CHIcago Part 3

OK I'm back with yet another post about our fun trip to Chicago (are you sick of it yet?!?)!  Well It'll be the last post......kind of!! Muahahahah!! If you missed the first part you can read all about it HERE and the second part you can read about HERE!

OK so where was I............??  Oh ya I left off with a picture of this (Crown Fountains):

After watching the children run around the Crown Fountains having a great time splashing each other with water......it was time for us to move on:

It seems like my man was doing a whole lotta of this:

I cant blame him the buildings are AMAZING:

we stopped to take some fun pictures at a courtyard located next to the Art Institute of Chicago building:

I had some fun with the camera....haha:

 By far my favorite picture :-)

(he makes that tree look good.....he he!)

Trying to take some fun abstract photos.............loved this tree:

We then posed with the lions outside of the Art Institute building (must go inside on another trip):

And I quote........."Yep its a boy!".........gotta love the hubster and all of his infamous goofy comments (never a dull moment my friends! HA!):

What you talkin bout Willis?!?!............It's the Sears Tower (always will be to me.....cannot come to terms calling it the Willis Tower.....I'm sorry I just cant!!):

Before heading back to Macy's for our tour........we stopped at this place:

(Wow Bao's Hot Asian Buns)

Asian strip club?????






HaHa....... No Silly!!.......we stopped to get a quick lunch!! The food was Great......its a fast food Asian restaurant:

We finally made it to our chocolate tasting tour where we learned all about chocolate and best of all got to do some yummy taste testing along the way!!! We stopped at a few places including Sarah's(Martha Stewart is a customer :-) !), Frango (love!), Wow Bao's (once again this time to try there chocolate buns!!), Hanna's Bretzel, and Argo Tea (had the best chocolate mint tea.......will go back for more!).  Here are some pictures we took along the way:

Can you guess what team we root for during football season:

we even seen President Obama:

.........well kinda!! HA!:

After our tour ended we figured it would be refreshing to wash down all that chocolate with a big glass of.........




Beer of course!!!! What we live in Wisconsin.......that's how we roll!! We stopped at The Berghoff:

old liquor licence....pretty cool!

We then made the walk across the bridge back to the hotel:

(Trump Tower)

Our favorite building we would "ooohhh and ahhhh" at every time we walked by:

Back at the hotel to freshen up and rest a bit before heading off to Navy Pier:

Go Bulls..........better luck next year! :-(

It was soooo foggy and cold at the Pier (glad I had my jacket this time.......and no sun dress!!):

I'm glad we decided against riding the Ferris wheel.......it wouldn't be worth our time and money!! Too foggy, windy, and cold! Oh well......theres is always next time!! (I sound like a broken record!)
We did get to see the stained glass windows though:

They were sooo pretty........here are some of our favorites:

A fun picture before leaving the pier and heading back to the hotel......HA!:

We eventually went to dinner at Mike Ditka's Restaurant (My husbands "To Do" found on this LIST!):

The memorabilia at the restaurant was pretty cool (Die hard BEARS fans we are!!)........I think my husband died and gone to heaven! Ditka wasn't there though......booo!!! Oh well........there's always next time!! he he.

The only thing that was left to do (that I planned on my original itinerary ) was to end the evening at the John Hancock building for some cocktails and to take in the amazing city views!!
Ya right......that didn't happen we were too exhausted (even though the building was just around the corner from the restaurant) to even eat our dinner!  All we wanted to do is get back to the hotel (take off my heels.......yes I walked blocks and blocks with heels on!! I don't know how women do it on a daily basis!!) and park it on the bed for the night! That is exactly what we did!!

The next morning, Saturday, we said "Sayonara" Room 813:

Checked out of the hotel and packed up the car!!  We ate a "breakfast for champs" meal at Portillos (hot dog joint) and decided against going to the beach and zoo!! Why you ask?  Well for one the weather was a bit cloudy (zoo + rain = not a fun time) and two we wanted to head over to my brother and sister in laws place to see my Rockstar nephew:

Rock Out Dude!!!

 His name is Nathaniel and he is the apple of my eye!!

So that was our 3 day stay in the beautiful city of Chicago!! I hope this helped if you were considering a trip to the windy city!! There is sooo much to see and do.  We will definitely be going back to do all of the things we missed out on!! Have any of you planned a trip to Chicago and would like to share some fun places to see, eat, and do that I missed out on?  Perhaps you would like to share with me a recent trip you've been on? Or maybe you just want to leave a comment on how cute my nephew is.......ya he jams out!!

There's always next time,
xoxo Joanna D.

