Walking a Mile in Someone Else's Shoes

Tuesday morning I went to put on my shoes. It wasn't very bright but as I was looking at them I thought that they didn't look like they normally do. Then I realized that they weren't my shoes. Apparently, when I was leaving Chicago I accidentally grabbed Brigham's shoes. Needless to say, the shoes are now on their way to New York. At least now I can say that I have walked a mile in someone else's shoes!

Won't You Take Me Down To Chinatown

Monday we went to visit Chinatown. I felt like a really important visitor because the last time the Barnes family had visited Chinatown was twenty years ago. It's the 4th largest in America. It was pretty neat.

It was really hot, but don't worry they had plenty of water to quench our thirst.

We ate a really good restaurant. We had a really good sampling of a lot of Chinese food. My favorite was definitely the pork buns. Really delicious. After lunch we caught the water taxi to head up to the Water Tower again so we could check out the American Doll Girl store. And when I say we, I mean Owen's nieces. It was a really nice ride with a great view of the skyline.

Me taking a picture of Brigham taking a picture:

After exploring for a while, we took a much more uneventful ride back to Oak Park on the L. For dinner we went to this Chicken and Waffle place.

I had never had Chicken and Waffles before and I was really excited. Needless to say I was not let down. I always pictured having chicken and waffles smothered with gravy. Apparently though that is not the case, you just use syrup and butter. I had Carol's Treat and it was a treat indeed. I think everyone really enjoyed what they ate.

After dinner, I made the drive back to Indy. All in all it was a good early fourth of July celebration. I'm so grateful to the Barnes family for their hospitality and having me as their guest for the weekend. They are awesome people.

Best After Sunday Dinner Walk

Sunday found us waking up and going to Church. I forgot my white shirt and tie so I had to borrow one of Owen's. I was surprised that it fit. It was tight but it fit. During Church there was a nasty storm outside. They needed the rain though. It looked like a hurricane. When we got home, I just chilled, while everyone else helped make a huge Italian dinner headed up by Brigham. I only entered the kitchen once to take a picture of Brigham making the meatballs, but the process is highly documented on Steady Mobbin'.

Anyway, it turned out really well. One of the best Italian meals I have ever eaten. Definitely the best home made Italian meal I have ever eaten. After dinner I got to take part in a Barnes family tradition: the family walk. It was the best of Oak Park tour. We got to see some really pretty homes and have some good conversations.

It was a fun day. A nice evening.

Love the Life You Live

With my job, my ability to just leave town isn't as easy as it normally is. My boss is nice though, and let me have Monday off so I could spend the weekend in Chicago with one of my really good friends from BYU. I left Friday evening and rode the 3 hours to Oak Park (a suburb of Chicago). I pretty much went straight to bed. We woke up early on Saturday and headed out to the Bongo Room for breakfast. We got there before they opened and there was a line of thirty people on the sidewalk. I got pancakes again. This time Raspberry Oreo. They were so delicious.

After Breakfast Owen and I went for a walk around town. We ended up at Millennium Park again. It was a lot nicer with out all of the Irish. We got to see spitting fountains, the cool bridge and Buckingham Fountain this time. It was really nice.

One of my "dreams" has been to visit the Magnificent Mile. You always hear it at the end of Oprah when she is talking about the hotel where her guests stay "in the heart of Chicago's magnificent mile." We walked down Michigan Avenue which is the Magnificent Mile. It was nice, but not really all that much to write home about. They had nice shops. Owen got some clothes at the Gap. I got a cubs T-Shirt. We went to the lego store. It was a nice place, but nor really something that I would need to see again.

Then we headed back to Oak Park on the L. It was quite an experience. This loud teenager got on after a couple of stops. He kept talking about "Live the life you love" and his friend kept saying "No! It's love the life you live." Owen and I were real confused. These two girls in front of us kept laughing. We wanted to laugh too, because he kept singing hip hop songs and also saying some really crazy things. After he got off, we had a good laugh with the girls in front of us. We also found out where he kept saying the live your life stuff. It was on the girl's shirt who was sitting in front of us!

After walking past Owen's high school we headed back to Owen's house. Then we just kind of chilled for a couple of hours until dinner. We had Chicago Deep Dish and thing crust pizza. It was really good. It wasn't fom Gino's East, but it was still pretty good.

After dinner, it was sidewalk chalk time. Walker, Owen's nephew who is close to 18 months enjoyed eating it more than drawing. Owen was commissioned to draw pictures of his nieces and nephews. He did a pretty good job if you ask me.

After that a group of us decided to go see "Moonrise Kingdom." It's Wes Anderson's lastest film. Brigham, Corey, Brother and Sister Barnes really enjoyed it. We went to the Lakw, which is Oak Park's theater. It was only 8 dollars. I thought that was a steal for a movie in Chicago. It was a good film. A little quirky, but good.

Fast Food Frenzy

The Fast Food Industry lately has really been introducing a lot of new items at their restaurant and I finally have been getting around  to trying them. First up is the Doritos taco from Taco Bell. I was probably most excited about this one. This is a most logical combination. It did not disappoint.

The shell wasn't exactly the same as a real dorito, but it was still really good. Salty and cheesy. It got soggy kind of quickly, but that really didn't affect the Doritos effect of the shell. It also came with a paper taco holder so your hands wouldn't get too messy.

Next on my list was Burger King. I had seen adds for their sweet potato fries and finally decided to try it one day at lunch. They were excellent. Hot and crispy with just the right amount of salt. I also had their new BBQ Tendergrill Sandwich and that was excellent as well. The BBQ sauce was not to tangy and I feel like their chicken was actually chicken and not over processed.

After I finished, I looked at a flyer on my table and remember that I forgot another item that I wanted to try. I normally wouldn't have splurged, but it was the same day the ObamaCare ruling came down and I needed something to drown my sorrows in:

This bacon Sundae was amazing. The combination of the sweet and the salty was very pleasing. The Caramel and the Chocolate was a great addition. Some people might be grossed out by this, but it was really good. I highly recommend all of these items to everyone!