Girls' Weekend

Happy Easter! I promised a recap of my trip last weekend, so here we go...

Last weekend I had a date to visit Kristen in Champaign. The last time I went up there, I took the train. In an effort to same money/be able to leave when I wanted, I decided just to drive up there after work on Friday. Ugh, traffic on I-57N was horrendous. Apparently, it's gonna be that way for a while. It's ok, I survived. 


I slept in on Saturday morning. So, by the time we left Kristen's apartment it was almost lunch time. We just decided to head on over to The Black Dog Smoke & Ale House to beat the lunch rush. This was a brilliant idea because by the time we were done eating, the place was packed. We started with the corn bread appetizer. It was unreal. It had pulled pork and baked beans inside. Holy yum!

Even better with butter

For my entree I ordered the pulled pork sandwich and sweet potato fries. I got to take half of this home and it was just as good the day after. I have to say, it's a solid rival to 17th Street.

After lunch, we went to some neat shopping places around town. Kristen found some pretty earrings for me at Macy's. Then we came back to Kristen's apartment to watch My Week With Marilyn.

Celebratory mimosas were had

I'm engaged and she will be attending a doctorate program in LA next year, so we had a lot to celebrate! I also brought the little plastic glasses. Those didn't last long - we upgraded to big girl glasses after we drank those little things.

We continued our afternoon libations with a trip to Legends where some of Kristen's friends were watching the Final Four games. Then we went to Radio Maria for a gourmet dinner. I ordered the Sugarcane Shrimp Curry. It was scrumptious. 

The microgreens were taking over the plate! But underneath was a bed of jasmine rice with avocado, mango and crab. Yum-o. Kristen was raving about our dessert before we even got to the restaurant. So of course we ordered the Green Tea White Chocolate Mousse, behold:

 Look at how pretty the picture turned out due to the reflection of the string lights in the window! I had a great visit with Kristen and I'll be back in a couple weeks when Brandon competes in the Illinois Marathon.

Jarling's Custard Cup

This past weekend has been a whirlwind. Friday night we drove up to Chicago. On the way there we saw a very large cross in Effingham, IL: 

We also made a pit stop in Champaign to visit a friend at Jarling's Custard Cup.

The menu was huge, it spanned the length of the store. They offer everything from milkshakes and sundaes to old fashioned sodas and "snowstorms" (like Blizzards). I had 1 scoop of chocolate custard in a waffle cone:

Brandon had a pomegranate raspberry slushie (I think they called it something else, but I forget). Our waitress was new and I think she put in too many pumps of syrup, but it was a good flavor. We ate outside in front of the store. They had a bunch of tables out. Unfortunately, middle schoolers took over the place - some were even dancing on top of the picnic tables. They also have a drive-thru which was packed. We waited in line for about 10 minutes and we walked out with 2 waffle cones and the slushie for about $7. It was a fun pit-stop.

Bucket List: Saluki and Illini Adventure

Strike one off the bucket list! This past weekend I took the train up to Champaign to visit Kristen at the University of Illinois. I left from Carbondale on Saturday morning. I boarded the Saluki which was Chicago bound. It wasn't too crowded but I overheard several people who were headed to Chicago for the car show.
I did a crossword to stay busy.

 But my favorite stop was Centralia. Check out their charming sign:

 And my highlight in Champaign was this cutie:

Overall a fun and easy trip - glad I didn't have to make the 3 hour (one way) drive. But, I might try driving next time just to save money. Kristen and I also made a delicious V-day cake which you can read about here.