Vacation Week

Did you miss me? Did you know I was gone?  I try to be pretty sneaky when I go on vacations.  I'm not into the whole checking in on four square thing or telling people I'm leaving town on the internets.  What can I say, I'm paranoid!  Since Tuesday, my husband and I have been traveling the mid-west.  We started in Chicago and had quite the trip!  I've been going to midwest every year for as long as I can remember but I've never been to Chicago.  No, our special place is Omaha, Nebraska.  I know what you're thinking... Omaha?!? (Somewhere in the middle of America...) Well, I love Omaha!  Not just because you can get the best corn in the world, but because its where my family is.  Thats right, my mothers entire family lives in Omaha Nebraska and I love going back to visiting.

So here's a little preview of our amazing vacation to the midwest.
CHICAGO
Our vacation started at Girl & the Goat.  We got into Chicago at 3pm and were at Stephanie Izard's restaurant (former Top Chef Winner) by 4:30.  Yep, we ate dinner at 4:30pm and it was so worth it to be able to walk right in : )  Review on this amazing food to come...

We then headed to my buddy Greg's house and enjoyed drinks on his balcony with beautiful views of the city.  Seriously, that's a lake?  It looks like an ocean!!!!

 The next day we started at Millenium Park visiting "The Bean."  So much fun : )

 And made it over to Sears (Willis) Tower where we took a picture on the glass plank.  This is a huge deal to me since I am ridiculously scared of heights!

We had some authentic Deep Dish Pizza and had a battle of the two famous chains.  (My review to come)

 Visited the South Side for a White Sox game...

 Ate Icream with Liquid Nitrogen with my friend Leah who also scored us the White Sox tix!

And finished our trip to Chicago with an Architectural Boat Tour and a Cubs game.  Dave caught a foul ball!!! How amazing is that?

Chicago was a blast but the best part of this vacation was hanging out with my family in Nebraska.  We had the worst flight getting into Omaha.  We were on a small flight and there was a torrential rain/lightening storm as we made our way down but we landed safely : )

Saturday was spent cheering on the Huskers (Nebraska College Football) and eating Southern food while hanging out with family : )

 We also had some fun at a local store with these amazing "Corn"huskers hats.  I think these rival the cheese hats.  I also think this might be the best picture of my brother and I ever taken : )

 The weekend ended with professional family photos and a dinner out to celebrate my Papa's 93rd birthday.

I really couldn't have asked for a better week.  The midwest gets a bad rap, but I loved every part of being out there.  Chicago is totally a city I could see myself living in (if I ever decided to leave my beloved Boston which doesn't seem likely)!  And Omaha will always have my heart.  Omaha is a special place to me that I love visiting! Thanks to everyone who made this weekend so special.  Stay tuned for some amazing Restaurant Reviews : )

How was your long weekend?