and so, things return to "normal"

Rosita and Benjamin (pronounced Ben-ya-min) have departed back to Sweden, and we are thoroughly exhausted from their visit. They have grown accustomed to the crazy "10 hours a day of walking around and sightseeing" thing because they have been abroad for the past 3 weeks. but we? we are not so used to it.

KTG, Dice, and I picked the duo up from the airport on Thursday evening and took them back to my place. After a few hours of chatting and getting them settled in I finally told everyone that I had to head to bed as I had to be up for work early the next morning. They spent all day Friday wandering around downtown, shopping for "cheap" stuff (sales tax in Sweden is ridiculous, so it's much cheaper for them to buy stuff here and bring it back with them. they even brought an extra, empty suitcase for this purpose!) and enjoying the beach. they timed their arrival home perfectly, as I was just walking up to my building just as they were, too.

We spent the early evening sitting around, drinking wine and eating fancy cheese and bread, and catching up on everything that everyone from high school was doing. We had dinner reservations at an italian place downtown at 8:45 so we headed down to meet KTG and her husband for a nice meal. A few bottles of wine and a few stuffed tummies later, we all stumbled out of the restaurant happy and extremely full. We had hoped to have energy to go out after dinner, but we were all so tired that we headed back to my place and crashed almost immediately.

one of these things is not like the other... (hint, it's the really pale girl in the middle of the bronzed beauties)

recreating a photo from high school

looking through the travel guide, planning the next day's activities

Saturday morning we slept in and leisurely prepared for a long day of sightseeing. we headed downtown and grabbed sandwiches for lunch before heading over to the hancock building. the wait to go up to the observation deck was ridiculous so we opted to go up to the lounge and grab a drink instead. I was glad we got a drink in exchange for our $12 because it was pretty hazy and visibility wasn't really that great. after downing martinis and mojitos we headed off to do some more shopping before meeting KTG and Jon. They informed us that they were starving and we were not, so we split up and agreed to meet them down at Millennium Park for the free concert that evening.

drinks in the sky

he likes this picture

cutest! couple! ever!

The four of us wandered around the city some more and then headed down to the park to see the bean and buckingham fountain. photo opportunities abounded and our feet were sore by the time we found a spot on the lawn at the pavilion in millennium park. Dice and I headed off to grab drinks while Rosita and Ben held our spots. By the time we got back, KTG and Jon had arrived and brought us a pizza to chow down on while we were listening to the Grant Park Symphony play some delightful piece that Jon knew by heart.

down by the bean in Millennium Park

in front of Buckingham Fountain

This was the perfect way to spend the evening and was only made better by the fact that we had gotten tickets for one of the fireworks cruises on the lake. We heard all sorts of facts about the city spouted off to us as we enjoyed seeing the illuminated shoreline from the lake. The boat anchored for a bit and then we watched the fireworks that are launched every Saturday before heading back in to shore. We again headed home exhausted and happy.

Sunday morning we woke up relatively early to head out and grab breakfast and get back in time to let the couple pack before KTG and Jon arrived to take them to the airport.

Overall, it was a great visit, and it was wonderful to finally get to meet Benjamin after hearing about him for so long. They truly are the most adorable couple ever, I swear. I felt a bit bad that Dice was subjected to so much activity during his first weekend settling into town, but he seemed to enjoy most of the events (minus me being super stressed about planning everything out, making reservations, and coordinating schedules, of course).

Luckily, we got some time to nap in front of the television yesterday afternoon before running errands. and because we planned out the week and ran around getting stuff done for 2 hours yesterday evening, the week should be fairly "normal" and back to schedule (which even includes running, thank god!). except there is a boy living in my home. i'm still kind of getting used to that whole thing. :) but if things go well this week, even THAT might not be true for long...