Shopping in Chicago

On Friday morning, Kevin and I took a cab from our hotel in Chicago to a small bakery the Ukrainian Village, Shokolad Pastry & Cafe. We started the day with their crepes… glorious crepes. Chocolate & cinnamon for me, Nutella & banana for him. Heaven! Despite being *completely* stuffed, I couldn’t pass up this incredible looking Opera cake from the pastry case. With layers of chocolate, vanilla, almond biscuits and espresso buttercream, how could I resist?? :)

Of course after that, I totally deserved our 2 mile trek up Chicago Avenue.

We made our way through the Ukrainian Village to the trendy Wicker Park neighborhood. Our first stop was Pitaya, where I totally fell in love with this dress!

And these earrings! Had to grab these earrings. Only 5 bucks! Won’t they look nice with this ruffly top?

Pitaya has a few locations across the US, definitely check them out if you’re near one! Too bad the closest one to me is 5 hours away. I might have to consider driving there sometime!

We ran in the Marc Jacobs boutique, and look what I found! Yep, that stressed-out look is definitely the face of someone with two boston terriers. ;)

Right after that we ran into the sweetest, tiniest, fattest little BT I have ever seen. Totally scooped him up and got some kisses. I wanted to put him in my purse and run. Wicker Park was very dog-friendly. Most of the stores had water bowls out front for the thirsty pups.

Kevin tried to talk me into buying this shirt, but I resisted. But check out the back! It was hard. But then check out the price. Ack!

Oh man. Stopped in this cute store, M2 Boutique. Loved this place!

I was mesmerized by this necklace. It just so happened to go perfectly with the navy blue dress I was wearing. And the khaki dress I just bought. And that white top I brought with me. And everything else I own. Or have ever owned. In my entire life. Amen.

This bracelet was conveniently (and innocently) sitting right next to the necklace. I could get into some serious trouble if I lived in Chicago.

This cuff bracelet was calling out to me! Between this place, Sephora, and Sur La Table, I think I spent my entire life savings in Chicago.

Kevin’s a huge Braves fan, and it just so happened they were playing at Wrigley the weekend of his bday.

It was a pretty exciting game. The left fielder and third baseman had a huge collision going after a fly ball. The pitcher got beaned by a line drive. And the Braves came back to win it in the 9th inning!

And I finished off the rest of my Opera cake. :D

Filed Under: Vacations & Travel, Chicago • 41 Comments

Chicago: Our View

Last Thursday Kev and I got up bright and early, jumped in the car, and left for a 10-hour road trip to Chicago. It was our first visit to the Windy City and we spent a long weekend celebrating Kevin’s birthday, seeing a game at Wrigley Field, shopping in swanky boutiques and eating delicious meals.

And walking 5,672 miles a day!

Of course if I walked that far back home in Alabama, I wouldn’t even be to the nearest gas station.

We had some gorgeous views from our room on the Chicago River. We recognized the Sears Tower immediately! As we were driving into the city and first saw the skyline, it stood out head and shoulders above all the other buildings.

I’m pretty sure I should be able to see our hotel reflected in this building (it was right across the river), but I have yet to figure out which one was ours!

After making a quick stop for some doughnuts on our way up (more on those later!), we arrived in Chicago right at sunset… and right about dinner time.

We took a walk down the river to Portillo’s for a Chicago Dog, an Italian Beef, and their famous chocolate cake shake. It was an actual piece of fudgy, chocolate cake with frosting down at the bottom of a chocolate milkshake. Goodness gracious. Loved catching the moon peeking through the buildings on our walk.

24-70mm f/2.8 lens
ISO 400
f/16
20 sec

When we got back to the hotel I snapped this slow-release pic of all the cars and trains going by. One last view of the city before we fell into bed. More to come! :)

Filed Under: Vacations & Travel, Chicago • 79 Comments

Weekend at Home

Kevin’s got a new work schedule, and I now get him all to myself every other Friday. Glorious! I’m totally enjoying lounging around today and starting our weekend early. :)

We’ve been on the move a lot this summer (last weekend we were in Chicago) but a few weeks ago we stayed close to home and took off deep into the woods of Alabama to the Elk River.

Dirt roads! A common site. All adventures in the south begin with a dirt road. Miley & Howie know when we get on a dirt road that something exciting is about to happen.

I was in serious need of some sun. And water. And sitting on my behind for 6 hours straight.

With plenty of space to stash ice-cold drinks, snacks, and maybe even a cell phone (if I can find a signal out here), a kayak is basically a recliner on water, right? I think so.

It could probably use a little more cushion in the seat department, though.

We met up with some sweet friends for the day. When you’re floating down an 8-mile stretch of a river in the Middle of Nowhere, Alabama, it’s important to have girlfriends you can talk beauty products with. They lent me a hairbrush after this pic. True friends.

Goodness gracious, the Elk River was gorgeous.

The water was so icy cold…

We saw cows.

And waterfalls.

And this creaky old bridge, that we all dared each other to walk across. Until we saw a four-wheeler drive over it.

Howie, the navigator.

Eventually he got a little squirmy in my, shall we say, less than spacious kayak. He needed more room for his little chunky sausage legs.

Howie! He completely and totally kicked Stephanie out of her kayak.

Here come my babes.

Kevin once introduced himself as “Kevin, from kevinandamanda.com.”

Then he added “Amanda’s husband.”

You know. To clarify.

We used the self-timer for this pic.

Just kidding! ;)

See you next week!! :)

Filed Under: Miley and Howie, Kayaking • 40 Comments