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, so i’ve been to chicago numerous times (live in wisconsin) and you make it look SO PRETTY! haha :) i’m glad you guys had such a great trip!! safe travels home!
I love the white choc. PB!!
Random question – ever go to David’s Tea in Toronto? We have one in Moncton too, and I love it! They just came out with a new Sencha collection – pricey, but I want to try all of them!!
haha I love that bike with the basket!! TOO FUNNY :)
Looooove the TJs super dark chocolate!! Mmmmmmmm!
That uis some serious food loot. Awesome!
Glad you guys enjoyed Chi. I live in a suburb of it and we love our city!
Isnt Trader Joe’s awesome!! I have yet to buy something there that I didnt love.
Im always amazed by how much better the prices are in the states. I mean, I got a GOOD bottle of wine for $5.99, and it wasnt even the cheapest bottle there. So not fair!
Haha if I went to the US, I would be bringing back at least that much stuff too! It sucks how everything is more expensive in Canada. But I found the Artisana Coconut Butter for only $10 at a health food store in Kensington Market!! I unfortunately don’t remember the name, but it’s on Augusta right across from Baldwin St. :)
I love, love, love reading your blog. You and Eric always seem to be on an adventure whether it’s traveling or out on a bike/run! Your goodies look scrum-diddly-umptious. I’m so jealous of bloggers who have Whole Foods near them!!
Great pics yet again!! You are such a light!!
A couple of my friends saw Shia LeBouf filming the Transformers movie in Chicago. It’s so cool that the set is around for just anyone to see (even if you can’t touch it)!
You will absolutely LOVE the white chocolate wonderful peanut butter. I could literally just eat spoonfuls of it it is so delicous. Looks like you had such a great time in chicago!
Aww! How fun!
I’m a foodie pack rat too. I don’t know why but I can’t help getting the cool looking foods!
The flattened bananas are great in oatmeal (never had them in ONO but suspect they’ll be great in that too). Also the sunflower seed butter, chocolate and Amazing greens. Surprisingly, my favorite of the three is the sunflower seed butter! Enjoy your treasures!
It looks like you had a great trip! This makes me super jealous of the availability of specialty foods compared to over here in Ottawa :(…. There is nothing close to what Chicago has to offer. There is the Farmer’s market which is great, but there are barely any specialty cafés and restaurants that focus on healthy, organic foods. I must visit Chicago one day :)
Thanks for sharing all the lovely things that the windy city has to offer!
I just found Trader Joe’s Just Mango too. Love, love, love!!!
I impulse bought the White Chocolate Wonderful after running across some in Sobey’s the other day. Loved the first few bites, but it was awfully sweet! I don’t eat any nut butters with sugar in them, so I think it was a bit of a shock. :) I bought some of their maple peanut butter when I was at the Peanut Butter & Co store in NYC and it was tasty. Too easy to eat, though!
OMG, I thought that Transformers set was REAL at first!!
Gorgeous sky shots :)
Thanks for visting and mentioning Argo Tea! We are thrilled to let you know that you can now purchase Signature Argo Tea bottled drinks at Pusateri’s in Toronto: 1539 Avenue Rd or 57 Yorkville Ave!