Que Bueno!

Paulo competed in - and won! - the Soldier Field Cycling series, or at least the last race of the series.

The race took place in the south parking lot of Soldier Field...unfortunately Paulo set his trainer up in perhaps the worst spot so I could not get any good city-scape pictures of him warming up. This was the best I could do....

It was a cool and rainy day in Chicago, not good conditions for cycling, but thankfully the rain held off during the race.

They combined the 4 and 5 series racers - there are different levels of racing depending on how many races you have completed and how well you have finished - which lead for a more challenging race...which Paulo won by about half a tire length!!

Parabens Paulo!!!

Retreat!

I'd been getting some friendly criticism all summer from some city friends for going up to Wisconsin so many weekends this summer. So, I figured the only way to make them see why was to show them first hand why I love Lake Geneva.

I picked Megan, Melissa, Rachel, and Peter up at the train on Friday night and after grilling out we headed over to Lake Geneva to pick Lynne up by boat from her work event that just happened to be the same weekend.Matt and Stephanie drove up on Saturday and after a lazy morning drinking coffee and journaling, we headed down to the water to enjoy the gorgeous day - fun times swimming, water trampoline-ing, and swimming off the boat.Saturday night we had a bonfire down at the pier complete with s'mores - yum! Sunday was a little overcast but that didn't stop the thrill seekers from taking the jet ski out to tear up the lake.

Johanna and Mike we missed you - next time you're required to come!

Vertigo

Last week Kelly, Leslie and I went to the Vertigo Sky Lounge in the Dana Hotel for a networking event. Free food and drink, rooftop views, gorgeous night, and a tour of the penthouse room - can't beat that!

Welcome to Chicago!

Sheila came into town for a long weekend and we had a blast! First was dinner at Adobo Grill followed by a hilarious show at Second City. On Saturday we had drinks with Marge and Richard on Richard's rooftop and then headed to Mia Francesca for a delicious dinner.Sunday was hot and humid, but Sheila and I beat the heat with a 3hr kayak tour of the Chicago River - fun times! Can't wait to come visit you in Bean Town Sheila!!!

Lincoln Park Farmers Market

Brittany came into town a few weekends ago and when she wasn't rocking it out at Lollapalloza, we headed up to Lincoln Park to walk through the Farmer's Market and the Zoo.

While it may not be quite as amazing as the Santa Barbara Farmer's Market, there are plenty of fresh fruits, veggies, flowers, meat and cheese - yum!

Groupies

My mom once mentioned that she would love to see Van Morrison play - so when we saw that he was playing in Washington, DC, my mom, sister, and I booked our flights!

I flew out a day early so I could spend some time with some of my favorite DC residents - Kara, Stacey, and Brittany. We went to a hole in the wall Thai place called Sweet Rice and it was delicious. They were having a pomegranate drink special - Poma martini, Poma margarita, Poma mojito....YUM!
On Thursday my mom and sister flew in and we headed over to the Pentagon Memorial for September 11th. Very well done monument, though it needs a little more signage to explain all the symbolism.

From there we headed to Georgetown and found a delicious Austrian Cafe tucked away in an alley that reminded me a lot about dining in Copenhagen. Kelly had a great very creative watermelon and feta salad while my mom and I split mini-sandwiches and a salad.














After working up an appetite shopping (and finding some great deals!) we headed to Agraria Farmers & Fishers at the Georgetown Waterfront. I'd never been to Agraria, but I was surprised that during my 5 years in DC I had not taken mom or Kel to the waterfront. It was a gorgeous night, Stacey met up with us, and the food was amazing!

And then we were off to the main event - Van Morrison!!Apparently Van Morrison doesn't like to preform in public. He played for about an hour and a half with no intermission, no encore, and no talking in between songs. But it was still a great concert! There were 9 other band members up there and they were all so talented - violin, cellos, bass, sax, drums, piano, and guitars. Van Morrison played the piano, guitar, sax, and harmonica. Great job Van!

Face to Face

Many of you already know the story...but it is worth repeating. My sister and I heard that Elton John and Billy Joel were coming to Chicago to perform at Wrigley Field so we got tickets for our family to go and decided to surprise our parents at a family dinner during Restaurant Week. Well...it turns out they had already bought the tickets for themselves. So, we sold one set of tickets to friends and laughed about the fact that we know our parent's pretty well!The concert was FANTASTIC! It was a gorgeous night and who doesn't enjoy spending time at Wrigley Field? (perhaps Cardinals fans). First Elton and Billy performed about 5 songs together - both on their own piano.

Then Elton performed for over an hour...he passed the baton to Billy who took over for an hour.
Then they joined forces for a few more tunes that got us out of our seats up and dancing!!!Well done boys!!!

My Favorite Place

I've done a fair amount of traveling, yet my favorite place still remains Lake Geneva, Wisconsin where I have been going since before I can even remember. (I guess I should "footnote" that comment - the lake is my favorite US destination...I'm still obsessed with Croatia as an international destination!). Lake Geneva is less than 2hr from Chicago and my parents bought a summer home there over 30 years ago. They loved it so much that they made it their full time home about 4 years ago after they sold their home in the Chicago suburbs.

They live in an association called Oakwood Estates which consists of about 3 blocks of houses that all share the same lakefront and pier. Most of the families live in the Chicago suburbs and own summer homes at the lake and many of them have been here as long or longer than us, so it really is like a second family. We spend many lazy afternoons hanging out at the end of the pier or around bonfires eating, laughing, and enjoying each other's company.

And of course, there is the lake to enjoy - water skiing, wave runners, swimming, boating - love it!

Building Community by Bowling

This summer our small group has focused on building community so every other week we headed out for a "social event" in the city. A few weeks ago we headed to Lucky Strike for a night of bowling.

I am a TERRIBLE bowler, but we still had a great time! Unfortunately the picture was a little blurry....

Happy Birthday Kelly!

Kel celebrated a big birthday with a bbq on her front steps - good times!Happy Bithday Kel!!!

Bags in the Park

What better way to spend the first warm weekend of the summer than a picnic and bags in the park?Lynne and I held our own in our first game of the season.

Superwomen

Kelly and her friend Lauren competed in the Big Foot Sprint Triathlon - rock stars they were!

After a grueling swim through some very choppy water, Kel was off on the bike.
While Kel was off biking, Bob and Dan found a sunny spot to relax and catch some rays. Well done ladies!