9th Wedding Anniversary

Adam and I like to joke that while we've been married for 9 years (as of 8/9/2012!, can you believe it!), it feels like it's been much less time, in part because our work schedules are so insane that we (very sadly) can go weeks at a time without seeing each other. This has been particularly true over the past year during the first insane year of my Hematology/Oncology Fellowship. Thankfully, my work hours have calmed down again....just in time for Adam's to get crazy again. So, for our anniversary we committed to do the one thing that can be so hard for us to find time to do- spend uninterrupted time together!! So we both took Friday off and decided to spend a wonderful 3 day weekend here in Chicago.

We had an action packed weekend, maybe too action packed for Adam, but just perfect for me. We started on Friday with a 6:00 am tee time for 18 holes at Jackson Park. It was just perfect golf weather, the coolest day in Chicago in 44 days! Yeah, it rained a couple times but only for a few minutes and that's a small price to pay to enjoy a cool day in August! Adam played great, I played okay but the important thing is we started our 3 day weekend off on a great foot!

The Bridge House tavern is right behind me.

Then it was nap time and exercise time (6 mile run for Adam, 3 mile run and 1500 yd swim for me). Then we headed out on the town. We started at Shaw's where we enjoyed a dozen fabulous oysters- the Moon Shoal's were absolutely amazing. They tasted like water. Delicious! We had some nice wine- a blended Chenin Blanc and Viognier. Then we took a nice walk around Chicago in what had turned out to be an amazing breezy, sunny, summer day. We then stopped at the BridgeHouse tavern, a new place on the banks of the Chicago River. I had a fabulous mixed drink called the Water Cooler, a delicious blend of Hendrick’s Gin, Watermelon, and Cucumber. Yum!! I'll be back!

My favorite building in the city, The United Building, is behind us

View from the Bridge House Tavern at night.

View from the Treehouse, looking out over Millennium Park.

We then stopped by a new place just steps from our place near Millennium Park called the Treehouse, an outdoor patio on the roof of Tavern in the Park. From outdoor bar to outdoor bar, who can complain about that?

Getting ready to put in at 12th Street Beach.

Taking a nap after our almost-paddle.

As you might imagine, we needed to sleep in a bit the next day. But after a quick breakfast, we rallied and headed out with Zak our kayak to paddle on Lake Michigan. We put the (inflatable) yak together in the parking lot, carried it down to the water, I got in, Adam tried to get in all the while eyeing the RIDICULOUSLY HUGE WAVES that had developed since we conceived of the idea of kayaking on Lake Michigan and sadly we had to abort mission. The waves were RIDICULOUS. Spilling in the lake was not an anniversary gift I wanted any part of. The day was so beautiful- 79 degrees, sunny with a nice breeze. And there-in lies the problem. The 'nice breeze' was actually a 20 mph wind causing 7 foot waves and a small craft advisory for the lake. It just wasn't safe. But we actually had a nice time relaxing in the sun waiting for the kayak to dry. I had a Chicago style hot dog while Adam took a snooze. We sure felt like we paddled!













For dinner we headed to two of our favorite Chicago places- Hopleaf for 
drinks then Jin Ju for dinner. Old favorites.

Adam's Sushi Salad. Yum!

At hole 7 at South Shore golf course.

Sunday we golfed 9 at South Shore; another beautiful golf day. Then off for a tasty breakfast at one of our old Hyde Park haunts, Medici, followed by a quick 1 mile run. 

Next up, couples massages at Lillie Ann's. I've been lucky enough to have a handful of professional  massages including a glorious 80 minutes on the beach in Mexico . But for Adam this was his first....massage....ever! It was a great massage (has anyone had a not-great massage?). My masseuse was Samantha and I definitely recommend her. We'll be back at some point, I'm sure.

Then to cap off the weekend, Adam made delicious bison steaks with heirloom tomato, fresh corn and blue cheese salad. Oh-so-good. It was so great to spend such quality time with Adam. I'm hoping we can plan weekly date nights so quality time doesn't have to only be an anniversary special occasion!