Memorial Day Weekend

Silly Coloradans

As most of you know, we usually spend Memorial Day Weekend soaking up the sun in the Utah desert. This year we needed to find a new place to enjoy the long weekend. After some research, we decided on the Indian Dunes. They are only about an hour away from Chicago and there's sand. It seemed like a good alternative. The initial forecast looked okay for camping so Tom hauled all of our gear out of the basement and up three flights of stairs. Then, it started to rain. Silly Coloradans... we forgot that we are in the Mid-West. It rained, and rained, and rained, and ... well you get the point - no camping for us.

On Memorial Day itself the rain stopped and out popped the sun! We stood and stared in amazement at the big fiery thing in the sky. Then decided it would be a lovely day to take Chloe to the dog park on the lake shore. As we headed that direction we began to encounter traffic. As the traffic slowed to a crawl we were getting passed by numerous pedestrians in bathing suits. Bathing suits in the city? Hmmm. That doesn't make sense. Is there a pool nearby? Then, we began to get passed by people with bathing suits, lawn chairs, beach balls, etc. And that's when it hit us... ALL of these people were heading to the lake.

Instead of admit defeat we kept going east at a turtle's pace. Arriving at the harbor only to sit in a long line of traffic and watch some of the dumbest driving/parking fiascoes I've ever witnessed. Everyone and their mother, brother, sister, father, and dog was there. It was so bad that I literally hopped out of the car with Chloe, took her to the dog park for a while, and walked back only to find Tom had moved a couple hundred feet. Silly Coloradans... you live in a big city now. When everyone wants to go to the lake, you need to go the other direction.

For dinner we had a picnic on our roof. This was seriously the best part of our entire weekend. We were able to fully relax, tucked away from the crazy world below.

Our view of the city skyline was quite patriotic with the flag in front and the red, white, and blue lights in the distance.

Thank you to all of the brave Americans that

have sacrificed their lives for our freedom.

Shamrock Shuffle

Yesterday Tom and I ran our first 8K. Our plans to train for the race never really materialized so we just went for it. Much to our surprise we both finished without any major complications. However, the post race care has included a lot of ibuprofen, ice, and aloe vera. (Yep, we are getting old.)

We ran the race together and finished in just over an hour; 1:00:32 and 1:00:33 to be exact. With over 40,000 participants, Chicago's Shamrock Shuffle is the largest 8K in the world. The course weaves through downtown and starts, and ends, in a park along the lakeshore. The weather was amazing. We had 80 degree temps and sun shine. It felt like summer!

St. Patty's Month

Tom and I knew that St. Patrick's Day is a huge holiday in Chicago. What we didn't know is that it's like a month long drunk fest for Chicagoans. We made a error by scheduling our housewarming party the same day as the St. Patty's Day parade. Even the green liqueur and Guinness cupcakes (which were amazing BTW!) didn't entice many people to come. That being said, we had a wonderful time with the people that did make it.

Prior to our party, we headed downtown to see the dyeing of the river. I was really excited about this. It did not disappoint; it was pretty darn cool. They say that the dye, which is a secret formula, is completely safe for the environment. I have to wonder if their "secret formula" is a lot like the "special ingredient" in Coca Cola. They didn't think that was harmful either. Anyway, we took some great pictures and learned some valuable lessons, which I have been nice enough to summarize for you below.

The Coloradans Guide to Surviving St. Patty's Day in Chicago:

1. St. Patty's Day celebrations (a.k.a. drinking and wearing emerald green beads and headgear) start around March 1st and end... well I'm not sure when they end. We are running in the Shamrock Shuffle on April 10th, so maybe after that?
2. Even though Chicago is not a morning town apparently people will get up as early as 6:00 AM to start drinking green beer.
3. People drinking green beer all day = green puke.... watch your step.
4. I'm sure you've heard that the traffic is really bad in Chicago... well, this goes for the sidewalks as well.
5. If you want to see the parade, instead of the back of people's heads and the occasional tip of a bagpipe, you must claim your parade spot early.
6. It turns out that pushing your baby in his or her stroller through a crowd of drunk people isn't the best parenting decision you've ever made.
7. Don't be fooled by pictures of people in Chicago without their winter clothes on for St. Patty's Day. It is NOT warm here, they are simply too intoxicated to notice the real reason they can't feel their legs.
8. Side affects of green beer at 6:00 AM include, but are not limited to the following: having trouble controlling the volume of your voice, dancing around like a moron, slurring your speech to the point that no one can understand you, and the inability to realize that no one else cares how much you've had to drink. If you are exhibiting these behaviors - stop F#%@ing drinking!

HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY!!

Hair and Chicago Climate

Since I arrived in Chicago my hair has been crazy frizzy and isn't curling like it use to. As a result I've been straightening it a lot. Which, as time goes by, seems to be adding to my unruly mane. Today I had enough. I researched a salon that I walk by and found out they had a stylist that specialized in Ouidad cuts. I decided to give it a shot.

Since I'm getting so good at before and after shots here are a few of my hair :)

This Morning - Before:

This Afternoon - After:

It looks like she took two or three inches off the length but she just trimmed it. The cut and style made it spring to back life.

I highly recommend Fox Hair if you are looking for a salon on the North Side, especially if you have curly locks. Everyone there was great. Jenny is the one that specializes in the Ouidad cut and she was fantastic!

Chicago Blizzard of 2011

Like most of the country we have been experiencing extreme weather. For those of you in Denver this is not normal for Chicago. In fact, there have only been 5 storms with snow accumulation over 16" in 126 years of weather records. There have been reports of up to 22" of snow in some of the suburbs. It sounds like we probably got around 16" here last night. I have no clue how they were be able to measure it considering wind gusts reached 70 mph. Here's a video of what it looked like. The video doesn't really do it justice.

When we woke up this morning the snow had stopped and the wind had died down. Chloe loves the snow... I think she is part rabbit.

It started coming down again right as we headed back inside and it's been going strong ever since. It's accumulating on the rooftops since the wind is not blowing as hard today.

(We probably have got about another 2-3" since this photo was taken.)

I'll keep you posted on the final snow tallies. Tom's working from home today so we are both safe and sound :)

Merry Christmas!

A peaceful Christmas morning in the city.

(and the beautiful view from our rooftop!)