Holy Heat Wave

This past week or so we have had a very strong heat wave. Several days were having an index of around 115 degrees. It is awful coming outside of your building and not being able to breathe because the air is so thick.

We got to do a lot of fun things this past week and weekend. Wednesday night, Mark's Aunt Sheri was in town and took us out to dinner at Hub 51. Always yummy. Then Friday we walked around Lincoln Park a few hours, and got dinner in Old Town at Wells on Wells.

Saturday was the most fun part of our weekend. During the day, it was overcast, and the weatherman was calling for on and off thunderstorms all day. Luckily he was wrong and it just drizzled. We went to the beach and since it was supposed to be crummy out, it was pretty deserted. That made it nicer. Until we found out another reason it was deserted... an outbreak of E-Coli at all the beaches. Um, EW. I just about scrubbed my skin off after I heard that. Being on the beach for a few hours let me start reading The Help finally. It is such a great book and I'm not even halfway in. Read it if you have not yet done so. Later that night we had our neighbors Matthew and Stef over for drinks and then we went with them to Francesca's. This restaurant is very authentic Italian, so pretty, and only a block from our building. Cannot wait for wintertime because that will be our go-to restaurant. After dinner we went downstairs, to meet some of their friends at the restaurant's Enoteca (wine bar) which was incredibly cool.  It has the ambiance of actual Italy and with it's stone walls and castle-like chandeliers, it's amazing. We had such a great time.

Today, in typical Sunday fashion, we vegged out and grocery shopped. I'm still exhausted from last night, but it was worth it. Hope everyone had a great weekend and no one collapsed from heat exhaustion!

(Bella is always a good way to end a post)

Days go by

This weekend went be SO fast! Why does that always happen?

Friday was fun simply because it was the start of Nordstrom's Anniversary Sale, and both Mark and I got a bunch of good, practical stuff. I got a giant North Face parka that I will apparently need, come December. Friday evening Mark and I went to this place called Epic Burger, with my co-worker Jon and his wife. Yum. It's like a little nicer version of fiveguys, with amazing smoothies. Unfortunately for Mark, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 had just come out, and he was my date. The movie was amazing- almost as good as the book (like usual). I was sad when it ended. It was sort of like an end of an era when the final movie came to an end. Bummer.

Saturday we spent kind of vegging out. We trekked out to the suburbs to get our car serviced. Apparently the Volvo dealerships in the city aren't really trustworthy. However, a salesman tried to trick us into getting all this extra service done on our car, and this was at the Northfield location. That was not really attractive. So Mark and I decided to skip out to the showroom and look at all the pretty new volvos. The new version of our car, the S60, is absolutely beautiful. And here is a picture of me and what Mark and deemed my "future mom-mobile," a Volvo SUV.  Love.

Later that night, we went to Luxbar with Deanna and Brett. Again, yum.

Today I spent being a wifey. Mark went to the Cubs game and I went to HomeGoods and got a bunch of cute stuff. Spent way too much money, but it was totally worth it. Afterward, I went with my friend Jess to see Horrible Bosses. And in typical Bonnie fashion, I smuggled in some goodies. For those that don't know- I like to push the boundaries in terms of what foods I sneak in to movie theatres. This time it was a frappuccino and sushi. Yeah, I'm weird. Anyway, it was good and the movie was so funny. Definitely go see it if you haven't yet.

I can't believe it's Sunday already. I hate that weekends go by so quickly. Mondays are no fun.

The stars and stripes

This past week, my friends Emily and Mike came to stay with us before their move to the city. We had lots of fun going to restaurants and such.

We also had dinner on Sunday night with some neighbors of ours. They went above and beyond making dinner for us, and their apartment is so nice. I was like "how are these units in the same building?" I had a bit of apartment envy.

For July 4th, Mark and I went to Oak Street Beach and the restaurant there, which was so much fun. It felt just like Ocean City, and gave me that much-needed beach feeling.

So pretty.

Then we got to watch the fireworks that night that took place over Navy Pier. It was so nice to see them over the water.

I went from loving-my-country Independence Day, to hating-our-legal-system Casey Anthony verdict day.

I got pretty invested in the Casey Anthony trial, and was soooo sure that after all the circumstantial evidence, she would be charged with murder, and at the very least manslaughter. So imagine my surprise as I'm watching the live feed on my computer, and they say not guilty for the two most important charges against her. I literally was sick to my stomach. Were these the twelve dumbest people from the state of Florida? I understand the whole concept of reasonable doubt, but I also believe that only goes to an extent. When someone (especially an innocent child) is CLEARLY murdered, it should not matter how or why. Ultimately, what should matter, is that the person committing the crime is brought to justice, and that is not what happened. If Casey Anthony did not murder Caylee, then who did? Who else had any motive? Who else was partying and got a tattoo and made up fake information to law enforcement during the time she was "missing"? It shouldn't matter that the prosecution cannot be 100% sure what the cause of Caylee's death was, because they were certain it was a homicide. Her body was dumped in a bag, with duct tape over her nose and mouth. Explain that people. Now they are going on a man hunt to find a person that does not exist: a killer that isn't Casey.

There shouldn't have been a huge celebration in the courtroom by the defense, because even if they won the case, a little girl was killed. People go to jail for DUIs and other much more minor infractions for longer than Casey Anthony will. Sorry, but there is no way in hell that she was not involved in her daughter's death.

Sorry to vent- it's just so heart-breaking. One can only hope that like OJ, karma will catch up with her.