Chicago | October 2014

Last month, I traveled up to the Chicago area to attend Skate America. While I was there, I had the opportunity to visit the city for a few hours on Friday, October 24 before the competition started that evening. It was a short visit, but I enjoyed seeing some of my favorite sites from Chicago once again.

The trickiest part of the day was actually making it into Chicago. My hotel was in Hoffman Estates, which is quite a ways from the city. I decided to take the train, but first I had to drive to the Rosemont CTA Station. There was so much traffic on I-90 I was afraid I wouldn't have any time once I made it into Chicago, but I did eventually make it to Rosemont. The train ride into the city was long, but it was nice to be on public transportation again.




I arrived in the city a little after 11 and walked over to Millennium Park to visit the Bean ("Cloud Gate") first. It was just as cool as I remembered it but also very crowded. I took a few pictures and then walked around the rest of the park. The trees were decked out in their fall finest, and I had to restrain myself from taking too many pictures. Since it was so pretty (and warm — 60 degrees in October!), I decided to walk down to the waterfront. I found a bench where I could sit down for a few minutes and take everything in. Having such beautiful weather during my stay was such a blessing.







My next stop was the Art Institute of Chicago on Michigan Avenue. I visited the museum a few years ago with my parents, but it was nice to go again. This time I went to the Impressionists area and the American art. It was interesting to see Monet's paintings and realize my mom and I had visited the real places earlier this year. I also enjoyed seeing a painting of Les Andelys, the little town we visited on the Seine.




After I left the museum, I walked over to Giordano's, a restaurant Esther had recommended for dish-deep pizza. It was definitely a popular place, so I ended up sitting in the bar area. The pizza was wonderful, and I was excited the restaurant had Dr Pepper too. Once I finished eating, I walked over to the Chicago River to look around for a little bit and then headed to the subway station. It took a little while for the train to come, but I was still able to make it back to Rosemont a little after 4 and avoid rush hour traffic driving back to Hoffman Estates.

Even though I was just in the city for a few hours, it was great to experience Chicago once again. The warm, sunny weather and gorgeous fall colors made it memorable — it definitely felt like a small gift after the last few weeks.

P.S. I took my first trip to Chicago in 2011 with my parents (a few pictures from that trip).

October 2014 Round-up

I think this is the longest I've waited to write one of these round-up posts, but as many of you know, October was a difficult, unusual, confusing month for my entire family. While there were many highlights — my trip to Chicago chief among them — the most significant event was my dad's heart attack on October 2. The early-morning phone call from my brother signaled the end of life as I knew in and ushered in the new normal of ICU visiting hours, perplexing medical terms, daily text conversations with my family, and several long drives between Austin and Tyler. Fortunately, my dad is on the mend now, and while we know there is still a long road to recovery ahead, we're all so glad to know there is a road ahead — a way forward after this crazy October.

It seems silly to write anything else about this month, but at the same time, I don't want to forget that good things did happen. Over the past few years that I've been writing these posts, I've enjoyed looking back on these short recaps to see what was taking place in my life (even if it's only to see what I was reading or watching at the time). These are a few of the highlights:

• Spending the evening of my birthday (that fateful October 2) with my mom, Paul, and Esther. We ate at Shogun's and enjoyed Esther's wonderful birthday cake. I also received some nice presents.
• Watching the U.S. women, especially Simone Biles, dominate at the World Gymnastics Championships. It was a bright spot during the early days of the month.
• Buying a one-way ticket to Tyler so I could see Dad one weekend. I flew up on Friday after work, and Paul and I drove back to Austin the following day for the UT-Iowa State game. It was a less-than-24-hour turnaround, but I'm so glad I did it.
• Meeting my friend Michelle for dinner one evening. It was wonderful to see her and catch up a little bit.
• Traveling to Chicago for Skate America. On Friday, I took the train into the city for a few hours and then spent the rest of the weekend at the competition. Watching live skating always makes me happy (and meeting Meryl and Charlie was a definite bonus this time).

Books I read: Persuasion (Jane Austen), The Dressmaker (Kate Alcott), Call the Midwife: Farewell to the East End (Jennifer Worth)

Movies I watched: Gone Girl

TV: Dancing with the Stars, Castle, Forever, Parenthood, Grey's Anatomy, college football, World Gymnastics Championships, figure skating (Skate America and Skate Canada)

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About My Monthly Round-Ups
At the end of each month, I take a look back and write a post about the month's highlights, as well as what I read and watched. To see all of my round-up posts, visit this page.

