Friday, February 27, 2009

Chicago Trip, Day Two

Day Two:

The second day we were in Chicago I was able to meet a friend of mine whom I hadn't seen in 5 years. My friend Emily lived on my floor my first year of college at Viterbo, and she is an actress in the local theatre scene down there. We got breakfast and it was so fun to catch up and see her again. She also is the first friend of mine to meet Brian :)

After that we went to Millennium Park, which is a park near our hotel that holds a bunch of different artsy things. They have cool things like two towers of glass bricks that project moving giant faces that spit water during the summer. The faces change to new faces every few minutes. It's hard to describe, and I didn't take this picture, but this is what it looks like:



They also have an outdoor ice skating rink, a music pavillion, and the Cloud Gate, which I refer to as the giant silver jellybean. This jellybean is so cool because you can see the Chicago skyline in it, as well as yourself. We took a lot of pictures here, so these are a few of my favorites:

Self portrait of Brian and I at the jellybean:


Me making faces at Brian (you can see him taking the picture in the reflection):



and this is what the skyline looks like in the bean:



After the park, we went to the Shedd Aquarium. It was so cool to see all the fish, bugs, and reptiles they have there. It was free day though for kids so it was PACKED!! I liked the shark with the saw nose best. We didn't take any pictures here though :( and I really really wish we had some. Oh well.

That night we just relaxed and got authentic deep dish chicago pizza for dinner. Later on we ventured to 7-11 because I wanted a slurpee so badly (we don't have 7-11s anymore around us). I was WIRED the rest of the night. I think its sad that on trips one of my favorite things is getting food I can't get in Milwaukee ha ha.

Day Three:

The last day we were in Chicago we didn't really have anything planned. We went to Ed Debevick's for lunch, which is a way fun restaurant. Its a 50's style dinner where they sing and dance on the countertops, and all the waiters/waitresses play a role. They'll be rude to you on purpose, or play whatever other character they want. It was way cute and fun.

We went back to the Lego store because I decided I couldn't just get my cousin nothing when he knew full well I was going to the Lego store. So even though they didn't have Batman Legos, they did have tons of other ones, and we bought him a Police Helicopter, and a Policeman with a speed trap type thing. There are tons of legos to play with at the store, and Brian built me a model of my car. It was so cute that I just had to take a picture of it (it was taken with my phone so that explains the bad lighting and such):



After that we just got some dessert at the Cheesecake Factory, and then we pretty much were on our way home. It was such a fun 3 days, and I'm so grateful that Brian took me on this trip. I had a blast, and I can't wait to see what other adventures we can go on!

Chicago Trip (finally) Day One

I have been meaning to write this blog for over a week, but I finally am getting around to doing it.

Day One:

We took the Megabus down to Chicago early Monday morning. The Megabus is a coach bus line that goes to random cities for cheap, depending on how early you buy tickets. We paid about $13.00 round trip for both of us, and it was cheaper in the long run to do that and take taxis in Chicago because parking is about $30-$40 a night. We arrived in Chicago at 10, and check in at the hotel wasn't until 3, but our room was already ready so we got to check in early. The hotel was so neat, but I was sad that there was TONS of construction going on outside. Brian thought it was like a ghost hotel, and I agreed with him on that.

The first day Brian, being the lovely guy that he is, let us go to Panda Express for lunch. There aren't any in Wisconsin in our area and so I got SO excited when there was one right by our hotel. I fell in love with it while in Utah, and so I had missed Orange Chicken a lot. Then we ventured to find the Lego Store because my cousin wants the Batman legos, but we weren't able to find them :( We got to take the Subway everywhere, which to me is fun because it makes me feel like such a city girl.

We went to the top of the John Hancock building, and its like 95 stories tall I think. It was neat to see the city from so far up, and they give you headphones to listen to different clips about the city and such. It was way cool, and most of the pictures didn't work out so well, but here's a cool one I took with my phone of how the city looks from so high up!



Oh and one of the things we learned on the tour is that they clean the windows of the building 4 times a year! I can't imagine being that high up on a scaffolding thing cleaning them. They had a mock thing set up and so here is me being super happy cleaning the windows (yup I know I look like a nerd).



That night Brian took me out to a fancy schmancy dinner, which allowed us to get all dressed up! It was between Flemings (a steak house) and the Melting Pot. I chose the Melting Pot and I am so freaking glad that I did. It was the most delicious food that I have ever had. For those that don't know what it is, its a fondue restaurant. The meal we had was 4 courses, a cheese fondue (that came with bread, apples, and veggies to dip), a salad, main course (shrimp, chicken, filet mignon, veggies, and ravioli with a wine sauce), and a dessert fondue (strawberries, bananas, rice krispe treats, cheesecake, marshmallows, and brownies to dip in chocolate). It was so fun! They made all the fondue dips at your table, and it ended up taking almost 3 hours to complete our meal. Brian even fed me food like they do in movies, and it was so romantic ;) It seriously was one of the best meals I've ever had, and now I'm going to buy a fondue pot so we can have fondue dinners for dates.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

My room is finally finished!

I have been looking for something to go on the wall that my bed is parallel to since May, but I haven't wanted to put anything heavy up because stuff always falls off of that wall. It shakes when doors are opened in my house for whatever random reason. Then I came up with the idea to put vinyl lettering up but I could never find a phrase that I was entirely happy with, or if I found one I liked it would be black and red which would clash with my whole brown and pink and cream theme.

