Weekend Recap - FALL!

It is most definitely fall, as evident by the sharp decrease in temperatures over the weekend. Saturday was the first annual Junior League of Kane & Dupage Counties Readers on the Run. The race was held in Batavia, IL and ran along the river.

I was volunteering and was supposed to be running interference with any Press that showed up, being the PR Chair and all. As such, we had to be there at 6am, which required me leaving my apartment at 5am, which means I got up at 4am... yup...4am...

After setting up lots of tables and assisting in organizing, the 8:05am start quickly approached and I was a last minute back up for the 1 mile marker:

And darn it, I cheered my little heart out for all the runners!

We had 90 runners register and 30 kids. With it being so cold, I think maybe only 50 people showed up, but I think that's pretty good for a first year! And all proceeds went towards books for Smart Steps & Mooseheart. We also collected at least 2 laundry baskets overflowing with books!

BF ran and is sporting his AWESOME Knockaround sunglasses! (PS, thank you for all your support, you'll be getting more pictures soon!).

The goodie bags had amazing deals from tons of local sponsors, that well overvalued the cost of the entry, a rare thing with 5K's these days, at least those that I've experienced.

We had at least 30 volunteers outside of the Junior League show up, most of whom are wonderful students from NIU. We've been working with NIU on a special project revamping our website: www.jlkd.org.

These are the awesome kids who are working our website! They videoed all day to get some great PR footage.

After the run, BF made his way back into the city to catch the Purdue game (we won't even begin to start going into that depressing thing). I cleaned up at home before coming in to hang out with E.S.

We explored the Lincoln Park Zoo, boutiques around Lincoln, and worked up a bit of an appetite.

We stopped at the MeatLoaf Bakery:

BF had told me about this place before, but I haven't had a chance to go visit until yesterday. The basic synopsis is that they're meatloaves shaped like cupcakes and have mashed potatoes as icing!

They had these little baby ones that only cost $5 for 3, so E.S. and I split them so we could taste them.

Afterward we stopped by Molly's because got to thinking about cupcakes:

E.S. on the swings with our cupcakes.

Today we woke up to a raining morning, and grabbed a bite to eat at one of our fave restaurants, Wishbone. I headed out to the burbs, in the hopes of meeting some dude off craigslist to get my couch... no such luck. I'm DESPERATE now, as my furniture is getting delivered on Thursday.
BF & I made a stop at Kmart to purchase stuff for our Halloween costumes before heading to his parents for his dad's birthday dinner; he made incredible homemade pizza!
BF & I stopped at Mollys (I know... twice in the same weekend, don't judge) and got cupcakes for the celebration:

Overall it was a fabulous weekend, with the exception of not yet getting rid of my couch. I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather!

Adventure weekend with BF: Starved Rock

This past weekend, I had another incredible time with great friends, and amazing adventures with my wonderful BF! Friday after work I made my way into the city for a wonderful evening with BF and a good college friend. BF is Catholic, and with it being Lent he made fish tacos (as he can't have beef/chicken).

We ended up at the Fireplace Inn in Old town watching the two late night March Madness games. PS my bracket is so busted! UGH! I totally had OSU winning... I really REALLY don't like Ohio State, but 1.) it's Big Ten, 2.) I have money on it... It's the only wagering I do...

Saturday, we enjoyed a lazy morning before making our way out towards Naperville. Dan's cousins threw a surprise 60th Birthday party for their dad at one of their BEAUTIFUL homes. They got a phenomenal rock-a-billy/ Buddy Holly band, catered by Portillo's, with wonderful, wonderful people. It was fabulous! We got up early this morning with the intention of making our way to Starved Rock State Park; about 2 hours outside the city. Although the sun was shinning beautifully, it was freezing... so we wanted a good, hardy breakfast to stick to our ribs throughout the day. There are several phenomenal breakfast places that I've experienced, however when I want to experience great southern nostalgia... I head to Wishbone. This was a bit out of the way, but totally worth it. They have great service and AMAZING Shrimp & Grits!

 BF taught me about Mississippi mudslides... of which he promptly ordered. (Sweetened milk and espresso). As he pointed out, he spent summers in Arkansas and although that's not Atlanta, he is well versed in most things 'Southern' or some version of the sense.

He got the crawfish cakes with a bell pepper sauce (not healthy, which we now know for a fact as he asked for the recipe). I got the Shrimp and Grits (DUH).

You can watch a 'Chicago's Best' episode about the other location here. Same menu, just closer to the loop:

Long story short, and roughly 2 hours later, we made it to Starved Rock. The story behind the name is this: The Illinois Indians were fighting another group of Indians because they had killed their leader. The other tribe chased the Illinois tribe to the top of this mountain and surrounded them. They starved there as they were unable to properly defend themselves or successfully defeat the other tribe. Depressing, I know... great way to start our adventure.

 It really is a BEAUTIFUL park. It was a sunny day, not a cloud in the sky, but it was roughly 34 degrees.... very chilly. There were some beautiful cliff structures and waterfalls. The paths were fairly gradual, and we made it 3 1/2 hours (6 or so miles) before I just couldn't go any further... haha Lots of stairs... I know I'm going to hurt tomorrow. I really want to go back and try to do these more regularly. We were ducking in and out of caverns and exploring. It was all pretty neat and reminded me of stuff I used to do when I was little, back in the creek behind the house. Did ya'll do that too? I think I ruined every new pair of shoes I owned! Check out some of our great pictures below:

BF below the LaSalle Waterfall

BF thought it was hilarious that the B was scratched off...

Just another beautiful waterfall

Do you have any adventures that you've gone on lately? Do you have anything you recommend in and around Chicago? Let me know!