lake geneva...wisconsin

after the temple my dad and i took the wrong freeway for a little while and realized that we were going to go home the really long way by driving up to milwaukee then over to madison which would have added another couple hours to our drive. boo. luckily we live in this awesome age of technology! seriously i don't know what i would do with out iphones. we remapped our route to get home. it turned out to be the best part of all of our driving that weekend. instead of the big freeway...which wasn't free we took county highways rolling along the hills and farms in the beautiful countryside. totally gorgeous. i realized that along the way we would be passing lake geneva which is one of the most touristy spots in wisconsin. we stopped there for dinner and walked around the cute sleepy town. the lake was gorgeous and the little shops around town were adorable! after dinner at a cute little nautical themed  joint we hit the road one last time. the only unfortunate part of the drive was it was dark by then so we couldn't enjoy the countryside view the rest of the way.

least to say that weekend with my dad was so wonderful. i love being with my dad and going on adventures with him. he is the best and i love him so much! so excited to be seeing him again in a couple weeks for thanksgiving!

cougar for a day

This post is much delayed. My bad. If you know me then you know I am NOT a BYU fan. I can't explain why in any sort of logical way and this post isn't for me to rant about "God's University". While in South Bend, Indiana I set my opinions aside and put on my cougar face to root for BYU at the Notre Dame game last weekend. The last time I was at a football game for the Cougars I am not sure if I was even fully potty trained...which was a really long time ago I swear.

My dad and I drove from Chi town for a couple hours to Notre Dame's INCREDIBLE campus. It took us about an hour to get off the freeway with the traffic...crazay, but once we were parked we explored the campus with what felt like the rest of the state of Utah. I wasn't expecting seeing as many Cougar fans as we did. They were everywhere! It was kinda nice actually I felt like I was back home instead of the middle of the Midwest. We saw a few people we new, and there was this amazing feeling of community as we walked around sharing smiles to those with a big Y on their hat or sweatshirt.  Also Notre Dame people/students/ fans are the NICEST people ever! They were so welcoming to the herds of BYU fans tromping around the campus. I think I was told "Welcome to Notre Dame" about 20 times.

The game was super fun...BYU lost but that didn't dampen our spirits! After the game we met a few players on the team that my dad's Hawaiian friend knew from back home and oh yeah one of those players was Manti Te'o. 

the picture I have of Manti and I isn't as good as the one my dad has on his camera. We actually are posing together in that one lol.
After that dad and I drove all the way back up to Chicago and ate amazing soul food at a New Orleans style restaurant with LOTS of hot sauce, fell into bed and slept like babies.

rainy night in chicago

Friday after class my dad and I hit the road for good old chi town. It was drizzling a little bit when we got there but that didn't stop us from exploring before the night was over. That drizzle turned into a downpour. We fought through the rain on Michigan Ave and finally gave in going into a store for an umbrella. We walked out of the store and of course the rain stopped. The city lights reflecting on the clouds gave the sky a purplish hue. The streets were clean and shiny from the shower. Thanks rain for making Chicago so beautiful for us tonight.

fancy feast

My dadio is in town for a visit! He flew in last night from Salt Lake City and we kicked off his tour of the Midwest in pure luxury. We were planning on having upscale bar food at Graze so I could introduce my dad to true Wisconsin fare. The wait was a bit long and their fancy sister restaurant L'Etoile had no wait...so we thought why not? A swanky dinner never hurt anyone.

Every bite was best thing I ever ate. Ask my dad and he'll tell you it was his favorite meal. It was a really neat dining experience. We didn't just get food, eat it and have a nice conversation. We experienced the most thought provoking dishes that the state of Wisconsin has to offer. The chef takes pride in sourcing all the food for his restaurant locally in Wisconsin, and it seriously made all the difference. If you want to splurge and you're a foodie like we are...GO HERE. You won't regret it.

Today our agenda is to head to Chi town after I'm done with class. We are staying on the Magnificent Mile! Shopping what? This weekend is going to be fun! I love being with my dad.