Chicago - Café Con Monica

On things that define my summer…part 1

September 10, 2015

In keeping with the “I refuse to acknowledge the coming of fall” I stole this from Christy at Avoiding Atrophy!

1. Beachtime

Even though it took awhile for the weather to start cooperating once it did I hit the beach running and didn’t look back. I basically made it to the beach 2-3 times a week for over a month even if it was just for a couple hours to relax & read or with friends to hang out for the day.


this is a terrible picture of me but hey..whatever!

2. Street Fests!

I hit them hard this summer and I am not done yet! I am all about trying new foods, hanging out and having drinks while listening to some great cover bands. There is literally a festival every single weekend during the summer months in Chicago. The options are fantastic!


This dress/sweater combo is my go to for festivals because its breezey and lightweight…

this is also why I can never do an outfit post because I stick to the same 5 outfits.

Ok I think you get the point…lots of street fests….

3. Adventure

I did my very best to do a good amount of getting out of the house and off the beach this summer


Hiking!


Amusement Parks- Six Flags!

Being a Tourist!

attempting to golf…

You get the point right??

4. Family Time

This is always most important to me because when it comes down to it they are the best people I know!

This post is super long…maybe I will stop at 4 for now!

On Bar Crawls w/mustaches!

August 7, 2015

My friend Toni convinced me we should try out the Mustache Crawl this year and I am not really one to turn down a day of drinking with friends! I don’t know if you guys are familiar with Eventbrite but I am starting to love them! I love being able to just have my ticket on my phone with their app without having to print things up and bring them with me.

It was a HOT hot day…sweating our asses off the entire time but still having a great time. We started out at John Barleycorn in Wrigley and had their breakfast and picked up our shirts & coupons. We went in the bathroom and cut up our shirts (Because why not?) and got started!

The downside was waiting outside in the heat for the next bar!

I was down for the count by 5 which worked out since it started pouring!! I didn’t manage to do another thing that day besides nurse a hangover that started at 10 pm.

I’ll just leave you with this video to start your weekend!

On life in the summer…

August 5, 2015

So I have no clue how a whole two weeks since I posted but that is summer life. I’ve been keeping insanely busy doing all the fun things I can manage. I thought I would post them all at once but it would be more fun to share in a few posts.

So to begin…an update on my summer bucket list:

{1.} ~~SUP – Stand Up Paddleboarding~~ & SUP Yoga!

{2.} ~~Hiking at Starved Rock~~

{3.} Camping! I went camping once as a kid but I have to get myself prepped for Symbiosis in September and 5 days of car camping!

{4.} Have a BBQ – at home or on the beach

{5.} ~~Make it to a Full Moon Fire Jam~~

{6.} ~~Movies in the park at Millenium~~

{7.} ~~Spend a day at the beach with my bestie~~

{8.} ~~Meet some new friends~~

{9.} Workout outside as much as possible

{10.} Spend a day hunting down food trucks and being a tourist

{11.} Go see my friend in Utah (this one might be hard but I hope to make it happen)

I think I have made some serious progress considering I posted that a list a little over a month ago. #11 is definitely not going to happen, and try as I might to organize it I don’t think that #3 will either.

I had a great time Paddleboarding but since I plan to do it again and hopefully get more pictures I will wait to post about that.

I’ve spent more days than I can count at the beach already this summer, I’m actually headed there right after I finish this post!