Holiday in the City...

Monday, Robb and I both had the day off (hooray for bank and government work), so instead of sitting around the house bickering, we decided to go out and bicker.  Actually, we had a lovely time in Chicago.

We took the train in, which is one of my favorite things to do.



The train windows make for awesome color washes.  It was a long-ish ride, but we got there.



We normally just hop on the el once we get into the city and head on up to Boystown for some thrift shopping and sightseeing.  This time, though, we decided Michigan Avenue sounded nice.  I convinced him to take me to Millenium Park first, though, since I'd never been there in the winter.

We visited the bean; yes, it's overdone, but it's a must.



He started it.



And, of course, I followed suit.  I could take pictures with this bean for hours, but my camera likes to tell me its battery is dead in cold weather, so I stopped.

We watched people biff on the ice skating rink:



It looks like it was nasty out in this photo.  Winter will do that.  It was actually just a little foggy but mostly blue skies and sunshine over the lake.  There were two hot Navy boys in uniform skating around the rink, too.  We had to stop and watch them for a while.

The boy bought me hot chocolate (which was amazingly good for concession stand quality), and we headed down Michigan Avenue, stopping at the river to take some photos.



The ice looked so cool all broken up in the river.  There was a surprising amount of trash and goose poop spread over the top, though.

While we walked, I passed something that made me laugh, and I had to go back and take a picture.



It's the Victoria Secret store.  And look juuuuuust inside the door.  That would be the hetero waiting room.  There were about 6 guys in Carharts and boots just standing in the foyer between the two sets of doors, trying not to look awkward.  Well, epic fail.

We shopped around for a while, hit the Banana Republic store, where, as I said, I got a $60 sweater for $13.  It was pretty awesome.  Oh, and I got these 30% off, too:



I wore them to work yesterday with my green argyle sweater that the boy bought me for Christmas.  It was out of control. 

We cruised Water Tower place, got some free chocolate from Godiva, and saw these:



Do they have these in the public bathrooms where you all live?  It's a Dyson Airblade.  You stick your hand in the top and it just blows like hell, and when you hands come out, they're dry.  It takes about five seconds and is AMAZING.  I washed my hands twice just so I could use it again.  I know, I know...I'm a dork.

It was a nice night on the town.



We ended in Boystown at our favorite restaurant:  Nookies.  It's a family style place with great food, great service, and cute waiters.  I love it there! 

It was a lovely day in the city, and we were home before 10:30, too!  All told, a great time!

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The Fabulous Adventures of Five and the Birthday Weekend...

My birthday weekend was super-fun. End of story.

Not really end of story, actually.

Friday night my family and Robb and I went out for Chinese at Yen Ching. Yum. And my mom decided that leftovers in their fridge would just sit there, so she sent me home with SEVEN chinese takeout boxes. Seven! We're down to five, I think. But we had lemon chicken, two plates of happy family, twice-cooked pork, and two plates of Hong Kong chicken steak...oh, and Yen Ching Fried Rice that my mom ALWAYS orders and NEVER eats. And now...we're out one happy family and one lemon chicken and one twice-cooked pork. Holy hell...rice is coming out my ears!

Oh, and speaking of being out one happy family, Sunday was a delight. Note sarcasm. We crashed at Robb's dad's house Saturday night after hanging out in Chicago with his friends Amy, Erin, and Cari and going to thrift stores and finishing at Nookie's for dinner and dessert. Sunday morning we got up and showered, got ready for church, and Robb's dad was making breakfast. Robb asked who was coming over for Easter dinner, and his dad said that hateful brother-in-law and sister were coming with their kids. We expected that.

What we DIDN'T expect was Robb's dad suggesting we leave before they got there, so as to avoid trouble. Because apparently one side of this disagreement can't be trusted to be civil to each other over Easter dinner (although he never said that specifically, it's what the message meant). And I don't really fault Robb's dad for saying that. He doesn't know what to do about this while situation any more than we do. He's just trying his best to keep everyone happy and, well, up to now, failing miserably at keeping us happy at all.

So...we were both pissed off, and we packed our bags and left before church or brunch or anything. His dad wanted us to stay then, positively pleaded for us to stay. But really, the damage had been done and the day had been tainted, so...Robb and I left.

I called my mom and asked if they were doing anything for Easter, and she said no until I told her what happened. And then we went over there and had a delicious steak dinner. So...something was salvaged out of this while mess.

Ugh. Crappy Easter.

And the worst part of it all is that Robb is so torn up about this. It just makes me sick to see him hurting.

So...yeah...until Sunday morning, my birthday weekend was amazing! Blah.

Out

To the City!

I'm off to the city today with the boy. Since I work at a bank and he works for the government, we both get the day off today! I love that. So, what better to do than hit up thrift stores and our favorite restaurant: Nookie's Tree.

Photos may follow, if I decide to take some.

Out