Weekend Happenings: Illini edition!

I had a great time this weekend! So much so that the thought of whipping out the computer to blog just seemed irreverent 🙂

So here I am, another Monday is here, and the one thing getting me through it is reminiscing about my fun Saturday.

It all started bright and early with the official opening celebration of my local bootcamp!

I woke up earlier than normal because it was beautiful fall weather and I wanted to bike there.

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Biking in Fall weather is amazing. It was sunny but crisp and I biked the three miles or so through town and to bootcamp.

ImageIt was my first partner workout! I was paired with a middle aged woman and she was just the sweetest! That’s what I love about Crossfit-like workouts…anyone with any skill level can work together and as long as you know your limits and how to modify the workout, it doesn’t matter.  I love working with people and motivating them to kick their own butt! It was a fun class full of running and rowing.  The ring rows were the toughest for me because my upper body strength is definitely lacking.

After I biked home I walked into the house to a great surprise: whole wheat french toast!

ImageI grabbed two slices, drowned them in maple syrup, and served them alongside two eggs.  If I don’t eat some protein with breakfast I’ll be hungry ten minutes later so eggs were definitely necessary.  It was such a nice change-up from my normal breakfasts!

The plan for the day was to get to the Illini game at Soldier Field so I caught a train downtown and met up Zman at Navy Pier for a little pre-game date 🙂

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We ate outside on the patio of Bubba Gump Shrimp. It was the perfect way to enjoy the beautiful weather.

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If you’re even at Navy Pier I highly recommend Bubba Gump. It was fairly inexpensive and pretty delicious, but the highlight of the meal was our waiter.  He asked us trivia about the movie Forrest Gump throughout our meal which made it a really lighthearted and interactive experience. I was so impressed because Zman knew EVERY answer! He’s a real movie buff, apparently. Who knew 🙂

We started out with a popcorn shrimp appetizer (mostly because Zman was ready to eat his arm if he didn’t get food asap). I was so happy because he usually refuses to touch any kind of seafood but today hunger overruled!

ImageZman is also a sucker for fruity drinks so when he saw the waiter walk by with some of the famous Bubba Gump cocktails he knew we had to try one.

ImageI tried some and that thing is dangerous! So sweet that you wouldn’t even realize what you’re drinking 😉

For my entree I ordered a berry and shrimp salad, which came out beautifully.

ImageIt was so light and refreshing, the perfect balance after attacking that popcorn shrimp!

After our mini-date, we walked from Navy Pier to Soldier Field (another 3 miles!) and found our seats for the game.

ImageThe best thing about Soldier Field is that there isn’t a bad seat in the house. It’s a relatively small stadium, so even from the 400-level we could see every play.

It was a good game! We definitely have low expectations for our football team haha so the fact that we kept up and made it a good game was great for the fans.  I didn’t even mind the loss because I ran into one of my oldest and dearest friends from high school, Frank! I love it when that happens.

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Once the game was over we walked with masses the Museum of Science and Industry, where most people were drunkenly stumbling onto buses and into cabs.  Luckily, Zman is a fan of walking so we decided another three mile walk would be better than waiting for that mess.

I love Chicago. Have I made that clear yet?

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After getting back to the apartment and watching The League while we recuperated, we had some friends over and decided to go to Wrigleyville for a bit.  Even though we didn’t spend a lot of time at the bars, it’s always good to get out to that area. The people watching, ESPECIALLY after midnight, is hilarious! No pictures from the bars but I obviously did document the most important part of the night:

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No night out is complete without a 2am pizza run!

It was a blast of a day! It felt a little like we were back in college, which I’ll never say no to 😉

Question: what’s your favorite late-night food after you’ve gone out?

 

 

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