all do this holiday weekend?!