This terrible blogger has been back in the US for a few days, and she has a lot of catching up to do!

 Before I cover more of my Australian holiday (yes, I said holiday), I need to show you what happened the day after I got back to Chicago. 

IT SNOWED!

This was my first big snow since 2009. I probably should have put on my jacket, boots and snow pants (....which I don't think I've owned a pair since perhaps 2000?) and rolled around in it like I did in my much younger days. Instead, I spent a lot of time looking at it (looking at the world after a heavy snowfall never gets boring) and getting it off of my car. 

More posts to come!

Al is now back in Australia, and I started school again! Wheeeee! Isn't it wonderful when fun things end? Lucky for me, my schedule is much more normal compared to my summer classes. I actually have free time. Lots of it. Besides, I'm happy to be back in class. Am I crazy?

I had Lazy Blogging Syndrome (something I just made up off the top of my head) while Al was here, so I wasn't great about taking photos and posting them and all that jazz. Maybe you noticed? Just before he left, I whipped out the camera again. We got a hotel room downtown (The Sheraton on the river that we managed to get for a very good price- I HIGHLY recommend it) and spent a bulk of a Friday afternoon at Navy Pier. 

I love Navy Pier for what it is: a place to eat, drink, watch people and get some of most wonderful views of the city. Al liked that stuff too, but he was also overjoyed that the pilots were practicing for the Air and Water Show. The planes moved so fast that he could not get a good photo, so I had a lot of pictures of the sky. 

We grabbed lunch in the food court, and then we bought tickets for a Seadog Speedboat Cruise. We actually only had to buy one ticket, because a lady approached us while we were standing in line and said that she had an extra Entertainment coupon that allowed to to buy one ticket and get another one free. Bargain! This was the second time that a stranger has given us free stuff during our vacation. Perhaps we are just a lucky couple. 

We had time to kill before lining up, so we took advantage of the beer garden in the back of the boardwalk. No photos, but it was fun. We drank beer, and we met a woman who asked if Australia was near Switzerland. 

We were so happy that we went on the Seadog boat tour. First, we went out into Lake Michigan. We did a few circles and got a little wet in the process. I made Al sit on the end just for that reason. Water= bad for the hair. 

After the lake, we went through the locks into the river. It took a long time, because we had to wait for the gates to open, and then we had to stay inside of the locks until there enough of a difference between the height of the water in the lake and the locks. If nobody controlled this, then lake water would be spilling into the river. 

I didn't take many photos, because the river part of the tour was very similar to the one that I took a few weeks ago. Actually, we saw much less of the river this time. 

We still enjoyed the tour immensely and will probably bring the Aussie rellies (relatives) on it when they visit Chicago next  year after the wedding. 

It was after six by the time that the tour finished, so we walked back our hotel and freshened up. When we were ready, we walked into the River North area. On the way, we passed the new Marilyn Monroe statue. 

After dinner, we went to our friends Jessie and David's apartment for a mini engagement party. They were away during the big one at my house (see previous post), but they still wanted to do something special for us while Al was still here. 

Jessie's livelihood is baking, so she made us cookies. 

They also put out a veggie plate with dip...

...and some other yummy munchies (including homemade guac!)

Al and Irene 

Scott, Jordan, Alex

Pat, Jessie, David

It was such a fun night! Thank you Jessie and David!

I also want to say that Libby has been staying at our house for two weeks! I don't want her to leave. She sleeps on my bed all the time, and it's so cute. Jon is taking her back in two days :(

With Al here, I was basically in a vegetative state and didn't really exercise at all unless we were walking somewhere. I also didn't stuff my face, but I certainly could have been making healthier eating choices. 

Now that I am back on a somewhat normal schedule, I want to get back into being active and eating a healthy diet. I decided that I want to make next Monday through Thursday (and possibly Friday) a salad week! That means that I am going to find 4 to 5 creative and yummy salad recipes and post them on my blog. It's about time that I start making food again! 

Have a great day!

Yesterday, Wednesday, was all about friendship and falling in love all over again with Chicago. I had plans to spend time with my friend Nicole, but she also wanted to see her dad who flew in from LA for a couple of days. I've known both of them since they moved to my neighborhood when I was three years old and haven't seen her dad for a while, so we decided that we would all hang out together. I told Nicole that I would be at her apartment near Wrigleyville in the later part of the afternoon.

Since I wasn't in any hurry to get to Nicole's, I took the leisurely option of getting there. As you know, there are highways that get you into and out of the city. Those are usually the fastest and most direct ways. There are, however, the regular streets that people took back in the days when there were not fast-moving highways. The most scenic way to get from the northern suburbs to Lake Shore Drive (Chicago's outermost highway that runs alongside Lake Michigan and has breathtaking views) is Sheridan Road. 

Aside from the 30 mile-per-hour speed limit (48.28 km per hour) and one lane of traffic most of the way down, Sheridan Road is a relaxing and pleasant experience. The traffic is never bad, and the views are stunning. Here, you see some of the most expensive real estate in the United States piled onto one long winding road. There are endless amounts of lakefront mansions (some with servants quarters still intact, now converted into guest houses), beautiful ravines, and landmarks such as the snowy white Baha'i Temple (one of the seven in the world) and the Northwestern University campus. The road finally takes you to uninterrupted views of the beach, and then you quietly leave the suburb of Evanston and enter Chicago. From there, you drive another 10-15 minutes until you reach Lake Shore Drive. 

