Weekend In The City... Part 3

Our fun night out with friends in Chicago was May 10, 2014.  The other two couples arrived at the hotel and we got started on the fun!

 

Sarah, Megan and I took a cab to get our hair and makeup done at Goldplaitd. It was fabulous! We had champagne and got pampered.

Hair. CHECK.

Make up. CHECK.

Fun girls. CHECK.

We all came to Chicago to celebrate Farooq and Sarah's anniversary. Before dinner we a little bit of the bubbly to start the celebration!

Wedded bliss :)

Popping bottles of bubbley...

 

So then, after a toast and glasses clinging, we headed a few blocks away to the John Hancock building. We had dinner at the Signature Room on the 95th floor of the building.

 

We were what you might call fancy...

Oh, these boys.... always ordering big things.

None of us girls at it.

Alex's Lobster Bisque.

He loved it.

I kept the lobster's head and took it out to the bars with us.

My delicious chicken.

 

Alex's steak.

Our view from the table.

This is the view in the lady's bathroom.... it's one of the best views in the house.

 

Here is our rowdy crew. I seriously think they were super happy to see us leave. It was the type of restaurant where they have way too many forks for the amount of food you plan to eat and they even put your napkin on your lap for you. I get uncomfortable and trashy in restaurants like that :)

As always, Alex was giving the man working the elevator a hard time.

Always a comedian.

The Jacksons ready for some "clubbin'"

Jason and Megan...people who actually go clubbing and it isn't a far fetched idea to.

Farooq and Sarah....they left five month old twins, a four year old, and a 16 year old at home with a babysitter. This is their party faces.

Mannequins.

They both look so pretty here :)

 

We walked back to the hotel and freshened up. Then we got another surprise. Alex and Jason got us a limo for the night. We headed to a bar across town that wasn't very "poppin'". Then we headed to Sound Bar and did the clubbing thing. It was like a scene out of a movie for me. I'm more of a townie bar kind of girl. Less of a downtown, massive night club girl. It was fun. We had lots of drinks and there was a ton of people watching. Then we rode around town and blared music and danced in the limo. It was perfection. We ended back at the Drake at 2 am. We were all intoxicated and happy!!!

 

 

The next morning we all got up and walked to a place for breakfast/lunch a few blocks away. We had all felt better in the past :) It was a rough morning. We then checked out and headed home to see our babies :)  The kids had stayed with Mom and Dad all weekend. They had even gone to the Villa for the Saturday and Sunday. Gigi and Papa dropped them off around 5 pm which gave us a chance to take a bit of a nap. Awesome weekend with friends :) We had so much fun!!

Weekend In The City... Part 2

On Saturday morning, Alex and I woke up and got going. We headed up to the executive level to get the powdered eggs that were included in the price of the suite. Then we got ready and headed out to explore the city.

 

We walked down to the lake from our hotel and followed it around until we ended at Navy Pier. Once there were went window shopping. We were sweating bullets. Like we were both so hot and uncomfortable so we both bought Tshirts and took off our long sleeve shirt/sweater. If we didn't look like tourists before, we did now!

 

Before we left Navy Pier, we decided to go up in the ferris wheel and get a view of the city.

 

It's just so pretty....

We were with another couple. They were on an actual date. They weren't dressed like tourists.

They were young and cute.

Then there is us. The old married couple.

Wearing cool shirts.

Then we walked along the lake again. We just kept people watching and walking.

It was awesome!

How crazy that this is in downtown Chicago on a Saturday morning. No cars were on this road. Crazy.

We walked over to Millennium Park. I had never been there.

It was pretty cool :)

 

 

THE BEAN

I spy with my little eye....

Cool right?

I LOVE this one.

The bean was just pretty cool....although there were a crap ton of people there.

There was even a tacjy little wedding party there.

The water park next to Millennium Park.

Alex performed his ALS cold water challenge here.

This was just so cool.

There were protesters/marchers for the African girls that had been taken.

I love the Chicago River. That area is pretty much my favorite area. It looks awesome with buildings on either side of the river.

We walked all over town. We shopped. We walked some more. We ended up at a bar with a bloody mary bar...Alex was in heaven. We got a small lunch and drinks and hung out for awhile.

He didn't mess around with his blood mary...

 



 

After lunch we headed back to the hotel to meet Farooq and Sarah. Time for a our fun filled night out with friends to start!!

Weekend In The City... Part 1

So our trip into the city of Chicago officially began after our visit to Chris, Tammy, and the boys. We headed downtown. We drove on Lake Shore with the windows down and our country white people music playing. It was glorious.  We stayed at the Drake right along the lake. Farooq, Sarah, Jason and Megan were staying at the same place starting the next day. So we got a room for two nights. My salesman of a husband got our room upgraded to some sort of suite. We had to give them our first born child for it but it was worth it for the room. (obviously kidding).

 

Our room for the weekend...

I feel certain the draperies are probably brand new...

Our view of Michigan Avenue from our room. Not. Too. Shabby.

There was also excellent people...and cat....watching in the building there across the way.

We had lunch at Water Tower Place....just a little snack of sorts. Then we hung out and shopped for a bit.

 

We had some sort of executive something so we got to go into the lounge. We got some "free" snacks and my own little Diet Coke bottle.

We headed to meet Jennifer and David at a place of their choosing. David's mother was in town for the weekend so they had free childcare and were wanting adult interactions only. Clearly we were excited about this plan.

 

We went to an Italian "tapas" place. Alex was in heaven to say the least.

It was awesome. We loved just sitting and talking and eating. We all four love good food so it was the perfect place to meet. We had walked and they had taken a cab so we ended up walking back to Michigan Avenue with them.

 

We've been friends for 17 years. How insane is that?

Clearly one of my better looks.

I've never done drugs although you would never know it by this picture.

Group shot!

You want to be a us.

Go Blackhawks....and clever move, guys.

We went to Ghirardelli chocolate to get dessert. I can remember back to a time when those calories and energy would have been used for alcohol and dancing and getting just obnoxious (for me I mean.) Now, we prefer dessert, comfy pants and an early bedtime.

 

Oh these two. 

Deliciousness....the irony of this picture is that Jennifer has worked for Hershey for 9 years. Hershey has moved her all over. Hershey is in the background of this picture BUT we are eating chocolate at a different store. I feel certain that Mr. Hershey CEO man doesn't read this blog of my amazing life so we are good to put it on here.

 

 

After eating our weight in food for the night, Jennifer and David headed back to check on sweet Collin and Alex and I headed back to the hotel. We sat outside of a prom that was happening on the first floor of our hotel and we people watched. Like literally people watched for hours. We didn't really speak either. There were undercover police there and everything. So cool. We listened to the band at the hotel bar. We had fun just the two of us. Then we headed to bed at a decent time....and I even took a sleeping pill so I would sleep.

 

What a fabulous night...