I like this a part of summer time. Gwen’s college begins later than most, so we have now been out of faculty for 2 months and will not return for an additional month. Proper now, we’re in a groove. We’re dwelling in Chicago, Gwen’s at day camp, and I’ve had time to work on massive initiatives. Here’s a little recap of what we have been as much as this summer time.
What I have been doing:
We kicked off summer time with a three-week-long go to to London and Santander to go to Charles’s household. We spent the primary week in London. Charles was working, so Gwen and I explored town on our personal. It was our third time in London collectively, and we acquired to discover a few of our favourite locations once more: Hampton Court docket Palace, the Nationwide Maritime Museum, Paddington Recreation Floor, and Uncover Youngsters’s Story Centre. And, we went to some new locations – we beloved the Paddington Expertise and the Unicorn Theatre!
After London, we spent a blissful weekend within the Cotwolds earlier than touring to Santander to spend time with Charles’s dad and mom.
Charles and I took a facet journey to Casa Beatnik and Santiago de Compostela – our first trip with out Gwen. It felt so calm and quiet. In the meantime, Gwen had a blast along with her grandparents in Santander.
We returned to Chicago simply in time for Gwen’s fifth birthday! We celebrated her birthday with a rooftop cupcake get together for the neighbor youngsters, after which that weekend, we hosted a celebration at Lush, bringing collectively a mixture of neighbors and college buddies. I had no concept that Lush in Bucktown had a celebration room till a supervisor slipped me a flyer after I was buying with Gwen at some point. The children had a lot enjoyable making tub bombs, and Lush even offered the goodie baggage!
Do you know that Chicago is dwelling to the biggest American Lady Place? It’s huge, and I took Gwen to pick a doll for her birthday. She had a blast, however was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer variety of doll choices. She ended up choosing a doll with rainbow hair.
Then we went to the Hershey Tremendous Candy Journey subsequent door, which was simply okay. It felt like a vacationer lure. There weren’t that many actions. The Colour Manufacturing facility and the Museum of Ice Cream are significantly better in case you are searching for a kid-friendly exercise downtown.
We have checked a few gadgets off our Chicago summer time bucket record. We went to a brand new playground, visited the zoo, and noticed three performs – together with Magnificence & the Beast, Gwen’s first Broadway musical!
I have been very busy attempting to complete up dwelling initiatives and dealing on updates to this web site. I lastly launched a brand new web site design!
What I have been consuming:
My neighbor Nic opened up Nic + Juniors in River North, and I’ve dined there many occasions. The burger and the rigatoni alla vodka are private favorites.
I joined my buddy Lindzi (of the wonderful XO Marshmallow) for a protracted overdue dinner at Tortello, my neighborhood pasta store/restaurant. I like their pesto and burrata.
I had lunch at Oliang Thai, a scrumptious little Thai spot in Lincoln Park. That is the Pad Thai, and their inexperienced curry can also be glorious.
We dined at Etta for the primary time in a very long time. It is nonetheless beautiful. I had a lemon pasta, Gwen had buttered pasta, and Charles had pizza.
Little Victories, somewhat neighborhood bar the place Charles and I typically kick off date nights with a drink, began serving Buttermilkfry fried rooster and rooster Caesar wraps. The rooster shortly turned a viral sensation, and it took a number of makes an attempt earlier than I used to be capable of attempt it with out ready in a protracted line! Is it well worth the hype? Yup. Have I discovered a technique to get in with out ready? Yup.
What I have been sporting:
