Bulldogs and Beaches: Wknd Recap (+deals)

Welcome back from the weekend. Knowing I'll be out of town for weddings and visiting friends, it was nice to stick around Chicago this weekend and get out a bit to enjoy the city.  Ask any Chicagoan (or transplant like myself) and they'll tell you: Chicago summers are what makes Chicago winters bearable.

Friday night Ben headed out to the burbs with some guys for AmericanaramA Festival, featuring My Morning Jacket, Wilco, and Bob Dylan. I had planned on a quiet night in around the apartment, but when my girlfriend B asked if I'd be interested in grabbing dinner and drinks, I gladly said yes.

We had a low-key meal at the Patio at Cafe Brauer, right in Lincoln Park, just south of the zoo.  Sitting outside on the patio drinking sangria gabbing it up was great; plus the view is fantastic.

After dinner, we walked over to Hotel Lincoln, to grab a drink at the trendy roof top bar, The J. Parker.  It opened last summer and according to several websites, is currently ranked as Chicago's #1 roof top bar.  Neither one of us had been so we figured why not?

Apparently at least 64 other groups had the same idea that evening.  We entered the hotel lobby to find crowds of people waiting around with a drink in hand. At first we thought they were just enjoying the bar in the lobby and then we realized there were all waiting to go up to the roof. We put our names on the list and were told an hour wait...

We decided to run around the corner for a drink and a different spot.  After a glass of wine, I checked the app I'd received a link to via text and saw that although we'd been gone 45 minutes, we were still 64th in line with over an hour wait.  We ordered another round of drinks and, as luck would have it, shortly after, we received a text that we could go up to J. Parker.  This was right after I'd checked the app and said our wait hadn't changed from 75-90.  With full glasses of wine, we decided to forgo the visit to J. Parker and save it for a week night when we can go with our gents and have less of a wait.

(Although I posted this pic on IG and one of my friends commented that Channing Tatum was staying at the hotel over the weekend. Maybe that's part of why the lines were so bad?)

Saturday morning I hopped over to Burgerfest in Roscoe Village to help the rescue set up our booths for the weekend.  Betty and her new parents stopped by to say hi! She immediately remembered me and crawled in my lap to cover me with kisses.  She looks amazing and happy, as do her parents.  This is what fostering is all about.

After sweating it out for a few hours of organizing doggy goods, I headed home and then we headed to the beach.

Sunday morning it was back to Burgerfest, but this time with Huey in tow.  It was a hot day, but between fans, shade, ice packs, water bowls and a generous offer from a nearby business to use their A/C for the dogs, we were able to keep the bullies cool (That's Porckchop and Wampa on the left picture below). Huey is such a little ham with that tongue.

From there I dropped Huey (and Ben) off at our apartment for a quick errand before rushing back to grab Huey to take on a home visit for a potential adopter of Chicago English Bulldog Rescue.  By the time I was able to hit the couch at 8:30 last night, it's safe to say Huey and I were equally exhausted.

 

Linking up with Sami

 

Today's deals and steals:

• Banana Republic: 50% off full priced women's knits, tops, and tanks in store today
• Gap:
• 25% off denim styles online with code DENIM25 through today
• 25% off women's and men's styles with code GAPSPREE through 7/17 online
• 2% back via ebates.com
• J Crew Factory: 50% off online final sale items with code SPREE through 7/17 (3% back via ebates.com)
• Old Navy: Online only, through 7/17:
• 30% off for cardholders with code STUFFSAVE
• 20% off for non-cardholders with code ONSAVE20
• 2% back via ebates.com
• Piperlime: Extra 25% off sale items with code SUMMER through 7/16 (2% back via ebates.com)
• Restaurant.com: $4 for $25 gift certificates through 7/17 with code ENJOY (15% back via ebates.com)