* Stay-Cation!!! *

This past week I was lucky enough to have the week off and enjoy a little "STAYCATION!" The reason behind the staycation was that I quit my first job in Chicago and accepted another one which will start on Monday (April 2). P.T.L. (Praise The Lord!) So naturally in between gigs I took a week off and tried to reorganize relax a little. So in no particular order I will list the things that defined my staycation...

1. :: sleep ::

2. :: afternoon coffees ::

3. :: shopping ::

4. :: yoga ::

5. :: long runs by the lake ::

6. :: shedd aquarium/jelly exhibit ::

7. :: DIY (Do It Yourself) projects ::

8. :: hunger games ::

9. :: cooking ::

10. :: blogging ::

11. :: wine ::

12. :: manicures :: 

13. :: tulips ::

14. :: sushi dinner with denver friends :: 

the jelly exhibit at shedd aquarium was seriously cool!! we had so much fun and look at these pics. all from my camera phone!!

and then all the other things....manis + pottery barn shopping (p. barn was not the only stop!!) + hunger games + DIY wine cork board + tulips + long runs by the lake + grant park! 

YAY for staycations and YAY for new jobs!!

Everyday We're Shuffling.....

This past weekend Chicago or 'Cago known to some hosted it's annual Shamrock Shuffle, and I had plenty of visitors to run the race with. The Shamrock Shuffle is an 8K (roughly 5 miles) and it is run through the streets of downtown Chicago so the runners get a close up view of different sights in the city, such as Grant Park (where you start and finish), the Sears Tower, Michigan Avenue, etc. And luckily for us the weather cooperated so we really could not have asked for a better day to run let alone a better weekend. So without further ado, I will give you the sequential play-by-play of the weekend starting with Friday!!

Friday: Friday night my mom and Nancy Webb were expected to arrive mid-evening so we could enjoy a late happy hour and then head to our dinner reservation. Instead what happened was they ran into a big accident on Hwy 20 on their way here and were detoured for nearly an hour....no big deal, except they detour took the place of happy hour which always bugs a little!! So once they arrived we said quick hellos, got them settled in our place and then rushed off to dinner, but not before the first "crack up" of the weekend. Once we were organized my mom clapped her hands and said "okay, I'm ready now, so Sissy call us a cab!" I of course burst out laughing, because cabs in Chicago are like yellow equipment at Gehrke Inc....always one within sight!! So once we completed "city lesson #1" we were off!! (sorry momma....you know I love the small town, this was just too funny!!) And we were off to Cafe Ba Ba Ree Ba!! Again the name sounds funny, but this place comes highly recommended by many locals and it happens to be one of the only places AK and I have visited twice! Cafe Ba Ba Ree Ba is little Spanish Tapas place so everything comes in small plates to share and pretty much everything is delicious. Besides having great food, they also have very refreshing Sangria that comes by the pitcher and it's a must order. Great meal and great refreshments!!
After dinner we were off to The Schoolyard, which is a neighborhood bar real close to where we live and located on our street...School Street...get it?? :). We went there for a night cap and to meet up with more Eldora locals/Shamrock Shuffle runners. We all enjoyed a few cocktails and the wonderful company....Both were so great we all lost track of time and got home WAY. TOO. LATE!!!

Saturday: Luckily for my mom, Nancy and I our race was on Sunday and not Saturday so we had a day to recover! (thank goodness!). Since the day was wide open, we planned to go to brunch and then hit up as many shops/neighborhoods as we could. We started at this yummy spot called Southport Grocery where I have come to believe serves the absolute best brunch on the face of earth. Yes that may sound a bit dramatic (or "bramatic" if you're talking to my nephew Jack), but it is seriously good. For all my Denver readers....it rivals Snooze (just sayin!). After the exceptionally long wait to get in we were a bit behind schedule (shopping schedule that is), but it was all worth it as always! Our next stop was the big Lululemon store in Chicago. There are multiple stores (something like 4 or 5) but I took them to the Halsted store which I think is the biggest and usually has the most merchandise....yes I have been to all locations (don't judge). Post Lulu fix were were off to another cool area called North and Clybourn, and this is where you will find a great J. Crew/Pottery Barn/Gap/you get the picture. All bets were off as to how long we would be in a two-story J. Crew but we made it in and out in 1 hour! Pretty darn good, if you ask me. By this time in the day the three of us were well spent (literally and figuratively), which meant one thing....it was time for happy hour!! :) The Eldora Shamrock Shufflers came over to our place at about 6p and we enjoyed some appetizers, wine, champagne, etc before our dinner reservation at 7:30p. After dinner we all decided to retire early considering the "big race" was the next day!

