Saturday, July 18, 2015

Exploring Chicago

We got to enjoy Chicago last weekend for Nick's cousin's wedding - it was a great trip! Here it is in photos (buckle up, there are quite a few:)):

The happy couple! They had a beautiful garden wedding - it was such a neat atmosphere. 



We ate amazing food at the reception restaurant (90 mile Cuban cafe). It was such a blessing! This was the one weekend I was worried about on the whole30, and this food made it so much easier. They had delicious beef medallions, chicken and veggies we were able to take leftovers of, which helped provide many meals for us in Chicago! Thank the Lord for that food. This was an avocado salad they had too - so good! I used olive oil and salt + pepper as the dressing (I haven't found a dressing yet without sugar, so this is my go-to).

After we enjoyed food and company, we all went over to an archade bar which was seriously fun. Pacman, foosball, air hockey, old school pinball machines.. what's not to like?!

We got to enjoy a Cubs/White Sox game with some of his family Sunday. It was great, and the Cubs won! 
 



Wrigley is beautiful every time. It's just an experience to be in that stadium. 



My whole30 snacks at the ball park:) I had a sliced apple or pear (can't remember which. Or maybe it was an orange?!) too - yum! 


I loved the views from our seats. 

In the upper left corner of this photo (above the tree line), you can see a couple of sailboats sailing on Lake Michigan. It was so cool to watch them sail by while watching the Cubs game!

I took a video of everyone singing Go Cubs Go - the best tradition when we win at Wrigley! Here's the link to the video if you don't see the video.

We ate dinner with Nick's fraternity brother (also named Nick:)) and his girlfriend at Umami, which was delicious! I had a burger (no bread) with caramelized onions, a side salad and pickled veggies to share. They had looked up some options for me to help know where to eat out. It was so thoughtful, and they made a great choice! 

The Nick's at their place ;) 

Movie in the park on a Sunday night. So charming!

 I loved seeing the buildings around town. The ivy covered ones are my favorite! 

Our first airbnb experience was great - the place was so nicely decorated and well kept! 

 Monday was our open day to explore the city - and explore we did! This was inside of Eatily, where I grabbed an apple to enjoy with my almond butter, and a cold glass or orange + mango juice (no sugar added;)). It hit the spot! It was a neat place to explore - we were glad our friends recommended it. There is lots of italian foods for those who can eat them! Even fun treats like Italian chocolate and gelato.

We walked all around downtown! 

Chicago river running through downtown


The courtyard of a beautiful vine-covered church

The magnificent mile. We were getting quite exhausted by this point;)

THIS is where we shared a moment with a celeb family ;) haha, we saw Giuliana and Bill Rancic with their son in front of this building! Here's a pic of them from a while back in case you don't recognize the name:

All of us were standing in the general area (we were figuring out which public transportation would get us home on our phones) when I realized who it was. When they walked by us, G had big sunglasses on, but Bill didn't seem like he was being too discreet- he had Duke over his shoulder making him belly laugh. It was really sweet! I get star struck anytime I see anyone like that, but it made me realize they were just trying to be a family on an afternoon walk. A cool moment:) 

 The beach of Lake Michigan was neat to see too! I hadn't seen it before. The place we spotted the Rancics was across the street from this area. 




 Enjoying tasty food at the end of our long day back at our airbnb. Leftovers from the wedding with a side salad I grabbed at a convenience store (I tossed the dressing and just used olive oil - we couldn't find salt & pepper haha, it was still fine).


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