Its been a couple of weeks, so I decided to link up for the Friday Five again this week with Darci, April, Christina and Natasha!
1. Blog Redesign – I am really looking forward to Monday, because Smitten Blog Designs will start to work on redesigning my blog! I have been doing some research on blog designers and I love their gallery of past blogs they’ve designed, their packages and how quickly they recreate your blog. I also decided to change the name of my blog to update it… I will be sharing the new blog name when the new design is up and running!
2. Chicago – If you follow me on Instagram, you know that Brian and I recently had a mini-vacation in Chicago. It was just what we needed before the craziness of school starts back up… we enjoyed lots of good food, did a little siteseeing, did a 4 hour tour and dine bike tour of Chicago (our FAVORITE part of the trip!), a little shopping on Michigan Avenue and lots more. I brought my big camera and got a lot of photos to document our trip and will be sharing it early next week. But, in the mean time… here are some of the photos I posted to IG from our trip:
The plane ride to Chicago is quick and easy! From boarding the plan to landing, it was less than an hour from St. Louis! We were at our hotel by 9:20 a.m. and they let us check in early… they even had breakfast out still!
Here is a photo I posted on IG after we finished our 4 hour bike ride. I was SO proud of ourselves, especially me since I hadn’t biked since high school! Isn’t the view behind us gorgeous? We were biking in beautiful weather on trails along the lake with the Chicago skyline and Oak Park beach next to us. Ahhhh. I want to go back.
We also enjoyed some Chicago style deep dish pizza from Lou Malanati’s. Our hotel gave us a coupon and we enjoyed a free warm cookie covered with ice cream for dessert. The total of our bill was $20 AFTER tax! I would definitely go back, their pizza was delicious! And, the dessert to die for!
We also had a little time for some shopping on Michigan Avenue and I purchased my first Lululemon running outfit!
We even went to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field. Such good times with my love! 🙂
3. My Birthday – My birthday is this Saturday and I will be 36. I am not too excited to turn another year older and honestly I have been this way since my mid-twenties. I need to remember to be thankful for my health and another wonderful year I’ve been here to enjoy my family and all the little things that make life so precious. So, c’mon 36, let’s see ya! So, while in Chicago. We did a little birthday shopping at this lovely store. Brian told me that he noticed they were building a Michael Kors in St. Louis, BUT it won’t be built before my birthday. So, good thing we had a Chicago trip planned. 😉
I am craving this chocolate frosted yellow sheet cake on Sugar Plum’s blog. Complete with sprinkles, please! Maybe Brian and Miss Autumn will bake one for me for my birthday! 😉 And, later in the evening I would love it if Brian surprised me with some Cake Batter Martinis that I saw on Allison’s Nestful of Love. Aren’t they the cutest drinks ever and just perfect for a birthday?! Hint, hint.
4. School/Dream Team – We just finished up a home visit with Autumn’s teacher and a visit at school with Nathan’s teacher. I can’t believe Nathan starts 2nd grade and Autumn starts preschool 4 next week! :O I am not ready! So not ready! Homework, packing lunches, all the activities and extracurricular… ahhhhHHH! But, we will get in a rhythm and it’ll be ok!
To add to the excitement and busyness, Brian and I decided to sign up for the school’s Dream Team this year! We have our training tonight at the dome and it is for 4 hours, not sure what we will all learn? We will be working all of the Rams football games at the dome and will earn a portion of it back to put towards the kids tuition. There are also a lot of optional events you can work, so we may do some of those, too! I am hoping it’ll be a good chance to get to know some of the other parents in the other grades, too! I have heard it can be a good time, so I guess we’ll find out soon!
5. Rock N Roll Half Marathon – Well, just this week I started training for my fourth half marathon! I am running a half I have never ran before, the Rock N Roll in St. Louis. The St. Louis Go! half marathon that I run in the Spring is really hilly and I have heard the Rock N Roll half is pretty flat… so, of course I am hoping to PR! My goal is to PR at anything under my current PR, which is 2:21:43, but I’d love to PR at right under 2:20 OR a 2:15 would make me REALLY happy. I am hoping to sign up for a 10K this fall, too, I will probably run Go!’s Halloween 10K as I have ran it the last 3 years. I am also hoping to get a lot of outdoor runs in this Fall, especially on the Meramec Trail I just found by my house.
