Chicago Get-a-way

Hello. I'd like to introduce you to the "new" me. The "city-living" me that went on a trip and spent the weekend living it up in downtown Chicago. That's right. Living. It. Up. Here's the view from my hotel room. Just call me ritzy.
Oh, and here I am at a Broadway musical. Perhaps you've heard of it.......Wicked? Mmmm hmmmm. But don't get jealous. I was sat in the very, very way back. I think it was, like, the fourth row or something. I was a little disappointed that I could totally see the zipper on Elpheba's costume. Talk about tacky. Wink. Wink.

I guess I should pause a moment and explain just what was going on. My mom and sisters and I decided it was time for a girl's trip. So we decided to go visit my sister, Bre, in Illinois. While we were there, we'd hit up Wicked in Peoria and then make our way to Chicago for a couple days of shopping and sight-seeing. And the only kids allowed were nursing infants! So that meant Shayli got to come.

Here we are in the hotel. (Please ignore the double chin. I was appalled when I saw it, too. But not appalled enough to delete the memory ;) As I said earlier, our hotel was one block away from the Magnificent Mile. Also known as Shop Til You Drop road. Okay, so I made that up but that's what we did! And we totally got a taste for city living. Our "hang-out" was the Corner Street Bakery. We slept in and walked to the bakery for breakfast everyday. Then we'd walk off our french toast and coffee cake by shopping. It was fabulous. I envy myself.

We managed to hit up a few tourist attractions, too. This is the famous popcorn shop. I didn't really know Chicago was famous for popcorn but that's Bre said. So I believe her. And if you look close enough, you can see my dad in the corner. He tagged along to watch Shayli for me while we went to Wicked and help out with the shopping! Thanks, Pa!

Amber and I are modeling our twinner jackets that we bought in this picture. (Ignore the creepy smile. I was overly excited by my super steal.) We call them our Chicago coats. We also have matching Seattle jackets from our trip to Seattle in February. It has become somewhat of a tradition. :) We almost convinced my mom and Breanna to buy theirs in green. They withstood the peer pressure.

Here we are at the Navy Pier. We were very lucky and had nice fall weather for all of our walking and shopping. It rained one day but not hard enough to keep us indoors!

Chocolate anyone? Of course, we had to hit up the chocolate shop! We went to Hershey but the Ghiradelli (right behind me) had a huge line. We skipped it. At this point, we were getting rather winded from all of our traipsing about the city. But we still had shops to see so we pushed through our tired legs and aching backs and pregnant bodies (Amber and Bre. Not me.) and kept shopping! After all, we were leaving the next day.

Shayli sure had a good time. She got lots of Grandma and Pa all to herself!

This picture is from the top of the hotel. We snuck into the sky lounge. They wanted to charge us $17 for breakfast just so we could enjoy the spectacular view. Amber and I just waltzed in like we belonged there and started to talk to the manager on duty. Turns out he liked us because we are twins. (I know, right? What's new?) Just kidding. In actuality, he did like us because we are twins but also because he is a triplet! And multiples just have a connection. So anyway, we stayed as long as we wanted with no pressure to buy an over priced meal and didn't feel guilty about it!

We made it to Millenial Park while we were killing time before going to the airport. They have the giant "Bean". I didn't get a picture of the whole thing but here is a close up. It basically is a giant silver bean that is super reflective. As you can see. People like to get real creative with their poses. We just copied a couple of people to try it out and then we were on our way!

And then it was time to go home. Dad got pulled aside for saying "bomb". Okay. Actually he was randomly selected for further screening. He's complaining to this girl about it.

And flying! I was lucky enough to get a flight with a layover in Denver. That way we all could fly together for half of it. It really made the trip easier on me. And I think Grandma and Pa enjoyed it too! Shayli did so well the whole time. She started falling apart for the trip home but who could blame her? She had a taste of the city life. And then she had to come home to the living room floor. I'd cry too.

Overall, we had a blast and I'm saving my money for the next girl's trip. New York, anyone???