So it has been a while since I blogged and I apologise, but between Cathy visiting for 10 days and having exams it has been a little busy here.

Cathy arrived on May 1st and slept on the couch in my apartment for 10 days. It was so much fun having her here and getting to show her all the wonderful things that Chicago has to offer.

We started on the Friday with breakfast at Yolk, which was as always amazing! Then it was on to the Field Museum and the Planetarium, and we did every exhibit in both places, so it was a busy and tiring day, but it was very wet and miserable outside so hiding from the rain was our first priority.

On Saturday we went to Six flags amusement park which is about an hour away from Chicago and since the UCC were organising it it was completely free. Again because of Chicago's insane weather it was the coldest day we had had in a while so once we had done all the rides we went and hid in the 3D theatre for a while! But 6 flags was great fun, they have loads of roller coasters and rides that were great and it was a fun day outside of Chicago.

After church on Sunday we took an architecture river cruise through Chicago. It was quite interesting, if not exactly my thing, but it was a look at the City from a whole different angle. We then made our way down Michigan avenue, stopping atTiffany's and Abercrombie to get a few bits and pieces! I took Cathy to Fogo De Chao's a fantastic brazilian restaurant I went to with my family when they were visiting and it was amazing again!

Monday was a beautiful day and so we went up the Sears Tower to see Chicago from above. It was a completely different view from what I got when I went up in February because it was so much greener. We went for real Chicago pizza for lunch which was surprisingly good seeing as I had heard bad things about Chicago pizza.

In the afternoon we rented bikes and rode along the lakefront. It was so relaxing and chilled just to ride bikes to Navy Pier and then along to the beach.

On Tuesday I took a day off and worked on my essays while Cathy went and did 2 more architecture tours. We then went out to see Wicked, where we got second row seats in a drawing. While we waited for the show to start we went to Peterino's for dinner and sat outside watching the world go by. The show was absolutely amazing, even though it was the 3rd time I had seen it!!

On Wednesday we went to the Aquarium which was great fun, especially the wild reef exhibit with all the tropical fish. Cathy spent the afternoon at the art institute while I did more studying.

Thursday was our shopping day. We did all of State Street before heading to the Grand Lux for lunch. We then spent the rest of the day heading up Michigan Avenue. In the evening we went for dinner at the Cheesecake factory and then for drinks at the top of the Hancock.

I had managed to get us tickets to a cubs game on the Friday afternoon, so after another great breakfast at Yolk we went to the Cubs game. Again we had chosen an awful day to be outside as it was cold and windy but thankfully it stayed dry. I ended up buying a whole new outfit to wear over my other clothes just to stay warm. But the cubs beat the team from Arizona so we were very happy!

Saturday was Cathy's last day so we started it well with breakfast at the Grand Lux, followed by more shopping and then as we walked back to the apartment we discovered that they were opening all the river bridges to let the boats come down for the first time this year. It was pretty cool to see all the bridges in Chicago open, as it hadnt really clicked with me that the bridges did open!!

Sadly Cathy left on Saturday evening. But I did not have much time to dwell on that as i had 3 papers due in on the following Wednesday, 2 10 page papers and 1 that ended up being 70 pages long! It was absolutely insane! It was a very very busy few days and now I am just feeling exhausted.

Not too exhuasted to have a few drinks on Wednesday night and also go to a brilliant Cubs game with half of DePaul on friday afternoon. this time the weather was perfect, sunny and warm, perfect for frozen drinks at our seats. Kate and I went for dinner beforehand at the Vines which was really nice especially as we sat on the patio in the sun! This was the game that tickets were sold for at the DePaul Auction so there were around 200 DePaul students in one section which made for a great afternoon.,

Yesterday and today everyone moved out of their apartments in the UCC, which has been a little sad, but it is ok because there are a few of us left here and it gives us a little more space!!

Have a great week!

P.S. forgot to add that I spent yesterday wandering up and down Navy pier in beautiful sunshine and heat, at the Army/Navy appreciation day and the green festival. Both of which were lots of fun and it was just nice to relax and enjoy the sunshine!