Crossing state lines

This past weekend was busy! It was fun, quiet, sad, and full of family. I was in three different states, and slept in two different hotels. First, on Thursday night I got to see my dad in Milwaukee, and we had a great time! We ate tasty food, enjoyed Wisconsin beers, and spent some quality time catching up. He's living in Arkansas for the moment for work, so I had to take advantage of this quick chance to hang out. It was a quick visit, but I'm so glad I took the chance to drive north and see him!

Friday I headed back to Chicago to pick up Joe, and we directed the car west towards Iowa. Joe's grandmother had passed away a few days earlier, so we took the time to see family and remember her at the wake and funeral. These events are never the most fun, but it was nice to catch up with Joe's family. I was glad we were able to be there for support, and enjoyed learning more about where Joe's mother was raised.

We got back into the city on Saturday night, just in time to meet up with friends. We ended up in Wicker Park, on Division, which is a really fun and stylish area. It's not the first time we've gone straight from Iowa to this neighborhood-- sometimes we just need to get our city fix after being out on the farm! We had a great dinner at Crust, and enjoyed chatting with Nas and Christie over a couple cold beers. After a somber funeral on Saturday morning, it was nice to end the day appreciating our current life in Chicago.

Speaking of beers, any time we leave Chicago, we make sure to get our favorite brews that we can't buy here. Lakefront is our favorite Milwaukee brewery, and I was so excited to find an 8 bottle variety pack at Whole Foods. Can't wait to break this open, post-Lent!  

We also got a sampler pack of Boulevard in Iowa. It's always been one of our favorite KC memories, and we enjoyed a few of these on Friday night while catching up with Joe's family.

Speaking of KC, we're headed back there on Friday for our nephew's baptism. I can't wait to see more family, play with little Liem, and celebrate our friend Kieth's 30th birthday. It's going to be a great mini-vacation!