Chicago

Last weekend, my friend Amy and I made a road trip to Chicago to visit our friend Katie, a new resident of the city. Amy, a veteran of Chi-town, drove while I sat back and relaxed (between Amy's outbursts at the other drivers). Her dog Bella, was along for the ride. You can see Bella's happy face below.

On Friday, I wasn't feeling well so we didn't do much. Appetizers at Katies place, catching up, and then bed. But Saturday was our day. We started off by getting pastries at a little bakery down the road from Katie's house. Then we picked up Starbucks on our way to sit at the park, breakfast and lattes in hand. After breakfast, we ventured out onto a bus because the L was down (NOT my favorite part) to head downtown.

We boarded a boat for a downtown architectural boat tour. It was amazing. It lasted about an hour, and our tour guide highlighted each of the skyscrapers and what they're made of and why, how many stories, and what they are used for. Some of them are truly amazing, and I was surprised how many were built years and years ago. Impressive. After the boat tour, we took a stroll down to Millenium Park. There is a huge fountain area there with two large screens that scroll through people's faces. Katie told me they are citizens of the city. There were tons of kids playing happily in the water. There were several wedding parties under the bean. We tried to take a picture there, but were all horribly fat. If you don't know, it's a giant reflective thingy shaped like a bean. I don't know what happened to that picture.

After Millenium Park, we went shopping. This was one of my favorite parts. I was a first timer to H&M (THE best store ever), where the clothes are color coordinated, stylish, cheap, and fit like a dream!!! I bought a few things. Then we shopped for shoes at Nordstrom Rack. We also visited Charlotte Russe and I bought some earrings. After shopping, Katies fiance picked us up downtown and spared us from walking additional miles to get to Gino's, THE best pizza place ever. Chicago style. Although large and extremely deep dish, I was able to down one piece, and probably should've walked there to work off what I was eating. Hindsight.

That night, we got dressed up snazzy and went out on the town. I had plenty to drink turns out, but did just fine in the end. Nothing a little Ibuprofen/gatorade combo couldn't fix. Plus, when do the momma's REALLY get time out like this?

Sunday, we had breakfast at a diner down the street from Katie's. I had "Hangover Biscuits and Gravy". Fitting. Then Amy and I packed up and headed home. We had a great trip back over all. Minus a speeding ticket for 17 over. That couldn't be right....we were framed.

It was really fun to get away for a weekend and hang out in Chicago with friends. Plus, it just made me miss my family and I was super excited to see them when I got back! Here's to mini-vacay weekends!


Chicago...where sunglasses are forever appropriate


From left: Amy, floating head, Katie


Mel with new earrings and Amy Kate