Ali's 25th, Day 2: Tattoos & Other Chicagoland Things

Waking up in the rises above Chicago really wasn't a bad way to start the morning:

good morning, chicago  ♥

Our Saturday adventuring started with a brunch at The Chicken Shop, this adorable 2nd floor cafe in the Fulton Market District:

get outta here, that's adorable. 

georgia peach rooibos + chicken&waffles
the chicken shop | chicago, il

Nom nom NOM. 

Across the street from our brunch place was this: 

next time! 

We were cutting it close on time, so we didn't get to stop in, but it - along with about 400 other places - are on the bucket list for next time. 

The big ticket item on our agenda today was the pitstop at Dream City! 

dream city | chicago, il 

Part of my birthday present to Ali was getting a tattoo together, one of the things we've surprisingly not done yet. We agreed on the design, and the rest was up to the artists at DC Tattoos. Thanks to Leo the steady-handed artist, it was the quickest tattoo session I've ever been in, and in no time we were done! :)  

ali on the left, cori on the right 

thank you, leo! 

We headed back to the hotel afterwards, where the pictures of tattoos continued into the afternoon/evening, even as we were getting ready for the rest of the night: 

"God is greater than the mountains & the valleys" 

twin tattoos... and that stupid strand of my hair the just. never. listens! 

ali's new ink

damanji is clearly enjoying this moment.. haha

So the rest of the night was laid out to us in the form of The Apartment, which is not an actual apartment, but rather an upper level clubhouse of cool people, because I mean.. we were there, right? [insert post-corny joke rimshot here...]

ANYWAY, we had a handful of Chicagoland friends out for the night as well, which made for a fun night of music, spirits, dancing and of course, Snapchat: 

"social anxiety face." 

look at all the snapchats i stole from ali! 

chicago friends!

snapchataholism

blue lights flatter nobody... obviously. 

happy people... happy birthday, ali!

And then, what happens to be my favorite picture of today, was a random photo opp in the hotel elevator on the way home:

31st floor, please!

And we owned our night. Ali, I hope your birthday weekend has been everything you've hoped for, and then some. We love you to the moon & back!

Tomorrow we leave the city behind, and head back home. *Yawn. Can't wait [dull face]. Haha. 

G'Nite! 

xo | cmd

Alex Babot Day

There is something to be said about the power of good friends and the impact they can have on us.
There is something even more to be said about the power of fellowship among believers; we, on so many different levels, are capable of reaching so much deeper into each others' lives than just the surface, and have that relationship echo back to us.

That being said [I know, something of an epic intro for what is actually pretty silly], today was orchestrated to be Alex Babot Day among a few of the guys at the Tower. For those of you who don't know Alex, his better half is Lara, and they are the first couple with which we really bonded when we first got to Towerview. I love them to pieces, and wish we had more opportunity to see them outside of church [ah, life]. Anyway, one of Alex's signature trademarks is his affinity with, and absolute ability to successfully sport the bowtie. I'm telling you, it might seem like a dated form of neckwear, but this guy can pull it off.

Erego, Alex Babot Day. :)

joe. pastor ron. adam. jarod.
ta-da! [this wasn't even all of them]
{missing at least jason, jimmy, kyle, and of course, alex! :( .. }

And if you think the fun stopped at the grown boys.....


cutest thing, ever. haha.. little luke!

^ I was actually on nursery rotation this week with Mo & Tanya; Tanya put Kyle's tie on Luke to see how it would look... and might I just say, he was dashing! He looked like a little sub-contractor; Tanya even managed to snag a shot of him making some important business calls. [We don't mean to interrupt, Mr. Luke! ;) ].

Now, because my husband is a married man, he is part of the larger collective group of married men who so often are found with one or both of their feet squarely planted in their own mouths. [I say that lovingly.. lol] In this case, a comment was made that Joe should buy lunch for every participant of Alex Babot day if Alex did not show up to bear witness. Welp, Alex did not make it this morning, so I'm not really sure if or when that's going to actually happen, because today was consumed with last-minute errands before Joe headed out to Cinci tonight. Haha. Good. Work. Joe. :p

Anyway, just a few more days before the next weekend, during which we'll all be in Cinci. I'm chompin' at the bits to get home.. good grief. I can't wait :) :) :)

Almost Monday!

xo | cmd