One year anniversary trip to Chicago
Cannot believe it's already been a year since Alex and I have been together. This past weekend we celebrated our one year together in Chicago. Earlier in the week Alex told me not to make plans over the weekend because he had a surprise for me set up. He said we were going on an adventure together. Some of my hints were I had to pack trendy clothes, we could bring Maya, it would be same weather as Detroit, and I had never been. I thought for a few days at work before we left. I was set on Chicago because I had never been & it was kind of an inside joke for us. Plus I knew Alex doesn't have a passport so Canada was out of the question. When Alex & I first started talking last year, the first thing I said to him was "you're from Chicago yeah?" I knew he was from Michigan but let's be honest I had to get him to talk to me somehow. So that's always been a joke between us. Funny how now we live on Chicago Blvd as well. So I'll explain our perfect weekend together.
Friday: I worked all day with the twins. Came home a little early which gave me time to clean out my car. Because from moving my car had been trashed, but after this trip I still need to get my car cleaned out again. We packed up, grabbed Maya then hit the road. We drove some before he decided to tell me where we were headed. I was soo excited to find out I was right!! We were going to Chicago. Alex had planned a whole weekend of fun things to do! We stopped in Battle Creek to drop off Maya at Alex's brothers. Thankful for family to help out. Found out my good friend Michelle was going to be in the same city so we made plans to link up. Which was super exciting for me since I hadn't seen her since Christmas. We arrived in Chicago around 10:30 & all we wanted to do was sleep.
Saturday: We woke up bright & early for some Einstein Bagels. We had tickets for the hop on, hop off bus so we walked over to our first spot. Our first stop was to visit The Art Institute of Chicago. It was huge! We didn't even get to look at everything but from what we saw was amazing. It was great to enjoy the artwork. Afterwards we got back on the bus exploring the city as we went. I fell in love with this city. Chicago is about 4 hours from us. So quite closer than NYC. I much prefer Chicago though.. it's cleaner, less traffic, better people and I much prefer the architecture. The buildings were so beautiful. So much detail in each of them. Then we waited in line for the Shedd Aquarium for what felt like forever. It was freezing on this day and I just happened to not dress warm enough so I was a cold cookie. There was even huge lines out the door even when we had a fast pass. I guess it was spring break because that place was packed. Aquariums are one of my favorite things ever and I try to visit one whenever I'm in a new city so I'm glad I could visit this one. Fun fact: the aquarium couldn't get salt water because clearly it's surrounded by The Great Lakes which aren't salt water so in order to fill the tanks they took trains down to Florida to bring water back up. They did have a lot of great things to see. I'm that child that likes to search for the poison frogs in their tanks. I also got to touch a starfish & some fish. Overall solid trip there because there was just so much to explore. Also loved seeing the penguins, beluga whales, and seals. After that we went to Navy Pier to go walk around. By this point we are pooped out so we made our way back to the hotel to nap.. we later met up for dinner with Michelle & her friend Leah. We met at some sports bar then ended up at some Irish bar later in the night. I just love seeding good friends I haven't seen awhile. We ended up being to lazy to want to dress up for a fancy dinner.
Sunday: We met up with Michelle and friend again for brunch at Yolk. Which was this adorable brunch place I was obsessed with. It's yellow everywhere and BYOB. What's not to love? After brunch we met Michelle's mom & saw the view from her hotel room. Then on to explore The Bean! Which I've really always wanted to just experience. It was fairly crowed there as well even though it was raining. Our whole weekend pretty much was full of clouds and lots of rain. But we did a really good job of still exploring a lot and not wasting our day. We said our goodbyes to our friends then parted ways. From there we went to the John Hancock Tower. Which has the 360 deck view of the whole city. I loved seeing the whole city from that view! Probably one of the best parts of the trip. It was like 90 floors up if I'm remembering correctly. Then we went downtown to look at shopping for some time whole waiting on our pizza from Giordano's. Hands down best pizza I've ever had. Deep dish pizza is a beautiful thing and I'm thankful for whoever created it. After stuffing our faces we packed our bags and then hit the road. We wanted to leave with enough time to get back home to his brothers to grab Maya. I was also hoping on spending a little time with all three of his girls which we were able to do. Ended up getting home late last night & going straight to bed. I'm surprised I'm not struggling at work this morning. But it was a splendid trip I'll never forget. I can't wait for many more anniversaries together. Cheers to laughter, more love, & adventures. Life is only the best when you are experiencing it with your best friend. I'm so beyond thankful my boyfriend put together this wonderful gift and gave us some really great memories. Love you, A.
