Country Wedding

Lynne and Matt's wedding weekend arrived and we all headed down to Tulsa, OK.

 The wedding and all the festivities were held at the rustic Post Oak Lodge - a great venue!

Who knew that they had great zip lining in Oklahoma...I thought this was a plain state.

 The afternoon was spent relaxing with the bride and groom.

 Then it was off to a rehearsal BBQ and bonfire!

 

 Nate, the best man, giving a wonderful speech.

 The Chicago crew!

 No country wedding is complete without a little...or a lot...of line dancing.

 Matt's nephew was hard to keep off the dance floor.

 ...taking after this aunt-to-be.

 Finishing off the night with a little Gangham style.

Now let's get hitched!!!

Slainte!

I had a "real" St. Patrick's Day this year....headed down to Chicago's South Side for the South Side Irish Parade.

 Sean's brother Ryan and his son Danny were marching with their parish.

 I tried to get green beer but was unsuccessful.

You don't get too much more Irish than the South Side parade!

 Then it was back to Sean's sister's house to relax and go to a neighborhood party.

That night I hosted some friends for a traditional St. Patrick's Day dinner...complete with corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and Irish soda bread.

And no night is complete without Ticket to Ride!

The Big D

My team headed to Dallas for the week....a nice break from the Chicago temperatures despite a cool March for Dallas.  On Monday night I got to go over to the Talley's house and hang out with Anne and Matt for a few hours.  Unfortunately I had to work a little late, so I didn't get to meet Lilah and Luke, but got to see lots of pictures.  

 For lunch on Tuesday, Balint and I headed over to the food trucks in the park.

 I highly recommend The Butcher's Son.

Wednesday was Ash Wednesday so Paul (my relational partner at the firm) and I went to The Cathedral of the Virgin Guadalupe for mass.  It was a beautiful service and a gorgeous cathedral.

Then it was back to the food trucks for lunch!

 The new park built over the highway.

I wish I had felt comfortable photographing every course of dinner on Wednesday night.  We went to Stephen Pyles and it was fantastic.  It was an excellent meal that started with a ceviche sampler, followed by pear and kale salad, then halibut with baby grilled octopus, and finished off with beigets and espresso creme brulee.

Thursday it was back to The Butcher's Son food truck.  I went with the Sante Fe chicken sausage again, but also got 2 sliders - Mac&Beefy (Brisket with a cube of mac and cheese) and Southern Hospitality (southern fried chicken and mashed potatoes).

Chris got the famous lime tots....and shared his tots....

 And no trip to Texas is complete without Blue Bell ice cream which Carol got us a pint of.  So clearly I ate my way through Dallas....good thing I hit the gym twice on my trip.

Stadium Series

There is nothing like outdoor hockey in the middle of a snowstorm!  Sean and I went to the Stadium Series at Soldier Field to watch the Blackhawks beat the Penguins 5-1.  What a great night!

Elese was nice enough to give us a parking pass for her South Loop neighborhood so after a great dinner at Kurah with her, we walked over to Soldier Field. 

The color guard coming out.

 The Hawks take the ice.

 Arches at Soldier Field

 About every 5 minutes they had to shovel the snow off the rink....it was snowing SO hard!

 Let's go Hawks!

 Just a little snow, right?

 Fantastic night with a great guy!