Windy City

This past weekend I took a quick road trip to Chicago with my friend Amanda. Its always fun for me to get out of the bubble and back into civilization.

One of the first things on my to-do list was a Starbucks run. Its holiday drink season so I got my first peppermint white mocha of the season. Usually, I get a regular coffee rather than a fancy drink but this is AMAZING. As a bonus, I still have a free drink coupon from my birthday so I saved $6!!

After coffee, we went to Millennium Park and took ridiculous pictures with the bean. If you are not familiar with this statue, it is a giant metal thing that was supposed to look like a cloud. I think it looks more like a kidney bean. Either way, its great to take funny photos with.

looking up at the bean

Then we hit up The Art Institute of Chicago where we saw the highlights, including American Gothic.

After some Chicago style pizza we went to Navy Pier and then did a little shopping before getting back on the train.

Chicago Skyline

sun going down in the windy city

looking awesome as always?

 On our way back to the cities we stopping in Milwaukee. We said a quick hi to my sister and grabbed some more coffee. I wish our trip could have been longer but it was fun and totally worth the hours in the car :)

the little things in life

Lately I have felt the travel itch - I don't know where I want to go just that I want to go somewhere. Unfortunately I cant just pick up and hop on a plane (and trust me I wish I could) so I decided to at least get out of Sandstone for the day.

I drove to just outside of the cities. I started my morning at Panera where I had a great breakfast sandwich, a mocha and some high speed internet. Next it was on to Barnes and Noble. It has been far too long since I wandered around a bookstore. I didn't buy anything but I now have quite the list of books I want to read. Following the bookstore I went to a Starbucks. I was happy to discover that it tis the season of the red cup. I don't know why but I always love when the red cup makes an appearance - maybe because it reminds me of winter and holidays and family.

My last stop of the day was Target. This is probably what I miss the most about not living near a city. I had the best discovery at Target - Pepperidge Farm has come out with their holiday cookies. This means TIM TAMS!!! Earlier this year I discovered the hard way that the tim tam is a seasonal thing. Not this time - this time I bought 4 packs (I did get several strange looks from the cashier but it was worth it).

When I got back to Audubon, I shared the wonderfulness of the tim tam with a couple of my housemates. We choose to make hot chocolate, bite the corners off the tim tam and then use the tim tam as a straw. The cookie turns into this warm delicious mess and lets you feel like your in Europe. Since I cant jump on a plane, the quick run into a city will have to do.....for now :)