(Slightly) Thwarted Plans

By now, you’ve probably seen the photos like this of Chicago.

Due to the rather impassable conditions, my move has been rescheduled from this week to February 19th. Let’s hope that some of this ridiculous snow has melted by then. I have a feeling that I won’t need to pack my clothes in a suitcase because wearing all of them at one time will be a necessity.

I’m a little disappointed that my trip has been postponed but at the same time, I’m soaking up every minute with family and friends and our comparably warm winter. Stay warm!

You call this art?! – Chicago (Day 3)

I bet you thought I would never post days 3 and 4, didn’t you? Well ha! You weren’t going to weasel your way out of looking at more boring vacation slides if I have anything to say about it. :)

Thursday morning, Susie and I got a quick breakfast and took the train to the Gold Coast area of town. The Gold Coast is named such because it’s home to some of the biggest, most magnificent houses in the city. We strolled through the quiet streets and took pictures of some of the pretty homes and luxury apartment buildings.

But every neighborhood has that one family...

Then we took a breather in Lincoln Park before heading to Old Town.

Historical Society in Lincoln Park

Moody Bible Church

When we reached Old Town, we took a few more photos by The Second City then we were off to find some of that Famous Chicago Deep-Dish Pizza!

After waiting in line for a small eternity behind the world’s most annoyingly-voiced girl, (seriously, those Chicago accents kill me!!) we finally enjoyed Gino’s East pizza. It was good but I’m okay with just eating regular ol’ pizza.

After lunch, we hopped on the train and headed towards the Art Institute of Chicago (the museum is free on Thursdays from 5-8 p.m.), the Buckingham Fountain and the Cloud Gate (or the Bean) sculpture.

Susie, reflecting on her life choices by the Art Institute's reflecting pool

Susie couldn't get enough of El Frijole

It was pretty amazing

Robbie Sinclair, chillin in the park

This sculpture was about as useful as tits on a boar

When 5:00 finally rolled around, we joined the other approximately 6 billion people waiting in line to get in the the museum. We opted for the shorter line to the Contemporary wing (you can still see the classic stuff, you just enter a different way.)

 I don’t claim to be an art aficionado in any way, shape or form so I can’t speak intelligently to the artistic value of contemporary art work. That being said, some of that stuff is just pure bull honkey. There is no way you can convince me that painting a canvas with 3 different blocks of gray paint is some sort of genius artistic statement. Honestly, you could record yourself doing seagull impressions, play them over a loud speaker and hang a chair from the ceiling and call it modern art. (Nobody steal that idea, that gold mine belongs to me.)  Needless to say, I was ready to transition to the more classic wing of the museum. Susie, who didn’t appreciate my hilarious commentary on the contemporary art since she is an arteest herself, was eager to see some of her favorite impressionist paintings.

Hung Chow, the constipated Chinaman

A stylish museum patron

Susie doing her best Cameron Frye impression

Day 4 to come…

Many Restaurants Deliver Until 3 a.m. (Chicago – Days 1-2)

We’re back from Chicago and I could sleep for another week! What a fun and busy trip! I think I’ll post in snippets. Otherwise, you’d be waiting on a post until the Cubs won a game. (Badumpchee)

We arrived in Chicago’s Midway airport via AirTran (aka the Peasant Express) on Tuesday morning and wasted no time. We took the L train to our first hotel, The Inn of Chicago, took quick showers and set out to explore our surroundings.

E Ohio entrance of the Inn of Chicago

Double room in the Inn of Chicago

We stopped for a yummy lunch at Potbelly where they had this fun vintage wallpaper that happened to match Susie’s shirt perfectly.

Susie models her Potbelly cup

Susie’s necklace is from this Etsy seller.

We ran across the Chicago Tribune building, the Chicago River and the Corn Cob buildings (anybody know their real name?)

The Chicago Tribune

Chicago Skyline

Corn Cob Buildings

Chicago River

Cool/Scary

More Chicago buildings

 I was completely amazed by the beautiful architecture around the city. I was sort of expecting the city to look industrial and cold but it was absolutely beautiful! I snapped over 400 pictures, many of which are just of buildings.

Susie poses by the Chicago Riverwalk

Bridge over Chicago Waters

We couldn’t pass up the fantastic shopping on the Magnificent Mile! I think our favorite store was Jonathan Adler – every single thing (aside from the boob vase) was ADORABLE! The wallpaper, furniture, rugs, upholstery, accessories lamps and art all killed me!  I only took cell phone pictures there though, I was afraid I’d get in trouble for snapping real pictures.

Jonathan Adler sofa and pillows

Jonathan Adler upholstery

Jonathan Adler giraffe lamp

How adorable would that be in a child’s room?! However, at this price, I wouldn’t trust it to a youngin.

