A snowy Spring Break

With all of my teacher friends 

posting photos of sunshine and sand, 

it seems like a perfect time to (finally)

put up some pictures from our trip back home. 

Get ready. 

There's a billion pictures coming your way :-) 

J-bird on the way to the kennel. 

He knew something was up...

and he wasn't a happy camper. 

hahaha

Because of a super delayed flight, 

Anthony and I found ourselves stranded 

in Chicago the first night. 

I admit, I pouted for about 10 min. 

Then realized, of all cities for us to be stuck, 

Chicago was the best one. 

Our good friends Isaac and Catherine 

met us out for drinks. 

Anthony and Cat are both Leap Year Babies. 

The past couple of years, we've celebrated together. 

And it just happened were stranded on their birthdays. 

(well, the 28th, so close enough) 

We were all pretty stoked to spend the evening together. 

The next morning we headed out of Chicago and to Evansville. 

But not without grabbing a bag of Garrett's popcorn. 

How we found my grandpa... 

On an 8 foot ladder, 

installing a heating unit. 

Love it. 

No trip home is complete without a trip to Donut Bank! 

While there, we ran into my grandma Carole's High School buddies. 

I was jealous of the 5 boxes of donuts they bought. 

My dad was a bit possessive of the popcorn bag. 

In his defense, 

we did technically bring it home for him. 

Usually when we're home, 

we spend an afternoon with 

my Aunt Dori drinking champagne.

It's a pretty great tradition. 

Added this time? 

Her 38 Special. 

Love it. 

My niece Peyton in her IU gear. 

She knows the cheers too. 

Miss her and her baby sis so much!

The fireplace in my grandparents 

house is so great. 

Home is one of my favorite places to run. 

Before long, it was time to head back north. 

Anth and I hopped on the Amtrak...

and decided since we were on vacation, 

9am was not too early for drinks. 

Our hotel was connected to Ditkas. 

Score. 

First things first? 

Drinks at Cleos with my pal Val. 

Maybe one too many drinks. Oops. 

Being in Philly for the winter meant not much snow

(at all really). 

The day we got to Chicago? 

Dumped 10 inches in 10 hours. 

Figures. 

I didn't really mind though :-) 

Good thing someone thought to warm up the Acala's Horse. 

Our fav Sushi spot has a roll called

Sorry I am Drunk. 

hahahaha. 

My other fav running spot besides home 

is the Chicago Lakefront. 

Even though it was snowy 

and I was the only one there, 

I had to do it. 

So nice. 

 We also had a great Thai/Hoosiers night 

with our friends Mike and Lora. 

I swore to myself I wouldn't relive the previous night

(remember the Fireball Whiskey shot pic?)

but....

when a friend hands you an AMF,

as a Hoosier, you don't turn it down. 

And for the record, it was delicious. 

Also delicious? 

Spaghetti at Four Moon at 2am. 

hahahaha

Best brunch of the trip. 

Oh, and I wouldn't be doing the blog justice

if I didn't sneak in a trip to a great Chicago hot dog joint. 

So good. 

We also jammed in a trip up to Northwestern 

to see one of Anthony's professor's shows. 

Probably my fav Contemporary show I've seen. 

And finally, I met 5 of my favorite ladies for drinks at Cleos. 

I have yet to find somewhere in Philly to get a french fry salad. 

hahaha. 

 All in all, it was such a great (and super fast!) trip. 

Chicago, I miss you already.