A Quick Chicago Jaunt - Day 1

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Last week, I made a quick, two-night trip to my home city to check in with some important peeps. Family and friends, to be exact. I wasn't able to see everyone, so I'll be making another trip soon, but as far as a short trip goes, I packed it pretty tight!

Tuesday, I took the train in from Grand Rapids to Chicago. I had never taken the train before, but it seemed like a good idea so that I didn't have to deal with having a car in downtown Chicago (traffic.is.the.worst). I was surprised that the train was pretty comfy, with large seats, wifi, and power outlets for every passenger.

Train Selfie!

I arrived at Union Station and freshened up, put my contacts in, etc. Then, I walked across the river to a Starbucks just past Sears (I mean "Willis") Tower to meet a girlfriend for coffee. After a sleepy 4 hour train ride, I needed it!

Post-Starbucks, it had been raining for about thirty minutes and there was a break in the rain, so I decided to haul my suit case and bag over to Ogilvie (another train station not far from Union Station), where I was meeting my aunt for lunch at Chicago French Market.

We had a nice chat, and I had a yummy steak salad from Wisma while my aunt went for some Tofu Pho. Afterwards, I nabbed a few maracons to bring to my next visit, and then I hopped on a train at Ogilvee that was headed to a nearby suburb, Des Plaines. It had already been a long day, so I went for a refreshing Kombucha as a pick-me-up for my train ride. #betterthancoffee

Thirty minutes later, I got off in Des Plaines to meet one of my girlfriends from High School at her apartment, which is literally a block from the train station there. Another HS girlfriend stopped by, and we chatted, drank red wine, and generally just did what girls do when together! Oh, yeah. And we ate the macarons :)

After a few hours passed, and it was time to head to dinner at Cooper's Hawk Winery and Restaurant in Wheeling, another nearby suburb. I rode with my girlfriend, with my bags in the car, and met my ladies.

There was wine. Lots of salads. Some salads, and gnocci. What's better than sharing that with ladyfriends?

That's all for now! Back soon with more downtown Chicago pics :)

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

• What's your favorite spot in Chicago?
• What's your favorite thing to do in your hometown?!

...And Then They Lived Happily Ever After! [Part Two]

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For background on this post, go here to read about Kara & Jerry's love story and wedding or go here to see pictures of the bride and groom (and guests, of course!) at their reception this weekend!

When decorating for their reception, Kara wanted to honor Jerry's Chinese heritage by adding red.  Why, you might ask?  Because red is the color traditionally used for Chinese weddings. We decorated with lanterns, white lights, and red, white, and black.

One of Kara's daughters used a photo of Kara and Jerry holding hands to paint on this canvas...

Kara's other daughter made this...

The darker it got, the more beautiful all of the decorations looked.  Chris took these after most of the guest were gone and everyone had moved inside...

Overall, it was a beautiful fusion - from Italian beef sandwiches and pasta a la vodka to pork fried rice and egg rolls.  To top it off, there were fortune cookies on every table!

P.S. Remember when I mentioned we were providing (ourselves as) live music for the reception?!  Boy, do I have videos for you!  I'll post all of them later today (they're such good quality videos from Chris's camera that Vimeo is chuggin' slowly uploading them).  For now, here's a sneak peak to satisfy your music hunger...  This is Chris and I covering Train's "Marry Me" (Kara & Jerry's favorite song!).

Linked at Life Made Lovely, Making the World Cuter, Skip to my Lou, FunkyPolkaDotGiraffe, Reasons To Skip The Housework, Sugarbeecrafts, It'sSewFun, SillyLittleSparrow