Chicago!

I went to Chicago last weekend for my first full weekend away since having children (I am not counting my 24-hour BB reunion in June since it was really only one day/night and went by too fast to process!) .  One of my closest friends from college, Nicole, recently moved to Chi-town and I was VERY excited about visiting her and returning to my old stomping grounds.  It’s hard to believe that it’s been 10 years since my graduate school days of living in Chicago, and it is by far my favorite city.  It's the place where I learned how to be an adult after college, how to live on my own in a big city and support myself while I earned my Master's Degree.  Chicago is the city where Mark and I began a long distance dating relationship, and where two years later, he proposed.   I grew up immensely during my time in Chicago, and transformed from a new college graduate to an independent young woman.  Needless to say, I had a long list of places I wanted to visit and see last weekend.  I warned Nicole that I was going to be a complete tourist, and that I also wanted to eat my way through the city (both of which we did).  There are too many highlights to name, but here is my top ten list for the weekend:

1.       Window-shopping on the Magnificent Mile.  There really is nothing like that endless stretch of stores, bustling with shoppers, right in the heart of the city:

2.  Morning run on the jogging path on Lake Shore Drive.  (We actually got caught in the middle  of a downpour and felt like kids stomping through puddles, laughing and soaked to the bone).  

3.       Dinner and tiramisu at Roseangeli’s (my favorite neighborhood restaurant in Lincoln Park), breakfast cinnamon rolls at Ann Sather, and a bloody Mary at brunch.  Such a treat to go out to eat and feed only myself, at restaurants that I wouldn’t dare step into with kids! 

4.    Seeing Wrigley Field again, up close and personal.  I can’t believe this used to be 4 blocks from  my apartment!  We drove by both of the places where I used to live, and so many memories flooded back to me…

5.       Amazing sights from Nicole’s high rise apartment, which included unobstructed views of the downtown skyline and Lake Michigan.  We even saw the fireworks on Navy Pier from Nicole’s windows on Saturday night.  Talk about great accommodations!

6.       Shopping ALL afternoon on Saturday:  from the boutiques on Armitage Avenue to big retailers on North Ave.  (The organizational nerd in me was especially excited about browsing the Container Store!). 

7.       Dinner and drinks at the local wine bar with great conversation and atmosphere, and spending time with Nicole, who has been one of my best friends for half of our lifetimes now!

8.       Taking many touristy pictures of downtown Chicago (some out the sunroof of Nicole’s car), and enjoying the city: 

9.   Waking up on my own, showering and getting ready at a leisurely pace, being able to put on make-up and blow dry my hair, and sleeping through the night 2 times in a row.  Simply luxurious for a stay-at-home Mama of young children!

10.   Catching up with old friends (from graduate school and our dear family friends, Brian and Beth Davies).  Seeing where they live, visiting their little corners of the world, and meeting their adorable children was food for my soul.

 I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of my weekend vacation and felt completely recharged when I returned to Greenville.  Technology really did make it so much easier to be gone from Luke and Leah, as we were able to Facetime each day (that’s like Skype for you old timers!).  Mark sent me texts and photos of their activities in Greenville and the kids had lots of fun during their special weekend with Daddy.  When I landed at the airport on Sunday afternoon, I saw two little smiling faces (and one very relieved Daddy!) who ran toward me at full speed and jumped into my arms.  What a perfect finale to my wonderful weekend!