Remember that Cold Stone Creamery that was located across the street from my gym? Well, it closed a long time ago. Maybe a year or two? And Forever Yogurt went into the space. Seemed like a good match. People might actually go and get some frozen yogurt after the gym, but not Cold Stone ice cream! I started staring at big photos of fruit on the building while using the treadmill instead of thinking about Cold Stone. Still, I never went til I got the nudge from Groupon.
Here’s how Forever Yogurt is different from other frozen yogurt spots:
So, it’s totally self-serve. You take as much yogurt as you want and you take as much of the toppings as you want and then it just gets weighed. There are about a dozen flavors of yogurt and endless toppings. I liked it, but just like a salad bar, it’s hard to really gauge how much you have til you’re at the end weighing and paying. I’d go back, though. Unlike the Cold Stone that I tried my hardest to avoid.
My only complaint is that their logo looks like two steaming piles of poo.
Last week Jen, Jill, Limey and I went to a wine and chocolate pairing class at 404 Wine Bar. The class was put on by I Wish and we’d purchased tickets from Groupon. The Groupon was actually just for a wine class, but we were having problems scheduling a date in Chicago (not the suburbs) and I Wish was nice enough to let us transfer the ticket and take the wine and chocolate pairing class.
We learned about pairing different kinds of wine with the different kinds of chocolate. How to complement and contrast the flavors and that sort of thing. My favorite pairing was a Santa Christina Sangiovese with dark chocolate. The wine was very fruity and cherry-like and mixed together it tasted just like a cherry cordial. I should note that this was Jill’s least favorite wine. She actually dumped it out. Ha! She has a thing about fruit. Jen and I were teasing her and Limes from across the table. Hence the thought balloons above.
I thought the class was fun enough at the discounted rate ($20). We learned a few things and had an enjoyable lesson. I don’t know if I’d ever pay the full price for the lesson, $45 seems overpriced to me, but I guess that’s why we got the Groupon!
On a side note, you may recall that this is the second I Wish class I’ve taken. Jen and I went to a Korean culture and food class earlier this year.
Since our class was in a side room at 404 Wine Bar and we hadn’t eaten dinner yet, we headed into the bar/restaurant to eat. We ordered a bunch of things and split them:
- Housemade tapenade with crostini
- 3 cheese plate with cranberries, grapes and honey almonds
- Sauteed Maine sea scallops
- Wild mushroom ravioli with a truffle cream sauce
- Fish tacos (from Jack’s Bar & Grill, which is attached to the wine bar)
- Chocolate fondue served with pound cake and apples
Everything was really delicious. Everyone agreed. We also agreed that we all loved the mushroom ravioli. SOOOO good. Also, how appropriate that we both started and ended with chocolate?
I picked up a Groupon for Red Hen Bread because it’s nearby my gym and a bus stop a spend a lot of time standing at. I thought I’d just swing by one night when I finished the gym and get an awesome discounted sandwich. Problem: Red Hen closes at 6 and I’m never out of the gym by then. So, it took me a while but I finally used the Groupon on a day I did not go to the gym. I got the caprese sandwich and an iced coffee. The sandwich was good, but my bread was kind of hard to chew. I ended up eating the parts separately to compensate.
On Jess’s second day of her visit I took her to Navy Pier. I haven’t been to the pier for years, so it was time. Jess had visited Navy Pier before, but she was very young (2004, 2005). I asked her if she remembered and she said she can’t remember a lot from when she was little. Funny. In my mind she is still “little.” Hahha. She is the ripe old age of 8.
A month or so ago I saw a Groupon for Seadog boat cruises. I thought this would be something fun for Jess and I to do, so I bought it. I invited Quinn to join us, so we met Jen and Chad and Chad’s dad, who was in town from Baltimore, on the pier. We were doing the 30-minute lake tour. Seadog also does Chicago River architecture tours and some kind of extreme ride where they go really fast and spin in circles and who knows what.
