Chillin and Grillin

Despite the bad weather warnings that threatened our weekend, we had gorgeous 80 degree weather on both Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday morning I got my butt up early and went to yoga. It was definitely a workout since they had the HEAT on. Yeah, it got kind of gross. The rest of the afternoon was just laid back, and Mark and I decided to go see a show at Second City. We went up to Old Town over an hour early, because the tickets said to arrive 50 minutes early. We get there, and they are like, "oh, the doors don't open til ten minutes before the show." Why then, would they write that on the tickets? So stupid. Well, Mark and I decided to reap the benefits from this 45 minute interlude, and went next door to Adobo, an awesome tequila bar/restaurant.  The appetizer we got was DELICIOUS, and the drink I got, was (no joke) the best cocktail I ever had. It had watermelon chunks in it, and even though that sounds weird, it was amazing!

After our snacks, we went back to the theatre and saw "Better off Wed." The show was hilarious, and one of the performers went to UMD! Bonus. Definitely go see it if you can.

Sunday was beautiful out, and Mark and I decided to go to the Chill and Grill Festival. The set up was really good- lots of restaurant booths around the perimeter with cooking shows and challenges from the Food Network. We sampled mini bbq burgers, mini fillet burgers, some Goose Island beers, and sorbet.  We also got free massages from Massage Envy. That was the perfect end to the festival.

Wall poses, bridesmaids, and more.

Following a particularly stressful week, this weekend was very relaxing so far. I guess relaxing is necessary though when it is 50 degrees and raining all weekend. Mark was gone through late Thursday night on a business trip, and it was nice having him back. Friday was pretty relaxed after we got home from work, and we just made dinner, popped a bottle of wine, and watched No Strings Attached. I had seen it in the theatres and loved it, so naturally I forced Mark to watch it with me.

Yesterday, I got up early and decided to go to Trader Joes. Choosing to do this is very different when you live in a city. You have to: get your car, drive there, find parking, etc.  Our parking garage in our building is "valet" style, which sounds great in theory, but it's not. You have to call down twenty minutes ahead of when you want to get your car, and have them bring it up. Nine times out of ten they have brought me the wrong car... even though I specifically say "the only car with Maryland plates." Apparently that's very confusing. So after waiting for the car twenty minutes in the garage, I try to drive to the store, but miss the turnoff. For those of you that are unfamiliar with Chicago, there are several one way streets, and once you get so far, it can be very hard to get back to that spot. It's pretty comical actually, when I'm rushing to get to the store and have to cross the river and re-cross the river and make all these last minute turns. I probably looked like a drunk driver.

Then later that night, we went to this restauarnt supposedly owned by Jeremy Piven called Rockit. It was really good,they decor was really pretty, and the menus were made of old vinyl records. Really cool. And since it was pouring when we got out, we hopped over to the movies and saw Bridesmaids, which was hilarious. Props Kristen Wiig and Judd Apatow! I am such a movie and tv nerd.

This morning I got up early again to go to yoga. I got an amazing Groupon for ten yoga classes for $39. Talk about a steal! I usually just do yoga in the apartment, but this was too good to pass up. I really enjoyed my first class there, as I got to learn some new poses and try "forrest" yoga. Very relaxing. The rest of the day we are just hanging out. I have a big work event tomorrow that I've been working on, and am ready to get it over with. Really wish the weekend wasn't ending though!

Getting our sun on

This weekend... the sun finally decided to make a lasting appearance! (And vacated the premises today, but let's focus on the positive).

Mark and I have been doing our own version of an eating tour across Chicago. There are SO many amazing restaurants here, we just can't get enough. Plus, I am a horrible cook, so ... bonus. Thursday night (Cinco de Mayo) we brought in Chipotle and made margaritas. We both ate too much that night. Damn Chipotle for being so filling.

Saturday, it was a little hazy out and I dragged Mark to see "Something Borrowed." Emily Giffin is one of my all-time favorite authors, and Something Borrowed and Something Blue are my two favorite books of all time (Not sure if I'm including Twilight in that...). But anyway, the movie was really good. Not as good as the book, since a few great parts were eliminated, but overall a good movie. You would probably like it more if you did not read the books. I am a huge Kate Hudson fan, and she got the role of Darcy down pat. Now, I like Ginnifer Goodwin also, but I kind of didn't like her in this role. Maybe I'm being harsh since I love the book so much, but that's my opinion on that. Later Saturday night, we tried a new Thai place near our apartment, which was delish. I get the same thing every time, but it was pretty good.

Sunday was Mother's Day, and since our mothers are not in the area, we spent it ourselves. We decided to venture to Evanston since neither of us had been there before. We got some brunch in the cute little town area (very downtown Silver Spring-esque) at "le Peep." Very yummy. Then we walked around Northwestern's campus. I have to admit I was a little disappointed with the campus. I always pictured Northwestern being very cute and pretty like Indiana University. The campus was just blah to me.

Later that night, we went out to dinner with my Uncle Michael who was in town for a convention. Always nice to see family and have a good meal.

Mark left early this morning for a business trip in Vegas and Reno for four days. Wish I could have gone with him.

Let the sun shine

This weekend the weather finally kicked into gear for Spring. It was gorgeous starting on Friday and hasn't stopped yet! (knock on wood)

Friday after work I walked Bella to Navy Pier, which was fun as always. It's such a lovely/bizarre thing being right next to Lake Michigan. And yesterday, Mark and I spent the day at Lincoln Park Zoo. The zoo was fun, and I hadn't been to one in years, but this one is definitely much smaller than the National Zoo in DC. We came home to relax for a few hours after the zoo before heading out again to Glenview. We were meeting our friends Deanna and Brett who live in the burbs, at a restaurant called YardHouse. Glenview is a Chicago suburb that is about 45 minutes north of the city. When we got off the highway for Glenview, Mark and I were both like "what the f?" because it was just flat, farm land. Thankfully, ten minutes down the road, some shopping centers appeared out of nowhere, and then pops up a cute town center that was pretty hustling for a Saturday night. If you're a MD reader, this area looked a lot like Rockville Town Center, but in the middle of Howard County.

Anyway, YardHouse was delishhhhh. I got this mac'n'cheese dish with mushrooms, chicken, and bacon. I could eat it every day. The funny thing about going to the YardHouse was that Mark and I have been saying for years how we wanted to go to one, and that we want to open one in DC. For those of you who do not know, "yards" are beer glasses that are literally a yard long. More commonly, you can find half-yards, which is still a ton of beer. Really a great idea.

We also got to go see Deanna and Brett's house after dinner, which was so cute! It's crazy how many of our friends are buying homes. And speaking of big milestones, CONGRATULATIONS Meg and Rich on your engagement- we are so happy for you guys!

We capped off the wonderful weekend today with a walk/picnic at the park at navy pier. Hopefully the nice weather will stick and we will have some fun adventures to report on next week!