Friday: I worked all day with the twins. Came home a little early which gave me time to clean out my car. Because from moving my car had been trashed, but after this trip I still need to get my car cleaned out again. We packed up, grabbed Maya then hit the road. We drove some before he decided to tell me where we were headed. I was soo excited to find out I was right!! We were going to Chicago. Alex had planned a whole weekend of fun things to do! We stopped in Battle Creek to drop off Maya at Alex's brothers. Thankful for family to help out. Found out my good friend Michelle was going to be in the same city so we made plans to link up. Which was super exciting for me since I hadn't seen her since Christmas. We arrived in Chicago around 10:30 & all we wanted to do was sleep.
We made it!
Saturday: We woke up bright & early for some Einstein Bagels. We had tickets for the hop on, hop off bus so we walked over to our first spot. Our first stop was to visit The Art Institute of Chicago. It was huge! We didn't even get to look at everything but from what we saw was amazing. It was great to enjoy the artwork. Afterwards we got back on the bus exploring the city as we went. I fell in love with this city. Chicago is about 4 hours from us. So quite closer than NYC. I much prefer Chicago though.. it's cleaner, less traffic, better people and I much prefer the architecture. The buildings were so beautiful. So much detail in each of them. Then we waited in line for the Shedd Aquarium for what felt like forever. It was freezing on this day and I just happened to not dress warm enough so I was a cold cookie. There was even huge lines out the door even when we had a fast pass. I guess it was spring break because that place was packed. Aquariums are one of my favorite things ever and I try to visit one whenever I'm in a new city so I'm glad I could visit this one. Fun fact: the aquarium couldn't get salt water because clearly it's surrounded by The Great Lakes which aren't salt water so in order to fill the tanks they took trains down to Florida to bring water back up. They did have a lot of great things to see. I'm that child that likes to search for the poison frogs in their tanks. I also got to touch a starfish & some fish. Overall solid trip there because there was just so much to explore. Also loved seeing the penguins, beluga whales, and seals. After that we went to Navy Pier to go walk around. By this point we are pooped out so we made our way back to the hotel to nap.. we later met up for dinner with Michelle & her friend Leah. We met at some sports bar then ended up at some Irish bar later in the night. I just love seeding good friends I haven't seen awhile. We ended up being to lazy to want to dress up for a fancy dinner.
Walking around the waterfront.
The Shedd Aquarium.
Sunday: We met up with Michelle and friend again for brunch at Yolk. Which was this adorable brunch place I was obsessed with. It's yellow everywhere and BYOB. What's not to love? After brunch we met Michelle's mom & saw the view from her hotel room. Then on to explore The Bean! Which I've really always wanted to just experience. It was fairly crowed there as well even though it was raining. Our whole weekend pretty much was full of clouds and lots of rain. But we did a really good job of still exploring a lot and not wasting our day. We said our goodbyes to our friends then parted ways. From there we went to the John Hancock Tower. Which has the 360 deck view of the whole city. I loved seeing the whole city from that view! Probably one of the best parts of the trip. It was like 90 floors up if I'm remembering correctly. Then we went downtown to look at shopping for some time whole waiting on our pizza from Giordano's. Hands down best pizza I've ever had. Deep dish pizza is a beautiful thing and I'm thankful for whoever created it. After stuffing our faces we packed our bags and then hit the road. We wanted to leave with enough time to get back home to his brothers to grab Maya. I was also hoping on spending a little time with all three of his girls which we were able to do. Ended up getting home late last night & going straight to bed. I'm surprised I'm not struggling at work this morning. But it was a splendid trip I'll never forget. I can't wait for many more anniversaries together. Cheers to laughter, more love, & adventures. Life is only the best when you are experiencing it with your best friend. I'm so beyond thankful my boyfriend put together this wonderful gift and gave us some really great memories. Love you, A.
My one & only.
Still amazed by how blue the water is.
Look at this beautiful city.
Michelle and I meeting up in the same city.
View from Michelle's hotel.
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