Then yesterday my mom and I went to Kohls and I found the perfect vinyl lettering phrase basically by accident. In addition, it was the perfect colors! It was brown and metallic gold and says "Everyday holds a possibility of a miracle". I love it, and I just had to share how cute it is. Sorry it's not the best picture, but the metallic gold reflects off of the light so I had to be creative. And it looks like the gold part is two different shades, but its all metallicy, it's just the light reflection.

Monday, February 9, 2009

CAUTION: Women are Hazardous!

I found this on a random facebook thing today and I liked it so much I wanted to post it here. Oh and if you click on it another window will open up with a bigger picture that's easier to read.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Another shuffle thing...

1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.
4. Tag 5 friends
5. Everyone tagged has to do the same thing.
6. Have Fun!


IF SOMEONE SAYS 'ARE YOU OKAY' YOU SAY?
Learn to Live-Darius Rucker


HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
Invisible-Taylor Swift


WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Backwards-Kendall Payne (whatever that's supposed to mean ha ha)


HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Man! I feel like a woman! -Shania Twain (haha that's too funny)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Time of My Life -David Cook (works for me!)


WHAT'S YOUR MOTTO?
Even Superman-Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband


WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
All-American Girl-Carrie Underwood (really? well ok if you all think so ha ha).


WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Popular-Wicked (not so much)


WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Your Guardian Angel-Red Jumpsuit Apparatus (actually, I do think of Brian often and this song reminds me of him so that kind of fits).

WHAT IS 2 +2?
Eleanor Rigby-David Cook (haha so 2+2 equals a lonely dead person...that works)


WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Life is a Highway-Rascal Flatts (sweet lets go! Roadtrip! In my car of course, not the rusty wonder).


WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Drama Queen-Lindsay Lohan (yeah far too much drama all the time, pretty much sums it up).

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Real Gone-Sheryl Crow (haha works for me).

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
The Beauty in Ugly-Jason Mraz (hahahhahaha...sad...but Brian is not ugly so this is false)

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Fairytale-Sara Bareilles (aw a bitter girl song, how perfect for a wedding).

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
I Can Only Imagine-Mercy Me (ok thats creepy that that came up for my funeral song).

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Anyone Else But You-Ellen Page and Michael Cera


WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
Don't Blink-Kenny Chesney (there is some truth to that, I'm afraid of life passing me by).

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Stupid Girls-Pink

WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?
Nothin' Like the Summer-Carmen Rasmussen (yes warm weather please).

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Letter to Me-Brad Paisley

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
I Can Love You Like That-John Michael Montgomery (uh not so much but ok).

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

For all you bread lovers out there...

Ok so I am totally a bread junkie. I can't help it, I love bread, and usually only the bread that's thick and from a bakery. I try to eat whole grain breads but usually they're so dry and gross that I never make more than one sandwich. Well on Saturday my mom and I were at the grocery store and came across these beauties:




(sorry I got the picture from the Arnold's website and its the biggest picture they had).

They're called sandwich thins and they're like a cross between a pita, a hamburger bun, and bread. We got the multi-grain type, but they also come in whole wheat and whole grain white. Let me tell you that they're DELICIOUS. And the best part, they're good for you. They have 5 grams of fiber (20% of your RV for the day), no High Fructose Corn Syrup (it can be hard to find bread without it), they're only 100 calories (which is how much once slice of diet bread usually is), they're cholesterol free, and 0 trans fats (low in fat overall, only 1 gram).

I am in love...granted I can only speak for the multi-grain ones, but the whole wheat ones are next on my list. I like mine with turkey, lettuce, and mustard.

I highly recommend them to anyone :)

Monday, February 2, 2009

Perhaps I watch too much Law and Order....

So last Thursday night when Brian returned home from hanging out with me (I was scared to be home alone and everyone was out of town for the funeral) there was a Jeep parked on his street running. At 9 am the next morning the Jeep was still running, so Brian went to make sure no one was dead in the back. Well there was someone in there, but they were very much alive and just sleeping. Creepy right?

Well then Friday night when Brian got home the jeep also was there...still running...still creepy...

So Saturday rolls around and I go over to Brian's house to get ice cream and play wii. I turned onto his street and as soon as I did this Jeep sped into a driveway, but the car never turned off. Brian told me that was the Jeep he kept seeing, and we ran off to get ice cream. When we drove back onto his street from Molly Moo Cow's ice cream, the Jeep sped off again! It was seriously creepy, and it was creepy enough for Brian to call the cops.

This is where it gets juicy. So he calls the cops and they said they were going to send out a squad car to investigate. Sadly, there was a big pine tree blocking our view of the Jeep from any given window in Brian's house. We then decided to take advantage of the warm weather (ok it was like 35 but that was a freaking tropical heat wave compared to what it had been) and sit on his porch. I felt just like an agent on Law and Order waiting for the rapist/murderer/whatever. Sure enough a cop car comes up (no sirens though, lame) and the Jeep speeds into the same driveway and the cop drives by. The guy then gets out of his car, and I'm thinking he can see us and I'm going to get shot and killed, but he went into the house and the cops drive by again and eventully park on the end of the street.

We decide to go on a walk and coincidentally walk by the cops, who inform us that the kid's parents live in that house and they basically banned him from living there. Brian's mom heard rumors that they're all druggies of some sort, and my guess is the kid did drugs hardcore.

What was creepier, is when i left Brian's house at midnight the kid's Jeep was parked on the end of their driveway running yet again. I was afraid for my car's and my own safety, but Brian walked me out to my car and all was well and safe.

I want to be a CSI agent now ha ha...it was very exciting.