September 2014 Round-up

Happy Tuesday! Like so many months this year, September has seemed to fly by. These are some of the highlights of the past month:

• Celebrating Labor Day with my family. It was great to introduce everyone to the pie at Blue Bonnet Cafe.
• Getting back into the regular routine of handbell practice on Wednesday. I also performed twice in church; once as a sub for the Thursday night group, and the second as a member of my regular group.
• Spending another weekend in Austin with my family for the BYU game. While Dad, Paul, and Esther went to the game, Mom and I had some special girl time together on Saturday night. We all went to County Line on Sunday after church.
• Watching figure skating on my computer. These are still early-season competitions, but watching them has made me even more excited for my trip to Chicago next month.
• Eating a late lunch at Chuy's one Friday...and having another Kendra B. as my server.
• Finishing my Project 365 photo book. It was nice to receive it in the mail today too.
• Treating myself to a pedicure at the end of this month.
• Driving down south after church on Sunday to eat at Mandola's and visit some of the stores down there.

Books I read: Margot (Jillian Cantor), The Island (Victoria Hislop), Larger Than Life (Jodi Picoult), Songs of Willow Frost (Jamie Ford)

Movies I watched: Little Women (DVD), Anne of Green Gables (DVD), Emma (DVD), Mean Girls (TV)

TV: Dancing with the Stars, Grey's Anatomy, Parenthood, Castle, Forever, The Paradise, Veronica Mars (Season 3 DVD), college football

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About My Monthly Round-Ups
At the end of each month, I take a look back and write a post about the month's highlights, as well as what I read and watched. To see all of my round-up posts, visit this page.

Looking Back on Labor Day

A few weekends ago, my family came down to Austin for Labor Day weekend. As usual, UT played the Saturday before Labor Day, so all of us (sans Mom) went to the game that evening. While we watched the Horns beat North Texas, Mom drove out to the Canyon of the Eagles Resort to get our rooms for the weekend. We joined her in the wee hours on Sunday and stayed there through Monday.


On Sunday, we had a relaxing day around the resort. We spent most of the morning out on the porch and then ventured out to do our own things throughout the day. Since it was so hot outside, I enjoyed curling up on a chair in the game room and reading (I finished one book and started another). We also enjoyed snacking on the chips and creamy jalapeno sauce Mom brought out from Chuy's.





That evening we ate dinner at the resort's restaurant and then stayed a while to listen to the musicians playing outside. We also made s'mores, but it was difficult to do because our skewers were so short. Afterward, we came back to the room to celebrate Mom's birthday with cake and a few gifts.





The next day we left the resort and drove into Burnet. The girls went to an antique mall in town while Paul and Dad drove out to a dam Dad remembered visiting several years ago. We met up for lunch at Blue Bonnet Cafe in Marble Falls, where we all enjoyed our meals and the pie. After we finished our lunch, we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. It was a fun weekend and a nice start to the fall football season.

August 2014 Round-up

Happy Tuesday! I hope all of you had a nice Labor Day weekend. Since August is now over, it's time to look back for my monthly round-up. Here are some of the highlights from the past month:

• Meeting my mom and Esther up in Dallas for a girls' weekend of shopping, sharing great food, and enjoying being together.
• Visiting the new Trader Joe's in North Austin for the first time.
• Watching lots of gymnastics on TV — Youth Olympic Games, U.S. Classics and the Visa Championships.
• Finishing the owl on my cross-stitch project (now it's on to the tree).
• Watching Sammy chase a bug in the bathroom one Sunday morning. He stayed after it until he finally killed it. My hero!
• Cheering the Longhorns on to their first victory of the season.
• Spending Labor Day with my family in Austin and the Hill Country. It's always great to celebrate Mom's birthday with her, even if it was a few days early.

And a few lowlights...

• Being sick for a good part of the month. The ability to breathe out of one's nose is severely underrated.
• Dealing with ants and roaches in my apartment, as well as a leaky drier or AC (they don't know why my laundry room is flooding).

Books I read: The Blythes are Quoted (L.M. Montgomery); The Paris Architect (Charles Belfoure); The Little Women Letters (Gabrielle Donnelly); The House Girl (Tara Conklin)

Movies I watched: The Hundred-Foot Journey, Magic in the Moonlight, Roman Holiday (TV), A Nun's Story (TV), Breakfast at Tiffany's (DVD)

TV: Call the Midwife (Season 2 DVD), Veronica Mars (Season 2 & 3 DVDs), The Big Bang Theory, Castle, gymnastics

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About My Monthly Round-Ups
At the end of each month, I take a look back and write a post about the month's highlights, as well as what I read and watched. To see all of my round-up posts, visit this page.