For the lake tour we would go fast for a bit and then slow down and the guide would point out some things in the skyline and then go fast again. I think we went about 40 mph. I’m not sure, though, because the guide was terrible and had really bad jokes, so I was trying not to listen. It was a fun ride. Definitely worth the Groupon price of $13. And, it was great to be on the water and get the breeze, since it was 90+ degrees, 100 with the heat index, that day. HOT.
Navy Pier Swings
After the boat ride, Quinn went off to the Children’s Museum (located on the pier) for a while and Jess and I headed for the rides on Navy Pier. Jess had been telling me about how she went to Bay Beach, an amusement park in Green Bay, and how she really liked the swing ride there. She wanted to try the swings on Navy Pier, but wasn’t so sure when I told her she’d have to ride herself because I get sick going in circles! I told her I’d wait right at the exit and it would be fine. She manned up and went on the ride and even told me later on that she was brave enough to barely even hold on! Daredevil.
Funny side note about Bay Beach. Our family used to go there when I was young. The way that Jess was describing the rides to me, it seems like nothing has changed. I remembered going on the rides she told me she went on. One difference was that Jess told me they had a roller coaster now, which they never had before. Back when we used to go, it was like our parents and aunts and uncles would stake out a spot by Lake Michigan and hand my cousins and I some money. We’d go buy tickets and candy or whatever and disappear for the day. Just meet them back up on the grass for a picnic later. I don’t think this is how Jess’s trip went!
So, after the swings we met back up with Quinn and his family for lunch and then we were back on our own, off for more rides!
Jessica on the Navy Pier Ferris Wheel
Rachelle & Jessica. Right after this Jess actually spoke up to request that I don’t take any more photos of her!
Views from the Navy Pier Ferris Wheel
View of the swings from the Navy Pier Ferris Wheel
Jess had also told me that the ferris wheel at Bay Beach was boring and she didn’t like it. When she saw how big the ferris wheel at Navy Pier was, she decided she wanted to give it a second try. Here’s the thing: The Navy Pier ferris wheel goes so slow. Like so slow that it never even stops to let people on and off. They just exit and board while the thing is moving… slowly moving. And you only get one trip around. Afterwards Jess told me that it was boring and she didn’t like it. Figures!
Cirque Shanghai Extreme
Cirque Shanghai Extreme Motorcycle
Cirque Shanghai Extreme Motorcycle stunt
There are FOUR motorcycles in there!
Our final activity on the pier was to see the Cirque Shanghai Extreme show. I took my other niece Stephanie to a show similar to this a couple years ago and she really liked it. This Cirque show is kind of like a variety show with groups of performers coming out and doing different tricks and acrobatics and balancing acts. One of the biggest additions to this show was the acrobatics they did with motorcycles in the show’s finale. They rode the motorbikes on a wire over the audience and did tricks from above the middle of the audience. They also rode the bikes in a metal ball. I thought it was impressive when they did one, but then they added another and another and another. At the end there were 4 motorcycles riding around in the metal ball. Crazy. I couldn’t tell if Jess liked the show or not. She seemed interested, but afterwards wouldn’t really say. (She is still SO SO shy and mostly not talkative around us. Especially Dallas, who she has not spoken a word to in her whole life.)
This day turned out to be a long day, just because it was so hot outside, I think. I was so sweaty and tired when we got home. Plus, we took a bus and a train each way to get out there. Ugh! But it was a fun day and worth it. On the ride north to meet Amanda, I did get Jess to admit she had a fun weekend, so that is good. Before her visit she had told me more than once that she didn’t even want to come for a visit, but I’m glad she did. Despite her shyness and lack of openness to us, I think it is good for her and fun for me to have her around. Hopefully it will get better as she gets older (I’ve been saying this for about 6 years!).
Back when I lived in New York I worked in Tribeca and just over from my office on the Hudson River there was a trapeze school. I’m not sure I knew that just anybody could attend, but I remember seeing it and watching on walks by the river. Fast forward about 8+ years. I was preparing for Stephanie’s annual trip to Chicago and looked up fun things to do with teenagers (she’s 15 now!). I came upon a website that showed me that Trapeze School New York opened up in Chicago. Awesome. When I looked into it, though, it was kind of pricey. Enter Groupon. I had the trapeze school tab open in my web browser for more than a week, maybe two weeks, when I saw that Groupon was offering a special rate on trapeze classes. The classes still were not cheap, but it was a lot more affordable. Done and done!
