Jake Melnick's

While wandering around Chicago, J and I stopped in at Jake Melnick's to get some grub.
I was running low on energy, so we stopped in the first place we saw.
I've made a vow to not eat at the same place twice until I've covered a vast majority of the restaurants downtown.
Jake's. Check.
I'm dying to go back already though.

The entire restaurant was cozy, with friendly staff, and delicious food.
We skipped the daily specials/appetizers and went straight for the entrees.
J ordered some kind of chicken sandwich - with their award winning sauce.
I was insanely jealous after I tasted his food. Not because mine wasn't good, but I wanted them both!
I went with the salami brick oven pizza.
It was smothered in cheese, had pepperoncini, thinly sliced genoa salami, marinara, fresh basil, and olive oil.
Yum yum yum yum yum.

The wing sauce was voted "Best in Chicago", so I will definitely be getting some sort of chicken next time I go... in years from now after I've tried a bunch of other restaurants... or maybe this weekend when J and I need somewhere to eat.

You can find Jake's Corner Tap here. Take your kiddos, your bff, or your love bird.
Stop in, have a beer, eat something off the "specials" menu, and/or enjoy their delicious wing sauce.
I promise you'll love it. And if you don't........ more for me ;)


The Last October Weekend

I spent last weekend not feeling so great.
All I wanted to do was snuggle in pajamas and catch up on DVRed TV shows.
But I was in the Windy City and exploring with J was an opportunity I didn't want to pass up.
We headed in on the Metra and walked around aimlessly making note of restaurants to try and shops to stop in.
Uggs and oversized sweatshirts are the next best thing other than pajamas, so that's what I threw on to run around my new stomping ground.
It was a cold, blustery day, but it was worth every mile we walked.

We headed down Michigan Ave to peek in all the stores.
We stopped in the mall to have a Christmas ornament made, and J got his picture taken with a life size Woody (from Toy Story) made of LEGOs.
Our 3 year old nephew now thinks we have great connections ;)

 

We stopped off at "the bean", formally known as Cloud Gate. It was designed by a British artist and rests in Millennium park. It's shined so well that you can't see any of the seams from the 168 plates that it consists of.

People from all over the world have taken their own picture with the bean, and I couldn't pass up being a tourist this weekend.

Maybe some day that will all be out of my system...

 

 

 

Almost all the leaves have fallen from the trees, and it makes me sad to say that the Autumn weather I love so much is almost gone.

We arrived back at the train station windswept and shivering.

I was ready for a warm meal and my bed.

 

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An Autumn Afternoon

Fall is my favorite season.

It reminds me so much of being little and spending what seemed like hours at the pumpkin patch searching for the perfect pumpkin.

My parents used to take my brother and me on hayrides, and afterwards we would go apple picking at the orchard.

I always wanted to be Belle from Beauty and The Beast for Halloween (and in real life).

Putting on my golden gown - over my snow suit of course - and heading out collecting as much candy as I could fit into my bag is one of the best memories I have.

My Mom and I headed outside yesterday to enjoy the beautiful weather.

We ended up at Toledo Botanical Gardens again.

Living in the North this time of year is so amazing. The colors are absolutely unreal and simply incredible.

I convinced my Mom to do a photoshoot, and let her capture me running around, twirling, playing in the leaves, and climbing trees.

The afternoon was straight from my childhood...

 

Pure joy on my face as I swung on this door over and over (and over and over) again...

 

 

 

 

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of my Mom from the shoot. She's so beautiful....

 

 

IF I make it to a Halloween party this year, I have my costume picked out. It's a secret though....

What are you dressing up as??

 

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Catch Up

While I'm playing catch up with my work, I thought I'd share a few pictures of what I've been up to lately...

Driving to and from Chicago late nights with gorgeous Autumn sunsets.

Found pumpkins at the farm to use as centerpieces after spray painting them to a beautiful golden hue.

 Lots of outdoor time with the pup.

Enjoyed some fine Japanese cuisine and loved discovering a Harry Potter sushi roll.

 Indulged...

 

Enjoyed a much over-due pedicure (that I almost immediately smudged up).

Pranced around in my birthday outfit, which is completely different from my birthdy suit by the way ;)

 

Laughed histerically at this on a really stressful day.....

 

What have you been up to? I've been missing out on a lot of things going on in the blogger world.

I'm trying to keep up with everything that is on my plate- I'm slowly, but surely falling behind with just about everything.

 

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