Time to start dreaming of a Spring trip to Spain

I just walked to the bus stop. My whole body was screaming that it didn't want to be doing this. I stayed out too late last night to make this morning walk feasible. And it's cold. It's the first really cold morning of the year. 37degrees. Plus wind chill. You know what that means: winter.

Sigh.

I've had a good run of it this year. I shouldn't be too upset that things are drawing to a close. It's been the year of the trip and I've loved it. However maybe I need to save a little more for a rainy day. Specifically, a blizzardy day, cause what else is there to do during a blizzard than to shop online?

Madison, WI

I love mini- vay-cays! Friday Hope had an audition in Madison, Wiscinsin, and I had the day off. Road trip!

We left really early, like, at eight, and traveled the  3ish hours to Madison.

The audition was at a huuuuge church, and I wrote my talk while Hope played the cello. 

Afterward, it was time to explore! Based on a tip from a friend, we went to the best chinese place in town. And based on the absence of white people at the restaurant, it really was the best.

After lunch we decided (because I just found out that Madison is Wisconsin's capital) to go see the capital building. 

It was so pretty and FALL!

We found a parking spot, and we ended up next to some type of bike rental station. After some investigation, we decided to rent bikes and bike along the lake!

Five bucks, and we had an hour of happiness! It was such a gorgeous day, and it felt so great to ride. I haven't ridden in ages! 

And immediately after, we were so sore. So we decided to rest on a dock and read our books by the lake. 

At some point we looked up and these guys were fishing our way. They wanted our phone numbers, but we were from out of town, so we knew it would never work out. 

Afterward we found an ice cream parlor that sold Wisconsin-made ice cream. Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream. It was so good. So amazingly good. And, some how those girls at the ice cream shop gave us our favorite color spoons. It's like they knew. 

Thanksgiving Weekend

Ah, Thanksgiving. It conjures images of toasty mornings and rich foods. Naturally, thanksgiving last year was just that. 

Yes, I am posting my Thanksgiving post in October... I was looking at my blog which I obviously neglect, and realized I never posted this bad boy. It would be horrible to let a whole year pass, so here it is. Just, um... 11 months late. 

I had nowhere to go for Thanksgiving. Well, let me rephrase, I had everywhere to go for Thanksgiving, but neither the time or the money.  Hope was in the same boat, so we made a plan. A food plan. I found this bread pudding recipe in Real Simple and determined that it must be ours: 

And it was

We had my apartment to ourselves, and while we were eating breakfast, coloring Christmas sheets, and listening to Christmas music,

I got a picture from my family and their Thanksgiving day hike. 

SO. Cute.  I loved it. 

Later Hope and I had to prepare the dishes we would bring to the mass Thanksgiving dinner held at one of the Branch Presidency's homes. While we were there, I got another awesome home pic. 

Keep 'em coming, I love it! 

The next day Hope's friend Mel came in to town. And did you know that she served her mission with Abe Garza? 

The Magnolia Bakery recently opened up on State Street (it's a big deal in New York),  so we went to partake of the deliciousness. 

We had fun, and it was cute, but soooo overrated. Seriously, they use paper plates? And plastic forks?Are you kidding me? There are a million bakeries in Chicago, and their presentation is a hundred times better. Sorry Magnolia. 

I love love love when people visit Chicago, even if they aren't my people! Because we get to see Chicago, and I love to see Chicago. This time we decided to see the trees. 

Macy's tree:

Macy's old-timey water fountain:

Bloomingdale's tree on Michigan Avenue:

Christkindlemarket tree: 

The water features at Millennium Park:

Chicago Cultural Center (cause we can never get enough) Possibly there was a wedding that night?

More baking! There were so many holiday flavors we needed to taste!

And another great pic from home!

Aww, I love it! I can't wait for Thanksgiving 2012!

Chicago FIRE (MLS)

I do fun things all the time. It just doesn't stop. This is one of the reasons I'm so behind in my blogging: I'm out having fun. 

Did you know that Chicago has a major league soccer team? 

Surprise! It's the Chicago Fire! 

So we went to go see them light up the field. Duh. 

As far as I know, the stadium is in the middle of nowhere, and really close to not Chicago proper. 

We kept driving and driving, and we hit traffic like there was some sort of cattle crossing ahead of us. 

There wasn't. Just Chicago Fire fans, going to the game. 

We parked (after a very unorganized entry payment system that could have easily been improved upon by taking our simple ideas that we came up with in under 30 seconds) we parked in this HUUUUUUGE gravel/dirt/concrete lot and made our way to the huge glowing bowl. There was nothing around to distract from the lights of the stadium. The closer we got the louder it got. Cheers would pour over the bowl and into the chilly night air. And then I finally understood how Harry must have felt as he approached the pitch at the Quidditch World Cup. 

We had the pleasure of sitting in the rowdy section. Immediately after we got there, a fight broke out! Sandy was a little ways behind us and almost walked right into the fight! She totally would have had beer and popcorn all over her if she wasn't saved by us.

It. Was. So. Much. Fun. I loved every second of it. The fans were CRAAAAZY, and I love a good group of crazy people every once in a while. 

But seriously, not all the time. That would be too much for my sensible soul. 

And yet, I want to go back.