the taste of chicago and other such news

well i am hangin' in chicago with katie and havin' a blast. i got here wednesday night late and when we woke up (nice and late) on thursday we got ready and after getting some coffee took the metra to downtown chicago for the taste of chicago. i have to document the many things i tasted that i never would have, if there weren't fun people trying to persuade me to do it.

first i tried pot stickers. not as scary and druggish as they sound. then i had a bite of shark. it was creepy but not too shabby. not a repeat in my opinion. grilled plantain with spicy peanut sauce (from the taste of africa stand), pulled turkey with bbq sauce, chocolate covered strawberries, and mozzarella sticks. i think that was all....also, on my way to one of those stands i saw caitlyn in there with her friend coleen. it was really fun to meet one of her friends from school.

anyway it was quite the day. then we set up camp and watched the fireworks over lake michigan. it was awesome. apparently someone got shot that night. we did not hear the gunshot.

today we slept in again (definitely one of my favorite parts of vacation) and then went to munster, indiana for a "family" (kinda like the fake aunt and uncle situation) cookout and 4th of july parade. we got alot of candy. :) yay. then tonight, after a brief friend watching stint, we went over to vanderdutch's house and i met all the people that i've seen faces and heard names of but never met. one of my favorite's is nick grimberg. he's very tall, which comes in very handy. haha. quite the comedian. then i met laura henke, katie burns, katie leensvart, matt danaher, matt dauner, bill (laura's bf), ryan (katie leens' bf), AP, stephanie, karen, and matt ipema. i think that's all. anyway it was really fun to finally meet them. while the guys were in the other room playing pool and garage band, the girls were in the living room with the black lights on and the music up having a dance party.

tomorrow we are going to the beach, which should be lots of fun, and then something to do with dancing again. these people like to dance. :) then sunday is church and then i have to go home, back to the boring stressful job. but hey. i'm here. i'm gonna go enjoy it. :)