Chi-town.

Our first trip to Chicago, and we were delighted.

We got back to Chicago on Sunday after the wedding in Michigan. We were a little early to check into our next airbnb apartment, so we watched football. Then we checked in. Then we watched more football.

That evening, we went to see a show at Improv Olympic, but not before going into the 3rd largest Whole Foods in the world, which is right across the street. Really hard not to do a serious shopping spree there.

Monday was Lincoln Park and the zoo (much bigger than I thought it would be) and lots of walking around before a game at Wrigley Field...one of the last ones in this 100th season at that park.

Tuesday was museum day, which turned into only one museum: the Art Institute. We were there for about four hours. It was enormous. Really, really good. Just so, so big.

That night, we managed to connect with a friend of mine from college, and he took us to a great taco place and a local brewery before we parted ways, only to meet up again later that night at a piano bar. 

I enjoyed Chicago more than I ever imagined I would. We'd both like to go back.

Here comes the groom's friend, all the way from Panama.

September was a busy, busy month. There was something sort of mind-bending about trying to plan a trip to my friend Josh's wedding in Michigan by way of Chicago while planning our move to Medellin (which was to take place two days after we got back from Chicago), wherein I've decided I'd make a terrible personal assistant.

So, let's skip the boring part where I was pulling my hair out, and fast forward to everything being perfect as our plane touched down at O'Hare.

We spent our first night at an apartment I found on airbnb -- where our hosts were Colombian, which we didn't know until we met them!  We then went down the street and had a drink at a Colombian bar!

The next morning I took my CPR re-certification class, and we hustled downtown to pick up the rental car and drive to Holland, Michigan: the reason for the trip.

Josh is a special friend of 12 years, and missing his wedding was quite out of the question. I've had our plane tickets for a year. We figured we'd go to the wedding but then spend more time in Chicago, because....what's in Michigan?  Turns out, Holland is a very cool little town near Grand Rapids. 8th Street is great with its shops and restaurants, which all led to a big farmer's market that Saturday morning. The area is also getting known for its craft beers, and we stopped off at one brewery that makes numerous ales and lagers as well as its own gin, vodka, rum, and whiskey.

The morning went quickly, and we went off to the wedding at 3:00.

Even though Josh is important to me and I was looking forward to being there for him as he got married, I wasn't expecting to have a great time at the wedding: because he's the only person I knew there. How silly! We had a fantastic time! His friends and family were wonderful, and even though Josh was busy with being a newly married guy at the reception, we still got to chat a bit. The food was awesome, the cupcakes were killer (even though I'm not usually a wedding cupcake fan), and Brent danced with me.

Big changes of the best kind.

In true-to-us fashion, we're moving.

To Colombia!

The last few weeks have been full of development. Even when we visited, we didn't imagine we would be living there any time soon -- though we did put it on our list of things to consider. Then Brent found a chiropractic office to take over. And Vemma is days away from the official launch after weeks of incredible pre-launch momentum, and we're excited to be a part of that again.

So we're going at the end of September.  Which makes it sound like we have a month left here, but in truth, we're going to Chicago (and to a very special wedding in Michigan) on the 18th for a few days, so by the time we get back we'll have to turn around and go again. That gives us about two weeks here.

There is much to be done, and I'm moving as fast as I can.