A Windy City [Christmas] Weekend

This blog is a tribute to a girls’ weekend well spent in the very cold but beautiful city of Chicago. I typically don’t plan trips more than a month in advance, but I actually booked this trip 6 months out, say whaaaat. My aunt, aka director of fun, found some pretty great airline deals back in June, so we purchased those tickets ASAP. If you’re driving from Cleveland, it’s about a 6 hour car ride plus some tolls. The flight though is only about an hour and you end up gaining it back because of the time change, so it’s basically like some weird Harry Potter magic nah mean?

Day 1: 

We took the train from the airport to our hotel–checked in, put our bags down and then ate some breakfast. We ventured out well suited for cold weather. Nothing was really open yet and we needed shelter (hi, I’m always cold) except for Macy’s so we meandered inside there for a bit. We found a beautiful tree at The Walnut Room where we almost sat for a drink but didn’t….. It looked super cute for maybe a first date or a timid group of four, but we were rolling deep with 10+ Italians who were ready for some vacation dranks and snax, so we used our best judgment and decided to leave in order to keep the peace. After that we ventured back out to see the sights. I’ve been to this city a few times but never at Christmas. Everywhere was decorated with pretty wreaths, trees, and white lights. I was in pure heaven. Here, take a look 😀

           

After snapping some pics we wandered down Magnificent Mile and did some shopping. I was just in New York City a week prior for Black Friday so shopping wasn’t my main priority this trip. After we scoped out Forever 21, Top Shop, Zara (muy favorito), and Nordstrom’s we decided to check out EATALY! LAWD was it cool. Two floors of pure authentic Italian food. Right when we walked in we were greeted by shelves of wine, cheese, and dessert; it looked like a high end Italian market.
You could spend the afternoon drinking wine at their samplings, sit at the bar and have more cocktails with lunch, or taste test all the different types of cheese. Our group decided to mangia on some pizza and charcuterie. This was true Italian pizza, just like my Grandma Nanni used to make. Half the store smelled like her house anyways because she always cooked from scratch. It was magical.

After that we continued to explore the city and headed to the Signature Room to indulge in some afternoon cocktails. If you had told me a few years ago that I’d be crammed in an elevator taking it to the 95th floor to sip on a drink, and then told me I’d enjoy it without stressing the entire time about the descent, I would have NEVER believed you. I used to have a very bad fear of elevators (occasionally that still gets triggered, eek) and actually would get sad thinking I’d never be able to see this insane view. Well, MAMA I MADE IT. It was a personal win for me and the prize at the top was just as I expected–entirely breathtaking. Like WTF, how high WERE WE.

I went with a festive beer because calories don’t count on vacation #amiright?! Unfortunately, I lost my video of the Signature Room ** moment of silence please** especially because I was a determined little bunny and basically sat on this guy’s table to snap it while he was enjoying lunch…thankfully he was cool, but damn I’m sad. Hopefully this pic helps you see some of its magnificence. Oh, and if you were curious, I did try and kick two guys out of our elevator on the way down.  I truly, mhm truly, felt like we were pushing the weight limit and as much as I love being a sardine in a 2 by 4 space, I just didn’t wanna partake in those escapees at the moment. It’s cool though, they managed to ignore me any who so down I went, my happy little sardine self. After surviving those 25 seconds, we headed into the second portion of our night–pizza and zoo lights.

We went to Giordano’s for some yummy deep dish. I’ve only ever had Giordano’s while in Chicago so I don’t have much to compare it to but it’s always delicious. We split a large among 8 people and it was plenty. I actually only had one piece and was full…weird but true. There are multiple locations so depending on what one you go to and what time of day will depend on your wait time. I’ve waited twenty minutes to two hours so it’s really just a gamble. After dinner we regrouped at the hotel, took a solid tweny minute nap and then went to a local bar before zoo lights. It’s so funny because I’m big on trying new places whenever I travel and I researched this bar for a solid ten minutes before we left the hotel. When we entered, I realized I had already been here for my 25th birthday three summers prior, which actually made total since I stayed in the same area! The bar was Snickers. A solid dive bar for a quick drink and some great people watching. After some vodka sodas and being offered a full kit kat bar as a romantic gesture, we ordered an Uber and headed to Lincoln Park Zoo for the Christmas lights. The ambiance was festive, the lights were cute and admission was free. Overall it was a win.I won’t call it a ‘must see’ but if you’re looking for something to do during the holiday season then I say go for it. The main area had a light display that was synced to music which was probably the best part other than this cute gazebo.

