Chicago meets Roomies!

As my college roommate Emily said, "Chicago, meet the roomies." And that's exactly what we did! On April 15th, Jennifer, Emily, and I headed to the Windy City! We were in desperate need of a girls trip. At least that's what we told our husbands :) After we got together during spring break, we decided we needed to get out of Texas and spread our wings in Chicago. And from then on, April 15th couldn't come fast enough. So here goes the story of our journey in Chi-Town....

First off...we weren't actually sure we were all going to make it to Chicago. Jen started out the trip with a minor heart attack. On the way to the airport her cell phone died, and she wasn't sure how she was going to meet up with me. I had her tickets, security document, and everything she needed to check in for her flight. Luckily, I wasn't too far behind her and I found her standing by the curbside check-in with a look of panic all across her face! We had a quick laugh and then it was off to check in for our flight. Meanwhile, Emily was in Houston trying her hardest to knock all the other stand-by passengers off the list so she could squeeze her way on board into the last seat on the plane. Jen and I were waiting anxiously for play by play text messages as Emily went from 13th on the stand by list to 1st! Thank you, Lord, for hearing our prayers! I don't think we've ever been so excited for a seat on a Southwest Airlines flight! Once we were off the ground, it was just a matter of time before we'd be running all over the city.

When Jen and I landed we were welcomed by a host of military personnel. We weren't sure what was going on but we stopped to snap a quick photo with her iPhone (she charged it before we got on the plane in Dallas), and the next thing we knew, one of the men staying close by asked us if we wanted to have our picture taken with a man in uniform. We were totally taken back by his offer and awkwardly obliged him with a photo. {See photo below. Side note, with three type A personalities wanting to capture the sights of the city, there were WAY too many pictures to post them individually. So, you will find them below for your viewing pleasure.} Come to find out, everyone was there waiting on a WWII Veteran plane to land. We didn't stick around.

Once we got our bags and met up with Em, we were off to the hotel. On our way to catch a cab, an little Italian (I think) man came running up to us yelling, "Going downtown. Leaving now. $39. Going downtown. Leaving now. $39." After we figured out it would only cost us $13/person we decided to take his shuttle bus downtown to our hotel. It was quite an adventure. First off, there was NO air and Emily was melting. Bless her heart, she was already sick to her stomach from the airplane. Then, Jen and I couldn't get past the smell of alcohol coming from the guy sitting next to us. Emily had one of those "talk your year off" passengers sitting next to her and we were lucky we didn't ram into the cars on either side of us as we passed them with such speed! We were so thankful to make it in one piece to our hotel room. We passed out almost immediately (after packing our travel bags for the next day) since we had to be up at 4:00 am for OPRAH!

Our first morning in Chicago was an early one, but that didn't seem to phase us as we were too excited to experience the adventure of being on the Oprah Show. The filming that we attended wasn't live but should air sometime this month. {Be sure to check back for updates on when our episode will air.} After going through several security check points, we finally made it inside and had amazing seats (7th row, dead center!) There were even cast members from the musical "Mary Poppins" in our audience! So cool :) We didn't have a special guest on our show, rather Oprah featured Hometown Heroes and talked with the various groups via Skype. It was a great experience to see how they tape the show, cut to commercials, break for hair and makeup, and interact with the audience! Definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity!

Once we were finished at Oprah, we couldn't wait to get our hands on some Chicago-style pizza! We headed to Giordano's to split some bread sticks and a thin crust cheese pizza. It definitely hit the spot. Once our bellies were full, we headed out for a long day of shopping and sightseeing down the Magnificent Mile! We stopped by The Drake Hotel, H&M, Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Hershey's, and Ghirardelli just to name a few. By the end of the day we had shopped til we dropped and were ready to head back to the hotel for a little R&R.

We couldn't decide on where we wanted to eat dinner, so we finally agreed on P.F. Chang's. I know, I know. "P.F. Chang's? There are a million place to eat in Chicago," you say. Well, it actually turned out for the best because that night our waiter told us about a delicious restaurant that we should try the next night, Bijan's, before we headed to the theater...And if we had never gone to P.F. Chang's, we would have never discovered our hole-in-the-wall find, Bijan's! So, after we split some Lo Mien noodles and Honey Crispy Chicken, we set off for the John Hancock Observatory for what we thought would be a low-key, relaxing end to our busy day.

Well that couldn't be further from the truth! When we arrived at the observatory we grabbed a table, ordered a drink, and began soaking in the Downtown Chicago skyline. A table close by opened up and we moved to it so we could sit by the window. Well, not 5 minutes later, a very"over served" couple came in and plopped down right behind Jennifer and Emily. I had a direct path to see the couple, but only Jen and Em could hear what they were saying. After a long while of very inappropriate behavior, the sleaze bag gentleman leaned in for another kiss. Or so I thought. I glanced at Emily and her face was surprised to say the least. The gentleman wasn't leaning in for a kiss, he was PROPOSING! Right there, in the middle of the observatory! But this wasn't your typical proposal, it was more like the couple needed to get a room-LITERALLY! They were all over each other, slurring through their words, barely able to communicate. Unfortunately, I don't think the poor girl remembered any thing the next morning. Too bad!

After our wild experience we decided to head back to the hotel to crash! The next morning we took our time getting ready, grabbed a bite for breakfast, and then headed out to see some more of the city. We walked across the bridge down to Millennium Park, saw the Bean and the Pritzker Pavillion and stopped in at Park Grill for a quick bite to eat. Then it was off to State and Madison for some more shopping. We hit up H&M again and a few other shops close by and then made our way to grab a bag of the famous Garrett's Popcorn before heading back to the hotel to get dolled up for the evening. We ate dinner at Bijan's and then walked to the Oriental Theater to see A Chorus Line! We had great seats and, as Em pointed out, we could see all the fancy foot work :) And in typical theater fashion, it truly was "One Singular Sensation!" What a wonderful end to another great day in Chicago.

Saturday morning was spent packing our bags, checking our flights, printing our passes, and squeezing in some last minute shopping, but before we could leave Chicago--we had to make one more stop...Gino's Pizza! We definitely saved the best for last! It was a great way to top of our much needed girls trip. We gathered our bags, made our way to the airport, and headed home. All in all, it was a wonderful, magnificent, fun-filled trip--and we can't wait to do it again!

Well, thanks for reading my novel today! Take a peek at the photos and see if you can recognize some of the hot spots from our trip.