Last Sunday, Mary and I took my nephew and Godson to the Shedd Aquarium for his birthday.  My sister told us that instead of buying Rhys any more presents, he would really like to go "see the sharks" at the aquarium.  It took us several weeks to find a time, but it was definitely worth the wait!

Our trip started off a little bumpy.  We had to wait in line for about 45 minutes just to purchase tickets to get inside!  Fortunately, Rhys was so patient and well-behaved.  He and I played dinosaurs to pass the time.  After we finally got in, we were overdue to get some lunch, so we went to the aquarium cafeteria.  We got just a little sidetracked on the way and had to stop to see some fishtanks.  Once we found the cafe, Rhys enjoyed a PB&J, carrots, and apple-sauce.  Finally, we were ready to see some sharks!

We bypassed all other exhibits and displays and went straight for the Wild Reef exhibit.  There were several fun fish and other sea animals to see on the way, but once we reached the larger under-tank viewing area, we knew we'd stay put for a while!  Every 30 seconds, Rhys exclaimed, "Look at that one!  Look at that one!"  Aside from all the other sea creatures, we saw Sandbar Sharks, Blacktip Reef Sharks, and Zebra Sharks, and had a great view of some large stingrays. 

We stayed to watch the sharks for about 25 minutes before finally moving on.  We didn't see all the exhibits, but did spend some time looking at terrapins, octopi, crabs, and even monkeys (I didn't know they had monkeys at the aquarium, but they do), and watched a diver in the Caribean Reef Exhibit.

We made the long walk back to the parking lot at Soldier Field after taking a couple pictures in front of the big fish.  Despite Rhys telling us all afternoon that he wasn't tired, he immediately fell asleep in the car.  Rhys was so well-behaved all day, he exclaimed to my sister, "I didn't get mad at them or run away at all!"  I'm just happy he had as much fun as we did!

Although Ken already had his bachelor party a few weeks ago, I wanted to try and take him out for a little night on the town with the guys.  Unfotunately, due to timing, two of our good friends couldn't make it, and Steve had to leave early due to a Marley emergency (everything seems to be ok now).

I had a great time, though, and I think Ken had a pretty good time, too.  Most of our night was spent in Chicago's River North neighborhood.  We started with dinner at a place called Theory, which is across the street from Rockit and Howl at the Moon.  The food was pretty good.  They also had a lot of TVs, including small TVs in the booths with the ability for patrons to change the channels.

After dinner, we went to a recently opened cigar lounge called Tesa Cigar Co.  Tesa, which is in River West (and closer to where Mary and I live), specializes in Nicaraguan cigars.  We bought cigars there, and although we didn't know it at the time, you can bring your own beverages.  There were several groups of comfortable leather chairs, perfect for smaller groups to sit around, relax, and enjoy a cigar.

From here, we went to a newly opened bar called District.  It had only opened the night before we went, so there weren't many people there.  I think this place may have been my favorite of the evening.  It was fairly spacious and the main area in the center of the bar was arranged in a large circle.  The circle was outlined with couches and several low-rise bar tables and ottomans, perfect for groups to congregate and unwind.  It was very slick without being pretentious.  Although our server was a little slow, the rest of the service staff was very friendly.  They also had a secluded party room with private bar that was hidden by a secret bookshelf/door, much like an old time speakeasy or hideout. 

While at District, Steve had to depart.  Shortly after he left, Ken and I started our "club" tour!  The first stop was Vertigo Sky in the Dana Hotel.  This place looked really cool on their website, however, it wasn't that great.  The pictures on their site show the place empty and with the lights on.  In reality, it was totally packed, and most of the lights were out, which drastically took away from the "lounge" atmosphere and just made it feel like someone forgot to pay the electric bill.  There were two bars, but they were small and the bartenders seemed to be on top of each other trying to serve drinks.  The only cool thing was the outside deck with a night view of the city, but since it was raining, no one was outside.  We left after about 25 minutes (as long as it took us to finish our drinks).  Since there was no cover, I'd recommend going there some time just to see the view from the outdoor sky deck.

