Hotel 71 Chicago Review
Kevin and I had the opportunity this past weekend to stay overnight in a fitness suite at Hotel 71 Chicago in exchange for a review. We had such a great time and I wanted to share a review of the entire hotel. It is definitely a place you should stay if you are ever in Chicago for a visit.
We had the pleasure of going to a Chicago White Sox game last weekend and it was a blast. Our friends invited us to go to an evening game so we left early to have a fun lunch with them at Red Robin. Then Kev drove us all downtown.
The U.S. Cellular Field stadium is awesome and there were lots of food vendors, shops and more. I bought Kev a fitness shirt and myself a zip up hoodie. And we had a bit of junk food too like caramel popcorn, a Lemon Chill and of course he couldn’t go to the game and not have peanuts. Went through lots of bottled water too.
Kev kept telling me to keep an eye out for the ball just in case and was telling me a story of a ball hitting someone one time and low and behold, not minutes later it happened to a young lady down front. She got popped in the jaw/mouth and was bleeding. Yikes! Always be on the lookout for those foul balls.
TravelZoo Cheap Travel Deals 
Have you checked out Travel Zoo? You’ll find lots of cheap travel deals on flights, hotels, vacations, cruises not to mention local deals too.
I plugged in the dates for my upcoming Vegas trip and it was very easy to use. It gave me the choice to see fares from recommended sites like Priceline, Expedia, American Airlines and others. Then I moved on to check out local deals in the Chicago area and Midwest. There is some cool stuff! Restaurant deals, plays in Chicago, dinner cruises and even Chicago museum deals.
Another thing I noticed on their site is the featured destinations. Clicked on Fiji (Heaven!) and was able to read a bit about the country itself.
You can be alerted of new vacation deals when you sign up for their TravelZoo vacation newsletter. I signed up today and look forward to checking it out more.
Have you ever used a travel deals site?
84th Annual Lake County Fair
This year we finally went to the Lake County Fair here in IL. We went this past Saturday night and had a blast. I remember having the most fun going to the fair at night as a kid. The bright lights, crowds, rides and all that naughty food.
We went on the Ferris Wheel, played some games, checked out the livestock and the best part of all was the Monster Truck Nationals. THAT was so much fun and we sure hope to go to more of those.
We were looking forward to hearing the steel drum band but missed it. There were a ton of fun things on the schedule this year like a pie eating contest, police dog demonstration, other bands and much more.
Opening Ceremony
The opening ceremony for the 2012 London Summer Olympics starts tomorrow night. I’m really excited to watch! I’m looking forward to the next 17 days of beach volleyball, boxing, cycling, diving/swimming, gymnastics….oh who am I kidding, I’ll be glued to the TV.
I’ll be in Atlanta on a business trip for 5 of those days. Hopefully they will have the Olympics playing on the hotel lobby TV.
I haven’t had the chance to follow the Olympic torch relay. Have you? So excited for tomorrow!
London Summer Olympics on Social Media
You can follow the the Olympics on Twitter, Facebook and You Tube.
Will you be watching the 2012 London Summer Olympics?
Oh and don’t miss the Paralympics coming Aug. 29th.
49th Annual IPRA Championship Rodeo
So every year we talk about wanting to go to the Wauconda, IL Rodeo which is just down the street from us. Every year we find ourselves busy with something else. I believe we are finally going to go this year!
I think it would be fun to watch and might make for a good date night. It sounds like a great local event sponsored by the Wauconda Chamber of Commerce with awesome sponsors like American Eagle, Daily Herald, Chicago Tribune, Three Amigas, JJ Twigs and more.
National Pina Colada Day
It’s a great day to celebrate the Pina Colada. It is one of my favorite drinks when we travel to the Caribbean.
If you can’t be in the Caribbean, whip one up for yourself and imagine you’re there. It’s the next best thing!
Here are some Pina Colada recipes for you to enjoy.
Recipes for National Pina Colada Day from ABC News
I love travel planning websites. It’s always fun to see where others travel and places they recommend.
I came across the Gogobot travel planning site and signed up. It’s free! Went ahead and set up my profile, added some of our past travel destinations and before getting totally sucked into the site, I wanted to share it with you.
You can plan pretty much any trip you want here. A week long vacation, weekend getaway, business trip and more.
Shop Irv’s Luggage this weekend for some great Memorial Day luggage sales. Markdowns taken site wide on some of their best brands.
You can save an extra 10-75% through Tuesday, May 29, 2012. Plus there is FREE SHIPPING on orders over $99.
Disney duffel bags, backpacks and carry on luggage, Kenneth Cole briefcases, awesome luggage sets and more. These would make the perfect gifts for your graduate AND don’t forget Father’s Day is coming up too. (more…)
Murals Make Memories That Last Forever
Ah memories. You had the most fabulous trip ever and now you have tons of pictures and videos and even a cute set of salt and pepper shakers to prove it.
When you have a favorite destination in the whole wide world, even just thinking of it can bring back all those warm and fuzzy feelings. But why keep those memories all in your head, or tucked away in the coffee table scrap book? Did you know you can capture the essence of your favorite vacation spot with a custom wall mural?