Adventures in Chi-town | Part Deux

Finally getting around to showing you part two of my Chicago trip. Which involved more good food, more sightseeing and......segways. Yup, kinda like Paul Blart the mall cop. Read on!

started the day with the most delish breakfast sandwich and fruit cup.

Note: D has a thing with fruit cups, being that he always wants one, always orders one, and it ends up being the out of season cantaloupe and honeydew. We have this whole joke that we don't have time to waste on those cheap melon fruits. But alas, we lucked out with the "good fruit" -- strawberries, blueberries and pineapple.

Out hotel @ the Club Quarters. The room was pretty basic (we joked that it was like a college dorm room) but this place was good to us, and they even gave out complimentary bottles of water, which doesn't sound like much, but at a vending machine at $2 a pop, it adds up. Plus you want to stay hydrated during all your sightseeing.

and then this happened. Yes, we rented segways for a city tour. And let me tell you ....they are the dorkiest things but the MOST AWESOME things ever. I always made fun of people who rode them around (mall cops and security guards in particular) but they are so much fun and pick up pretty decent speed. You do have to get a bit of a lesson from an instructor before zipping around town, but it wasn't too difficult to pick up. 

D getting a brief lesson from our instructor/tour guide.

someone is excited!

I should probably be paying attention.

D, you look so tough in that helmet and construction worker vest! ; )

Look at me go! D was taking pics and filming this on his ipad while we were going down a small hill and I couldn't help but hum the tune of the wicked witch on her bicycle.

nah nut nah nut na na naahh

nah nut nah nut na na naahh

does that even make sense?

Tiffany & Co garden.

art museum.

this pic just cracks me up!

and this fountain behind us is the one from the theme song/beginning of the show "Married With Children" which I wasn't really allowed to watch (thanks a lot mom and dad!) but snuck to watch anyway!

"love and marriage.....love and marriage"

there were so many pretty gardens and fountains on the tour.

then we stopped off and took pictures of "the bean"

gotta get a good selfie in the bean.

nerds we are.

then we saw this happen.

my big fat gypsy wedding??

admired more flowers.

vintage feel tee shirt // summer plaid shorts

saw giant heads with flowers in them.

and took pictures with giant said head.

and the food, like I mentioned was BOMB. This was an appetizer of bruschetta. An appetizer?! 

This thing was a meal in itself and I enjoyed every last bite of it!

After having Chicago deep dish, I decided to go for something lighter this time around and went for prosciutto and arugula thin crust pizza. Omg -- it was seriously amazing, and now is on my to-do list of things I need to recreate at home. Blog tutorial coming soon!

So that was our trip in a nutshell. Overall I think Chicago is an amazing city, and the only thing I regret is not having enough time to see everything. So until we meet again Chicago - Chao!

xo Steph

Also linking up with Still Being Molly

Adventures in Chicago | Part 1

So D and I are back from Chicago and we seriously had the best time! Thank you everyone for the recommendations -- I tried to hit up as many as I could, but since we were only there for such a short amount of time, we tried to make it count. First off, I have to say I LOVE CHICAGO. It's such a great city. As a New Jersean/New Yorker at heart, its really hard to compete with the city of all cities, but I have to say --- Chicago is like New York, but cleaner, cool architecture, and amazing food. We were lucky enough to have a tour guide with us for most of our trip (D's best friend has lived in Chicago for 5 years now, so he knows the best places to go) so it made it a lot easier for us. Even though we did run around the city like two little tourists with our cameras, I wouldn't have had it any other way!

 Chicago is known for its architecture, so we went on an architecture/Great Lake boat tour of the city. We learned a lot about it's rich history, the great fire and so much more. Love those "corn on the cob" buildings and the classic "Chicago Tribune" sign.

 Trump Tower seen above.

And with our "tour guide" - D's best friend Ryan.

 Our boat tour took us from the river that ran through downtown Chicago right onto Lake Michigan. It was really cool to have such a great view of the city skyline (I rank it #2 under NYC) but ummmmm, I forgot I was scared of boats. The rocking back and forth, the feeling that I can't escape if I wanted to. 

See my concerned face above.

And D wants to get me on a cruise ship......

 {loaded baked potato soup}

heavenly.

 and we're back safe on land.

 Went up to The Terrace at Trump Tower for a drink, and more importantly, some pretty incredible views of the city....

 We were so blessed to have such gorgeous weather....hello 75 and sunny!

hello, chi-town!

 And did I mention the food? I was happy with every single meal I had in Chicago (so was D) and coming from two food snobs, D in particular having very high standards for Italian food, and both of us living in NJ/NY being the hub of multicultural foods -- I was very impressed. 

 I finally got my Chicago deep dish pizza!

This thing was the BOMB, but it sat in my stomach like a brick. And I only had two pieces. As delicious as this was, it definitely wasn't NY style slices. More like a tomato and cheese quiche.

#werenotinnewyorkanymore

One nice thing about having a friend living in the city (aside from the company) is that you can veer off the path and do non-touristy things. So we ventured off to other neighborhoods in the city including Wicker Park and Old Town for dinner two nights. Had more amazing food (including sushi, a lobster roll for me, and some great seafood) and some vino. While walking down the street to the next stop, Ryan mentioned to us that abandoned bar seen above is the bar serial killer Jeffery Dahmer lured one of his victims in the early 90's. So scary. Apparently the bar closed down ever since that discovery was made and no on has ever wanted to buy the property. They now have plans to demolish the building....rightfully so.

And now after you have that creepy story in you're head, I'll leave you with a happy photo of D and I enjoying drinks at the fabulous Trump Tower:

Stay tuned for part 2 of our Chicago adventures....

Also just realized I accomplished #1 on my Summer Bucket List. Score!

xo Steph

Jet setting & What to pack in a carry on

First of all, I wanted to say thank you for all the sweet birthday wishes and comments I got from you all! They mean the world to me, and this birthday I felt truly loved and blessed by all the wonderful people in my life! 30 will definitely be the best year yet, and I'm so excited to see what I have in store! I took tons of pictures and will be sharing them over the next few days. 

But also amidst all the birthday festivities I think I forgot to tell you all D and I are taking a little mini vacation to Chicago this weekend. I've never been there so I'm super excited! So today I've put together some of my travel essentials you need to pack in your carry on. Check it out:

Carry-on essentials:

Tory Burch navy blue flat shoes // MK Yellow and white tote bag, also in this color // Travel wallet  // heart print infinity scarf // Kate Spade ipad case // Smashbox travel size makeup // Evian spray // Essie blue nail polish 

As I mentioned before, I've never been to Chicago so I have no idea what to expect, what kinds of clothes to pack or really what to do. For anyone who's been there -- I'd love some recommendations for places to see, food etc. All I know is I am getting some deep dish pizza for sure!!

So where should I go when in Chicago?

Again, thanks for all the birthday love and hope you all have a wonderful day!

xo Steph