Chicago: Day 11 - 13

Dear Diary,

It's finally Day 13 here. As time flies by, I just can't imagine how soon it will be before it's time for me to head home again. But honestly, I'm beginning to like it here. I still feel a little weird living in a land of giants but I like their parks, food and lifestyle :) Guess that's me speaking from a "visitor" point of view. I wonder what it would be like if I was working and living here? For one, the weather here can be great. Summer here in Chicago is amazingly chilly still but when the weather is good, it's GREAT!

Thankfully, the past 2 days have been wonderful weather. We came back from our road trip on Sunday night. So Monday, I decided to go for morning mass. It was my first time attending daily mass here. And boy did it feel good :) Fr Manny gave the sermon and it spoke directly to my need. It was just what the Spirit wanted me to hear. I felt God telling me to let go - to learn to let go of my desire for control, and to let him take over the reins, especially in the area of my relationship. I felt God reminding me that He was the one in charge - the overall planner/controller of everything and I was to surrender my plans or my control to Him. Everything that I had was simply a gift from Him. A gift.   

Anyway, attending mass at a beautiful, historical church is AWESOME. It's such a privilege but one can easily forget and take it for granted (if you come here every single day).

The church against the backdrop of a lovely summer sky :)

Morning sun streaming into the church after mass :)

After mass on both days, I explored various outlets of Starbucks on Clark St and Lincoln Ave. I discovered that the one at Lincoln Ave is smaller and cosier. The best part is that it has outdoor seating which is lovely, especially in this weather :) (And it can still receive Wi-Fi!)

Given the lovely weather, Steph and I took a walk out on Monday, after dinner. (We had leftovers from Hooters. He ate most of it. I was happy just eating a piping hot bowl of rice with sesame oil and light soysauce.) We strolled along the Lincoln Park Zoo Nature Boardwalk. The sun was out and there were lots of people strolling around with their kids and dogs.

The view of the city from across the lake :)

Lovely flowers in summer.

On our way back to the apartment, we came across a couple and their super-hyper friendly Golden Retriever. It was such a beautiful dog! 

 Obediently posing for the camera! :)

Given the irresistible climate, I decided to do a little exploration of my own the next day :) I bought a pack of 3-way fries (bacon, cheese and mayo) as recommended by Steph and ate it at the Boardwalk. And gawd was it sinful. It was absolutely delicious -  "artery-clogging" delicious.

"3-way fries" from The Dog Joint

A fellow park-goer reading in the sun.
I should try that too sometime!

After lunch, I went to the Lincoln Park Free Zoo. I was amazed that there would be a zoo here in the middle of the city - and a free one too! It was filled with families and young people even though it was a week day:) It was their summer vacation. One third of the animals were also on vacation as their exhibits were empty. Nevertheless, there was still plenty to see. I enjoyed watching the primates, jaguars and sea otters. 

The entrance near the Boardwalk

A layout of the entire zoo:) It's huge!

The main entrance of the zoo, near Lincoln Park's Formal Gardens

Prior to my exploration, I had told God the previous day that I was going to learn to surrender my plans to Him - one day at a time. So instead of focusing my energies on the future, I was just going to learn to enjoy each day, one day at a time. To my surprise, I discovered a lovely garden yesterday, on the other side of the zoo! It was the Lincoln Park Formal Gardens.

The sprawling Formal Gardens of Lincoln Park :)

Monsieur Sweeney (and a visiting pigeon) -
one of the founding fathers of the gardens (I presume?)

When I saw the girl in red lying down on the grass in the warmth of the sun,
I was extremely tempted to do the same.

Friends gather here for lunch too. There are benches all over the sprawling park
 and a fountain where kids usually play :) 

My turn to bask in the sun and enjoy the view of the endless blue sky:)
(Wish I'd brought my lunch here!)

Okay... so I could not resist taking some self-portraits ;)
With the wind in my hair and the sun on my face -I simply could not resist!

After basking in the sun for awhile, I headed home to catch up on my SVU series on Netflix. It's a little bit like cable's Demand Channel - where you can pick and select whatever it is that you wanna watch. Steph and I had been hooked onto Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares the whole of last week - it's just that f***in good! :) But the lawyer in me enjoys SVU more.  

Steph had to work late last night. He had quite a bit of issues to solve at work yesterday and it was really tiring him out. We originally intended to get takeout and eat home but I think he wanted a breather (and he also felt bad about leaving me alone at home). I told him it was okay - afterall, I DO enjoy my time alone. Just that I need people interaction once in awhile. In fact, I was all dressed in my PJs and ready to stay home for the evening. 

We eventually decided to drive out to Wrigleyville and see if there was anything interesting there to eat. After driving around for awhile, we chanced upon this Thai eatery. When we first entered, we were afraid that it was gonna be another gimmicky tourist place but it turned out to be fairly reasonably priced and the food was satisfactorily good. I enjoyed the ginger tea and the green curry satisfied my craving for the night. The beef was tender and the seafood dish was relatively fresh. 

My delicious ginger tea!

So famished that we could not wait to tuck in! :P

Steph sat beside me while we ate. I realised that he likes doing that rather than sitting across me. It's strangely sweet in a way, but I'm not used to it yet :P I'm still getting used to being physically around him (e.g. learning his habits, preferences, body language etc.) I'm also learning how to adjust myself to him. I realise I get pretty impatient and irritable easily... I'm not entirely sure why, but I get set off by little things. I doubt it's a good thing! I'm guessing it's because I'm too individualistic that I fail to take into account another person's habits, needs or emotions in the case of a relationship - which isn't good! It does sound like a recipe for disaster. Steph tries to be accommodating to me emotionally - and he really does try. But there are times, when he (like me) is so used to living alone too that we just do what we want to do. We're both pretty headstrong and picky too... :P 

*Sigh*. Let's just see how the rest of the trip goes! One day at a time Cass, one day at a time! :)

p.s. Did I mention? A few nights ago, I was in the bathroom when I noticed some grains of cement on the toilet cover. I looked up and saw a major crack in the ceiling. Since then... this is what happened:

I'm hoping they'll get it fixed by today! ;P