Day 2: 

The second day started with walking through to city to make our way to brunch at Cindy’s. My cousin had heard great things about the food but even better reviews about the view. We sat at a big farmhouse table in a spacious venue full of big beautiful windows that brought in all the natural lighting.

This place is a hot spot per report so a reservation is a must! Majority of the menu had shareable items so we all teamed up and split meals. Being the planner that I am, I shared a meal with Jamie and Sammi who are happily sitting on the opposite side of the table three people from the other end **thumbs up**. We ordered the Chilaquiles which consisted of chorizo, sweet corn, charred scallions, pickled fresno chilis, crema, salsa verde, fried eggs. YUMMY but spicy. I also picked at everyone else’s food as well and there truthfully wasn’t a bad item that was selected. Twist my arm, but my aunt also made me try their lemon curd pancakes–also very good but if you don’t like lemon I’d steer clear–strong flavoring! It was a fun, hip, but relaxing setting. I sipped on my espresso, snuggled with the blanket they had waiting on the chair, and brunched with ten of my favorite people in a beautiful venue–highly recommend.

It reminded of the Ivory on Sunset at the Mondrian hotel in LA, but with a way more laid back type of feel. Once you walk out onto the deck (which looked like a summer hot spot), you were greeted with views of Millennium Park featuring zi Bean.

After we spent 20 minutes snapping away (many selfies were captured right before this pic) we then headed down to the park. I didn’t realize how many of my cousins hadn’t been to Chicago before, so naturally we did the obligatory pic family Bean pic. If you know my family you know there are many other Bean pics not featured (one is never enough), but I thought this one was acceptable 🙂 Afterwards, we walked the river to grab a drink at one of the surrounding bars. Unfortunately, with it being December and all, almost all of them were closed except one. We popped in, sat down, relaxed and then headed back for dinner (a lot of eating happened on this trip, but if you want a fit tip, every meal I had was split and it absolutely helped w/ moderation. I actually think I under ate while I was there believe it or not).

Okay back to dinner because it was the star of the show–RPM Italian. It was one of the best meals I’ve ever had and is an absolute must try. Like, Juliana Rancic, go home with your bad self. The ambiance, the service, the food, the wine–everything. It was a total experience with our meal lasting 2+ hours and basically becoming BFFs with the waiter. I feel like I tried almost everything on the menu because we passed our plates and each dish was better than the next. I recommend the RPM Steak and the Prosciutto Tortelloni and the Bomboloni–Italian brioche donuts with Nutella and vanilla sugar for dessert. Yea. Exactly. Be like Nike and just do it. Oh, and because those simply weren’t enough *eye roll*, I was still determined to try Stan’s Donuts. I’m not a donut person by any means, but I had heard a fair amount of hype about this place. We got there right before they closed so they didn’t have any fun donuts left, but WHOA, it honestly didn’t matter. We bought two sprinkled donuts to split ad holy cow were they amazing. When the basics are dangerous I think that’s how you know a place is legitimate. After that we capped off the night with one drink and then headed back to our hotel to pack and sleep–another early AM flight.
Boom, just like that, another trip in the books. Another trip that has quickly become a fond memory. Grateful for another getaway and especially grateful that so many of us were able to coordinate schedules. Life doesn’t get much better than exploring, eating, drinking and laughing with some of your absolute favorite people. Thanks for following along and reading till the end! I’m headed to Austin this weekend so I’ll be sure to snap away, however, I see another foodie weekend up in the headlights (; Can’t say I’m complaining.

Until next time,

-Lauren