Sunday: Sunday was race day!!! We all met promptly at 8a at The Bean (a Chicago landmark) so we could enter our race corrals together. This was a splendid idea, because not only were we all together, but we had a few minutes with The Bean just to ourselves, which means we got to take some cool pics (you'll see!!). Before we knew it, it was time to line up or herd up, considering there were something like 35, 000 runners for a 5 mile race!! Like I said the weather was perfect, the course was awesome, and the company was even better. AK, Kylee Button, my momma and I all ran together and it was so much fun. The fast runners were ahead of us....don't think we left them in our dust! :). As I said it was roughly 5 miles and I think I'm most proud of the fact that my mom RAN all 5 miles and kept up with 3 people in their 20's!! She's pretty awesome and it was pretty cool to cross the finish line with our arms up together!! And then considering it was so beautiful out we decided to follow suit and join the rest of Chicago on an outdoor patio for a nice post race burger+fries+cold beverage!! Sunday may have been race day, but it really was a "fun day" and we had an even better weekend!!

AK and I just want to thank all our peeps from IA for making the trip. It's always fun to run with you while we are home, but it was great to have you all here as well!! Thanks for coming and know that you are always welcome!! :)
And remember...."Everyday We're Shuffling!!!" HA! :)

pretty view sunday morning....and notice all the white tress! beautiful and in full bloom!

cool shot at "The Bean"..... love the crazy reflections!

A-Faye and A-Kay.....ahhhh!!!

girls just wanna have fun!!

dinner shot!!

i {heart} "The Bean!"

good morning!!

look at us in the distance with the skyline reflecting.....kinda cool!

"Everyday We're Shuffling!!" Start of the race!

post race and still smiling to tell about it!

Shamrock Shuffle Finishers....love this photo!

and that's all she wrote folks.....wore her out!! :) (post race, on our way home on the El!)

Birthday Festivities!!

I would be willing to bet that most of the blog followers would know that I happen to like, I mean LOVE my birthday. I realize this may sound a little selfish and that I'm not denying, but I happen to love most birthdays of those people I love so I feel like everyone should have a special day. Good thing I have made this very well known, because now AK shares in this philosophy too!!! (I say with all sincerity and no sarcasm!!) :) But in all seriousness I could not have asked for a better birthday planner and boy was he on the job, and considering my mom was in Mexico he was flying solo!! And there wasn't just one event or one surprise....I felt like the surprises just kept coming!!

Birthday Event #1!
On Thursday, March 1 AK woke up saying "I HAVE to take the car today!!" (for those of you who don't know we operate on 1 car these days considering the public transport aspect in Chicago). I of course was like "Fine, but I need the car at 6 so I can go to yoga!" He assured me this would not be a problem so we both went on our marry way. Circa 4:30 pm on Thursday March 1 AK decides to text bomb me saying things like "I'm getting held up at work," "My boss wants to grab drinks and talk career goals, etc." "I'm so sorry, thanks for understanding!" Given that I'm not always sold on having 1 car and not really sold on taking the El to yoga, I was less than thrilled this was taking place and my response was really less than respectful (shocking, I'm sure) that he was "getting held up at work!" So I went to yoga all fired up and met my friend Kristen and yogasized out my frustration!! :) Post yoga Kristen and I walked to the El and were headed home when AK called questioning my where-abouts and my E.T.A. I found this to be odd, but he was bringing home sushi so I wasn't about to complain at this point. When I spoke with him I was roughly 10ish minutes away and thinking I was going to walk home to a take out sushi dinner and some red wine!! Samsonite....I was way off!!! :) When I casually walked into our place I was shocked to find one of my very greatest friends Jen Alpern sitting on our couch as if she had been there all day!! After I jumped, squealed, cried and nearly tackled Jen, the weekend was off with sushi dinner, wine, shopping, running by the lake, brunches, manicures, and lots of catching up over walks and cocktails. We were able to show Jen our favorite spots/parts of Chicago and I was able to soak up some best friend time!! It was an incredible surprise and probably the birthday event I am most thankful for.  Thanks you two for pulling it off...I mean not easy in the world of texting, instant message and Facebook!! Kudos my friends!!