Appetizer

I'm back with yet some more recipes that I would like to share with you all linking up with Kelly from kellyskornerblog.com!! This time I'm sharing a couple of appetizer recipes for you to try and enjoy.  They are my tried and true recipes that I go to often and I must say.........I get allot of compliments followed by a "Can I have this recipe?!?!".  Yes they are that yummy and No they are not hard to make!! They are actually very simple and use just a few ingredients that many of you may have in your fridge and pantry already.  If you can dump (no not that kind of dump.....HA!) and stir, than you can handle these recipes......No Problem,....Forgettaboutit!!   I reassure you that these recipes will come in handy when you are in a pinch and you get that last minute phone call from your in laws saying they are in the neighborhood and would like to stop by!! So lets keep calm and make these appetizers this weekend.....mmmmkay:

No Honey.....Honey Mustard Dip:

1 cup Mayo
1/2 cup sugar
5 Tbs spicy brown mustard
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 tsp garlic powder

Just dump all ingredients in bowl and stir!! (I told you it was that easy!!!)
Place in refrigerator for a couple of hours!!
Tastes great with pretzels, cheese curds, and mini corn dogs!


Chicken Dip:

2 cans chunk chicken (drain chicken from can)
1 cup Mayo
1/2 packet Ranch dressing powder
(that's all!!)
(I just eye ball it when it comes to adding the ingredients!!)

Drain chicken and shred.
Dump and stir all ingredients in bowl!! (My philosophy to cooking!! Ha!)
Refridgerate for an hour or so.
Eat with crackers/pretzels of your choice!!

So there you have it......my appetizer recipes that I love to make for my family and friends!!  Easy Peasy.......No? I would love for you to try them out.  Oh and please stop back and let me know if you enjoyed any of the recipes.......I would love to hear your feedback  (and if you didn't then that's OK too.......you wont hurt my feelings!)!!  Also I would love to read all about any of your tried and true appetizer recipes.........leave it in the comments below!!

xoxo Joanna D.

Thrifting It

A raise of hands.......how many of you love thrifting??!??!  OK.........that was pointless........I can't see you anyway...duh!! Was I the only dork raising my hand?!?!  Well its true I just love walking into a thrift store not knowing what I will walk out with next.  Its a surprise each time and of course you do have your "Saweet" days and some "that was pointless" days!!
 I'm not going to lie.......you do have to look high and low for these treasures that are hidden amongst all the nasty dirt and years and years of collected dust.......but trust me you will find them!!  They are there but it takes some time, effort, and experience (it gets easier time after time sorting out whats "jackpot" and whats just plain ol' junk!) The funny thing is that the whole thrifting process is a whole new experience for me!! I've only been to a few over the past couple of years but I am officially hooked!!   One thing that I can live without though.............is that pungent thrift store smell and all the dirt that comes along with the process (I walk run out of there as fast as I can so that I can sanitize my hands and everything gets shoved into the dishwasher as soon as I get home...... like ASAP!!) So like that saying goes: "one (wo)mans junk is another (wo) mans treasure"!!

Here are the goodies i found on my most recent trip:

I love me some ceramic birds (well not necessarily ceramic......any kind will do!)!! They would look great on top of a stack of books maybe on a side table or book shelf!! The owl just did it for me though........I snatched him up sooo quickly that the lady next to me gave me this "girl you must be crazy" look!! HA!  I have plans for him though.........and no I'm not setting him free........he might get a paint job! (should I go classic white or turn him into something fun and bright like yellow.....hmmm??!)

As soon as I seen it I could not believe my eyes!! This thing looked sooo familiar......and it took me a minute to figure out where I have seen it before!! Than the light bulb turned on (bower power turned it on....hehe!)!! I know exactly where I've seen it.......my favorite blogger Katie Bower over at bowerpowerblog (HI Katie!.......you don't know who I am but you are famous to me!!! HA! BTW.....The Nate B show was awesome.......so jealous!!) has something similar if not the actual twin!! So of course I had to get it!!!  Anything Katie B loves........I love:

This next thing I just had with a capital HAD to have!! I passed it up at first but when it came time to check out........I just couldn't leave it there! I am so happy because its one of those nostalgic things.....you know!!  Here it is:

Its a doll crib! Its solid wood too!!

I haven't cleaned it out yet! I think its previous owner used it as a planter!

I plan to strip the red off and paint it a different color!! Maybe white, soft pink, soft green, or maybe a light turquoise color........not sure just yet!! Oh and I hope to sew a blanket and pillow to place inside! I know I don't have a any kids yet but maybe someday I will have a little girl who will enjoy playing with it! Oh and it was only $5 buckaroos........see why I love thrifting!!

I also scored this frame for $3 that I have plans for very soon! As soon as I complete it.....I will show all the details!

I also scored these items: A ceramic white pumpkin for the fall (I can hide yummy treats in it!), another owl that I plan to spray paint a different color, butterfly dish that I also plan on spray painting and use it to hold my jewelry and other trinkets, and some napkin holders (I got like 20 of them for $2!)!

So this was my last thrift store haul!!! I would love to hear all about your thrift store finds!! What were your recent "brag home about" finds??  Any of you dig owls and birds just like I do?? Or maybe you are nostalgic like me and love finding things that remind you of your past (my husband did raise a brow when I showed him that doll crib...haha!)??!??

Thrifting it,

xoxo Joanna D.