That is what Eric called me when he saw the huge bag of food I am bringing home!
We have had such a great getaway to Chicago. Eric says that it was the first time in a long time that he has truly disconnected from work- no cell, no email, no pager. He said it was such a nice rest! I am happy for him because he has been working like crazy lately. I am trying not to think about the 350 Glo Bars that I have in cue for me when I get home! It is going to be a crazy Thursday + Friday and then we hit the road again to visit family for the weekend.
Sooooooooo, what souvenirs does a food, baking, and cooking obsessed gal bring home from a great city like Chicago? Let us take a gander…
Have you ever tried any of these foods??? :)
I’m very excited to try this White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter!!!!
I bought the Amazing Grass sample from Whole Foods and I am going to use it on the plane today to mix in with my water.
And this Himalayan Sea Salt on the far right that I have heard so much about!
Also VERY excited to try these TJ’s dried banana slices! I heard they are amazing spread with nut butter. :)
I noticed that the prices in the Chicago Whole Foods were so much cheaper than the Whole Foods in Oakville and Toronto!! Just for example, the Artisana Coconut Butter was $6 cheaper in the Chicago Whole Foods than in Oakville/Toronto. Crazy!! I was going to buy one, but Eric reminded me that my suitcase was already pretty heavy from the other food. :(
Food kill. :(
I also got this super cute twig spoon + knife set from Anthropologie.
Vegan overnight oats here we come!!!!
Back to last night!
Shortly after hitting publish, I crashed on the bed and Eric and I slept for a solid 45 minutes. I am not a napper by any means so when I do crash, I know I really need it. I felt so much better when I got up!
We headed out for a late dinner around 8pm.
On our way, we came across the set for the next Transformer’s movie!!!
The Transformer’s crew member shattered the dream of a 6 year old in a 28 year old’s body. He saw Eric going to touch the fake cement and he said ‘come on man’ and just shook his head in disappointment. I giggled profusely and made fun of Eric for getting in trouble. He was crushed to say the least.
For dinner, we were not up for anything crazy so we went to the closest and easiest place by our hotel- Argo Tea! We love this place. Eric and I are both total tea lovers so it is a match made in heaven.
I tried the Hibiscus tea this time and it was delicious!
I had the chickpea salad for the second time and it was still as awesome as I remembered it. ;)
Eric had chicken and basil, tomato, and mozza sandwiches that he adores.
We are very impressed with Argo Tea. Everything is well done from the healthy food options to the creative and unique teas that are offered. The atmosphere is also wonderful, spacious, and cozy complete with desks for laptops!
Argo Tea would do WONDERFULLY in Toronto!! Right now it is only in Chicago and New York, I believe.
Then we went to the lakeshore to get some pictures.
Beautiful cityscape at night. :)
This morning we decided to go on a run-bike outing along lakeshore!
We split an Empower Glo Bar (from the swag bag!) and an orange for pre-exercise fuel. :)
Empower is one of my favourite flavours so I was very excited to eat it finally!
Along with a conference orange..
And some Herbal lemon verbana geranium herbal water (also from the swag bag!). It was wonderful! Very herbal tasting. No added sugars or artificial ingredients.
Then we set off for a 4 mile run along Lakeshore around 8am. It was gorgeous outside…nice and cool!
Eric rented a bike!!!!!
He was NOT impressed with the basket on the front! Oh my gosh we laughed so hard. He kept making me giggle on the run with his antics.
One last trip down the gorgeous lakefront path! So sad to leave it.
Bye bye Chicago, it was a wonderful vacation! :)
We did 4 miles in 35 minutes. We are heading out to breakfast now and then packing up and hitting the airport. I will see you tonight! :)
Wow. I’m really sad that y’all are leaving Chicago. I’ve loved seeing all of the beautiful places you’ve discovered. Can you please stay? K. Thanks. ;)
You guys got to do the best stuff on this trip! Like seriously, the Transformers set?!? Can’t believe they wouldn’t even let Eric touch it.
