Graveyard shift....

I heart dinosaurs and these shoes from D Squared remind me of Sue in Chicago. Take my home to that Paradise City!

Memories...

I found this letterpress today and it reminded me of a wonderful trip I took in October with some great girls! Any ideas where I should go before October 21??

We built this city...

So long, farewell to an awesome city. I can honestly say this was one of the best vacations I have had in a while, whether it was the company or the city or the combination of both I did not want to return home. It has taken me about a month to stop missing this town, even now as I write and post these photos I dream of going back soon. I plan on travelling to Key West in February....but will it be the same? Who knows, what I do know is there is something about a large city, and realizing that you can embrace the life of the city. No, I do not think I could enter the hustle and bustle every day, but an easy Sunday morning every week along tree lined walks is something I could become accustomed to.

Chicago, new friend, see you soon....

Lions and tigers and bears...

The Lincoln Park Zoo is a small zoo, but makes for a refreshing Sunday stroll. We headed over after Nookies, walking through Lincoln Park and up the Beach. The Zoo is a public feature situated inside the park. You enter to find a tank of sea lions and meander along the tree lined paths. We saw people walking their dogs, running, playing pick-up football and spending time with their families. There were guides throughout the park offering details on the animals.There was a rather large ape house and even though these animals make me a little squeamish I did learn a thing or two.

Easy like Sunday morning....

Our trip concluded Sunday morning with me waking up at the crack of dawn and the three of us heading to drop our bags at the car and an early breakfast at Nookie's. Yum-veggie omelet! We then headed to the zoo, but not without a quick photo op at this delightful florist. It reminded me of Anthropologie.I could not get over all these row houses, they made me want to move, or at least live in one for a week and pretend I was from Chicago.
On to the zoo....

I got a feeling...

That tonight's gonna be a good night....our last noche in Chicago began with a walk back up Michigan (Magnificent Mile), a detour to grab a traditional Chicago dog, a trip back to the hotel for a wardrobe change, and dinner at the tavern.

In case you are curious, the dog should be topped with mustard, onion, sweet pickle relish, a dill pickle spear, tomatoes, and possibly a dash of celery salt...no ketchup! Jenn and Crystal tried some at Portillo's.No, we didn't make it to the HOB, but it was within walking distance of our hotel so I had to snap a shot of this music venue.One last shot after din din at Tavern on Rush, good night, Chicago.

Tall boy.

I was adament that our visit had to include a pit stop at either the Sears (Willis) Tower or the Hancock. Well due to proximity we visited the Hancock, next time the Sears so I can venture out onto the glass observatory deck, but enough about that.The Hancock was great and can you imagine some of these shots were taken from the ladies restroom? After a pit stop I discovered the awesome city views and went back to grab my camera to snag some pics.

Towering over...

The Chicago Water Tower is located on Michigan Avenue along the Magnificent Mile; the Water Tower is the second oldest in the united States and dates back to the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Rumor has it that it was the only building to survive the fire, but the truth is that a few other buildings in the burned district survived along with the tower.The water tower was the only public building in the burned zone to survive, and is the only one of the surviving structures still standing. In the years since the fire, the tower has become a symbol of old Chicago and of the city's recovery from the fire.

I've got the power....

I saw this street sign on a bar for LaSalle Power Co. and had to share. I work at a power company and this seemed very apropos, except it's a bar/music venue and not a public utility....to each his own I suppose....

Mystic Pizza

No we weren't in Connecticut at Julia Robert's namesake, we were in Chicago making our way through the windy city. Jenn had to have a traditional Chicago style deep dish pizza and we finally found some at Lou Malnati's.There were countless pizza joints around town, but after some unsuccessful Blackberry Googling (Malnati's is tricky!) and a quick call to Crystal's sis we settled on this one, melted cheese and all....The second Golden Retriever I saw walking about the town. I love them!

Big city nights...

...and big city lights. Our first night out in Chicago we ate dinner at Scoozi, a cute Italian place. I had the salmon with sauteed spinach (boring eater and I don't do pasta!) and Jenn and Crystal had the gnocchi. We saw Wrigley Field for a moment checked out The Cubbie Bear, Harry Caray's, The Houndstooth (an Alabama football themed place!)These are some views I snapped through the glass of our hotel room at night.

Take me away...

It was sad that we didn't get to the museum until 3:30pm, have I mentioned we had a whirlwind trip?? Well we had about an hour and a half to spend at the museum and it went by too quickly. When we finally left at 5:00pm we had to catch a cab to get back to where we were staying and catching a cab right as the museum is closing is not the greatest idea as everyone else is doing the same this. There was a line of approximately 50 people waiting on cabs. UH-OH! I thought. I was very afraid we were going to be there a little longer than I cared to, but we ran across to Soldier Field and walked up less than a block and grabbed a cab 15 minutes later. That's how it's done-such pros!On our right back we passed Cloud Gate and the Pritzer Pavillion-next time Chi-town, next time.