‘Twas the Night Before by Cirque du Soleil at the Chicago Theatre


Since this is the second year in a row, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Liz and I have a new Christmas tradition. We take Makai and Konrad to dinner then to the holiday show at the Chicago Theatre. This year Kelly joined us for dinner at Remingtons.

On the walk from Remington’s to the Chicago Theater we passed by the Macy’s holiday windows on State Street.

We passed by a Salvation Army bell ringer and she let Makai and Konrad ring the bells for a minute.

The show we were seeing was ‘Twas the Night Before by Cirque du Soleil. I really wasn’t sure how Cirque was going to pull this off in the Chicago Theatre. I was also a little worried about our seats. Both turned out great. I loved the show. Makai basically sat there with his jaw on the floor for 2 hours. As soon as it ended he could not stop babbling about it. We had box tickets in the U section. It was off to the side, but we had a great view. And the seats were very spacious. Turned out great.

Liz and Konrad grabbed a ride home. Makai and I walked back to where we parked the car. On the way we passed Chicago’s bronze cow statue.

When we got to Michigan Avenue Makai spotted Chicago’s Christmas tree.

Makai asked to get a closer look, so we walked over and took a look. The tree is HUGE!

The Jewelers’ Building [35 East Wacker]

The Jeweler’s Building, as seen from my eye doctor’s office. This is a 40 story building on Wabash and Wacker. It was built from 1925 – 1927 and was once considered to be the tallest building in the world outside of New York City! In the background you can see Two Prudential Plaza and the Aon Center.

Teachers’ Strike

The Chicago Public School district is the 3rd largest school district in the country. The strike went on for 11 days. We heard rumors for weeks and then on October 17 it started.

These are some things that the teachers were striking over.

Driving around in the morning we would see teachers picketing at their schools.

Cars honked to show their support.

One day a ton of teachers were picketing downtown and we could see them from my office.
At first we kept Makai at home, but with everyone being home all day, every day, we were going crazy. Then we took Makai back to his old daycare so he could be in a preschool class. As much as everyone there loved seeing him, there was only room in a younger classroom and it was costing us about $75/day!

The hard part was that you would not know until 9pm or later each day whether or not school would be on or still out the next day. We finally had my dad come down and hang out with Makai for a few days.

Finally an agreement was made!


Makai’s teacher was excited to see all the kids and get back to work!


Finally kids were back in school. Hopefully we will get everything promised!

Update:We found out the make up dates. We’ve already got airfare for 11/27, which was supposed to be part of Thanksgiving break. Oh well!

Celebrating the Bride!

We tossed around a lot of options for a girls weekend with Jess before her wedding, before settling on a fancy weekend downtown. We booked a suite at the St. Jane, a hotel that we’d heard Jess say she was interested in. We did not tell her we did this. Stacy, Sara and I gathered at the hotel and then sent an Uber for Jess to come to us. Total surprise!

Before Jess came, we decorated the room and set up some champagne and snacks to enjoy in the room. We hung out and relaxed and then got ready for dinner.

 Some beautiful ladies waiting for Uber.

Dinner was at Pacific Standard Time, which I knew that Jess had not been to, but wanted to try.  There were no decent times available, as everyone is saying this is one of the best restaurants in the city lately. But Stacy pulled some strings at work and got us in!
Upstairs from Pacific Standard Time, a new rooftop bar, The Laurel Room, opened just DAYS before we were there. It was busy, but we were able to get up there and enjoy the amazing weather, beautiful view and delicious drinks.

Next up was the London House rooftop. It had a very long line and we ended up paying a guy off to let us up. Worth it. Again, the weather was PERFECT. And it felt amazing to be outside on the rooftop. I pass by London House often, but had never been on the roof. The views were amazing.

 After London House then things got a little blurry. There was something about $25 french fries that saved our lives. And an incident involving blue cheese-stuffed olives. When we get back to the hotel we got scolded for being too loud in our room!

The next morning we had brunch at Aba, which was a gorgeous rooftop setting in the West Loop. There were some issues with service and the food, but we still had a nice time. Three rooftops in 24 hours is not bad! Great girls weekend, with just the right amounts of food, drink, fanciness, relaxation and just a hint of mischief!

Below are a few more photos I took of the St. Jane, just because it was SO pretty!      

Dinner at Beatrix and Cats

For the last couple years my mom and I went to Grassroots for our annual night out. The food there is great and it’s right by the Mercury Theater, where we saw a few shows. This year we went back downtown and ate at Beatrix. The food and drinks were really great and the service was really good too. Beatrix, I think, is really underrated. It’s always a solid bet at any of the several locations they have around town.

I’ve always had a curiosity about the musical Cats, so when I saw it was coming to Chicago, I got really interested. Nothing like waiting 30 years to see what the fuss all about. I enjoyed the show, though I can understand why some people would not like 2 hours of singing and dancing CATS!

Also, it’d been quite a while since I’d been to the Oriental Theater (now called James M. Nederlander Theatre). What a gorgeous venue!

2019: Beatrix + Cats
2018: Grassroots + Avenue Q
2017: Grassroots +  Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical
2016: Daniel Tiger Live with Makai (does this even count!?)
2015: First Wives Club
2013: Shrek the Musical with Dad and Jess (Does this count!?)
2012: Buona Terra + Showboat at the Lyric Opera
2011: Gosu + Beauty and the Beast
2010: El Nandu + Hubbard Street Dance
2009: Rhapsody + Jersey Boys
2008: Landmark + Dead Man’s Cell Phone at the Steppenwolf Theater
2007: Costello’s + Blue Man Group
2005: Hillary’s Urban Eatery (HUE) + Wicked
2004: Petterino’s + Mamma Mia
Ze Olde Days (1999?): Riverdance in Milwaukee
Ancient Times (1997?): Lorie Line