I know the title of this post says it was St. Paddy's weekend. But really, screw that, it was MINE. I feel like I pretty much owned the weekend. For once, I actually got all almost all of my weekend goals done, plus I had a helluvalot of fun.
Friday night was pretty chill. We were gearing up for Chicago's St. Patrick's Day festivities the next morning, so we took it pretty easy. I did a Ballet Burn class at the gym, then we relaxed, watched some TV, and hit up the store for some last minute supplies (we were making breakfast and such for our neighbors in the AM).
At about 10:30pm, after we'd gotten settled and put the groceries away, the doorbell rang. It was my dad and brother, who had gotten tickets for some of the Big 10 Games downtown, and decided to stop by afterward. Surprise!
The next morning, we got up bright and early. Like, 7:30am. That's early for a weekend... right? (Sidenote: My fiance always wakes up this early. Psh. Joke's on him!). I had prepped an overnight egg, bacon, and spinach bake the night before, so we popped that in the oven as we got ready.
Our neighbors came over and we promptly got down to business. We made bloody marys ("Very Spicy" V8 Juice, Pepper, "Liquid Smoke," 1.5oz Vodka, Grated Sharp Cheddar, cube Sharp cheddar, and a stick of bacon) and Mimosas (you know the drill). I'm pretty sure I was the only one drinking bloodies, which might be why it's the only drink I have a picture of.
Just before we left the apartment, around 9:15am, my fiance proposed a shot of Whiskey. In the name of the Irish, right? Blarney?
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We hopped on the bus that goes right in front of our apartment and headed over toward the Loop. We found a good spot overlooking the Chicago River and camped out to wait for the river to turn green.
It was mighty cold, even with the Whiskey blanket. As fate would have it, we were pretty much standing in the worst possible spot. The green color had gotten all the way to a bridge nearby, but we were just on the other side of it. So, instead of waiting for the color to get to us, we ducked out of the crowd and made our way to the other side, where The River Green awaited us.
Does it look green? Because it totally is. I'm a Chicago area native, but had never actually seen them dye the river, so naturally I was pumped to get a picture with the river behind us. My neighbors obliged and took the shot :)
From there, we went to a few bars. At the first bar, I was convinced I'd lost my green and gold earring. Turns out, it'd just fallen out on the ground next to our table. Over react much? Yes.
We moved on to O'Leary's, where we had green beer and Guinness. And where we saw this really old dude, celebrating in true style. But really... I couldn't figure out if he was hitting on that woman or not. Either way, I guess, props to him for being a fun guy.
At this point in in the day (probably between 12 and 1pm), we were in serious need of some more food. Bloodies/Mimosas, Whiskey shots, Vodka Sodas, and beer? Time for some food to get in these bellies. We hopped in a cab and went back to The Twisted Spoke, which is pretty much diagonal from our apartments.
This is the point in the day when my fiance started making faces in pictures. See above, and below. He looks super excited, eh? :)
Once we were seated, the epic stuffing of the faces began. I ordered something with a bunch of meat, which I wouldn't normally order, but it was delish. I think. After that morning, though, just about anything would be delicious.
After that, we headed back to our apartment, where I promptly decided to take a nap on the couch. I have a pretty great habit of putting myself to bed after a few drinks, so I took a solid 2 hour nap and woke up around 5 or 6 with a serious appetite. We made Nizzas (Naan Pizzas), drank lots of water and La Croix, and ate the rest of our egg bake over the next few hours.
Oh, and watched like a million episodes of Selling New York and House Hunters. This had me convinced that we were going to move to Rotterdam (???), so I spent about an hour looking up apartments. You may say I'm a dreamer...
The next day, we were both totally rejuvenated. We had a nice relaxing morning and ended up taking a 4(ish) mile run together, with the pup. Here we were, all suited up and ready for the run...
Is the (creepy) dog face awesome? She was trying to chew on her leash because we'd accidentally crossed it over her body and shoved it in her face. #oops
The day was really wonderful, and I felt like a total slap happy kid. I was running through the city of Chicago with my man and a pup with a
huge grin on her face. It was the perfect temperature for this type of run, too -- we were definitely working hard (we both have heart rate monitors that indicated our heart rates were mostly between 150 and 165), but we weren't getting super sweaty. #Winning
Oh, and I should probably mention how happy this pup was about the run. Every time we passed people, they would smile at her or watch her trot on by. #thecutest
Post-run, we did more relaxing, hit up CostCo, and then did even more relaxing. Overall, this weekend left me feeling pretty darn awesome. We won.
Questions for YOU...
- Do you have any St. Patrick's Day traditions, or do you play it by ear?
- What's your favorite "running temperature?"
And now for that gratefulness:
Dear Chicago,
Thanks for making it so easy to celebrate St. Patrick's Day bright and early. It meant that I still had time to nap it off and enjoy the entire evening with my man. Best of both worlds, I do say.
Love,
Carly
