My Kind of Town...Chicago

Sorry, no What I'm Loving Wednesday post this week (but thank you to those who always participate). I thought I would start my Chicago recap today!

I had A BLAST in Chicago. I had only been to Chicago one time before this last trip, but I was only there five hours (seriously, a friend and I drove to Chicago -from Indiana- in 2014 for a White Sox game and then left after the game). 

This time I was able to spend a few more days. I flew in late that Tuesday night and my awesome friend Harrie picked me up at the airport (she was also my hostess for the week). 

Flying in to Chicago at night

We started my first full day in town bright and early the next morning. We ate a quick breakfast at this cute cafe next door to her apartment. 

I had taken a bite of bacon just before she took this picture, hence the weird look on my face. Lol. And yes, I represent the Rangers wherever I go. Lol.

My first stop as a tourist in Chicago was an Architecture Boat Tour of the city. If you are ever in Chicago, I highly recommend this tour. It's a great way to see the city and learn about the history of the buildings and skyscrapers. I took probably 150 pictures (at least) on this tour. Lucky for y'all, I'm not posting ALL of them here. :) 

On the bottom right you will see what looks like a map on the side of the building. It is a map of the river and the red dot (about halfway up) is marking "you are here". I thought that was cool. Oh, that is my awesome friend Harrie in the Cubs cap!

After the boat tour (which was complete with cookies and lemonade), we made a quick stop at the Centennial Plaza and Fountain.

Of course no trip to Chicago is complete without stopping by "The Bean" (which is officially called Cloud Gate-I had no idea). Lol. It was pretty cool, I liked it!

We didn't have time for a tour of the Chicago Theater (I've already made a list of everything I have to do NEXT time I visit), but we did stop so I could take a picture by the famous marquee. 

If you know me at all, you know I always take pictures by statues (it's my thing).

The best thing about staying with Harrie (besides hanging out with her, of course), is that not only did she know how to get around Chicago, but she knew some of the best kept secrets in town. We made a quick stop at the Chicago Cultural Center which is home to the world's largest Tiffany stained-glass dome. I had NO IDEA. There was a classical piano concert going on when we visited, so our picture taking was limited (but we heard an awesome concert). There is also Tiffany glass all around the building. 

Of course we rode the L train...

I'm such a tourist. Lol.

On Wednesday afternoon Harrie and I had a "proper" British tea time at her apartment. She is originally from England (she has lived in Chicago about four years) and I told her I wanted to have a British tea with her. She went all out- we even had biscuits (which are cookies) and tea cakes.

The most exciting part of Wednesday's adventures for me was going to the Art Institute of Chicago. I was an art minor in college and have always wanted to go there (it's been at the top of my museum list for as long as I can remember). And for the record, I was an adult before I ever saw Ferris Bueller's Day Off, so I wasn't copying the movie (everyone seems to think that when you talk about going places in Chicago). 

I took so many pictures there, but again, I'll spare you and only share a small portion.

Van Gogh, Monet, and Renoir are some of my favorite painters, so this was probably my favorite part of the museum

These are part of the Thorn Miniature Rooms exhibit. All of these are miniatures. In the picture on the middle right you can see a mirror above the fireplace. If you look closely (maybe you can zoom in), you can see mine and Harrie's reflection. You can check out more of the exhiibit at this link.The smallest details were amazing!!

American Gothic. Despite my expression, I was super excited to see this in person (Harrie told me you can't smile when you stand next to this painting). Lol.

I actually saw this painting, Paris Street: Rainy Day when it was on tour in Fort Worth back in February. Since it was a special exhibit, we couldn't take a picture with the real one. I was allowed to take a picture this time! :)

Another statue, another picture

Such a fun time! I could spend a whole day at this museum (I had to pick and choose which exhibits I wanted to see this time)

For dinner that night I had authentic Chicago pizza! I must say, it was pretty good!!

I don't want to overwhelm y'all, so I'm dividing my trip up into several posts. I'll post the remainder of my Chicago pictures (which includes a tour of Wrigley Field, a Cubs game, and the Chicago History Museum) later this week. I am also going to devote an entire post to our road trip to Danville, Illinois (which is the hometown of Dick Van Dyke). :)

XOXO!!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm loving...

