Let's go on an adventure!

This weekend I went to Chicago with my friend, Melissa. I met Melissa in 3rd grade and it's been a miracle that we've been able to stay such great friends since. We weren't always in school together and we've had a falling out or two but the fates have seen it fit that we pull through and whenever we get together it's always so much fun and so easy to pick up exactly where we left off. I love her and this weekend was just another crazy story to add to our collection. :D

The night began late afternoon at my house. We had a bottle of wine, music, and a hot bathroom filled with hair products and make up. haha I tried really hard to curl her hair but it resisted my attempts. Oh well, she still looked amazing in the outfit we put together and I made a cute little hair braid headband upon her request.

~Melissa~

Shirt: Forever 21

Skirt: Forever 21 (I believe)

Shoes: Ross

Necklace: Thrift

Purse: Gift

I can't really remember where most of my accessories came from but I did buy the dress at a second hand shop in the city. A lucky find, I say, but I did manage to spill purple juice on the front of it early on so it's probably screwed for life now. :/  

Unfortunately, there was a smudge on my lens that I didn't see so a lot of the photos have that blurry mess in them but we can look past that. We were in a hurry to catch our train out there so we just snapped a few in the backyard and left. 

So off we went to the city in search of an adventure. We got off at Union station and walked the mile and a half to Millennium park to see the notorious bean! 

Right below the bean was an outdoor bar/restaurant, so we decided to get our first drink there and then our second... and third.... and fourth... haha We ended up hanging out at that bar for basically the rest of the night. Our bartender was super friendly and we were having such a good time catching up. The black hawk's game was on as well and, although I haven't really watched any of their games, Melissa was into it and so was everyone around us! the atmosphere was intoxicating and I was intoxicated so I cheered as loud as everyone else when they won! 

At this bar we were sitting next to this really nice French couple and ended up hanging out with them the rest of the night! They were so friendly and super funny! After the game ended our bartender recommended a bar across the street to go to next. Our bill ended up being a lot cheaper than we thought and we were really excited and feeling good! The four of us went to Rudy's bar and our bartender ended up meeting us there as well! I wasn't feeling drinking at that point and was getting pretty tired but our train didn't leave until 12:40 so we hung out for a while and Melissa had a few more drinks. haha Finally, it came time for us to start the walk back to Union station. Melissa and I headed out and our bartender friend decided to follow us out. 

We were having a great time laughing and walking, trying to find our way back. Unfortunately, we didn't exactly know where we were going and our "friend" wouldn't help us out until it was too late. At 12:30 he went ahead and let us know that we were no where close and would never catch the train in time. Stunned we went into the nearest bar and sat down trying to figure out what we were going to do next. Melissa was so mad she ordered a bunch of drinks and put it under our newest enemy's name. I promptly went to the bathroom to have a pity party and to call Max. We were screwed. That was the last train until morning and we were stuck in the city. Melissa started calling people she knew to help us get out of there but I said fuck it and ran outside, found the nearest cab, and asked if he's take us back to Elgin. 

$155 later we were finally home. Good thing we barely paid for anything while we were in the city because that taxi ride cleaned me out. But what was our alternative? Stay in the city with a stranger? No thanks. Overall, the night was a blast. In the end it was just another part of the story to log away and something funny to laugh at later. I had so much fun and I hope Melissa did too. We always get into crazy shit when we're together but I wouldn't have it any other way!

<3<3<3<3<3,

Marybeth

Unofficial halloween and official halloween!

Two weeks ago I went back down to Carbondale to visit my bestie Kaley. We had a hoot and then a holler. I did forget to bring my camera, however. UGHUGHGUUGHHHH! So most of the pictures are from my phone. Let's see, where to begin? Carbondale is beautiful this time of year and since I stayed there a day longer than I usually do we had more time to do adventuring. We went hiking, to an apple orchard, a winery, a festival, lots of naps, and then the usual bar hoping and being best friends. :]

The above pictures were taken at Giant City State Park. It's named that for a reason, the place is crazy huge! On Saturday we just drove through it and I have never seen anything like it before so I definitely wanted to go back on Sunday so we could actually get out and explore. 

On Sunday we also were planning on going to the Blue Sky Vineyard so after we hiked I quickly changed into the outfit I had packed and Kaley took some pictures for me. I couldn't resist. The place was so beautiful. 

That day we had also gone to the Wakonda vulture festival where I bought a couple things, some for Anna. :) Unfortunately one of the items I bought was this really cute dress that ended up not fitting me. Bummer. But I'm holding on to it in the hopes I can one day do something with it. 

{I'm not cute. I know}

And here are some of the pictures of the vulture fest. This town was seriously the cutest. Very country and but also hippy-ish. My favorite part was that there were dogs everywhere! Even at the vineyard there were people with their dogs. Now that is my kind of town. They also were selling some really amazing stuff. Everyone seems so creative. I hope Anna likes what I got her. 

Somethings were really beautiful, like this crazy fairy door. 

Somethings were a little weird... not sure what's going on these doors.

On saturday we went to an apple orchard. Not what we were expecting exactly but we got some yummy apple pie, apple cider, and apple bread! 

Now here are a few photos that survived the weekend!

This is a picture I took from the roof top of Kaley's boyfriend, Phil's apartment. I climbed up there and threw a pumpkin off into the parking lot while they all cheered. Not sure where that idea came from but even though I was really cold up there it was also really pretty. I'm surprised my iPhone took sure a great picture. You can even see some stars and that was the best part because the sky was so clear and full of all these glittering stars. Amazing.

 Oh and here is an almost empty glass of the moonshine Phil's cousin brought him. I did not personally partake in the drinking of this concoction, but I could smell it and I watched them all dive in. Looked awful.

It was such a fun weekend. I miss Kaley. Hanging out with her that weekend was like hanging out with Anna. She's seriously like a sister to me. It also made we miss Anna cause the year before she had been there too and it's so easy for us all to be together. I love it.

Then this past weekend for Halloween Brooke, Sam, Max, and I had people over to our house for a Halloween party!

I spent a large portion of the night being a dead body on the floor so I didn't as many pictures as I would have liked but here's a few to show you how this night went...

It was a very interesting night that went on until 4:30 am! Our house was a frickin' mess afterwards, but it was so much fun. I can't even remember it in it's entirety but from the looks of it, we had a blast! Best part was our haunted basement entrance, hence being a dead body. Check it out! Looks kinda weird seeing as how I had to use the flash but, trust me, it was scary with creepy sounds and fog and everything!

Spooky huh? Well, that's about all I've got. Catch ya on the flip side! 

<3<3<3,

Marybeth