One of the most impressive stores in the Mag Mile area was the Bloomingdale’s Home Store. The four floors of china, crystal, silver, furniture, bedding, towels and rugs are housed in the former Shriner’s building. It’s quite a sight to behold. I don’t know why I didn’t take a picture of the exterior. This is the only shot I have inside… I was afraid that I’d give up my identity as a shameless tourist if I took any more. Here’s a snapshot of the exterior (not by me).

Ceiling of Bloomingdale's Home

However, I was not too ashamed to take a picture of the carrera marble changing table and sink in the Bloomies’ bathroom.

Marble Changing Table at Bloomingdale's Home

After we’d tired of shopping, we headed back to the hotel for a quick change of clothes before hopping on the L to Old Town. We had tickets to the Second City e.t.c.’s “The Absolute Best Friggin Time of Your Life.”  We got great seats – 3rd row- and the show was pretty hilarious. Warning: this show is not for the faint of heart, easily offended or extremely conservative, click here for a review.

Poster for the Revue

Some Second City Alums

The e.t.c. Stage

After the show, we took a cab back to the hotel and got some much needed sleep.

Wednesday met us with some light rain as we headed towards the Navy Pier and Lake Michigan.  The shower provided us with some pretty light for pictures around the lake and pier.

Park beside Lake Michigan

Navy Pier

Lighthouse and ship in the mist

Navy Pier

Navy Pier

Susie at Navy Pier

Navy Pier

Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier

The city from Navy Pier

Chicago from Navy Pier

After we exhausted our photo opps at Navy Pier, we walked to Macy’s.

Chicago River on the way to Macy's

The Chicago Theatre

Macy’s was overwhelming to say the least. You could take the Macy’s in the Augusta Mall, lay the top floor beside the bottom floor and multiply it by 9. This picture of the entrance barely does it justice. You could spend an entire day in that store and still not see every piece of merchandise!

Macy's foyer

We stopped for lunch and Susie got a Chicago Hot Dog. I was not really in the mood so I didn’t try the city’s classic treat. I hear that it was my loss. The rain had picked up a little at this point so we took a cab to the Sears Tower in the hopes of recreating the scene from Ferris Bueller. Sadly, the SkyDeck visibility was at zero due to the rain so we didn’t get any cool city-wide pictures.

Exterior of the Sears Tower

Moving sculptures in the Sears (Willis) Tower

Sculptures in the Sears (Willis) Tower

At this point, our feet hurt, we were tired, crabby and damp so we took the train back to the hotel to shower, rest and change clothes for supper.

Just a block and a half from our hotel sat the delicious Volare restaurant. Susie and I enjoyed arguably the best meal of our trip. She had the gnocchi with fresh pesto and I had a delicious risotto with mushrooms, peas and sausage. The salad and bread we enjoyed just before the meal were a treat in and of themselves but the main courses were absolutely delicious! Our authentically Italian server was so sweet and helpful and convinced us to take a chocolate marjolaine (crunchy chocolate meringue layers with white toblerone – Swiss chocolate- mousse) to go.

With full tummies and tired feet, we slept another full night to rest up for the next day’s activities…

Days 3 and 4 coming soon.

Pictures

New blog post about Chicago in the works… in the meantime, check out pictures from our trip here and here.

Chicago, Chicago that toddlin town

Susie and I are headed for Chicago tomorrow morning and I’m super excited to spend 4 days in the Windy City! There is so much to do and see there, I’m sure we’ll be going non-stop.

One of our first stops is The Second City.

We’ll swing by the Art Institute.

We’ll catch a Cubs game.

We’ll take our picture in The Bean.

We’ll tour some of the cool neighborhoods like the Gold Coast, Old Town, Lincoln Park (hopefully we won’t run into Linkin Park, their music is insufferable) and Armitage.

We’ll swing by the Sears Tower and maybe take an architectural tour.

We’ll gawk at the Magnificent Mile and Navy Pier (we are tourists, after all.)

We’ll take a look at Lake Michigan.

We might even stop in and jump on Oprah’s couch.

And we’ll definitely eat Chicago-style pizza and hot dogs.

What are we missing? What must-sees must we see? Where do the mobsters hang out? What will we just die if we don’t do?

You poor blog!

I have really been neglecting the blog lately! I just can’t seem to get my act together to write anything of worth. Poor thing is probably starving to death!

If you’re just absolutely craving more of me (and who isn’t? haha) please follow me on Twitter. I’m much more attentive there. If I knew how to put a Twitter button the side of my blog, I’d do it but I am not that tech savvy so here’s a link: http://twitter.com/sashyjane

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with one of my latest VeryVera articles.

