Cubs Game at Wrigley

While Trent is in Milwaukee today at the Cubs/Brewers game, I'm at home again and blogging about the Cubs game we went to a week ago! Yep, last Sunday, we went up to Wrigley for a Cubs/Cardinals game. We did the Farm Bureau bus trip again with my Dad - it had been a few years since we did this, and I'm happy to say it was a much better experience than the last! It was also the first night game we had ever been to at Wrigley.

As lifelong Illinois residents, we're big Cubs fans, so it's always fun to experience a game at the famous Wrigley field. This year was also the first year that they had the new area by the field, called The Park at Wrigley. There are bars and restaurants, a grassy hangout area, and a few shops that you can hang out at before the game. We thought it was pretty cool.

We checked out the new Cubs merchandise store, which is two levels high, and there's a balcony you can go out onto with a view of the people walking around below.

We also went into the Jostens jewelry store, the official jeweler of the Cubs, and they had replica Cubs World Series rings there, which you can actually buy for yourself. 

Then we got our photo taken with the Cubs 2016 World Series trophy. Pretty cool to see in person!

We walked around the field for a little while before the game. It actually sprinkled when we got there, and we totally thought it was going to storm on us, and we would have a rain delay. Luckily, the majority of the rain stayed away and the sun came out later for us!

It was fun to be back at Wrigley again watching the game live in person. It had been a while! Our view wasn't spectacular or anything, but we could still see the field pretty well, and we got to experience the new seats and the new video screens.

They've done so many new improvements to Wrigley in the last couple of years. It still looks basically the same, but with a few upgrades here and there. Another change is that the bullpens are now underneath the stands and closed off, instead of out in the open. And even the bathrooms are upgraded!

Also, I think the below picture was a little stroke of luck for me. The sun is hitting me just right so it looks like I'm glowing! Haha.

We played the Cardinals, who are one of our biggest rivals, so it was fun to be amid both Cubs and Cardinals fans. And it was a pretty packed house.

We got to see all of our favorite Cubs players, from Kris Bryant, to Anthony Rizzo, Ben Zobrist, Addison Russell, and Javy Baez.

And best of all...We went home with a W!

Nothing like getting to sing "Go Cubs Go" with the rest of the crowd after a great win at Wrigley Field. A fun time was had with my Dad and Trent at the game!

At the end, when most people had already left the stadium, our entire bus got to take a huge group photo in front of the field.

Not going to lie, it was complete chaos and confusion trying to get everyone together and figure out where we were supposed to be, with everyone leaving the stands at the end of the game, but we figured it out somehow, and it actually turned out pretty cool in the end!

As we were leaving, we even got a glimpse of the players heading out to their rides at the end of the night. Kris Bryant and Jason Heyward walked right in front of me as I was waiting for Trent to get out of the bathroom! Haha. It was kind of surreal.

I was so glad I took work off the next day. Night games are no joke, when you have to ride all the way back home in a bus the same night and don't get home until 3:00 in the morning! For that reason alone, I'm not sure if I'd do another night game bus trip again. But it was a fun day overall, and good to be back at Wrigley again.

First Garden Harvest of 2017

It's been a couple of weeks since I blogged all about our recent Michigan trip, but I'm finally popping in for another post, less about traveling and more back to the domestic life! Don't worry though, there will be another travel related post in the near future, as we went back to Chicago for a Cubs game over the weekend. Trent and I are pretty sure Chicago is our second home now, since we have visited the city multiple times this summer!

Today though, I thought I'd share our very first harvest of this year. It's not very big, but we're excited that our tomatoes are finally turning red, and we have been able to enjoy our first veggies from the garden:

Yes, so far we have a lone ear of corn and a couple of tomatoes! So I got to add a couple of slices of fresh tomatoes to my salad the other day that we grew right here in the garden.

We have plenty more veggies that will be ripe soon, too. I actually need to go out to the garden and see what else is ripe, plus take more recent pictures!

The below photos are all from a few weeks ago, but you can see all of the tomatoes that have been growing. Here are the Romas: 

I'd imagine we have many more turning red now. And here was the corn a few weeks ago:

We also have some garlic that grows back every year. We're not really garlic experts though, so we're not sure when garlic is ripe and ready to pick...this looks close though, right??

It definitely smells like garlic, that's for sure.

Well, that's it for now...I'm sure I'll be back with some new posts this weekend!

Just Another Weekend In Chicago

I titled today's post, "Just Another Weekend in Chicago," because I feel like we are here all the time these days. Haha. We are just under 3 hours from the city, so it's not too far, and it's one of our favorite cities because there's just so much to do here.

Last week, we spent a couple of nights here on our way back from our Michigan vacation. We actually stayed here because we were attending the Third Eye Blind concert Thursday night. They are one of my favorite bands, so I was so excited to finally see them for the first time!

We stayed at the Congress Plaza hotel again, and this time our room was even better than the first time we stayed here. We had a lake view, which was awesome.

Our room even seemed bigger, even though it was only a standard room. It was a bit noisier with the traffic right outside, but the view of Grant Park, the lake, and even Navy Pier in the distance was totally worth it.

Plus, it looked even better at night. Amazing view!

The Taste of Chicago was going on right across the street in Grant Park, too, so we could hear music from that, and we walked through it on our way to the concert Thursday night. You could buy tokens to try some of the local food from the vendors who were there, but we didn't partake in the food since we didn't have much time.

We did eat at Italian Village on Wednesday night after we arrived in the city.

It had been a long time since we first ate here. Actually, it was back in 2010 on my 22nd birthday to be exact! So it was nice to finally come back to this place. The atmosphere and food is a little like Olive Garden, but 100 times better.

It's more authentic Italian, and the food and wine we got were all great.

The next day, we went to North Avenue Beach on Lake Michigan. I had always wanted to go to the beach here. It was a fairly hot day, a little breezy, but the sun felt good! We layed out for a while, and Trent went in the water. I waded for a few minutes, but the water was freezing!

After getting a pretty good sunburn (haha), we ate at a restaurant at the beach called Castaways.

The building is shaped like a huge boat, and we sat on top and had a great view of the entire beach.

I got a Pina Colada which was pretty yummy. It kind of felt like we were back in Jamaica. It was so nice to have a day to relax at a beach after an eventful vacation!

That night, sun burns and all, we went to the Third Eye Blind concert at the Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island. They were just as amazing live as I had imagined!

It was literally a nineties music dream come true.

After the concert, we had a great view walking off Northerly Island. I mean, Chicago, could you get any prettier?

We had to do a selfie in front of the lake and night skyline. It was such a perfect ending to a great night!

The next day, we drove home but stopped at a couple more places along the way. First, the Fashion Outlets of Chicago, which is a pretty awesome mall, though we just ate there and didn't buy anything. And then to Haley and Dan's again for another quick visit.

We got home on Friday night, and while it was so nice to be home, we were sad that it was the end of our 4th of July vacation. It's been back to reality and work for us this week! I'm sure there will be many more fun vacations and trips to come, though. ;)

Short But Fun Weekend in Chicago

Hello everyone! It's time for our Chicago trip recap, as promised. We went up to Chicago on Saturday and came back Sunday afternoon. It's just a few hours drive for us, but we don't get up there too much, so it was nice to get away for a couple of days.

We actually went to see the Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds concert on Saturday night. They played at the Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island. It's a pretty cool venue, but I'll get to that in a moment!

First, let's talk about our hotel. We stayed at the Congress, which is close to Millennium Park and Lake Michigan, and best of all, was within walking distance of the concert venue which was super convenient.

This was our room..Isn't it cute? I loved the bed pillows and airy curtains.

The room was comfortable and charming, and you could tell the building was pretty old (and huge!), but also historic at the same time. Apparently a lot of U.S. Presidents have stayed here in its day, though I'm sure they stayed in nice suites, not a simple room like ours. :)

We will be back here again for a concert next month and will be staying at the same hotel, so it was nice to get a feel for it now, so we know what to expect when we're here again in July.

After we checked into the hotel on Saturday, we headed out and walked around town, looking for a good place to eat. Well, the place we wanted to eat at, called Cindy's (it looked pretty awesome inside and has rooftop seating), was super crowded with a long wait, so we decided to just walk to the lake and see what we found along the way.

It was a nice day, pretty hot but with a nice breeze! The lake made for a nice view, though. We walked through a couple of parks first, and we just ended up eating at a little food vendor by the lake that had hotdogs and nachos and some other refreshments. As long as we had food in our stomachs before the concert and plenty of water, we were satisfied!

It felt good to be back in Chicago again. It had been a while since we actually had some time to walk around and explore a little of the city.

We watched the geese swimming for a little while, then made our way down to Northerly Island, which is where the concert venue is. It's actually a little peninsula that juts out into Lake Michigan, near the Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium. Here's a map for your reference:

It was our first time seeing a concert here, and our first time seeing just a Dave and Tim show, and we were actually really impressed. Not only was the area around it really pretty and nice (can't beat both lake and skyline views), but we had a great time overall.

We sat near the back floor sections, so weren't super close, but we had a good view of Dave and Tim on the screen. And once it cooled down at night, it was much more comfortable! I think it was in the lower nineties all day, so we were pretty hot at first.

Can't beat good music and good views, though! Seriously, I'm pretty sure this is close to what heaven is like: The sun setting over the Chicago skyline, Dave Matthews playing in front of you, and a cold drink in your hand.

Here's a wider shot of our concert view:

This was our 9th Dave show together, and the acoustic set with Tim was amazing. We can't wait to see Third Eye Blind here next month. I'm sooo excited for that one!

The next day, we headed home, but not before stopping in Geneva and eating brunch at Buttermilk. Our second time there. I'm still thinking about those pancakes...highly recommend!

And of course, we also stopped at my sister Haley and brother in law, Dan's house there to pay them a visit!

Overall a good weekend in Chicago, although as always, too short. Back to reality for us this week.. Until next time!