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?!

Holiday Parties

There's nothing better than getting all dressed up and going to a holiday party. Allow me put an image in your mind - As you travel to the party you walk along dark streets and gaze at the shimmering holiday lights. Although it is freezing out, you don't feel the chill because you are cuddled up next to a significant other, a friend, or (more realistically) a bottle of wine. Finally you step out of the icy wind and into a warm house filled with laughter and the people you love. What could be better than that?!

Following the holiday party theme, why not reinvent yourself for a holiday party? Have you ever wanted a different shaped nose? Or even different teeth? Maybe you just want a nose ring and are too afraid to get the piercing.You can instantly change up any of these attributes by using fun cups - yup, just cups! As a poured a drink at my friends party I realized all of the cups have different noses, teeth, and lips! So awesome to play around with :) 

Shedd Aquarium

My friend Liza decided to accompany me on the long drive home to Chicago. To celebrate her first time in the big city I decided to take her to my favorite place - the Shedd Aquarium. If you don't know already, I have a large obsession with whales. They are beautiful creatures that both intrigue  and scare the bejesus out of me. The Shedd not only has Beluga whales but it has sea otters, turtles, jellyfish, and basically everything other animal you would want to see - like sharks eeeek! In the midst of our visit we ended up at the holiday fantasea water show where dolphins, whales, and sea lions performed tricks. There were also some visits from carolers, santa, and people dressed like whales and snowmen. It was....weird to say the least. Let me rephrase that, it was a show targeted to children - yeah thats better :)

The dolphins and whales just had babies so there were little nuggets swimming around. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to view them above water (due to bonding purposes) so I have a few blurry pictures of them under water. Just a warning, I took many pictures of the jellies - They are just so photogenic! I'm also sharing a picture from 2011 where I had to opportunity to interact with a Beluga at the Shedd. If you are interested in a experience like that click here!

From 2011-