Vino Van Gogh and Goodwill Greats

After some awesome pumpkin protein crepes, I decided to take a rest day. It was beautiful outside and I really wanted to ride my bike, but I was tired and needed a day off after yesterday's run. I ended up sleeping way later than I intended, so I took that as a sign that I needed a break. Instead, Tim and I gave Napoleon a bath. He looks much nicer now and smells like apples.

Then, I meandered over to The Office Dining and Spirits for a painting class through Vino Van Gogh. First, I stopped at a grocery store and got some great bargains. This place had a huge bundle of bananas clearanced out, which I sliced and froze for smoothies and bread. I also snagged a Taco Bell dinner kit, which I mixed up with black beans instead of meat for a $3 dinner.

I also stopped at Goodwill and got two dresses (tags still on), jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt (with tags), a sweater vest and a silk scarf for $10. Score!

When I got to the restaurant, Alissa and I both started with white peach sangria, which was delicious and potent. Despite the fruit, it wasn't all that sweet. The way Vino Van Gogh works is they pick a theme for the day, then bring all the supplies and set up in a place where drinks are readily available. Alissa and I both got a Living Social deal and snagged this afternoon craft for $19. The artists/teachers walked us through how to paint a Chicago skyline step by step. It seemed very intimidating when we started like this:

When we finished a few hours later, Alissa and I both ended up with some pretty cool paintings. Here's my best interpretation of the skyline:

It started with creating the gradients for the sky and water out of yellow, magenta and blue. Then, we added black lines for the buildings before filling in each building separately to try and get the angles right. Finally, we outlined the buildings in gray and added the illusion of windows with white, yellow and magenta lines before adding lights along the water line.

Thanks, Alissa, for an awesome Sunday afternoon filled with wine, painting, bargains and chatting!