That Dick Van Dyke posted MY picture to his Facebook page (he also tweeted it). I went to Danville, Illinois last week (his hometown) and took a picture in front of this sign. Yes, I had a full fan-girl moment when I saw he had posted it. I promise to give a full recap of my Danville visit soon. It is a wonderful little town!

I'm loving...

That I had a blast in Chicago. Again, a full recap of my visit will be up soon (I'll separate the Chicago and Danville recaps). I've been lazy recovering from my trip this week, so I haven't made had time to organize what pictures I want to post. Here is a sneak peak of some of my adventures.

I'm loving...

That my team had a business lunch at Hard 8 BBQ yesterday. Hmmm, BBQ. We smelled like BBQ smoke the rest of the day, but it was worth it!

My boss is better than your boss

I'm loving...

That I've been asked to help out with something at my church- they want to use my "crafty" skills. :) More details on that later!

I'm loving...

My Twitter family. I have a lot of wonderful Twitter friends, but there is a small group I talk to pretty much every day in a private group message. I know without a doubt that they have my back if I need anything. If I'm having a bad day, they will cheer me up (even if they are unaware they are doing it). My life is better because of them.

I'm loving...

My niece Katie. She is so brave and I'm so proud of her. She is going on an 11-month mission trip next year that will take her to 11 different countries. I will link her blog on the side of my blog so you can keep up with her journey. She already has two posts up. If you feel like helping her out financially, there is a link on her blog for that as well.

What are YOU loving today?

XOXO!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm loving...

That by the time this posts, I will be in Chicago! I'm here until Saturday afternoon. I'm super excited, I have a lot of things planned while I'm here! :) I can never just go on vacation and relax, I have to be doing something all the time. :)

I'm loving...

That my parents had a great 60th anniversary party this past weekend. We surprised them by letting them know we were sending them on a cruise in January (that's the one I'm going on). Well, my dad knew about it, my mom was surprised. All six of their kids were at the party and all seven great-grandchildren were there too. I think about six grandchildren were missing from the party (yes, I have a HUGE family).

My dad used to play the ukulele and sing to my mom when they were first married. She bought him a ukulele for his birthday! :)

My folks and their six kids

My folks with their favorite child (my siblings usually don't read my blog, so I can get away with saying this here). :)

This gentleman was my dad's best friend in high school. They lost touch during college but my brother somehow found him online last year and got him in touch with my dad via email. Saturday was the first time they had seen each other since 1954.

The pictures below are of me and some of my nieces and nephews (no one escapes a picture with Aunt Rachel). :)

Yes, this is my nephew- he's older than me. He's always called me his "little aunt". :)

I'm loving...

That I'm the great-aunt (notice the hyphen) of these seven awesome kiddos. I'm getting another great-niece in October. :)

I'm loving...

That I was able to go to a Rangers game last week with some friends. I felt like I hadn't been to a game in ages (okay, it was maybe just two weeks, but it felt longer). Lol.

At the game with my friend Larry (his wife, my friend Misti, was out of town, so I was his date). And yes, she knew about it (it was her idea). Lol. :)

My beautiful friend Janie!

Friends enjoying a nice night at the Ballpark

Rangers win!

Hello win column!

What are YOU loving today?

A Mini Epic Road Trip 2016: Oklahoma City

Day 5- Oklahoma City: We decided to head home by way of Oklahoma (we went through Arkansas on our way TO Missouri). We left Springfield, MO late that Sunday morning and made our way to Oklahoma City. 

We rotated drivers throughout the trip. On the way to Oklahoma City I was the backseat passenger (which meant I got to stretch out and read a book. Oh, and take a selfie.). :)

Our main stop in Oklahoma was to visit the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. This museum takes you through the story of April 19, 1995, the day that the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was bombed and 168 people lost their lives. I was a junior in high school that day and can remember some guy walking in late to second period and announcing that a federal building had been bombed in Oklahoma. My high school had TVs in all the classrooms so my teacher turned it on and we watched the story unfold on the news. I don't think we watched it in every class, but some teachers had the TVs on all day. 

