London Olympics 2012. Are you watching?

Photo courtesy of visiteastlondon.com

The summer Olympics are one of my favorite things to watch. When it's on, my tv channel really doesn't change. My favorite event is gymnastics. I was in gymnastics when I was little, so I have a fondness for the event. That being said, let me say Congrats to Gabby! You are awesome! Good for you! Congrats to the Women's team too! Team Gold..amazing!  I just finally watched the opening ceremonies. I know, I am a week late, I swear we have been busy. We actually watch half the events at like 2 in the morning.  I thought the ceremony was cool. I really wanted to see it because I had heard that it wasn't that great.  After watching it, I agree, it was no Beijing. That being said, it was about their culture and history, not Beijing culture and history, so how can you compare them? I thought that the forging of the rings was neat, and I liked the part with the children, showing their dreams and nightmares. Last but not least, how can you not laugh at Mr. Bean? What did you think about the ceremonies? What is your favorite event?

Also, has everyone seen this yet? I can't get it out of my head! I know that there have been like a million different versions of this, but I thought it was a good one!
Call me Lochte

Emily

Our day in Long Grove

Long Grove, Illinois, is one of my favorite places to go.  It is a little town that has a bunch of shops and restaurants in it. Some of my favorites are the confectionery, the Irish shop, and the popcorn factory. If you ever go there, make sure you walk or work out the day before, because you are going to need it. Today we ate at the Long Grove Cafe.

 We started off the meal with some bread, that had like a Parmesan cheese on it. It was delicious!

I know that this is silly picture, but this was the best sweetened raspberry iced tea that I have ever had!

 My mom ordered the Greek Salad...

 My hubby ordered the Chicken Fettucini...

I had a Bacon Mozzarella burger with sauteed Mushrooms, with salty french fries.

 I was very impressed with this cafe. Everything was really good. I will eat here next time I visit for sure.

I always take pictures of these crazy ducks. It's like 10 degrees outside, and this pond is always full of them, even when it is completely frozen. It amazes me!

Me, Craig, and Alli, in front of the Mill.

Then it was off to Paddy's on the Square This is my favorite part of Long Grove. My three of my four favorite stores are here. Paddy's is a little shop full of everything Irish that you could ever need. They have shirts, jewelry, music, and real kilts!

 My and the hubby have a tradition of trying on silly hats.

 My future's so bright.... you know the lyrics...

 Then it was off to the Apple Haus.  They have all kinds of apple breads, jellies, cookies, and apple pies.

Craig goes for the apple doughnuts.

The real reason that I go there is for this. They have the best and freshest apple cider that has ever been made. I love the fact that it comes in little apple cups that you can keep.

Next, on to the Long Grove Confectionery

We go here for the Chocolate covered Strawberries.

 Here is one of the women that makes the chocolate strawberries.

 I got some of the milk chocolate raspberry, vanilla, and caramel creams.

 I also took a few vanilla caramel bites.

So yummy!
Enjoy!

Sweet Home Chicago! (Day 3)

So we started out our day in Chicago with playing outside. This was Steiner's first time in the snow. I wasn't really sure that he was going to like it, being that he gets cold in Florida sometimes. I know that sounds crazy, cold in Florida, but believe it or not, it does happen. So I put on his little jacket and away he went!  The dogs had a whole track that was made for them with the snowblower, so they had a blast!

 Here he is, first time in the snow and loving it!! He played with his new best friends Brady and Spencer.

 We realized shortly after we were done playing, that we were starving. We decided to head down to Chief's Pub. It is a really good bar/grill that is owned by an retired fireman. The whole place is decorated in fireman's gear. The back wall is painted with murals of buildings and fire trucks.

I decided to get a Chicken tender sandwich with fries. Very good! 

My mom got the veggie wrap which looked really good.

 Here are some more pics of the decor.

 Make sure you rub the door for good luck.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/Chiefs.Pub
Make sure you visit if you are in town!
Enjoy!

Our Snowy Adventure!

My hubby and me decided to take a trip back to Illinois last week.  They had a huge blizzard the other day, and we decided that we did not want to miss out on this. So off we went, driving through Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, and finally to Illinois. Why drive you ask? I don't know, it was his idea. No really, why? Well, the last time we took a road trip was about 5 or 6 years ago, and we decided that it was time. So off we went. I don't have a lot of great pics to show you. It was going to take us two days to get there, so we went as fast as we could. This was the first time that we had taken Steiner on a trip. So we weren't really sure how that was going to go. However he was a rock star, and basically slept the whole time. Anyway, here are some pics of our trip!
Day One! Here is me and Steiner in the car ready to go!

 Have you even seen the Goofy movie? There is this one song about being out on the open road, and this pic totally reminds me of that song. If not here it is.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsLFBoaSoAI

 So this is our third stop in Florida.  It was starting to look a little shady outside, so we decided we better get Steiner out for a break before anything hits.Well it hit....big time, like hurricane big time.

 No good my friends....no good

 I lost my pillow, and my blanket to Steiner.

So we made it all the way To Franklin Kentucky the first day, which was like 14 hours in. I know, I can't believe it either. We stayed at a pet friendly hotel. I was really nervous about this, because I figured it was going to smell like dogs, or be kind of gross. I was so wrong. I had found a Comfort Inn that was right on the road. It was somewhat new, and had good reviews.  I have to say, it was really nice. The ran out of rooms on the pet friendly 1st floor, so they gave us a room upstairs. Since it was harder for us to get him outside being that it was on the 2nd floor, they discounted our room. So nice! anyway, I wish that I had taken pics of the place before we threw our stuff everywhere, but it was :130 am, and I really didn't care. Bad bad blogger girl.

 This was his first time in hotel, he loved it, and would not sit still. I'm positive the people below probably thought a herd of small elephants were above them. I'll take my calls at my desk please.

The room had a fridge and a microwave..so sweet.

Steiner checking the pad out.

 Here is the bed. Who wants to see a pic of a bed...no one. I took one though, because this bed (and pillows) was the best bed I have ever slept on in a hotel. Usually they are hard, and the pillows stink. Not these bad boys. we couldn't believe it. I wish I had taken pics of the bathroom, (please don't be grossed out.) It was nice too, all marble shower and sink. So pretty, and so clean.  Downstairs there was a fireplace in the lobby, and one in the dining room where they served breakfast. Warm and toasty.  Missed out on that pic though, sorry.

View from the window.

 Stay tuned for day two, and the yummy places we visited on day three!

Enjoy!