From Verigo Sky, we made it to our last stop, The Underground.  Although this really isn't our normal scene, and there was a $20 cover, it was pretty cool.  It was crowded and there was no where to sit unless you paid for bottle service (starting at $300), but it was a good last stop for our night on the town.  The music was good and the crowd was energetic.  We stayed for about an hour before deciding to call it quits.  Ken and I climbed into a cab and immediately crashed when we got back to our place.  When all was said and done, we had a pretty good time.  Hopefully it was just the thing Ken needed before tying the knot, although, I doubt you'll see either of us in the clubs any time soon!

This was not necessarily a horrible week, but it was a rough one and I am more than relieved to know that it is officially Friday and I am 10 minutes away from leaving the office.  After working feverishly on our department's budget for the last 3 days and staying late 2 nights in a row, only to have one days worth of budget entries be wiped out of our system and all need to be re-entered, I am ready to leave the office behind for a couple days.  Not to mention all the other mishaps from this week.  I told Jack that I felt a little mentally "beat up" this week, and despite the fact that I tried, I really did, to stay positive, I eventually just accepted the fact that this was just not going to be my week, so I tried to "Grin and bear it" as my mom used to tell me and tried to remember her other favorite phrase, "This too shall pass".  Jack was a good sport though last night after another tough day.  He went to the produce market with me (and he doesn't really like to grocery shop), we made pizza for dinner, and he let me watch my super-girly shows that we saved on our DVR.

Today, thankfully, has gone pretty well.  I finished my budget stuff (and it was a good thing since it was due today!), took a quick trip to Starbucks on my lunch to get some of the nice fresh, spring air we have today, along with a vanilla chai.  Life just seems so much better some days with my favorite Starbucks drink.  Hopefully this means the bad stuff is behind me for the week and that only good things are in store for the weekend.

I have a few fun things going on this weekend.  It looks like Jack and I will be heading out to dinner tonight with some friends, although the place is still TBD.  I am going to a rooftop Cubs game tomorrow for a friend's bachelorette outing and then have my good friend, Kristen's, wedding shower on Sunday that my mom and I will both be attending.  I am so excited to celebrate this occasion with her.  I had such a great time at my wedding showers that I hope she enjoys these moments and is able to tuck away all these happy memories.

Hope everyone has a GREAT weekend!

...but yesterday just wasn't my day.  Sometimes I can tell when a day just isn't going to go right and I just give in to that feeling, but despite the early signs yesterday, I fought to not let the day get me.  I tried, I worked to stay as positive as possible, but in the end, the day still beat me.  Thankfully,  it wasn't an AWFUL day - it just didn't go really well either. 

It started with me just dropping things left and right before I left the condo for work and I nearly forgot a VERY important work notebook at home, but thankfully I remembered right before I left.  Once at work, I realized I forgot my watch and jewelry and I hate the feeling of being without my wedding rings.  Then it was just work frustrations - someone giving me their work to do, someone doing something of mine, someone not reading the email I sent and basically asking me to repeat everything in the email over the phone, etc, etc.  I still hadn't lost all hope and was relieved when 4:30 came.  I was gathering my things to leave when I knocked my can of Diet Coke onto the carpet and had to spend 15 minutes getting it all up so it didn't stain.  I finally texted Jack once I left work to say I was on my way and with what had held me up from leaving.  He sent a text back "Let's eat comfort food for dinner".  I try not to be much of an emotional eater, but that offer just sounded too good to pass up.

He was a great husband and picked up my dinner choice - Taco Bell.  I know it sounds crazy, but sometimes I just love it.  While he was out, I let Bentley out and it seemed that Bentley wasn't feeling so great either, so I was quite sympathetic to him last night.  Thankfully, today seems to be a better day so far.   

While Mary was helping Jen put some programs together with some of the girls on Saturday, Steve and I decided to hit up the driving range.  Ok, so that's not a full-on game of golf, but we were on the lakefront.  And it was COLD!  What's great about Diversey Driving Range is that it's open year-round.  They have heated units on the bottom level of the two-story range, but you probably won't ever catch me out there in the winter.  Although the sun was out on Saturday and it was almost spring-like, being right on the lake, we caught some very chilling wind!

Not only did I pick up some serious windburn, but Steve helped point out some things I've been doing wrong with my swing.  After practicing a few changes, my ball doesn't have such a wicked slice anymore.  Now I just have to wait for my forearms to not be quite as sore, and the weather to get a bit warmer, and hopefully we can all get some good golfing in this summer!