Ice Skating at Millennium Park

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To make good on the one Christmas Bucket List item that seems to always go undone every year, I planned an outing last night for my work team that included ice skating at Millennium Park. I cannot, cannot, cannot believe I have never been! It felt so great to be outside, the lights of the city and twinkling from the trees bounced off the Bean so beautifully and it was a blast. It was a great team building activity and as I did a few solo spins around the rink to take it all in, I couldn’t help but think that I was in the middle of a new favorite holiday memory. I guess you should never underestimate the power of a little good, simple fun, right?

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Chicago Dancing Festival

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I won this picnic basket 5 years ago and last night, it finally made its debut.

The Chicago Dancing Festival concluded last night with the grand finale at Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion.  Joffrey Ballet and the River North Dance Company were among the performers taking the stage on one of the most perfect summer evenings we’ve had this year.

The dancing was stunning, the music was gorgeous and sharing the evening (and wine and eclairs) with 2 of our closest friends made for a whole lot of jazz hand excitement- so much love for Chicago last night!  And I wasn’t the only one- Mayor Emanuel was on hand to kick-off the evening, giving mad love to his city and our growing dance community.

Summer, please don’t end.

Yoga Love: Free Yoga at Millennium Park Edition

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Yoga at Millennium Park at 8am on Saturday morning is my new best friend.

A few hundred people, a few sun salutations and a lot of deep breaths.  I can’t think of a better way to start a holiday weekend…or any weekend for that matter.  Oh and did I mention it’s free?

Zenned out under a perfect blue sky.  Mad love for this morning.

Downtown Sound: Iron and Wine

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Tonight: Downtown Sound’s New Music Mondays.

Kicking off the week with Iron and Wine sounds like a plan to me.  Grab a blanket, a bottle of wine, some snacks and head to Millennium Park- I promise you won’t regret an evening spent listening to free music with a sparkle-y city as a backdrop.

Millennium Park, ready to rock.

April Showers Bring May Flowers

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I had my fingers crossed all April that the old saying was true- if we were going to get so many damn showers, some May flowers was the least Mother Nature could do to make it up to us.

On our little walk this morning, it seemed as if Spring had literally popped up over night- I mean, when did the trees go from being bare to in full bloom?  When did the flowers become so bright?  It was so beautiful and much appreciated after an April filled with a record breaking 7+ inches of rain.

The month is starting out strong- I like the look of May already.

Millennium Park: Ready to Rock

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One of my favorite things about summer in Chicago is all of the free concerts offered at Millennium Park.  I took a little walk through the park yesterday and while there was no orchestra or band warming up on the Pritzker Pavilion stage, everything was so shiny and…ready. Ready for blankets and picnic baskets on the grass, ready for subscription holders to take their seats in front, ready for the criss-crossed domed covering the park to be filled with all kinds of different music.

Downtown Sound: New Music Mondays is back for the 3rd year and the lineup is all sorts of awesome.  This free concert series is every Monday night at 6:30pm, May 23 through July 25.  Iron and Wine, Blonde Redhead, and Ted Leo are slated to perform- check out the full list here.  And this series is just one of many- last summer, the Chicago Symphony, Joffrey Ballet, members of the Lyric Opera and many, many others were a part of FREE performances at Millennium.  Ah-mazing.

All these seats, just waiting to be filled…