We are half way through 2016.  Wow.  When did that happen?!

Not sure what it is, but I feel like time is zooming by right now.  Maybe it’s the hustle of a new city or maybe it’s the fact that our days are so different now.  It’s probably a bit of both.  It’s so crazy to me that we’ve been in Chicago for just over two weeks now.

We’re still finding our way in terms of establishing a routine.  I was just telling Vishnu that we need to get our spending under control because it’s been a little over the top as of late.  We both blame it on the fact that we’re so excited to be here.  If we keep that attitude up for any longer, our bank account is going to be in a sad state of affairs.  So need to get on that right away!

Anyways, I thought I’d try to get back into a [somewhat] regular blogging routine with this post and share some tidbits from our weekend.

On Friday, Vishnu and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary by way of a nice dinner out.  We settled on Dos Urban Cantina after reading several articles about how it’s one of Chicago’s up and coming restaurants.  It did not disappoint!  The innovative take on traditional Mexican cuisine was so interesting and fun.  The chestnut cornbread was absolutely divine on it’s own but tasted even better when dipped in the accompanying mole sauce.  Vishnu’s favorite dish was the Tres Leches cake we got for dessert.  As you guys know, I’m a chocolate girl through and through, but because Vishnu loves this particular cake so much, I took a backseat with dessert and let him pick what he wanted.  That’s true love, folks!

We spent the majority of Saturday morning preparing for my parents arrival (aka – we cleaned and did laundry).  Later in the evening, we headed over to my sister’s place to hang out and eat dinner.  This was the first time the six of us (my parents, me and V, and A and A) all hung out together just us. It was so nice, especially because all of the wedding stress is behind us now!

Sunday was a completely free day.  My parents left in the morning to attend a wedding/reception in the burbs.  Vishnu and I hung out at home until the early afternoon and then headed back to my sister’s place to hang out with her, Adarsh, and their friend (now our friend) Mike.  And by hanging out, I mean we went to the park and had our very own sports day since the weather was absolutely perfect.  We played some variation of football, frisbee, and catch (baseball).  SO MUCH FUN!

Monday (aka – mine and Vishnu’s 11 year dating anniversary) morning was a little lazy, but the day ended on a great note with a visit to Millennium Park and The Chicago Diner (a must try restaurant!).  I want to write a proper review of this place…it was that good!  When Vishnu asked why I liked it so much, I said because it’s so rare for me to be able to order whatever I want from the menu.  Will share more soon!

We didn’t do the whole fireworks thing this year.  It was just too much to coordinate.  But you better believe we heard fireworks all weekend long.  I’m not going to lie – the sound really freaks me out.  I hate it actually.  Too similar to gun shots.

That was our weekend in a nutshell.  It passed by super quickly, but we had an absolute blast with my parents in our new city.  They promised to visit a few more times before winter rears it’s ugly head!

I plan to blog about this in more detail soon, but I thought I’d share my initial thoughts about adjusting to my new routine.  So far, I’m loving Chicago living a bit more than St. Pete living.  I feel like we’re more active and that alone is wonderful.  However, it’s a bit like going from 0 to 60, which brings some challenges, mainly in terms of time.  I wish I had more of it!  Other things I’m adjusting to include driving in Chicago traffic, going to an office most days the week, having more potential plans than we have time for (a great problem to have), spending more money than I expected to, etc. But that’s life I suppose, one adjustment after another!  As overwhelming as it still is right now, I’m sure the next few years are going to be some of the best yet!

With that, wish me luck on this regular blogging thing.  I miss not posting as much but really hope/want to get back to it!  I have so many things I want to share.

How was your weekend?  Are you a fan of fireworks?