I can't believe it's been a month since Jodes and I went to Chicago for "Hamilton!" While the play was undoubtedly the highlight of the weekend, we crammed plenty of Schwegmanigans (HA) into the 48 hours I was there to enjoy.
Arriving Thursday afternoon to the most beautiful day ever kicked the trip off on the right foot. 70 degrees and sunny in Chicago on November 17th? Does it get better than that?
Jodes and I checked in at our BnB, dropped our bags, and killed a few hours shopping in Lincoln Park before heading to RM Champagne for dinner. I enjoyed the street graffiti...
...not to mention RM's STRONG gallery wall game.
Em arrived soon after work, and we splurged on a major bottle of Ayala Blanc des blancs for the dinner.
We chased our healthy dinner of French onion soup, trois-fromage flatbread and copious amounts of pommes frites with mignardises...pumpkin spice and pistachio macarons, cheesecake bites, and tiny brownies. So perfect, so girly, so fun!
After our foray to the PrivateBank Theater to see the "Hamilton" marquee, we went home and crashed...Jodes and I had been up way early and were dead!
The next morning, we enjoyed coffee and fruit at our stunning BnB while bonding with our hosts. Fun story: they happened to have a nephew who had literally just moved to the same suburb of Detroit as little bro Jonathan!
Didn't hurt that the place is absolutely STUNNING, either. So pretty! I'd like to live there, please. Or just have it be my house someday in ten years or so when I'm supposedly actually a grown-up.
We met up with Em on her el train stop and headed to brunch at Kanela Breakfast Club. Meems and I split the fried egg sandwich and the goat cheese omelette...both were write-home-to-mama good, except our mama was right there with us!
The weather turned on us during brunch, so we ducked around the corner and across the street, where we encountered my new favorite place ever:
As a self-professed book freak, couldn't not take a photo, lol. I prefer my books well-done, but rare is nice too :)
We killed over an hour in Foursided, one of Em's favorite stores in the area, and picked up plenty of pretty girly things. As soon as the rain cleared we hoofed it to Em's street...
...while I marveled at my beautiful Schwegwomen and the gorgeous leaves. Chicago, man, you're pretty.
I finally got to see Em's new place and marvel at her and her roommate Karli's decorating skillz! Her gallery wall was a particular favorite of mine. Oh to have an artist's natural eye and not have to be the world's hugest spaz about gallery walls!
Having done our off-the-beaten-path "real Chicago" stuff, we did literally one of THE most touristy things possible and headed to the Signature Room at the Hancock Center for pre-show cocktails! Despite the rain, the view from our table at the window couldn't have been prettier.
The bubbles didn't hurt, either ;)
Having admired the view and pointed out landmarks to our heart's content, we hit the streets and strolled in the direction of "Hamilton" and our dinner res, which was about two miles down from the Hancock. Thinking we'd grab an Uber on the way, we changed our minds as soon as we saw how gorgeous the city was post-storm.
And lucky we did! We stumbled right on the Wrigley Building tree-lighting ceremony!
Carolers, confetti, a giant spruce tree, and Em, Jodes and I even got interviewed about our feelings on the holiday season in Chicago for a local newspaper, haha. It was such a serendipitously funny, fun moment to make the day feel even more special!
We ended up walking all the way to dinner, where I spazzed and got crazy-excited about "Hamilton" as previously chronicled. The next morning I had to be up at 4:45 to head home in time for the evening's opera festivities, but oh my god, Chicago, you stole my heart pretty hard on this trip...
Til next time!