Our 5 Day Chicago Trip

Let me start off by making this very clear, I LOVE CHICAGO. I love the big city feel. I love the restaurants. I love the museums. I love the shopping. I love it all. Although, if I lived there I wouldnt like grocery shopping. I decided this when I saw a poor girls lugging heavy groceries across town looking pained.

We went to Chicago because Justin attends the PackExpo and had to work sun, mon and tues. I like to tag along because as I previously stated, I love Chicago.

We drove to Chicago on Saturday. I was hungover from the night before and the first 2/3rds of the car trip was less than fun. Once we got close my excitement overpowered my stomach and I perked up to enjoy the traffic into the city. We stayed at the Best Western River North. It was a GREAT location. We were right across the street from Rock and Roll McDonalds and the Rainforest Cafe and Hard Rock Cafe. We were on Ohio Ave and if you walked west on Ohio about 5 to 6 blocks you would be standing on "THE Magnificent Mile".... aka shopping mecca and total heaven.


We checked into the hotel and showered quickly before going to dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. Justin had never been there before so I just had to take him because I think its a pretty neat atmosphere.

After dinner we jumped in a taxi and headed up to meet my cousin at his friend's house party. We had to wear costumes for this night but we didnt want to redo our costumes from our party so we just wore scrubs =) We then went to another house party then went down to a bar in Wrigleyville!


On Sunday Justin had to work so we got up in the morning and went to breakfast in the hotel and then Justin left for the PackExpo. I watched some football and then decided it was time to head to THE Magnificent Mile. So, off I went. I walked there and just enjoyed the feel of the big city. I went in a bunch of stores and finally ended up in "Nordstrom Rack"..... let me tell you: ITS HEAVEN. Its like an outlet of designer clothing and accessories. They had BCBG, St John, Chanel.... they had it all!! After walking back to the hotel I decided to get cleaned up because that night Justin and I were going to a very fancy dinner with a business contact of Justin's. He was taking us to The Drake Hotel (extremely famous) and we were going to eat in The Cape Cod Room. We love seafood so we could not wait!!! Dinner was FABULOUS and we had a really nice time.

Afterwards we decided to walk home which was really fun! It was cold but we had out jackets so it was no big deal. The only bad part of this plan was that by the last bit of our multiple mile hike my 4 inch heels had RAVAGED my feet, but it was totally worth it. Here were some sights on the way back:



Monday I decided I was going to hang out at the hotel most of the day and nap because I had a headache. When I woke up Michigan Ave (the magnificent mile) was calling my name! I headed down and did a little bit of shopping before heading back to the hotel. Justin had work all day then a business dinner to go to that night so I made plans to go out to dinner with my cousin. We went to Goose Island, it is a brewery in Chicago. Justin met us there after he was done and we were just having drinks and watching monday night football. Then my cousin dropped us off at another bar where we were meeting another one of my cousins and his girlfriend. We had a really good time with them also.

Tuesday was a big day for me! I got up early and went for a day of sightseeing on my own because Justin was working AGAIN. I first went to Adler Planetarium:
Then I went to the Field Museum of Natural History which I LOVED.

On tuesday I also found out that I was accepted into my grad school program that I had applied to which was SO EXCITING! Justin and I decided that we would go out and celebrate that night so we went to Shaw's Crab House which is one the best and nicest seafood restaurants in Chicago. We had a great dinner and a wonderful night.

Wednesday we decided to get Portillo's for lunch (this was the hotdogs that you see pictured in the previous post). I venture to say that this is the best quick restaurant in Chicago. We were instantly addicted. Then we went to Shedd Aquarium (I LOVE aquariums) before headed on out car trip home.




Then, unfortunately, we had to come home.