A little late but well meaning (:

This is me and the guy I wish I was with every day.

Hey guys.  Sorry this is late.  I got in late and very tired from Chicago yesterday, and was greeted by a pile of homework I wasn’t fully aware I had.  I won’t go into more detail, because I know you guys know that I’m committed to TMDW and that this is important to me.

That said, it is 11:45 EST, so this blog will primarily be a travel blog about my adventures with Devin in Chicago.  Expect pictures and sleepy commentary.

Thursday: My flight was late, of course.  I met Devin halfway to his school on the "El," or the elevated metro, whose name was misleading in this case because it was underground.  I didn't see him at first, because I was looking down at my phone to call him.  It was a nice surprise to see his smiling face.  I don't know if I'm allowed to say this, but he was also super skinnier than he was in August.  He said I made him fatter over the weekend which isn't true but alludes to the amount of amazing food we ate while I was there.  Chicago has too much good food!  I got settled in his room (a palace of a standard dorm room, by the way) and met his roommate, David.  I can't remember what we ate the first night.  I think something from the dining hall because I was tired.  And we went to Oberweis, this amazing dairy that sells milk in glass bottles and has the best ice cream ever, which was free thanks to Devin's handy dandy coupon.

Friday: We went to a deep dish pizza place called Lou Malnati's that is making me hungry just thinking about it.  It was incredible.  We split a sausage and mushroom pizza, extra sausage on my half.  It was so good.  Like wow.  And after that we took the metro downtown to see the Buckingham Fountain and Millennium Park, where the famous Bean public art piece is.  I took a picture of him with the reflection of the city behind him, as you can see.  He and I both really like the diamond building that you can see the lights on in the picture.

After we went to the Buckingham Fountain, which is his favorite spot in Chicago, paralleling my favorite spot in D.C. (the fountain next to the National Sculpture Gallery/ Archives) he made me close my eyes and led me over to the Bean, which I didn't know was there since I had never seen either of these places.  I usually try not to gush over how happy Devin makes me, because I know that it could be over the top for some viewers' tastes, but this was really amazing for me.  Since my eyes were closed, he carried me up the three steps leading up to the Bean, and I just thought the whole gesture was super sweet and to not explain that would be an inaccurate summary of that night and of the whole trip.  It was really what I needed and a welcome break from the monotony of everyday life at AU.

Chicago is cold and sometimes rainy!  That is my only complaint.

Saturday: We went to the Art Institute.  See pictures.  Top left appealed to me because of the number of angel babies, called putti.  Top right is the famed American Gothic.  Middle left is a Bouguereau (my favorite artist) painting what he loves best: nakey women.  Can you blame him?  And middle right is another famous one, "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" whose name I had to look up because it's hard.  Bottom left and right are me and Devin in front of the Art Institute.  My jacket makes me look an attractive 100 pounds heavier than I actually am.

 

The whole weekend was incredible.  I wish it could have been longer, because now we're looking at another 8 weeks apart, since I'm not coming home for Thanksgiving.  But it was a good break from DC and reaffirmed how much I love him.

Good luck with all your guys' stuff.

-Rachael

P.S.  If you caught the debate tonight, you might understand this reference.  If you didn't catch the debate tonight, I hope you're a decided voter.  Photocredit: bindersfullofwomen.tumblr.com