So, we headed over to Belmont Harbor. The trapeze school is located just south of the harbor. You cannot miss it! I was getting really nervous the week before the class. I mean…. THE FLYING TRAPEZE!!! AHHHHHHHH! Up in the air so high, what’s holding you in, what’s really going to happen, etc. But, I must say, once we got there and saw the set up, my my mind was put at ease a little bit. We arrived a bit early and got to watch the end of a class before us. Everything seemed legit and safe.
When our class began, we each got belts fitted tightly around our midsections and were given a bit of instruction by Alex, Albia and Steve. It seemed like not very much and before I knew it, we were taking turns climbing up the ladder to the platform! I was still in AHHHHHH!!! mode! The thing is, it’s all mental. You’re harnessed in on a pulley when climbing up the ladder. When you get to the platform, you are hooked into not one, but two lines. And then there’s the net! As for the falls, or releases, there was never a freefall into the net. The lines were on a pully and Steve is a strong guy who helped regulate our falls.
Once on the platform and harnessed in, this is what happened. You walk up to the edge of the platform and put your toes on the pieces of tape on the edge. Then you hold onto the white bars with your left hand. Your left arm is out straight, stiff. You lean forward with your hips forward, your shoulders back. The coach, Alex or Albia, have a tight grip on your belt and you really have to trust them to hold you. While doing this they bring the bar forward with a hook. You grab onto it with your right hand. When they tell you, you also grab on with your left hand. When the coach yells “READY!” you bend your knees and when they say “HUT!” you jump off. They might have had to say “HUT” a few times for me to jump the first time! And I might have screamed and I may have screamed how scared I was. I’m not sure! It was all a blur. Haha.
Next steps: Steve yells from the ground “LEGS!” and you swing your legs up and tuck them in. This is easier said than done. I did not get this at all my first try. I was too busy being freaked out. My second try I didn’t get it either. Finally on my third try I got it. And on my fourth too. Steph? First try. Every try. Of course! So after you tuck your legs around the bar, you have to let go with your hands and swing from your legs. Then you get your hands back up there and pull your legs back down. Then Steve tells you when and how to dismount. If you follow his instructions, you’ll do a backflip dismount. That never quite worked out for me, but Steph, the overachiever that she is, almost did a double backflip dismount at one point. It was like 1 3/4 rotations, meaning she landed sort of on her head.
This was my first try. I did not do well because I felt like I was going to fall the whole time!
In comparison, this was Steph’s first try. Everything!
Everyone got 4 or 5 tries at this. I have to say, after my first freakout turn, I was a lot better. You get a feeling for what it will be like. I was still frightened every time, but I was able to progress and improve. I only got my legs up twice, so I practiced trying do keep doing that. Steph and others in our group advanced on to catching!
So, for catching, the students basically did nothing different. The difference was that Alex was swinging on another swing across from us. And when he said “READY!” and “HUT!” you could NOT hesitate. You had to jump or else it wouldn’t time out right. From there Alex did all the work. If you followed instruction and your hands were in position, Alex was able to grab you, pull you from your trapeze, swing you and then release. Everyone got two more turns and Steph got caught twice!
We had so much fun at trapeze school! Steph loved it so much she wanted to stay for the next class! Here’s the thing. It’s a total killer full-body work out. I was sore and bruised immediately when we were done. And so tired. And Steph, in true teen fashion, was all “I’m not sore at all! Nah nah nah!” Well… the next day….. wow. We were both so sore. I felt like I didn’t want to move! I told her to eat crow, but she didn’t know what that was. So I told her to look it up on the internet. Haha. Even Monday and Tuesday at work. At one point I started laughing and then wanted to start crying because my abs hurt that bad! haha. But it was a fun day and it was worth it!
By the way, this is Steph’s 5th visit to Chicago. Check out previous visits:
