"Something American"

Good morning, all!

I know it has been a little while since my last post.  It has been a crazy couple of days!

As mentioned, I made it down to Taste of Chicago which is held in Grant Park downtown every year the week before July 4.  About 100 restaurants from all over the Chicago area come down to the park and set up tents where they cook their food from the restaurant.  The way it works is that you buy tickets when you enter the park and each restaurant sells their food for a certain amount of tickets.  You can get the full meal for about 10-12 tickets OR you can do a "taste" for 3-4 tickets.  Each tent had 2 different options for their taste.  For example, at one of Italian restaurants, the "tastes" were either a piece of pizza or fried cheese ravioli.  The great thing about the "tastes" was that each taste was MORE than just a bite size.  So, after 4-5 tastes, you have essentially had a meal.  So, for $16 dollars (24 tickets), I had a piece of pizza, an enchillada, three pieces of fried cheese ravioli, a piece of cheesecake and another dessert called a blintz.

It was everything I expected and more.  I went on a Wednesday night so while there was still a lot of people, there was not nearly as many as there would have been on a Saturday.  It was still an excellent opportunity for people watching and it didn't disappoint.  When there are thousands of people out and about in a park, there is almost a guarantee you are going to see some sights.

The 4th of July weekend could not have been better.  Matt completely spoiled me by not going into the office Saturday, Sunday OR Monday.   Friday though, Matt was still at the office at 8:00 PM, so I decided I was not going to sit in the apartment for the rest of the night.  I walked down to our corner bar for dinner and drinks.  I could not have been there 5 minutes when a guy sat down with his friends at the bar and started talking to me.  Turns out he worked for Oliver Purnell back at Dayton as a student manager.  He knows the current director of operations (Andy) and one of the former assistant coaches (who is now down at Georgia Tech).  Matt eventually joined me and 3 glasses of wine and 3 FREE shots later (the guy at the bar bought them for Matt and me), we knew we were in for a long night.

Apparently, Matt does not remember how to reduce a hangover.  On our way home, I made up stop at 7-11 to get Gatorades and I made sure to drink all of mine plus water when we got home.  Matt did not make it that through the first bottle of Gatorade.  The next day, Matt pretty much woke up for lunch and that was it.  He spent the day on the couch and managed to eat his nachos I made before falling back asleep  At 7:00, after spending the afternoon walking around Lincoln Park I finally woke him up for real.  I was hungry and had found a brand new restaurant on my walk.  I finally managed to get him up and moving and we headed over to the restaurant.  It had just opened on Friday, so I was a little nervous about what to expect.

The food was DELICIOUS!  The restaurant has huge windows that open up to the sidewalk so you can sit right at the edge of the restaurant and enjoy the sights and sounds of Lincoln Park.  Obviously they did not have everything ready for the opening since they were using dish towels as napkins.  Also, I think 4 different people came over to our table to see how things were going.  BUT, no Mexican soup on the house :)  So, I at least felt better about what we were eating.

Sunday, was a Trader Joe's and cookout day.  After maneuvering through the masses at the new Trader Joe's, we headed over to the strength and conditioning coaches house for a cookout.  Andy, his brother and best friend joined us, as well as Mac and his wife's two friends.  Mac and his wife have a brand new baby boy and their friends have a one month old baby girl.  The neighbors have a 6 month baby girl.  There was a clear division all afternoon between the 20 somethings, single, with no kids, and the 30 somethings with babies.  Also, Mac's wife so "kindly" volunteered me as a babysitter for her neighbors. I had to gently decline the offer.

On a brighter note, I am pretty sure I put up the best performance of the day on cornhole.  While I did not win the MOST games, I did have 2 back-to-back games where I threw all 4 bags in the hole.  Automatic win.  Also, I was a part of the biggest come back of the day.  We were down 20-0 and came back and won.  Best part: I was playing against Matt.  Matt argues that he won more games that day, but I reminded him that he was a part of the biggest choke ever.

Yesterday was gorgeous here for the 4th.  We headed downtown for the afternoon to do some shopping for Matt's sisters' birthdays.  Michigan Ave was an absolute zoo, with people randomly stopping in front of you, people trying to push HUGE baby carriages down the side walk and people clearly on a Sunday stroll.  Needless to say, I was trying VERY hard to be a happy camper.  I found my gifts for the girls, and then we headed away from Michigan Ave for lunch.  We went to the bar that Mr. Fleming and I went to during the NCAA tournament before the VCU-Georgetown game.  Mr. Fleming had told Matt that I needed to take him there and since we were downtown, it was perfect.  Matt would NOT allow me to get the quesadilla though.  He told me it was un-American.  Then, he proceeded to play Bob Seger, Creedance Clearwater and John Melloncamp on the Jukebox.  And when the waitress asked him what he wanted to drink, he said "something American."

We also ventured to Millennium Park since Matt still had not seen it.  On our way, we passed a Nine West store.  I cannot even explain the amount of willpower I displayed.  EVERYTHING in the store was 60% off.  Everything.  Had I not just bought birthday presents, I would have spent my savings in there.  60% off.  I am still trying to fathom how I walked in and walked out without buying anything.  That's impressive.

We finally made it home after walking around for about 3 hours only to walk another hour down to the fireworks at the beach.  When we got down to our beach, there were hundreds of people waiting for fireworks.  We decided to keep walking because we figured there is no way these people are going to be able to see the fireworks that they set off at Navy Pier.  We walked about 25 minutes towards Navy Pier and right at 9:00, we found a spot on the beach just as they started.  The site was breathtaking.  The entire city skyline was lit up and over the water, all you could see was fireworks.  And not just fireworks at Navy Pier.  We could see 3 different firework shows taking place up and down the beach.  Some people next to us had the song "Jack and Diane" on repeat.  Truly an American moment.

Overall, the weekend could not have been better.  I couldn't help but think about our VCU friends while we were out there on the beach, wishing that we could have all been there.  But, it was still amazing.  I hope you all had a great 4th and enjoyed your weekend as much as we did!

Matt heads to Florida tomorrow until Sunday to spend the week with his family.  Dad comes in on Friday though and I cannot wait!  Burger Fest is going on this weekend and it is exactly what is sounds like :)  So much to do and not enough time while he is here!

I also have a face-to-face interview this afternoon.  A bird pooped on me last week and I have been told that is good luck.  So, maybe I can cash in that luck today.  But, just in case, everyone keep your fingers crossed for me!