We attended a friend’s wedding in Chicago this weekend, and as always, the trip was more adventurous than we had expected. With an early morning flight, we were proud to have avoided the torrential rain storm, but got drenched walking to Unos (the original Pizzeria Uno) for lunch. After warming up to hearty deep dish pizza and mugs of warm water, we trudged back through the rain, contemplating shelter between Marilyn Monroe’s legs along the Magnificent Mile, before returning to the hotel for a much-needed afternoon nap. The evening wedding took place at the Crystal Gardens in Navy Pier, a spectacular venue complete with indoor palm trees, water snake fountains, and an outdoor balcony overlooking the water. Along with an elaborate raw bar, spectacular fireworks, a party photo booth, and great dance music, the reception made for an amazing evening of celebration. On Sunday, we began the morning with a coma-inducing brunch, then joined some friends to watch the Chicago Air & Water Show from their 66th floor condo balcony overlooking the harbor. The high-flying stunt planes, down-going parachuters, and super-speed Air Force Thunderbirds wowed us with some amazing feats of aviation. We were exhausted when we got back, but were relieved that our car was already parked at the airport (our first time!). With fellowship interviews approaching soon, I’ll look forward to hopefully another trip to the windy city.

This year’s Shakespeare on the Common featured All’s Well That Ends Well. It’s one of Shakespeare’s lesser known plays, and for good reason – neither the story nor the characters were particularly sympathetic or even likeable. Originally classified as a comedy, it is now considered a problem play, so named because it cannot be categorized neatly as a tragedy or comedy. Although the show was well-acted as always, the story made little sense, boiling down to boy meets girl, girl forces boy to marry her, boy cheats on girl, girl tricks boy into bed, girl gets pregnant and confronts boy, then boy marries girl … again. Despite the ridiculous story line, it made for a nice summer outing in the park with delicious take-out Chinese food and some intense games of Boggle with friends before the show. We also caught the latest and final movie from the Harry Potter saga last weekend. This was actually the first movie we’ve seen in the theater since the last Harry Potter movie came out a year ago. It was fun seeing how much the kids have grown over the past decade, although it also reminded us of how much we’ve aged ourselves. Meanwhile, my last week of night float as a senior will be coming up in a week. Already, I can recall my memories of the fun and chaos of the owl shift at the MEEI emergency room. I am sure there’ll be stories to tell.