This museum is great. I'll be honest- it's hard to go through, especially if you can clearly remember that day (even if you don't remember that day, it's still sad). I'll be honest- I cried through some of it. But I wasn't alone. Pretty much everyone wiped their eyes a few times while walking around. 

I didn't take that many pictures (too wrapped up in the emotions of it all), but I did get a few.

There is one chair for every person killed in the bombing. The smaller chairs represent the 19 children killed.

This is the little girl seen in that famous picture of the firefighter carrying a small child from the building. 

The steps that once led up to the federal building are still there. I took a moment to think about the victims and the fact they probably walked up those very stairs that morning, unaware it would be the last time.

This grassy area was once the playground for the daycare. 

Debris taken from the building before it was demolished. The clock in the back is frozen on the time that the bomb went off.

Some displays only have a light on for about 15 seconds and then it goes off for about 30 seconds (something to do with preserving the artifacts). This display was dark when I walked up to it and a man was standing next to me. When the light came on and we saw the little shoe of one of the children killed, the man and I looked at each other and we both had tears in our eyes.

A sign one of the survivors held up to the window as he waited to be rescued. 

The vehicle Timothy McVeigh was driving when he was stopped and eventually arrested

After an emotional two hours, we decided to make one more stop in OKC before heading to Texas. The first day of our road trip we stopped at the Arkansas state capitol and on the last day we stopped at the Oklahoma state capitol. That brought our state capitol total to four.

Why yes, I WAS wearing a Texas shirt in front of the Oklahoma capitol.

We finally got back to Dallas about 10:30 that night. I was sad the trip was over but SO HAPPY to finally sleep in my own bed. I'm the person who loves a good trip, but is so ready to get home when it's over. 

Happy to be home!

Our mini road trip took us a total of 1,655 miles!

That's it! After five weeks, I FINALLY got a recap of a simple five-day road trip posted. Lol. I hope that it won't take me as long to give my Chicago recap. I fly out next week! If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, I'll be posting there during my trip! Yes, that's a shameless plug to follow me on social media. Lol. I can be found at both sites under the handle Averyfan. :)

If you missed any of the AMERT2016 recap, click below for the other posts.

Day 1: Little Rock

Day 2: St. Louis

Day 3: Springfield (IL)

Day 4: Hannibal

XOXO!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm loving...

That I get to see my folks this weekend. Today is their 60th wedding anniversary! We are having a party this weekend for them- I'm looking forward to family time!

I'm loving...

That I was able to organize my craft closet last weekend. Sunday was my first day off after working 14 straight days, and instead of taking a nap, I spent the afternoon cleaning out and organizing a craft closet. Lol.

I went to Michael's to buy ONE picture frame, and ended up with all of this. Lol

My craft closet

I'm loving...

This podcast: The Babysitters Club Club. No, that's not a typo, that's the name. A friend of mine told me about it- I just started listening last week and am already on episode 15 (I think there are 23 episodes so far). These two 30-something year old guys read a book each week from The Babysitters Club series and then discuss it. It's hysterical, especially if you are like me and read the books when you were younger. Warning: They do cuss a little, so it's not for young ears.

I'm loving...

That I got to meet Rayvon Owen last week. I'll be honest, I don't watch American Idol so I had no clue who he was, but after hearing him sing, I'm a new fan. He has a great voice. I went up to tell him that and he was kind enough to take a picture with me. Sorry it's a little blurry.

I'm loving...

That I was able to thank some of Dallas PD's finest last week. I went up and told them I wanted to give them a hug and they gladly accepted one. I thanked them for all they do and for keeping us safe. 

I'm loving...

My new soap dispenser. Stop laughing at me, yes I'm really loving it. It's a no-touch dispenser, so when you hold your hand out, the soap automatically comes out. I use it in my kitchen. It's great! 

I'm loving...

That I'm finally going on a cruise!! It's not until January, but I bought my ticket last week. I'll be going with one of my sisters and our parents. This means I FINALLY have to get my passport. Lol. Even though the cruise isn't until next year, I'm counting it as part of my 101 in 1001 list because I've bought my ticket and I only have two months to finish this list. Lol. So 101 in 1001 update: 7. Take a cruise.

What are YOU loving today?