Birthday Event #2!
Jen was headed back to Denver on Sunday, which gave me Monday to recover for my actual birthday on Tuesday!! Tuesday was a super day and proved to be a great to be born! I had taken the day off and planned a little "ME" day! I went for a long run, got a massage, got my hair cut and got a piece of chocolate cake from a fabulous bakery up the road....a perfect day in my mind!! And by the time AK got home, the day had only just begun! He brought home fun fetti cake with chocolate frosting...my fave! He also had my official birthday gift, as if Jen's surprise visit wasn't enough! But low and behold he had a special package and for those of you who missed it on Facebook I got a Chicago Bulls T-shirt and wait for it.......CHICAGO BULLS TICKETS!!! Something I have wanted to do for so long and these were no run of the mill tickets. These were like so close I could smell the sweat kind of tickets. Completely amazing!!!  And again if that wasn't enough, AK had made reservations (3 months ago to be exact) at this fabulous restaurant called The Girl and the Goat. I know the name sounds silly, but the food was absolutely mouthwatering delicious and is a total "hot spot" right now in the Windy City (hence the 3 month out ressies). So we had a great evening over great food/wine/champagne/conversation!!! And one more thing...I got not 1 but 2 calls from Mexico where my parents were vacationing....even though they forgot when I was born when they booked the trip, they made up for it by calling and singing and offering their birthday love. They also sent a little "green" something through snail mail which I greatly appreciate and which has already been well spent! :) Twenty-eight came and went in such a fabulous fashion I'm convinced it's going to be an even better year!!

Birthday Event #3!
The actual Bulls game which took place last Thursday night!! Before the actual game, AK and I met in the neighborhood called the "West Loop" (Chicago readers, correct me if I'm wrong!) for pre-game cocktails and burgers. Such a great way to kick off the evening and very fun way to end long days at work. AK and I have actually never done that before, but I'm beginning to think, Summer may bring a regular past-time!! We aren't named Beer and Champagne for nothin folks! :) Anyhow, I already addressed how close our seats were, but when I really think about it, they were ridiculous. I mean we saw the bench perfectly and sat right by the tunnel so we could see each player go in and out of the locker room a zillion times!! :) Super fun. And not to mention something I always dreamed about doing during my childhood. With two older brothers and being a kid through the Jordan-Era I watched aloooottt of Bulls games, so it made it all come full circle. And when I really, really thought about it....what a perfect gift for AK to give because it was a gift he knew I would love and a gift he would also enjoy himself. Not just handsome face that one....definitely thought that one through!!

Birthday Event #4!
That's right, I technically had 4 birthday gatherings. Only one explanation....I'm just that special. HA!:) Actually the secret is to surround yourself with special people. Again, one good reason to be in Chicago is that we are closer to family and with that said AK's parents made the trek into the city on Saturday and we enjoyed a nice "birthday lunch" with them and even watched the Sparty's pull off a victory. We all had cake and I even walked away with a new pair of kicks....AWESOME!!! Thanks for making the drive!!!

Considering my hands are tired from typing, I think you could say I had an extra-special birthday!! So extra special that I'm just coming off the birthday high and getting around to posting about all the events. Enjoy the pics below and hopefully they capture the greatness of twenty-eight!!!

a little birthday love over late night spirits and cupcakes!!!

sushi+jen+bubbles+wine = such. a. great. night!!!

I miss you Jenners....thanks SO much for coming!!! :)

"Hi Paul!!" thanks for loaning us your friend brennan...who happens to live in Chicago....very convenient (for us!)

jen (and I) enjoying, and i quote: "this freezing city!!" :) apparently even the mildest winter in Chicago still does not compare to the mildness of Denver!!

happy birthday....to ME!!!

birthday bubbles and cocktails!

ummm in case you don't know who you're looking at....#1 is D-Rose....boom! :)

23....best player of all time!!

yeah, the bulls were good in the 90's!!!

self shot on our way out for birthday dinner and cocktails!

the new kicks...a little loud but pretty fun!!

checked out the Jordan Statue....striking resemblance!! HA!