Up Close and Personal

Photography Goal for 2012: Enter more photography contests.

Well, the Chicagoland Digital Photography Meetup Group holds a photo contest each month.  Somewhere between 50-100 people typically enter a photo for each month's competition.

This deadline kind of snuck up on me, but I got one entered within a half hour of the deadline, nothing like waiting til last minute, right?

This month's theme was Up Close and Personal.  My entry is titled: Mommy's Juice.

This photo is obviously of the top of a wine bottle.  This particular bottle is one I purchase in Galena (a getaway city in Illinois known for its wineries) a couple months ago and I need to get around to drinking it!  I once heard a friend's daughter refer to wine as her "mommy's juice" ha so I had to go with it for the title.  Not 100% happy with my entry for this month, but you got to start somewhere, right?

Butch McGuire's

I realize it is no longer the holidays, but Eric and I didn't make it to this gem of a restaurant until the first week of January, and I have never been so excited to have stumbled upon such a happy place.  Butch McGuire's is an "irish saloon" located in the Gold Coast area who decorate their bar like this every November - January.  There is a huge train that circle the bar, 50,000+ Christmas lights, and spinning decorations hang from the ceiling.  As long as I am in Chicago, a holiday season will not pass without a visit to Butch McGuire's.

Shot of the train -

Ignore this little guy -

Great Chicago sign -

The Book Cellar

I love finding cute bookstores.  I think this one is my favorite so far.  The Book Cellar is located in Lincoln Square and is the perfect combination of cozy bookstore and coffee shop.  Plus you can get a glass of wine - genius!  The staff has some great book recommendations, they've got a section of really comfy chairs, a stack of board games for anyone to play, and they have a great selection of cards and gifts.  I had the best carmel apple cider I have ever had in my life; I will definitely be back!  Yelpers agree giving it a 4.5 rating out of 5 (this is pretty impressive).

Molly's Cupcakes

Molly's Cupcakes is a famous cupcake place in Chicago and they did not disappoint!  I like them not just for their amazing cupcake making skills, but also their philanthropy minded owners who donated a portion of their profits goes directly to schools in the Chicago area.  Molly's has over 1300 reviews on Yelp and comes in with a rating of 4 out of 5 stars.

Free sprinkle station.... got to love it. 

Yes, those are swings... you can sit on.  Pretty much amazing.

DMK Burger Bar

DMK Burger Bar is an amazing burger place and don't even get me started on their fries.  You definitely need to check them out!  Yelpers agree - 4 out of 5 stars with 791 reviews.  Equally important, that have a really cool Chicago flag burger - 

The King

Welcome to my childhood.  Perhaps the biggest tomboy you have ever met, I was OBSESSED with basketball, in love with the Chicago Bulls, and MJ could do no wrong.  I never missed a Bulls game when it was on tv, I remember crying when they lost a game (don't worry, this didn't happen too often),  and I even had a Chicago Bulls birthday cake one year.  I was the proud owner of the Chicago Bulls soundtrack, yes, this exists.  And I'm probably the only girl out there who was ecstatic about receiving a personalized Steve Kerr autograph.  It is a photo of him and says "Hi Katie!  Go Bulls!"  I wonder if the parents still have that...

I wore a Chicago Bulls t-shirt until it literally fell apart, and with the help of some neighbors, even made my dad sign a contract that he would take me to a Chicago Bulls game that year (yes, I actually made up a contract that said "I, Mark Marcouiller, promise to take my daughter, Katie Marcouiller, to a Chicago Bulls home game this season."  And then we both signed it.  Greatest dad ever, huh?

He kept his word and boy, was I in heaven.  And then we went out to eat at MJ's restaurant and a waitress spilled a beer on my younger brother (who couldn't have cared less about the Bulls) and they gave him a MJ jersey FOR FREE.  I was so jealous and remember asking if they waitress would spill a beer on me too.

Without further ado, I give you the Michael Jordan statue outside of the United Center.

Garfield Park Conservatory

Get ready for lots of photos!  Recently, Eric and I spent a morning at Garfield Park Conservatory.  Now, I think you have probably figured out by now that I'm not the biggest nature loving person in the entire world, BUT I LOVED THIS PLACE!  I highly highly HIGHLY suggest making it there at some point in your life.  The plants, statues, flowers, fruit, etc are very cool to look at and it is completely free!  It's the perfect thing to do on a rainy or cold day and I am actually looking forward to getting back there sometime in the summer.  I took a ton of photos - favorites below!

The Conservatory suffered some major hail damage last year and they are still recovering.  Having the nonprofit brain that I do, I have to give major props to the marketing materials they are using in their fundraising efforts.  Their designs are so creative and modern.  On top of taking photos and video of their damage and putting it on their website and facebook, they even took it a step further by making special t-shirts, postcards, etc with this messaging.  It enables people to donate to their cause, get something in return, AND spread the word that the Conservatory is in need.  They suffered from an unfortunate situation, but were able to go about their fundraising efforts very smartly.  They are slowing rebuilding one pane at a time.  Help them out if you can.

A special Poinsettia display for the holiday -

Labyrinth (very cool) -

Love the blue rocks -

Conservatory L stop -

Here's a sign you don't see everyday... (someone sharpied the "or" in)

How's that for a blog post?