I also want to inform you that Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes, and it does not look like a little pond. This may seem obvious to some people, but I have also spoken to people who have no idea of its enormity. For starters, it is surrounded by four states: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. It's 307 miles long (494 km) and 118 miles wide (190 km). Twelve million people live among its shores. It doesn't seem so small now, does it? People think of lakes being very small, but when you see Lake Michigan for the first time, it looks like you are staring into an ocean. (Source)

I was in for quite a surprise when I made it to Nicole's apartment. She told me that we were going downtown ("downtown" means the heart of the city where all of the touristy stuff is; Nicole lives north of there), and I was thinking that we were just going to walk around and hang out until dinner. Then, Nicole's dad Robert whipped out his iPhone and started looking up information about river boat tours. I asked when they were planning on going on this, thinking that they were going later in the week. Robert looked at me, puzzled, and said, "Nicole didn't tell you that we're going today?".

Obviously, she neglected to tell me. But that didn't make me any less excited! The weather was perfect, and I hadn't been on a Chicago boat tour since I went with my math class in high school. 

We walked to Lake Shore Drive and grabbed a bus downtown. Then, we walked a few blocks down Michigan Avenue until we reached the river and Wendella Boat Tours. 

Robert wanted to take us on the tour that went into Lake Michigan as well as the Chicago River, but we missed the last one of the day by about ten minutes. Instead, we went on the 75-minute Chicago River boat tour. 

It sure is a pretty sight. 

Nicole bought us Goose Island 312 beers just as the tour was about to start. It's a great local brew!

I didn't take pictures of every building, but I got my favorites. These two buildings, together, are called Marina City. They are commercial/residential buildings and have restaurants on the bottom. They were completed in 1964 by architect Bertrand Goldberg. 

We got a good view of the restaurants in Marina City overlooking the water. 

Fun fact: according to our tour guide, the Chicago River has the most movable bridges in the world. There are 38 of them! 

We passed right by the East Bank Club, which I'm pretty sure is the nicest gym in Chicago. Oprah used to belong there.  I also had my first experience with sweet potato fries there. They were great.

Looking towards the financial district

Below: River City, by the same architect as Marina City. They have noticeable similarities. River City, in contrast with Marina City, is all residential. 

This photo does zero justice, but I got a great shot of America's tallest building. You really gotta tilt your head to look up there.

The Building Formerly Known as the Sears Tower, thanks to recent renovations, now has four glass boxes that stick out of the observation deck. You can walk out on them, as long as you are okay with the fact that there are four inches of glass between you and the ground. It's a little bit like the Eureka Tower in Melbourne, but the glass doesn't move. 

Below: The historic Civic Opera House (built in 1929) and also one of the biggest opera stages in the world. It's a combination of Art Nouveau and Art Deco. Many regard it as an architectural work of art. Our guide mentioned that they used to use energy from the water in the river to operate set changes, etc in the building, but I'm having a hell of time finding anything to back that up on the internet. If you know or find any information about it, please send it my way!

Towards the end, we made our way towards the Lake. 

We passed three flags on our way to the harbor: the American flag (left), the Illinois flag (right) and the Chicago flag (middle).

On the Chicago flag, there are three white stripes (represent the North, South and West sides of the city) and two blue stripes (the top represents Lake Michigan and the north branch of the Chicago River, and the bottom represents the south branch of the Chicago River and the Great Canal*.) There are also four stars. They stand for Fort Dearborn, the Great Chicago Fire, the World's Colombian Exposition of 1893 and the Century of Progress Exposition of 1933-1934. (Source)

*The Great Canal connects the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River. It made it possible back in the day to travel by boat from New York to New Orleans. It made Chicago a major trading capital. 

Sailboats in Dusable Harbor.

Below: Navy Pier's Ferris Wheel. Here are some fun facts:

• Navy Pier is the largest tourist attraction in Illinois. 
• The ferris wheel was built in honor of the original structure built by George Ferris for the 1893 World's Colombian Exposition in Chicago. 
• Navy's Pier's wheel is considerably smaller than the original, which was built to rival the famous Eiffel Tower. The original ferris wheel was 264 feet tall (80.4 meters) and had 36 cars that fit up to 60 people per car. Navy Pier's wheel is 150 feet tall (45.72 meters).

 Source
Source

Here's another fun fact: Chicago reversed the flow of the river in 1900. It used to run into Lake Michigan, which was the source of everybody's drinking water. Unfortunately, the sewage went into the river and killed a lot of people from illnesses. Since they reversed it, it hasn't been an issue! Our river also has a better sewage system now....

Another fact: we dye our river green for St Patrick's Day! Talk about a fun city!

It was nearly 8 pm by the time we finished, and we were famished. We went to a nearby restaurant called Lawry's. If you like prime rib, this is your place!

I ordered an Abita Strawberry Harvest while waiting for our table. It was a good fruity beer. I got it as soon as our table was ready, and the cocktail waitress poured it into a glass for me before I could get a photo of the bottle. 

The decor of this place makes you feel like you are in an old-fashioned mansion and like you time-traveled back 100 years or so. Very interesting.

The menu was very limited, but the food was not disappointing. I opted for the vegetarian option. This included a salad and Yorkshire pudding, which I did not try. It looked like a savory German pancake. 

The salad was divine. It was a mixture of beets, mixed lettuce, chopped eggs and croutons in a vinaigrette dressing. 

My vegetarian option was some sophisticated version of fettuccine alfredo with roasted red peppers, artichokes, mushrooms (not sure what kind) and pine nuts. It was a very generous portion. The leftovers are currently in my fridge. 

Thanks to Robert for an outstanding evening!