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! :)
I LOVE the whote chocolate peanut butter. I am completely addicted to it. You’ll love it!
jealous jealous jealous jealous . . . one more . . . jealous . . . of your food haul!
and further more, I believe that some very lucky housekeeping staff found an Empower Glo Bar in room 864 and is now eating it, because I cannot find the one from the swag bag, I blame Brad because I swear I gave it to him to put in his backpack for the plane ride . . . booooooooo
actually you know what, Brad probably ran into the bathroom so he could eat the whole thing for himself and then hide the evidence while I was packing to go home
Aww poor Eric!!! I hope you have a safe trip home!
The flattened bananas look/sound delicious! Some of the dark chocolates look like the stuff my dad picks up, but I don’t know for sure. My friends LOVE Teavana, so I’m sure whatever you got is good :) Love the twig spoon and knife set. Never been to Anthropologie but I’ve heard they have some great things… will definitely invest when I move off campus next year!
That’s so cool that you saw the set of Transformers! Too funny about Eric. Glad you had such a fun trip!
Rockin stash of goodiies! I haven’t tried that nut butter but want to badly.
I’ve tried a couple of those foods on my trips to the states. Amazing grass saved my immune system in California for sure, and justin’s squeeze packs are awesome!
As for the pb&co and tj’s nut butters, you need’nt have added all that extra weight to your suitcase! Several stores in the GTA have pb&co (off the top of my head, Noah’s, but also some metros in the natural & organic sections). As for TJ’s nut butters, I know a lot of them are the same as Bulk Barn. If you look on the label, you’ll see that a lot of the TJ’s nut butters are produced in Canada!
Gorgeous photos of Chicago! And LOL – I would have wanted to touch something from the Transformers set, too. It’s so neat that you guys were able to get so close.
Watch out for that White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter… it’s severely addictive!
Ohmygoodness Teavana…I have that exact bag in my cupboard right now. It is TO DIE FOR, hot or iced. Yum yum yum. So glad you had a wonderful time here in Chicago – wish we’d had a chance to meet at HLS, but there is always next year. :)
Look at all those delicious souvineers! I wanna go to Chicago – the TJs near me is so tiny it doesn’t carry half the stuff I see people in blogworld talk about! :-?
You’re so photogenic!! Thanks for sharing your Chicago trip with us :)
I LOVE TJ’s just mango slices. They are the best! AH, I miss Chicago. Such a fabulous city.
Looks like a wonderful way to end your trip- the Transformer’s set looks so cool!! I haven’t heard of Argo Tea, but I can’t wait to check it out once I’m back in the city this year. Have a safe trip home!
That peanut butter is amazing. It comes from a Peanut Butter little cafe in New York, Peanut Butter & co: http://ilovepeanutbutter.com/index.php/sandwichshop
Chicago is fabulous! Glad you enjoyed this wonderful city!!!
I LOVE TJ’s sunbutter! It is so good. I just finished my jar – I need a new one, stat!
I am so glad you enjoyed Chicago – have a safe trip back home!
white chocolate wonderful and the sunflower seed butter are easily the two tastiest things i’ve put in my mouth!!! so incredibly addicting…watch out!
Aww it looks like you had an amazing time in chigaco – i need a holiday soo bad and your little vacay looked perfect i’m very jealous! have a safe trip home. x
I know you know this, but you’re in this month’s VegNews magazine!! I was so excited to see your name (page 41).
Congrats!!!!!!
Seriously you are really making me miss Chicago! I need to go back like STAT!! Can’t we just have an HLS every month? Pleaseeeee?
White Chocolate Wonderful is the best peanut butter I’ve ever tasted! I’m from Ontario and I can purchase it at a local specialty grocery store. It’s delicious! Unfortunately, the store is experimenting with other flavours like cinnamon raisin and crunchy, so no white chocolate wonderful. :(