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Open House Chicago 2016 Series – Part 3

Architecture

The next stop on the Open House Chicago was the Nineteenth Century Club House and Oak Park Art League. Nineteenth Century Club House in Oak Park, IL This clubhouse was established by a group of women who believed that education, charitable activities, and civic involvement were an important elements to a prosperous community. (Girl power!) This neoclassical structure was built in 1928 and designed by James L. Fyfe who had ties to the club through his wife and mother-in-law. The clubhouse is still used to support educational and cultural endeavors. At the time of my visit there was a dance class going on, which was fun to watch! Oak Park Art League in Oak Park, IL The Oak Park Art League was founded after World War I and this structure was designed in 1902 by Eben Ezra Roberts. (I like how colorful and fun this building’s exterior is) It was a place for artist collaboration…

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Saint Edmund Parish in Oak Park, Chicago

Open House Chicago 2016 Series – Part 2

Architecture

Saint Edmund Catholic Parish in Oak Park, Chicago Another site on the Open House Chicago 2016 was the Saint Edmund Catholic Parish. It is the first Catholic Parish in Oak Park, IL and was founded by Archbishop James Quigley in 1907. It is a 14th Century English Gothic style church which was designed by Henry Schlacks and dedicated in 1910. For a more detailed history, you can click here. It is one of those places which one has to see in person because the photographs do not do justice. The details of the ceiling is impeccable. It all looks like tiles, but if you got closer to it, you would see that it’s actually little squares of paint that are made to imitate tiles, so brilliant! I could not get enough of it but we had to move on if we wanted to see more sites on the tour!

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Washington Monument

Six Hours in Washington D.C.

Tay Explores

Remember when I was telling you about a friend of mine who was visiting from the UK this summer and I took her around? Well, another place that we went to was Washington D.C. And remember when I told you we were on a time crunch? We saw D.C. in approximately six hours! Also it was the day that there was a heat wave warning…so it was quite a day! We took the metro from the Glenmont Metro Station to the Metro Center Station which was the closest to the White House, our first stop! 1. White House We could only see this from far away. There was another fence in front of that black fence which you can’t see in this photograph that we had to stand behind. I remember being able to go right up to that black fence a few years ago. I guess there’s extra security…

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3 Dunes Challenge, Indiana Dunes State park, Indiana

Three Dunes Challenge, Indiana Dunes National Park, IN

Hiking

In the spirit of fall, I decided to share with you a hike I went on last October. It was the first time I went hiking after moving to Chicago. A friend who lives in Indiana told me her husband had gone to a hike nearby in Indiana Dunes National Park and asked if I was interested in checking it out with her. I was obviously interesting in checking it out because hiking is one thing I miss a lot here in the flatness of Chicago (as I’ve stated a few times already..so I apologize for my repetitiveness). We honestly got so lucky the day we chose to go because the weather was amazing! It was in the 60s with the sun shining high and bright as opposed to all the rain we’ve been getting lately. When we got there we didn’t know if we should only go up one sand dune or do…

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Frederick, Maryland

Eating Out

Another city that I went to over the summer was Frederick, Maryland. While living in Maryland I had gone here only a handful of times to visit friends at their homes but never knew it was such a poppin’ town! I always thought it was farmland for some reason (mostly because one of the friends I visited actually lived on a farm). I guess when you are young you see the world in a different way. That same friend told me Frederick downtown is becoming a very popular place so I thought okay, let’s check it out with my new adult eyes! I parked next to Baker Park which is what we walked around in first before heading into downtown. The park was really cute and at this angle had a European look to it. After strolling around in the park and working up an appetite, it was time to…

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An Evening in Annapolis, MD

Tay Explores

Another city I had the opportunity to visit this summer was Annapolis which is the capital of the state of Maryland. I lived in Silver Spring, MD for 9 years and I never made it out here before! So I decided it was about time that I went since I visit my siblings in the east coast all the time anyway. It is such a cute town and fun to walk around in. Our goal was to go inside the State House first thing but we didn’t make it in time to do that which is okay because I can always go back another time (hopefully). This building is actually the oldest state capitol that’s been in continuous use dating back to 1772! How cool is that?! We walked around this area and then wandered off to Main St. which was pretty lively at the time (even though it may…

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New York City in 2 Days – Part 2

Eating Out

*This post contains affiliate links. Clicking on them will not cost you anything* Since we did so much the day before, it was so hard to wake up on day 2! But knowing that we had a day ahead of more fun, we managed to get up and start the day at 9 AM! ANSEL DOMINIQUE BAKERY – CRONUT We got ready and went straight to Ansel Dominique Bakery in SoHo to find ourselves the much talked about cronut. Since we got there at 10, I thought we wouldn’t have made it in time to get one because they only make a certain amount each day and once they are out, they are out. We got lucky because we managed to get two, one for each of us to try! We excitedly bought them and headed out to their back patio which was so cute! I loved the neutral color choices…

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Ann Arbor, Michigan

Eating Out

Do you guys have friends that you’ve been friends with most of your life? The kind of friends that no matter how long you’ve been apart or how long you haven’t spoken to, you still pick up right where you left off? I know I’ve said it before and I’m going to say it again, I am so fortunate and blessed to have many of these kinds of friends. The reason why I’m talking about friends and friendship is because recently, I had the opportunity to hang out with three such friends. All four of us grew up together in Maryland and we hadn’t been in the same place together in a really long time. I moved away to California, and eventually,two of them got married and also moved away to different states. So, in April, we decided we needed to change our lack of hanging out and have a mini reunion! This…

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Desert Safari – Dubai, UAE

Tay Explores

*This post contains affiliate links, clicking on them will not cost you anything.* If you are ever in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), you HAVE to go on a desert safari! Without any hesitation, I can tell you that this was by far my favorite thing the entire trip! What happens is, you show up at the location of the tour and wait to be taken into an SUV. When it’s your turn, you sit with a guide who drives you into the desert. It looks exactly like how you would have imagined it. You are in the middle of sand dunes that stretch for miles on out. Everything looks exactly the same and you wonder how the guide knows where to go. There are no markers or anything else, just piles and piles of sand everywhere you look. Then, you come to a stop. Everyone comes out of the car…

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Yas Island Viceroy Hotel, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Tay Explores

The Persian Gulf is known for a lot of man-made islands, one of which is Yas Island. It was being constructed during my visit and even though it was not complete, the Viceroy Hotel was finished and opened to the public for the first time. This was one of the places I looked up before going and once again, I dragged my friend there on a hot afternoon. I wanted to see it during daylight and nighttime. I like to get the full experience! lol It’s main focus is the diamond mesh that covers it, like a veil. This  steel and glass panel structure stretches 217 meters over the hotel which is what attracted me to it in the first place. You are able to access what is called the Skylite, a poolside restaurant/bar area which is directly under this beautiful grid-shell. After touring around and seeing the contemporary interior as…

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