Stranded in Chicago

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As I write this, my husband and I are currently 'stranded' in Chicagoland due to a car problem we discovered yesterday as we tried to leave town and head back to West Michigan. Thankfully, my parents were able to pick us up and we are holed up at their place working today.

Friday night we had some very exciting news to toast to, so we had a nice dinner and a bottle of wine at my in-laws' with a view of the lake to boot. How gorgeous is this set up?

On Saturday morning, we recovered from said wine, made some eggs, and eventually left West Michigan around noon for a quick, expected-to-be 24 hours trip to Chicago. 

Most of the drive was pretty simple, but traffic was awful once we got into the city (there is virtually no traffic in West Michigan). It was a vivid reminder that, while Chicago is indeed a very fabulous city, it has its 'cons' just like anywhere else. Pack that one in the memory bank for when I'm missing the Second City...

^Can't wait to get out into the sun!

The weather was pretty amazing though, in the 70s and sunny, so I decided to be brave and don a crop top. I could probably get away with it in Grand Rapids, but I figure it'll blend right in here in Chicago.

We arrived at The Drake Hotel in the early afternoon. I had never stayed here before, but we booked the trip last minute and they had a good rate available, so we jumped on it. Not the most modern or updated of the Chicago hotels by any means, but it has its own old fashioned charm to be found in the vintage chandeleirs.

We quickly dropped our things in the room and headed back out. One of my best friends from college was in town, and my mom and dad were in town to see a play that night, so we all met up in the afternoon for a few cocktails at Rock It Bar and Grill.

We walked inside to ask for patio seating only to find out they were closing their patio, so my dreams of sitting and enjoying a drink outside were squandered. Oh well. Good thing we had amazing company!

After a few hours of chatting away, and a few mimosas and old fashioneds, my parents had to head out to get to their play, and they drove my girlfriend back to her hotel while my husband and I walked around a bit. It was a pretty nice day out, and we are huge fans of walking, so the fact that we could shop on the way was just icing on the cake...

Pet peeve: The board to the left says "mimosa's" instead of "mimosas." I'm just saying...

We passed this hilarious sign on our way to the stores, and I had to get a picture of it. My next plan is to find a way to put a chalkboard in our next kitchen and come up with clever notes like this for when people come over.

A few hours later, after I bought myself my husband bought me a few shirts, a dress, a necklace, and a hair bow (oh, the random things you purchase after drinking a few cocktails...), we were ready for dinner.

Hanging out in River North / Streeterville / Mag Mile is fun, but it is also extremely crowded and touristy on a Saturday night (read: tons of people randomly stopping in the sidewalk to look up at the buildings, thus causing a HUMAN traffic jam - yes, Chicago is not just the home of vehicular traffic). So, we opted to head to J. Patrick's, our old standard pub in West Town. 

The next morning, we packed everything back into the car (there wasn't much for a one nighter!) and headed up north to Andersonville. We met with some of our friends for breakfast at Lady Gregory's, and we were sitting outside when the temperature suddenly dropped like 15 degrees. It was crazy.

We started heading back and had just gotten on LSD (Lake Shore Drive) when we started hearing a weird sound in our Touareg. Eventually, we had to get off and drop it off at a nearby Volkswagen dealership. We were lucky my parents were able to pick us up and bring us home for a steak dinner!

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

• Do you ever do small 24 hour trips? I like short weekend trips because they are a short little surprise from life, and not quite as hard to "come down from" afterward.
• Any Midwest suggestions for a short-and-easy trip?

Rehearsal Day, Part One - Pampering and Ceremony Rehearsal

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The day before our wedding, my then-fiance and I got up early to hit the gym. He typically does his second "Weights" day of the week on Thursday or Friday, and I was trying my best to muscle up in my upper arms and back, so we went together and did a pretty difficult routine.

The couple that lifts together stays together!

Afterward, we went home to shower, change, and (tried to) clean up the apartment a bit. I wanted some hair volume, so I did some serious teasing and looked entirely ridiculous for a while as I teased my hair and danced around like a cavewoman to this song.

I was obviously not kidding when I said my apartment was a mess!
Nobody ever told me that weddings wreak havoc on your home, too!

I was just finishing getting ready when my cousin Clara showed up at the apartment. She took the train in from Madison, and arrived just on time. We stuffed some Quest Bars in our mouths and then met my sister at the nail salon... after she had a bit of a dilemma with the parking situation.

My sister had a lot of wedding props in her car, but most importantly, she had THE DRESS in the back seat. We were all worried when she couldn't find legal parking. Can you imagine if it got towed? She eventually found a spot on a side street nearby. No harm, no foul.

FYI: Pedicures are the best, most relaxing things in the world. So much better than manicures, yet way less people get to see the fruits of your pampering. I think I actually like them more than massages (I mean, you do get the chair massage included). Don't quote me on that, though...

Yay Manicures!

After getting our nails done, we walked next door in search of a bottle of liquor. I wanted to give my groom a bottle of whiskey on the day of the wedding to loosen his (and his groomsmen's) nerves. The liquor store was closed, so we hit up The Green Grocer and bought a very nice bottle of whiskey from Michigan.

Afterward, we had a quick lunch at Grandview Tavern, where we met up with Justin, one of his Groomsmen, Eric, my sister's boyfriend Ben, and my cousin and bridesmaid, Maggie. Once we had the whole gang, we did a bunch of rearranging of items in our vehicles and finally the girls drove to the hotel... with my wedding gown sitting on our laps.

Thank God I love these ladies because it was hot and crowded in that Audi!

We were staying at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place. Because the wedding venue was south of the city, and we wanted to avoid the Lollapalooza traffic on the day of the wedding, this ended up being our best bet. We had a Skyline Suite that had AMAZING views.

Truly, the hotel room was a wonderful "venue" in itself. We had a great view of the whole skyline and waterfront and everything in between. It was a corner room, so we had wide, panoramic views. So far, so good! 

After freshening up a bit in the room (I steamed my dress, which is extremely rare, so you know I was excited), we headed to the wedding venue for a ceremony rehearsal.

We met our Pastor, who was so gracious and lead the entire rehearsal flawlessly.

Walking our favorite people do a dry run of walking down the aisle was so special, and it really made things feel real. Same goes for fake "walking down the aisle." Apparently, I preferred to run...

Just like our hotel rooms, the wedding venue has spectacular views that sort of draw you over to the window. So, in addition to the ceremony run through, we ended up lingering near the great views for a while longer.

I mean, really, is there a better background for a picture?

On our way out, my Aunt snapped this great picture of us all in the elevator. She has a great artistic eye, that one!

After unloading some wedding props at the venue, we hopped in the car and headed over toward the loop for our rehearsal dinner! 

...to be continued...