Street Festivals...Taste of Lincoln Avenue

In Chicago in the summer they have lots of street festivals which is such a great idea! I'm honestly not sure if we do the same in the U.K? If we don't then we should!! We have a little french/farmers market near me but that's about it as far as I know (besides the big festivals like Glastonbury, V Festival etc).

So the street fest I went to is called Taste of Lincoln Avenue - takes place in Lincoln Park between Fullerton and Wrightswood streets. The entrance fee is an optional $10 which goes to charity - so if you wanted to be tight, you could go for nothing!

There are bands, food, bars - everything you would need for a fun day out! I went with my friend Jamie and what started as a 1-2 drink day ended up with beer, sangria, shots you name it...FUN!

I would definitely recommend if you are new to Chicago to attend one. There are so many people there and if you are confident person I am sure you would make friends.

So, highlights of the day...I tried my first ever corn dog PLUS a deep fried Twinkie! You would not believe what they were offering deep friend! Twinkies, Snickers and...Oreos!

Corn dog...yum. Basically a battered frankfurter!

Me and the deep fried Twinkie!

Example of the U.S healthy food on offer...

Could you possibly deep fry any more!!!??

Best way to meet new friends and have fun!

Last night, I bit the bullet and decided to try out a 'Meetup' group I've been a member of for a while (but been too scared to attend). I was so nervous going on my own, but SO SO glad I did. Not only did I have a fantastic night, but made some really lovely new friends, some of which are even close neighbours!

The event was a boat tour out on the lake, finishing off by Navy Pier to watch the fireworks (which they do every Wed and Sat). It was really great, not including the massive wave that descended upon us as we cruised the lake - thank god I was wearing jeans! By the end of the night I was wet and wind swept but didn't care because the company was so great!

Blurry as hell but such a beautiful skyline - I ^ Chicago

Before the wave flew over the front of boat and drenched us!!

Hmmm mega wind swept!

If  you are new to Chicago I would highly recommend this! http://www.meetup.com/20-and-30-somethings-chicago

Perfect end to the night!

Milwaukee weekend with the girls

Just got back from a fabulous girly weekend in Milwaukee. I went with my friend Cathy and friends I have met through her from running.

We drove up on the Saturday, picked up our race packets and headed to the hotel (Pfister Hotel ) which was gorgeous.

After settling in we headed down to Summerfest via the AMAZING Milwaukee Art Museum (designed by Santiago Calatrava).

Summerfest was fun. We ate, drank and listed to music! Plus the weather was beautiful:

Plus I got to try my first ever Chimichanga

In the evening we went to a fantastic restaurant...Roots. If you ever visit Milwaukee this is a MUST do! However little tip...if you are staying at the Pfister stay clear of the Bloody Marys unless you haven't eaten!!

Unfortunately, the reason we went to Milwaukee... The inaugural 10K Summerfest race was AWFUL. It was the most poorly organised race I have ever done and I ended up having to walk half of it. Just seen online that more than 15 people were hospitalised!!

We saved the best until last... on the way back we visited the Mars Cheese Factory. Well, after all Wisconsin is well known for its cheese.

 

4th July and LA

Was very excited to spend my first 4th July in LA! I stayed with a friend on Rodondo Beach and it is such a beautiful place.

We spent the 4th July weekend mainly drinking. The Sunday we cycled down to Hermosa beach around 3pm, and ended up cycling home (way over the limit) at 2am in the morning. It was such a fun night as everyone was out celebrating. We went to a really fun bar/club called Sangria - would defo recommend.

The actual day of the 4th I spent the day down on Rodondo beach but was then lucky enough to mingle with the rich and famous in an amazing 10 bedroom house in Beverey Hills. A friend of a friend whose neighbour used to be Halle Berri!!

The lady has her own business making blingtastic Phone headsets.

It was really fun. We had a BBQ and then in the evening went up to the roof (via an lift!!!) to watch the fireworks!

Completely star struck!

Taste of Chicago...weather!!!

Every year Chicago hosts the Taste of Chicago, an opportunity for all of the restaurants around Chicago to promote their businesses to the locals and allow them to sample their cuisine.

As I was heading out to Los Angeles for the week I wanted to try and give it a go before it closed (Sunday 3^rd). My friend Cathy from work said she would tag along and considering the weather all day I thought it would be a lot of fun (in my head we could sit out in the sun with a glass of wine sampling some foody delights). The Chicago weather however had different ideas! As we walked over to Grant Park we spotted a deadly rain cloud which after about 25mins of walking around decided to completely soak us. It was only a short shower but we decided to call it a night. We’d had some great food and only had a couple of tickets left (you buy tickets which you exchange for food – 12 tickets for $8)

The restaurants we tried were:

Vermillion – the yummiest mango dusted fries with tamarind sauce

Adobo Grill – Churros

Arya Bhavan – A vegan Indian restaurant…I got the vegetable samosa

Carbón – Mexican restaurant I had the chicken tacos (best taco I have had for a while!)

In hindsight leaving when we did was the best thing we could have done as it turned from the Taste of Chicago Food to Taste of the Chicago’s bad weather. Not only did the sky turn grey and the heavens opened it started hailing ice-hails the size of golf balls in some areas! I honestly thought (sitting up in my 32^nd floor apartment) it is like the film The Day after Tomorrow!

Hail that fell in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago