Tag: Utica

Photo Time!

Photo Time!

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I want to upload some photographs from this summer to give you guys more of a visual of what I was up to. These photos capture just several of the awesome days I had these past few months.

Spring Awakening 2013– I didn’t take many photos so this isn’t the best representation of Spring Awakening, but the concert was great. Seeing Krewella play was the only reason I went, and I am so happy that I got the opportunity.

I saw fireworks twice this summer, and this was one of the days. Many people know that while the weather is nice outside during the summer, Navy Pier has fireworks every Wednesday and Saturday night. I went to see them one of the nights, and though it was raining and slightly chilly outside, they were beautiful. The whole time they were going (which was only about 15 minutes), Jimmy Buffett‘s music was playing and several times I caught the fireworks shooting to the beat of the songs.


These three photos were taken at Brookfield Zoo where my boyfriend took me to celebrate my 21st birthday. I had only been there once when I was much younger and I had been talking about going to the zoo for weeks so it was a wonderful surprise. We walked through the entire zoo and saw nearly everything, from all the cats, the bears, monkeys, reptiles, wolves, and my favorite- dolphins! Next time I go, I hope to see the dolphin show.

This last photo I’m posting was taking during my last fishing trip in Utica. It may just be a photo of a little fire going, but this fire took over an hour to get going at about four in the morning by four people who hadn’t slept yet. Needless to say, it was an interesting fishing trip even if it wasn’t really a successful one.

All That’s Left of Summer Is Some Blogs

All That’s Left of Summer Is Some Blogs

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We’re back in session for the 2013/2014 school year! Who’s excited? Even if you’re not, I hope you aren’t too upset that summer is over. Summer was nice, but my favorite season is Fall so I’m happy that school has started up again.

There will be plenty of time ahead to blog about this semester, so I’m going to tell you all a little about what I was up to this summer.

Most of my summer was spent working at XSport Fitness as front desk staff. When I wasn’t working, I spent time exploring the outskirts of Chicago with my boyfriend. Before May, I mainly knew Chicago as downtown and what I passed when I was on the different CTA lines. I rarely saw Chicago west of the Kennedy Expressway. This summer though, I finally got past my unintentional boundaries.

Aside from exploring more of Chicago by driving around, several of my favorite discoveries included the following:

1. On a clear day, the Chicago skyline can be seen from Bensenville out near O’Hare Airport

2. Harlem Irving Plaza– to people that frequent the “HIP”, this may seem lame, but other than Watertower Place and 900 North, this is the only mall I’ve seen in Chicago. I love going to malls because they are all so unique on the inside, and the HIP is no exception. I didn’t see much of it, but I liked that to get into the mall, you go through an entrance where you take an escalator down from the outdoor parking lot.

3. I learned to fish in August and took several trips for fishing. I went to Fox River, Lake Michigan and Utica, IL. It’s a very quiet and peaceful activity that took me outdoors for some fresh air, even if all I could catch were logs. One of these days I’m hoping to catch a real fish instead of just feeding them my bait. Maybe tomorrow!

4. Country music- I’ve listened to country tunes for years and have some of my favorites bands and musicians, but listening to county music on the radio day after day really made me listen to it and appreciate it more. My iTunes has greatly expanded due to the extensive list of country songs I added to it this summer, like one of my new favorite songs, “I Want Crazy” by Hunter Hayes.

5. I went to quite a few restaurants and small food places this summer that opened up my taste buds. My healthy eating unfortunately came to a halt at the beginning of summer because there became too many temptations for me to pass up. Several places that were new to me were Longhorn Steakhouse, Roma’s, Twin Gyros and Outback Steakhouse. I tried lots of delicious food, some that I’ve had before at other places, and some that were completely new. One of my new favorite treats, courtesy of Roma’s, is Watermelon Italian Ice- delicious!