Chicago…My kind of Town

Chris Perez — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 02:00:18 +0000

A few weeks ago Christy and I took a trip to Chicago for Christy’s first Half-marathon.

Her friend Ruth had just completed a marathon earlier this year and convinced Christy to make her first attempt at the Chicago event, held over the September 11th weekend.

I didn’t quite grasp the significance of that weekend until a week or so before our departure but thankfully all went well and we didn’t find ourselves in any logistical security nightmares.

I’ve been to Chicago several times and quite a few times with Christy. She even stuck it out in freezing temperatures with me waiting in line outside Niketown for some exclusive Air Jordan’s (the T.O. Eagles colorway of the Retro XIII’s to give you an idea of how long ago that was). But through all my visits I never had a chance to go when temps were warm (which to me is above 70), and never had a chance to do the architecture cruise. So I was pretty excited about this particular trip.

Day one, Christy and I started it off right by going to a famous Rick Bayless restaurant, Frontera Grill. This is a place we’ve heard a lot about from our Food Network viewing and foodie conversations with friends. We went for late lunch on Friday, and took some seats at the bar. The menu was awesome and filled with several unique dishes you’d be hard pressed to find anywhere else. We started it off with a couple cocktails, nothing quite like a good drink after traveling…

We then placed our orders and got treated to a few specialties including this lamb shoulder roasted in a mixiote…

The food and atmosphere of Frontera were great, and I think they had the best corn tortillas I’ve ever had (artisan masa, baby). Everything was quality and unique, and the menu left you with many reasons to come back, and I definitely plan to (although next door was another Bayless joint Topolombo, we need to try him out too).

We explored the town a little bit on the public transit and got plenty frustrated with the inaccuracy of that little blue dot on Google maps. That son of a B wouldn’t stop jumping around.

Later that night we met up with Ruth, Scott and their friends who lived in the area for dinner.

I looked up a $ late-night dessert place (why doesn’t Austin have one of these?) and convinced Christy to go there for a night cap. The place is called Mindy’s Hot chocolate and it’s completely legitimate. Put it on your “Must” list if you’re a dessert freak like me.

Day two, Christy wanted to hit up the Navy Pier to pick up her race registration gear.

The race had an Expo going on so we looked around there for a bit and met up with Ruth and crew for the architecture cruise. I was hyped about this and like a new Britney Spears song, it didn’t let me down.

After the boat docked we explored the arts district of Chicago and made the mandatory stop at the Bean…

That night we got a good and carbs loaded pre-race meal with the girls at La Scarola. Despite the wait, the food was good and servings were plentiful so we all left with leftovers.

Day three, Race day. I plotted the half-marathon course on our phones, got them loaded with google latitude, and got Christy situated with directions (you know her and her lost skills).

I got to the race later than I wanted thanks to buses that didn’t seem to run to normal routine and taxi cab drivers that couldn’t navigate around all the street closures. But I still saw my girl and cheered her on to a strong finish.

Christy completed the race hand-in-hand with her friend Ruth and got a cool medal to prove it (and I got some Lou Malnati’s)

Later that night we all went to Joe’s Stone Crab for a celebration dinner. They didn’t have the dungeness crab my friend Samir had hyped up, and we had terrible service, but the food we did get was good and we all had a great time.

Day four, Christy and I started the day early to get some coffee at the Intelligentsia. Which BTW is the bomb of coffee nom.

We then explored a few more buildings in the downtown area before packing our things and heading back to home sweet home.

That wraps up this great trip, if you’re hungry for more pics check the slideshow below.

I’m real proud of my wife for completing her first half marathon. She trained hard and overcome more than you know to get there. Congrats, my rubia.

Abbott Wedding

Chris Perez — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 13:07:08 +0000

Christy and I attended Richard and Rachel’s wedding this weekend in Lago Vista.

The wedding was set at the beautiful Nature’s Point venue that overlooked Lake Travis. We didn’t know a whole lot of people there (our best acquantainces where in the wedding party), but that didn’t stop us from meeting a fun, young couple and having a good time.

Here’s the photo slideshow of the night…

Austin Rose Birthday Party #1

Chris Perez — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 13:49:17 +0000

Christy and I took a trip to Canton this weekend for Austin Rose’s first birthday.

They arranged a get-together at the town’s famous pizza joint, Jerry’s Pizza.

Since Pete works at well renowned car restoration company, you knew there would be a cool car or two just chilling in the parking lot. No big deal.

Inside we snapped up some pics of the little birthday boy himself -bracing as he takes a bite of his first cupcake.

Verdict: Not so much. Yet.

Afterwards, we went back to Danilee and Pete’s place, and tested out all his new toys trying to find which one made the most noise. Every now and then I still get this Lightning Mcqueen song in my head from his toy car. Oh man, it just came back.

You got the Besta me

Chris Perez — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 20:51:13 +0000

I made a big post of putting this sucker together on my new home blog House.0

If you just want to see pics, then check the gallery below of us assembling this Besta (should have called it beast) Entertainment center from IKEA.

Highball Birthday Party

Chris Perez — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 12:14:54 +0000

MetropoChris » Photos

Chicago…My kind of Town

Abbott Wedding

Austin Rose Birthday Party #1

You got the Besta me

Highball Birthday Party