Those pictures are gorgeous!!! Wow. You must have had an awesome trip and definitely a great run in a city so beautiful.
I haven’t tried any of that TJ stuff. I might have to stop by after work to get some mango slices ;)
I’ve gotta say I don’t think I’ve tried any of those foods! But it looks like a really good stash.
And the Transformers set looks really cool! Glad you guys got to see it.
I wasn’t a fan of the white chocolate peanut butter, it was sickeningly sweet to me. Soo weird, since I have the BIGGEST sweet tooth. I’m addicted to their dark chocolate peanut butter though. The best thing to add to smoothies or even just straight from the jar. YUM!
What beautiful skies! Your mini vacation looked just perfect.
I have not tried those flattened bananas from TJ’s, but I’ll have to pick some up. I love the white choc PB. It is so good!
I was JUST thinking about that chocolate bar yesterday and how much I want one! Now I definitely need to make a trip to Trader Joe’s, it’s so worth it!
Beautiful pics, looks like you had a great time in the city. I’ve never seen those banana slices at trader joes, going to have to check them out next time!! Thanks for sharing!
That bike rental thing is really cool! I’ve never quite seen anything like it. And I like your foodie loot. Looks like a lot of tasty stuff. Glad you had such a blast in Chicago!
I just recently started reading your blog and thought I would post this for you.
I noticed that you bought some of the Justins PB. I have found a website that sells these individual packets for cheap. They have a few flavors. Here is the website. http://www.minimus.biz/Justins-Natural-Honey-Peanut-Butter-Blend-F06-0158502-1000.aspx
That website has some awesome individual sized items for a great price. I think if you spend more than $20 you get free shipping too.
Hey Angela! Looks like you guys had a great time. Eric is so cute with the little bike basket!!
I have tried a lot of those foods, including the TJ’s chocolate bar (very, very tasty), mango (one of my staples!), Justin’s Chocolate PB, Teavana tea (what kind did you get?) White Chocolate Wonderful (overhyper, IMHO- it just tasted like sweet PB to me). I have had other Vosges bars, but not the Creole flava. They make an incredible wasabi sesame bar!
I tried that Trader Joe’s chocolate and I was not impressed. It was almost waxy. Oh, and love the spoons from Anthropologie. I love that store. I think if I could ever get trapped overnight in a store, like they do in the movies, I’d pick there.
Wow seeing all your goodies makes me excited to go grocery shopping this Friday… its funny I’ve become such a health foodie that I get excited to find a new kind of nutzzo or yummy mango slices!
I used to stash a reusable grocery bag in my suitcase whenever I traveled because I knew I’d end up bringing a whole bunch of food home with me, but now that I live in NY it’s harder to justify because I know I can get pretty much anything I want here. I still end up shoving a few things in my bags usually, though! Also I’ve been meaning to try Argo. We just got one near my work.
So much food! It all looks delicious! And those pictures form your run are gorgeous!
Oakville Whole Foods always has the White Chocolate Wonderful PB. For a yummy dessert, I spread it on a ww wrap, nuke it for 25 seconds, then wrap it around a banana. Also a good pre-run snack!
I have a friend who was in Chicago this summer doing an internship. He also visited the Transformers set and managed to snag a few pictures with some of the actors. Looks like you had a great last day in Chi-town!
I wish they would get Trader Joe’s in Canada. I’m so jealous of all the yummy and cheaper food you can get in the states!
i totally want to go to Chicago now :)
I love your blog! It is a hidden gem! Your trip to Chciago came at such a great time for me because the hubs and I are headed there this fall. I now have a secret stash of local eateries which is heaven for me!
I love the TJ bananas as well as all the GoRaw products. Not a fan of the justin’s butters because of the palm oil in it. I either grind my own nuts or buy a pure nut butter with no added ingredients. I found pink himalayan salt at TJ’s but my husband wouldn’t approve of the purchase because it was produced in Africa. Let me know how it is….
What a cool vacation! I love that you got to see the transformers set! Have a safe flight Angela :)