Life Update: Two Months in Chicago

You know how I said I wasn’t going to update y’all on every month we spend in Chicago? I changed my mind. It’s a fun way for me to look back on our adventures over the past month.

In July, Chicago really started to feel like home to us. We love where we live and have gotten to know our way around our area. I can’t wait to show our home to friends who visit.

Speaking of visitors, we got to see both sets of parents this month. My in-laws came into town for a weekend, and I had a great time exploring Chicago with them. Chris happened to get one of the days they were here off, so we went to the Art Institute of Chicago and the Field Museum. My brother-in-law really wanted to do the Skydeck at the Sears Willis Tower, which I had purposefully left out of my list of things to do in Chicago because I am scared of heights. I loved it. It was so neat to see the view of the city from the 103rd floor. I’m glad we went at night because we got to see the sunset and the beautiful city lights.

My parents happened to be in town on my birthday (They had been visiting friends near Milwaukee and had flown in and out of Chicago. The crazy part is my dad booked those tickets before we knew we were moving here. It was a total God thing), so I got to see them in the morning for a couple hours. I loved being able to show them our new place.

July was a festival month for us. We started off by going to Taste of Chicago, and then we went to the Pierogi Festival in Whiting, Indiana on the weekend after our birthdays and anniversary. The pierogis were delicious, and it was the kind of silliness we needed after a super week full of night float.

Speaking of night float, this month was our first experience with Chris constantly working nights. He had one night earlier in the month, but for the past two weeks and a half, he has been working from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. every day. No fun. I tried to switch my schedule to match his, and the results have been entertaining. He is finished on Tuesday, and I am jumping for joy!

Before night float started, we went on our first day trip adventure to the Indiana Dunes. Chris, of course, picked the only trail marked rugged, so we were hiking in deep sand in sandals. Each step felt like I was doing the stair stepper machine at the gym, but the gorgeous views of Lake Michigan were worth it.

Have I mentioned how much I love Chicago in the summer? I am not missing the 100-degree temperatures back in Texas (though my in-laws brought the heat with them when they came. Our day doing the hop on hop off bus was scorching). I am enjoying the beautiful weather here while I can!

I could honestly say a million more things about our July in Chicago, but this post is already long, so I will end it here. Here’s to another great month in Chicago!

Sunset Dinner Cruise on Lake Michigan

When my in laws were in town, we took a sunset cruise with Odyssey Cruises on Lake Michigan to celebrate the beginning of our super week. We were pleasantly surprised by the entire experience—the inside of the boat was beautiful, and the food was good. The details were nice—from our birthday desserts to the cookie lollipops they gave us as we left the ship.

My favorite part was being on the water and watching the sun set over the beautiful Chicago skyline. Now I’m trying to convince Chris to do a fireworks cruise during the Navy Pier summer fireworks.

July 2015 PopSugar Must Have Box

Hey, friends! I’m slowly recovering from our week and weekend of celebrations and decided to give myself Monday off from blogging. We have been able to go on so many fun Chicago adventures lately, and I am so excited to share them with y’all. Today, I wanted to share my latest PopSugar box. The items were more useful than fun this time, but I still thought it was a good haul.

Henri Bendel Signature Stripe Canvas Dopp Kit ($28): I have a bunch of makeup travel bags, but this one is so cute! I’m a sucker for anything with stripes.

Sorial Card Case ($28): I have never used a card case before, but I think this one is cute. It would work well with the Sorial wallet on a chain I received in November.

Supergoop! Defense Refresh Setting Mist SPF 50 ($28): I love the Urban Decay Setting Spray, so I am excited to see how this one compares. I’m not in love with the rosemary scent, but I love that it’s SPF 50.

POP Silver Portable Sonic Toothbrush ($20): I love that this electric toothbrush is the perfect size for traveling!

Yes to Blueberries Cleansing Facial Towelettes ($5.99): Extra cleansing wipes never hurt! I love using cleansing wipes to remove my makeup.

Hallmark Signature Cards: I received three beautiful cards from Hallmark. They are seriously so gorgeous, and I can’t wait to use them.

The Good Bean Fruit and No Nut Bar ($1.99): I love getting bars in my PopSugar boxes because they are great snacks for Chris at the hospital.

I came up with a total of $126.94 for this box. I liked that it was full of practical items that I will use often!

What do you think of the July 2015 PopSugar Must Have Box? What is your favorite item in the box? 

Friday Favorites: Super Week Edition

Hey there, friends! Thank you so much for your sweet comments on our birthdays and anniversary. It’s been a fun week. Since I was a bit of a downer in my Wednesday confessions, I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite things from this week today.

/ / One:
We celebrated Christopher’s birthday at RPM Italian. It was seriously so good. I am usually not big at dining out at Italian restaurants because I feel like I can make most of the dishes at home for much cheaper, but the dishes at RPM Italian were so unique—I had spicy crab squid ink spaghetti, and it was insanely delicious. If you’re ever in Chicago, eat here.

/ / Two:
My hubby wins the hubby of the year award because he got me a new MacBook Pro for my birthday! I haven’t mentioned it, but blogging has been really difficult the past few months because my MacBook Pro was on its last legs with literally no disk space left. There were times when I was editing a photo in Photoshop, and it would randomly shut down. I’m so thankful he saved up money to get me a new one!

/ / Three:
Saturday is our sixth anniversary! I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better six years with the love of my life. Here’s to many, many more, my love! Christopher and I like to do traditional anniversary gifts, and this year it's candy, which is really fun! Here’s a short version of our love story.

/ / Four:
Since Christopher is currently working nights (boo), he gets weekends off (yay). We have several fun ideas for this weekend, but it all depends on if it’s going to rain. One thing we really want to do is go to the Pierogi Fest in Whiting, Indiana. It looks hilariously entertaining, and we are all about pierogis in this household!

/ / Five:
My birthday is also Skyler’s “gotcha” day. We had started the application process for her two weeks before my birthday, and it happened to be that my birthday was the first day we could pick her up! I can’t believe it has been four years since I got the best present ever!

To celebrate, I let Sky try the Rocco & Roxie Supply Co. Gourmet Beef Jerky Dog Treats provided by our friends at Chewy! She was a big fan. She is usually a one (or two) treat a day kind of dog (she often hides her treats for later if she’s not hungry), but I’m pretty sure she would have devoured the entire bag if I let her! I’m sure it has something to do with the fact that they were slow cooked for 15 hours. I love that they’re high in protein, low in calories, and don’t contain fillers like corn, wheat, and soy.

Disclosure: Chewy.com sent me the Rocco & Roxie Supply Co. Gourmet Beef Jerky Dog Treats to review. No further compensation was received, and all opinions are my own. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! 

Linking up with Amanda, Karli, and the High Five for Friday girls.

Cheers to 26

Today, I turn 26. I loved being 25. It was an exciting year for us: Christopher finally graduated medical school, and we went on some great trips—our fall foliage cruise, New Year’s Caribbean cruise, and California road trip.

This year was also really difficult—Christopher traveled all over the country from October to February, and we spent months wondering where we would be living. The initial results were shocking, and we had to adjust to many changes in a short time.

The biggest lesson I learned this year is to let go. I am a huge planner, so it was difficult to have no control over my life. At first I occupied the waiting time by looking up neighborhoods in our top five choices, but eventually, I had to just stop. All of the what ifs were driving me crazy. Honestly, once I started viewing this move as a big adventure, things got so much easier. Though I miss my friends, my family, and my job, I quickly fell in love with Chicago and truly feel like this is where we’re supposed to be this year.

So cheers to 26! I can’t wait to see what adventures this year will bring.