Chelsey in Chicago

One of my dearest friends, Courtney, came to visit Chicago pre-Fourth of July weekend. Unfortunately, poisoning delayed her trip by a day but we packed a lot into her four day stay.  For her first full day, we started the morning with some recovery yoga, inches from Maggie's bed (I had moved into the living room to be closer to our one window AC unit). We then walked around Millennium Park so Courtney could see the Parisian inspired Metra arch, the spiting fountain (aka Crown Fountain), the bean, the silver slithering bridge that goes over Columbus Dr., and Buckingham Fountain. We then walked our way over to the Art Institute a little after they opened. A new exhibit had just opened,  The John Singer Sargent exhibit , which was available (at an additional cost to the tickets), so we headed there first. After soaking in some captivating portraits, we quickly moved through the museum highlights (American Gothic, Van Gough, Picasso, etc.). Before heading to the Happy P...

Wow, and my birthday was already over a month ago! Here's how Maggie and I celebrated: We started the evening with a burger from the best burger spot in Chicago: Au Cheval . It was in the West Loop and we got there before the dinner rush, so no waiting (obviously the line to get in can be crazy). It's not a very large restaurant, a counter (where Maggie and I sat) and a row of booths on the other side of the walkway. The walkway opens to a small area with tables and chairs. They have a simple menu - a burger and what you would like on top. We got a burger topped with bacon and a side of fries to split, thank goodness, because it was filling. The bacon was a quarter inch thick! For dessert, a root beer float with delicious, locally made vanilla ice cream. This nearly caused us to bust a gut, so it was alarming to see the couple next to us devour a burger each, salad, fries, a side of bacon and some enormous layered dessert concoction. From the restaurant, we walked to a b...

Graduation seems so long ago, so allow me to recap briefly: My mom and Chris arrived just before a ceremony for the Humanities department was held in Rockefeller Chapel on the Friday of graduation. This ceremony was nice because it was so intimate. It consisted of the PhD candidates and the MAPHers, such as myself. There were a few speeches made by department heads and the like, a few awards granted to PhD candidates who had gone above and beyond and then the announcing of our names as we walked to receive our diploma holder. After the ceremony I was shocked to see Aunt Debbie had come! That was a  wonderful surprise and I am so grateful she was able to come. Maggie, mom, Chris, Aunt Debbie and I got our champaign toast and then headed to Chipotle for dinner. That night Maggie and I drove to the airport to pick up Patrick. Saturday I forwent the University-wide ceremony because it seemed more trouble than it was worth. In the afternoon there was a MAPH ceremony/luncheon, which w...