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Sunday, March 17, 2013

Birthday Weekend in Chicago

Adrienne's birthday is exactly one week after mine, and we have celebrated every single birthday of our twenties together so it was only fitting that we close them out together. For many years we have shared a joint birthday party, and after we graduated college, she has always traveled to Atlanta for the celebration. She has also visited one or two other times throughout the year, every year, so needless to say - I was looong overdue to visit her in Chicago. I mentioned it to her a while back in the fall, and when I got a fare discount email from Delta on the same day I got a winter coat sale email from Bloomingdale's, I took it as a sign from the email sale gods that I must book a trip to Chicago. So I did :)

I got in town late on the Thursday after my birthday, and we stayed up talking until the wee hours of the night morning. I had already planned out all of my PTO days for the entire year, so to avoid having to use vacation days, I worked from my company's Chicago office on Friday and the following Monday. It worked out perfectly and I definitely plan on doing it again. I got there just in time, too - it snowed overnight! It was so pretty Friday morning.



I even took the train into work like a local. Compared to my daily 20-30 minute commute, riding the train to work was a dream. I loved it.


awesome view on my way to work




After work that night we had dinner and a few beers at Hopleaf in Uptown. Such a cool place and an overwhelming amount of beers to choose from. That last one required two hands to drink!




We spent the next day walking around Andersonville and Old Town to do some shopping and get our nails done. I was extremely skeptical about getting a pedicure and then putting on my two pairs of socks and boots. How crazy is this - they douse your feet in oil, wrap them up in sandwich baggies, and then you put on socks and boots, and it doesn't smudge at all!! So fascinating, and I wish they would do that all the time so I don't ever ruin my nails :)  I'm sure the lady thought I was nuts for taking a picture of this, but I was so fascinated.





Saturday night I got to meet some of Adrienne's friends, and we all had such a good time together. We started the birthday celebration at Violet Hour in Wicker Park. It was a really cool speak easy with an amazing drink menu. Though it was rather well hidden - this was the entrance which didn't have a sign for me to take a picture of, so this was the best I could do!


It was also a good place for everyone to hang out while we waited for dinner at Big Star, which was just across the street but had an insane line - nearly 2 hours! We spent the rest of the evening at Piece and enjoyed their live band karaoke. We made a pit stop at Ollie's on our way home - a total dive bar that was closing for the night but Adrienne convinced them to let us in for her birthday :)












I had to have Chicago-style pizza, so for lunch on Sunday we went to Lou Malnati's. Loved it! I thought it was even better than Giordano's, which I had last time I was up there.





That night we went to see A Chicago Revue at The Second City. We had front row seats and it was such a hilarious show! I was glad we went towards the end of my trip, since Adrienne had taken me all over Chicago and gave me some background info, I was able to follow most of the jokes. I saved my program so that hopefully I can look back in 10 years and say I saw someone famous from way back when ;)





Adrienne, thanks again for such an amazing weekend!! Love you and can't wait to come visit you again soon!




12 comments:

  1. That looked like so much fun! And the deep-dish pizza, uh...yum!

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  2. This trip looks awesome. How cool is it that your company will let you work from another office?? I feel like that is SO fun just to break the norm and try another city for a minute! Love!

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    1. Yea, my team is really awesome since they know I love to travel - I have a feeling a lot more people will be doing it also!! I'm crossing my fingers for NYC next :)

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  3. happy belated 29, it hasn't been too bad for me although i am only two months in. that is so cool you and your friend have celebrated every birthday together what great memories!! brr all that snow is making cold just looking at it. looks like you had a great trip

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    1. Thank you! It was a blast, and I'm okay with snow as long as it's just for a few days :)

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  4. Looks like you had a blast! I'd love to visit there someday!

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    1. Totally recommend it, loved Chicago every time I've been and still want to go back for more! :)

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  5. So fun! I visited Chicago for the first time last year, and completely fell in love with the city. But it was May and there was no snow on the ground, so that it made it easier ;) We had Gino's deep dish pizza and it wasn't amazing! Nothing beats Chicago-style pizza! Happy Birthday!

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    1. Thank you so much! It's such an amazing city. And yes, my next visit will definitely be over the summertime! :)

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  6. It looks like you had a fantastic weekend! Happy belated birthday! I've never visited Chicago but every time I see photos it makes me long to visit!

    xo jen

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    1. Thank you! Hope you can make it there one day, it's SUCH a fun city!!

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