NU Alumni, Chicago Visit

Recently, we both took a 4 day trip to Chicago. We were at Northwestern University on Sept 23 and 24 to attend the NU Alumni Annual Leadership Conference. Since Emily and I are both Board Members (and Em is the Regional Director), they picked up the tab for this trip. Of course they didn't have to twist our arms too hard to accept the offer! The Conference was great; we met lots of new people and gathered some great ideas on how to better run our local clubs. On Friday, we had a nice lunch with the Board of Directors and Morty Shapiro, the President of the University. The best part of the Conference was that the NU Club of Portland won Club of the Year (out of 69 Clubs nationwide). Our claim to fame can be attributed to our increasing membership by 50% as well as a fundraiser and silent auction for Susan G Komen Foundation that netted $58,000! It was nice to be able to be present at the Conference to receive the award in person.
I would be lying if I said this trip was all business. We definitely took advantage of the opportunity to visit family and friends and stayed the weekend to do so. We also had a list of our old favorite Chicago restaurants that we had to hit while we were in town.
Thursday morning, I took a nostalgic walk around campus before our NU Alumni meetings started, and I dropped by the lab to visit my old cronies. It seems like a lot has changed in the two short years that I have been gone. It was great to see old friends and checkout the new lab space in Silverman Hall. The rest of the day Thursday and Friday were booked with NU meetings.....then finally we were able to meet up with Mike, Amanda, and Pauline at Giordano's for some real Chicago style deep dish pizza! I had forgotten how good it is!!

Amanda and Em at the lagoon on the lakefill (NU campus)

Amanda, Pauline, Em at Giordano's

We stayed with Mike and Amanda Friday night; their condo is pretty sweet and made me miss living in the city. Saturday morning, we walked around our old neighborhood in Lincoln Park with Pauline and had brunch at our fav spot, Nookies.

This is why Nookies rules for brunch: you always gotta get the trio special...it never disappoints!

We headed down to the South side Saturday night to spend the rest of our weekend with Kristy, Pat, and Elliot. He just started walking so it was a real treat to see him starting to accomplish this major milestone. He is the happiest baby and lights up the room with his Gerber-baby smile. We had a great time hanging out and convinced them to let a few of our friends come over for dinner too. We ordered takeout from our favorite spot in Chinatown, Chi Cafe.

Liz and Joe - we will be heading back to Chicago in March 2011 for their wedding :)

On Sunday, we took Elliot to the park to play. On our way to the park, there were several other swing sets and play grounds. He gave a little whimper and fuss as we pushed the stroller past each one. It was cute that he knew where every possible playground in the city is! We finally reached the much awaited destination with the cool slide.

Elliot showing off as he goes head-first down the slide!!

We had just enough time before our flight to take a walk out to The Point to see Lake Michigan while waiting on our Giordano's order (yes, second time for Chicago pizza in one weekend).

Em and the Papczuns pose for a shot next to Lake Michigan, with the Chicago skyline on the horizon

Wow, this picture stuff with Elliot doesn't seem too hard. How about Uncle Brad gives it a go with the little guy? The result:

OK, Em is fixing her hair, Kristy is wiping Elliot's nose, and I am looking at Elliot instead of the camera...

Let's try it again:

I guess 3 out of 4 is the best we'll do :)

We want to give a special thanks to Amanda and Mike for letting us stay in their new condo on Friday night. And we need to thank Kristy, Pat, and Elliot for letting us crash on Saturday night and for providing taxi service to the airport. Pauline also gave us a couple clutch rides around town. It was a great weekend, but went by all too fast. We can't wait to do it again soon!!