Even though yesterday was one of the *hottest* and *most humid* days I’ve experienced in awhile, it was incredible.  Who knew hump day could be so much fun??

I slept in nice and late Wednesday and got up for a quick 5 mile run before catching the train downtown.

It was time for another date night! This past week Z and I have been able to squeeze in 2 date nights which is pretty remarkable considering how much we both work (him during the day, me at night).  We had plans to go to the Shedd Aquarium downtown!

It kept sporadically raining on my walk from Union Station to where we were meeting on Michigan Avenue, so we decided to take meet at a Walgreens and take refuge in there until the rain stopped.  While beating the heat in the frozen food aisle, we used trusty ol’ Yelp to find somewhere to eat dinner before heading to the aquarium.  Fortunately, there was a hidden French cafe just around the corner!

For those of you who don’t know me, I live and breaaathe all things French.  I was a French language minor in college and studied abroad in Paris for a semester, and have traveled two other times to the lovely country.  Aside from the beautiful language and culture, I *adore* French food.  So seeing the words “Patisserie and Cafe” pop up on Yelp got me super excited!

Oh my gosh it was perfect.

The cafe was full of dark espresso, sparkling wines, gooey macarons and classic french sandwiches on crusty baguettes. I think I died and went to heaven.

I ordered an old standby: croque monsieur! It’s basically a ham and cheese sandwich on steroids. To round of the meal, my (daily) guilty pleasure while I was studying in Paris: a chocolate macaron!

Om nom nom. We ate those sandwiches so fast and even Z (the plainest eater on the planet) loved it: he even said it was better than Subway. Life’s little victories.

After dinner we took a walk through Millennium Park to get to the aquarium.

After taking a few much-needed breaks (85% humidity will do that to you), we were finally at the Shedd Aquarium!

Every Wednesday throughout the summer, the Shedd Aquarium puts on an event called “Jazzin’ at the Shedd”.  You get access to the whole aquarium after hours, and then get to head outside for cocktails, live jazz music, and spectacular views of the city as the sun slowly goes down. If you live in Chicago or are planning a visit, it’s something I definitely recommend.  It can get crowded and it’s not free, but it’s such a wonderful thing to experience.

The event ended with fireworks coming off of Navy Pier. It doesn’t get more “summer” than that.

All in all, a spectacular night. There’s nothing like summer in Chicago!