recent happenings.

my aunt and uncle were visiting in chicago so they took us out to dinner at a place called Bar Louie in oak park.  the food was great and the company was even better. i love getting alone time with them because usually when we get to see them, the whole family is around. so it was nice to have them all to ourselves.  

i just love them :)

we couldn't find anyone around [that looked like they wouldn't run away with my camera] to take a picture so we had to take turns. would have been nice to get a picture with all four of us. oh well.


one day during the week we took a trip out to the temple. the house that was used in home alone was close by, so we decided to visit it. look familiar?

the neighborhood was beautiful. i'm sure the houses around were worth millions.


on a sunday after church we decided to bbq. we cooked up some pollo asada, brats, hot dogs, corn on the cob and asparagus. oh and of course had some ibc root beer and cream soda. yum.

britt and i made another weekly trip to the city. we first stopped at our favorite place, the french market. we chowed down on an amazing caprese sandwich. it really is SO good.

 we stopped to take a looksy at oprah's studio.

and then we went on to a cute little vintage street market.  i came away with some great finds :)

and this past weekend we went to the....

 fried catfish^ our favorite!

 this man could not get enough of his turkey leg.

 vanilla ice cream topped with caramel cream and caramel popcorn. delish.

and another.

just in case you haven't noticed already, the majority of my pictures this summer will include a whole lot of brittany and i.  we pretty much spend all day, every day together. and we take lots of pictures, which results in a lot of posts with pictures of us.  clearly.  our husbands are out working ALL day long so we do our best to keep busy. i'm lucky to have her here with me all summer. it's a little weird how alike we are.  we quite possibly could have been twins that got separated at birth.  everyone asks if we are sisters. everyone. and it's quite a compliment. love you britt :)

we have really tried to take advantage of living so close to the windy city by visiting as much as we can.
britt found free days at a couple museums so we decided what the hay! why not?! i'm not a huge museum goer but we had a lot of fun!

we drove into the city with branson and cody and had lunch together before they headed to work. my lovely tate came, too. the guys dropped us off at the field museum first.

 ^this picture defines tate perfectly. she is such a joy to be around and i'm lucky i get to call her my cousin!   she also deserves the best laugh award. SO contagious.

we got a few photos with the hubbies before they left us for the day.

 perfectly captured "the handshake"

 this was a little disturbing. a newborn baby that was mummified! pretty cool to see and learn about it all.

from the field museum we walked over to the art museum. it was HOT that day so an italian ice was much needed. no big deal that i already had gelato just an hour or two before.

it was a little windy. the guy taking our picture tries to inform us that our hair was in our face. really? we hadn't noticed. 

interpreting the art.

the bedroom by van gogh

i painted this picture in 5th grade. it looks EXACTLY the same. k maybe not but it was good enough for my mom to frame and hang in her office. had to take a picture in front of the original.

another day in the city.

the day after the strawberry festival the boys had their day off so we brought them along with us to the city.  it was a BEAUTIFUL day in downtown.  we first went back to the french market to eat lunch because it was so delicious.  this time we got a caprese sandwich which was to die for.  then we strolled the streets and took a few pictures here and there.

luckily we brought our bathing suits because it was a perfect day to relax on the beach.  it really is beautiful here (on a sunny, non-humid day).  it was pretty cool to be on the beach with the skyline right behind us.  the people watching here is pretty top notch, too!

we also celebrated my aunt-in-law bobbi's birthday a couple weeks before.  everyone from elite met up at lou malnatis for some pizza.

^ stan and kenz have been gone in europe for our fun outings. i'm sure they are enjoying their time abroad and we are excited to have them back!

look at me now.

this girl is GOOD.

if you aren't aware of the original song you can listen to it HERE.

strawberry festival.

last weekend britt, tate, bobbi and i all went to the strawberry festival in downtown.  it was at the french market not too far from union station so we took the train in and walked to the market. 

boy did we have a grand ol time! 

on the metra.

strawberries GALORE!

 macaroons.

pastries and desserts everywhere.

i had a vietnamese BBQ sandwich for lunch that was divine. 

i'm a little obsessed with this place.^ RAW. everything they serve is raw and SO healthy. and not to mention delicious.  we got to sample a lot of the foods and i'm hooked. i want to open one of my own. 

me and britt couldn't pass up the gelato. espresso=heaven.

they even had free face painting.  tate told the painter lady to choose something because she couldn't decide and she came up with a dolphin. sweet. haha

we munched on strawberries allllll day long.

many more of our chicago outings to come :)