Erika and Baby Jack visit Chicago!

My wonderful, amazing friend of 26 years, Erika, and her adorable 5 month old son, Jack, came to visit us in Chicago last weekend (Nov 19-21).  We had so much fun!  They flew in on Saturday afternoon and we spent the rest of the day checking out shops on Madison St. and eating yummy food!  Our first stop was the Grumpy Lady Bakery - not its real name, but it only fits because the lady that runs the place is not the sweetest gal in the world, which doesn't really add up for me since she makes delicious sweet treats - and we shared a ridiculous, gooey brownie with nuts and some Italian cookies.  Then we walked through a few shops and went back to our condo to share a glass of wine and chit chat while baby Jack took a little nap.  That night we went to Edwardo's for some good ol' deep dish pizza - we had to introduce Erika to our fave pizza place!

The next morning it was only appropriate that we took them to our favorite breakfast place...the Original Pancake House!  Some yummy pancakes later and we were out the door and on the train to take baby Jack to the Shedd Aquarium.  He is such a good little traveler.  We probably picked the worst day to go to the aquarium - there was a Bears game that day and the aquarium is right across the street from Soldier Field.  Oh well, besides a crammed bus ride and standing out in the cold for about 15 minutes waiting for another bus...it was a fun little adventure.  And baby Jack seemed to like the fishies!

On the train.

Watching the stingrays and fish.

After our visit to the aquarium, we headed back to Forest Park to grab a quick lunch and then we were out the door again to go check out the infamous Ikea store.  Tim stayed at home to watch the Bears game so it was just baby Jack and the ladies heading out on a little shopping adventure.  Erika and I had never been and I must say it was quite the experience.  They have a lot of fun furniture and cute/fun decorating stuff.  The store even has its own restaurant. 

Jack having fun at Ikea!

We finished the day with a yummy sushi dinner at a little place over on Madison St.

The weekend went by way too fast, but it was so nice to see Erika and baby Jack.  I miss them so much, so it was nice to have them come visit us.  I can't wait until Tim and I can plan a Wichita trip so we can see the rest of the Velickovski family.

11.11.11

Last weekend was so much fun.  Okay, maybe almost too much fun.  We started my birthday weekend off right by having a yummy breakfast at our favorite pancake spot on Madison St.  I did have a class that afternoon, but I had a yummy lunch with some friends beforehand, so it wasn't so bad...The bad part was going out to my car on my way to lunch to find a parking ticket.  NOT COOL.  Especially since it was my birthday.  And I was in my designated parking spot.  Apparently you have to have a "village" parking sticker on your car (that costs $40 a year) even if you have a designated parking spot...don't even get me started on this city's parking rules.  To make a bummer story a happy story, I went in to pay my ticket on Monday and the nice police officer at the village hall "took care" of my ticket for me!  Yay!!!

Friday night we went out with some friends to celebrate other 11.11.11 birthdays (there were three of us!) and I celebrated like it was my 21st birthday...which it was not.  Needless to say, I needed a Gatorade and a 2 1/2 hour nap on Saturday.

11.11.11 birthday girls!

Saturday night, Tim took me out to a wonderful birthday dinner at Seadog Sushi Bar and we ate our little hearts out.  It was SO GOOD!!!  We had pan fried scallops and pan fried shrimp and vegetable Japanese dumplings for an appetizer.  Then we had 4 sushi rolls that were beyond amazing.  I also had a little miso soup along the way.  It's a BYOB place, so we brought a wonderful, oaky bottle of chardonnay.  It was SO MUCH FUN.

But the fun didn't stop there. Sunday night we met up with one of our friends and went to see Split Lip Rayfield play at the Double Door. Sure did make me miss Wichita.

My 21 28-year-old body has told me all week that last weekend's behavior cannot become a regular thing. I just don't quite bounce back like I used to. I'll wrap it up with a few birthday goodies that Tim got me - as if the weekend experiences weren't enough - I'm one lucky lady!

This candle is amazing.  Smells like the holidays.

Super cute leather crossbody bag for carry-on travels!  He picked up this little gem at a fun antique store called Yearbook just down the street from where we live.

Cute glasses I had my eye on at another fun store close to our place.  These are hand-painted glasses from a cool artist that lives in Denver.  He really does listen to me when I mindlessly babble, because when we were at the store, I mentioned I liked the red and purple ones the best!