shots of the city

photo montage: chicago style!
i’ve been thinking about blogging (hmm, wonder why that could be?), and i do wonder sometimes whether anyone really wants to read ‘recaps’. after all, how egomaniacal it is to believe that people actually want to read about what i did all day!? the summit has gotten me thinking about how i really would like to write posts that others fine useful and/or interesting. but then again, there is something fun (speaking for myself, anyway) about seeing how someone else enjoys their free time or chooses to be a tourist.

so . . .

photo-montage it is!

near the end! photo credit to leslie
yesterday began with a run on the lakeside path with meghann (multitasking superblogger!) and leslie (talented runner/writer about to rock her first marathon this fall). we chatted for 6 straight miles, and then i actually headed out for a second loop on my own — it was my “long” run for the week since i knew this wasn’t going to be a possibility later on. the last 4 were contemplative and lovely, with the water sparkling in the sun and apropos song selections magically coming from the iPod (sufjan stevens Illinoise? i swear that thing has a 6th sense).

one blog post, one shower, and one fantastic raw carrot muffin later (not in that order), it was time to explore. i headed out with energetic (and fellow russel + hazel devotee) haya, adorable mary, and roommate meg and walked around, and before we knew it, it was brunch time. i was impressed with how many people were enjoying a leisurely meal on a friday afternoon! or maybe we just went to the right place . . .

i certainly found lula’s worth carving a little time out of MY schedule for.

the entire menu looked delicious, but one item in particular screamed out to me:

BREAKFAST BURRITO!

for once i didn’t feel terribly silly whipping out my camera.

we all enjoyed our brunch selections — and of course the fun company.

i recommend lula’s if you’re ever in the area!

i’m on a BOOOOAAATT
couldn’t get the T pain skit out of my head!
haya and i had grand plans of trying to hit up GREER chicago, a drool-worthy stationery store. however, it turned out that the route involved a bus with 17 stops, so we decided to head straight for our tourist destination of the day: an architectural boat tour!

i think josh would have loved it [random fact: at one point, he actually wanted to be an architect. hence the civil engineering/art history dual major at duke]. he probably also would have appreciated a tour comprised of this list of destinations:

unfortunately without a fridge in my room, i don’t think transporting a hot dog is going to be a realistic possibility (sorry, babe).

i was worried about being bored, but i actually loved learning about the history of the buildings as they floated on by. as soon as i saw this rounded parking deck, “heavy metal drummer” started playing in my head . . .

exhibit A:

exhibit B:

definitely never ‘got’ that album cover before now.
there were some seriously tall skyscrapers.

did you know someone once climbed the entire sears tower WITHOUT safety equipment and then got arrested at the top?

(they let him off, eventually.)

party time
our roommate crew then got decked out and headed to the party!

unfortunately, this is where i lost my photography mojo a bit. the event was fun but loud! but don’t worry, i didn’t forget to provide journalistic coverage of our private li’l roommate afterparty.

or at least, the most delicious part of this event:

oh

yes

we

DID.

and it was awesome.