Ever since I can remember, all I wanted to be when I grew up was a wife and mother. I assumed I’d be married right out of college and cranking out a baby every other year or so after that. Imagine my horror when I graduated from college without so much as a prospective husband and realized I’d have to provide for myself! I couldn’t see any advantages to being single. It seemed like a punishment rather than an opportunity. However, 4+ years out of college, my perspective is a little clearer. I’m no closer to marriage than I was at graduation but I’m actually happy with my life! My 21 year-old self would be horrified.

It’s taken me a while to get comfortable with the word single. I always assumed it had a negative stigma and connotation, as if there was something wrong with me. I didn’t want to be alone – I needed a roommate, I needed a best friend, I needed my sister to accompany me to events. I’d never think of attending a wedding or eating at a restaurant alone! But not too long ago, I had a bit of an epiphany: being single can be fun!

When you’re single, you can travel on a whim, decorate your house however you’d like and choose when you’d like to socialize and when you’d like to have some time alone. In the past year, I’ve made spur-of-the-moment trips to Trinidad, St. Louis, New York, Nashville, Tampa and I have a few more planned (maybe Chicago or Boston?) in the coming months.

While I’ve learned to be happy in my singledom, that isn’t to say that I don’t long for the company of other people. I’ll invite girlfriends for a dinner party and set the table with the good china, candle sticks, open a bottle of wine and really pull out all the stops. Once a week I’ll eat supper with my widowed grandmother and we’ll watch Dancing with the Stars. I have a great pool of friends, family and loved ones who are just a drive or call away who remind me that singleness doesn’t equal loneliness.

Top o’ tha marnin to ya!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Instead of drinking green beer and eating corned beef and cabbage, I’d like to take a trip to Ireland to celebrate.  I think I’ll stay at the Springfield Castle.

This place is seriously out of control beautiful! There are no words.  I’m not even going to try to describe it. Even their website is beautiful.  Just take a look at the grounds and cozy rooms:

And for you floorplan junkies:

You can even get married here! Wouldn’t it be gorgeous to have this as your backdrop?!

What fun to stay in a place packed with rich history and surrounded by beautiful scenery!

How do you plan to celebrate your St. Patty’s day?

I want to go to there

I’ve mentioned before here and here how much I want to visit Scotland and stay in one of the gorgeous houses up for rent through Cottages & Castles.  Thanks to their email update today, I want to go bad. Real bad. Like “I’m going to hurl myself in the floor and kick and scream if I don’t get what I want” bad. Just look at these new properties!

The Tay View Apartment at Pitfour Castle in Perth

Not bad, eh? How about the Hoscote Estate House near Hawick?

Scotland, with your beautiful houses, stunning landscapes and handsome men (Gerard Butler, James McAvoy, Sean Connery, Craig Ferguson, Ewan MacGregor… and many more) I don’t know why I’m living anywhere else.  How soon can I move?

Nashville

My friend Sarah and I got away for the holiday weekend.  We took a quick trip up to Nashville and back.  We’d planned to drive up Friday afternoon, go out, enjoy Saturday and Sunday then drive back Monday at a leisurely pace.  Instead, it took us TEN HOURS to get from Augusta to Nashville on Friday because of the snow and traffic in Atlanta.  Once we got there, we decided to cut our trip a day short and head back on Sunday because of the snow scheduled to hit Nashville. While a bit disappointing, we still enjoyed our time.

I could absolutely live in the record stores downtown.  I also became quickly infatuated with this place.

If you love design, typefaces and just all around cool printing stuff, you must visit this place.  I could have stayed in there all weekend and spent some serious $$.

We wandered through the Opryland hotel a bit and then caught some live music.

I had to stop by Dolly’s souvenir store.  How does this woman stand up and how do her organs function?!

On Sunday, we stopped in Franklin, TN and ate brunch at Puckett’s. Delish and adorable.  I’m ready to pack my bags and move to Franklin!

I left my SD card in my laptop so I didn’t have it with me when we were strolling through Franklin. The above and below are “borrowed” from the internet. Hopefully I’ll get the pictures from Sarah soon.  Adorable shops, incredibly nice people and gorgeous houses. I could honestly move there tomorrow.  I love their seasonal banners on the lamp posts.

After walking around a bit more, we headed back to Georgia where the snow had melted and turned everything to mush.  It was nice to get away for a bit and I have a new favorite go-to city when I need an escape. What did you do this weekend?

We’re back!

Full post with pictures tomorrow.  I’m going to prop my foot up with some ice.

Until then, I’ll leave you with a picture of the closest thing to a celebrity we saw.

I guess all the good celebrities were at the Golden Globes.