christmas in chicago

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to act as a tour guide and take my friends home for a visit to Chicago. I may be a little bit biased, but I sincerely believe that there is no city as beautiful as Chicago, especially at Christmas time. Being there with my friends was pretty magical.
It was the first time some of the girls had been to Chicago.
This little Pennsylvania girl was especially thrilled.

Her one demand? That we take public transportation. We acquiesced.

Andj's expectations for the city were pretty high. Luckily, the Windy City did not disappoint. The lights were gorgeous and festive, and spirits were high. Of course you cannot go downtown Chicago with eight girls and not expect to get some shopping done.

(Relax, I did her hair.)

Millenium Park was in rare form. Not only was the Bean nice and shiny, there was also a large cluster of Santa's hanging out next to it. My guess? Santa Convention.

We finished up with deep dish pizza at Uno's, a Chicago staple.

One of my favorite pictures of the trip is my beautiful suite mate.

a night to blog about

As you probably know if you live anywhere even remotely civilized, the critically acclaimed and highly anticipated blockbuster flick, Breaking Dawn, opened last weekend. And a bunch of my friends and I all went to see it opening night. That's right. NO SHAME! It was a really fun little trip. (Let's just not even address the quality of the critically acclaimed, highly anticipated movie. We'll just stay positive and say that at least it didn't put me to sleep.) Before the movie we shopped at the outdoor mall which was festooned with pretty christmas decorations. While there, I made an awesome purchase: ear muffs. What? Yes, please.

What awesome hats. They were instant photo ops. If you are reading this and you are in need of a christmas present idea, go out and don't buy these hats because they were insanely expensive.

There was a moderately cute golden retriever living at the house we slept at. Which meant hours of joy and entertainment for most of us college kids who have lived lives devoid of pets for the last three months (it's not something that I'm terribly upset about).

Someone's excited.

I'm such a poser.

I snapped a few more shots to document our drive. No girl's night is complete without car pictures.

Of course my favorite picture of the night goes to Jess. But that's becoming quite standard. She'll do anything to get a good pose, even stick her body half way outside the window of a moving vehicle.

But kudos to Andj and Kriss for this beauty.

Yet another sunset.

And last but not least...

My earmuffs! On a mug! 

Silly.

Such a fantastic way to escape from school and just laugh and giggle and be care free. Girl's Nights are the best.

autumn colors

Bright leaves and blue skies. Autumn loves its own colors.

This weekend was the rake 'n run. We raked lawns and danced and laughed. God has really blessed us with gorgeous fall days lately. This was no exception. It was a perfect day.

In other news, go listen to Up in Flames by Coldplay.

studying? what's that?

Is there anything better than laying outside on a blanket in the grass, with sunshine, blue sky, and colorful leaves surrounding you? The answer is no, there is not. My friends and I have been known to take full advantage of every sunny day we have had so far so that we have some faint memory of sunshine and joy to hold onto as we grow closer and closer to winter. (Winter. I hate the word. Unless it is in the context of Christmas of course)
 However, as nice as studying in the grass is, it is slightly counterproductive. And by slightly, I mean that I never get anything done because all I do is take photos. I mean, it's not that I don't love memorizing all the origins and insertions of the muscular system; it's just that, given the choice, I'd rather take pictures of sunshine. Or fall asleep. Or just stare off into space. I sometimes get easily distracted...
But I've managed to get some nice pictures so these "study" dates have not been completely unproductive.

Ps- I have a thing for ring pops.