5 things I loved about the Windy City...

And believe me, it was windy! And chilly this time of November.  This past weekend I went to Chicago with my Dads travel hockey team.  We left Friday and drove through the night.  Taylor Swift's new album "Speak Now" and Hedley's "The Show Must Go" (along with loads of leftover halloween candy) were the fuel to get through 7.5 hours of driving.  We hit a few rainy spots, and at the torrential down pour moment we passed a car with a mattress strapped to the top, I felt so bad.  That's gonna take awhile to dry...  

It was a wonderful trip besides the fact that no one in Illinois uses turn signals while driving on 4 lane highways.  Oh, and I spontaneously bought a Canon 1D Mark II (an oldie but a goodie) while I was suppppppposed to be "window shopping" at Calumet!  There goes some of my trip to Italy/Greece fund.  But I guess you gotta TCB first and foremost.  I also met a bridal party the night before the wedding at the hotel bar, great people from all over the country.  They wanted me to come to the reception, but the only shoes I packed were a pair of grey Chucks and black Croc boots. Needless to say I left the wedding crashing to Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson who did it much more stylishly.  Here are 5 things that I loved about Chicago besides meeting new people and shopping.

1. The architecture and Fall colors of the city were incredible.

2. The market Fox & Obel. (It reminded me of the Strip District.)

 (This red velvet cupcake tasted like heaven.)

3. Awesome attractions like the big "bean" in Millennium Park and the random "eyeball." (Pittsburgh needs more attractions like these to draw people in!)

4. Chicago at night.

5. The food! An amazing hot dog shop Max's, frozen yogurt mixed with fruit at Yogen Fruz (which I thought they only had in Canada!) And Noodles & Company where they had tons of noodle dishes to choose from. Chicago is definitely a good city for food. 

“Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.”

Welcome to the World

I had the great opportunity to be a part of welcoming baby Liam into the world on Tuesday, October 26th. Though he was a few weeks early, he was ready to be here! The mother Kelly, found me through a mutual friend. She and her husband decided that photographing in the birth room would be a great way to keep the memories of the day their son was born.

Kelly gave me a call that afternoon to let me know she was having contractions and that they miiiiight have a baby that day, but she'd keep me posted. Not soon after that, she called again confirming baby was coming... and quick! Needless to say this was the day of tornado warnings, and during rush hour. But one speeding ticket later, I made it to the hospital just in time for this...

"The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water, but to walk on the earth. "