the second city

it was a late birthday present that took me to chicago for a long weekend away to visit friends, food and a city that i have never explored.

my feet relaxing while claudia was checking in…she was so good to me.

it was a taste of heaven knowing the kids were home with jon and i was on my last little hurrah before the baby arrives.

to complete the heavenly package it was only fitting to stay smack dab in the middle of the magnificent mile on michigan ave.  a shoppers dream.

the shopping was amazing!  even though i am large and in charge with my prego belly, i can always find something to shop for.  jon was afraid, and he should have.

it was the weekend of the lights festival so there was a engaging buzz around town. which some how made it easier to spend money.

i ate my way through chicago. food always brings the greatest joy. it always has.  claudia and i were searching for the famous chicago deep dish pizza.  ideally we would only buy a slice for each of us.  we knew there was no way the two of us could finish a small pizza on our own. not to mention we already had dinner plans for later that night. so while we walked to Giordano's i created an ideal scenario where we teamed up with a stranger and shared a pizza.  sometimes things happen the way i want them to.

when we arrived, the restroom was the first place i needed to visit. after leaving the restroom there in front of us was our answer.  a lonely business man from Dubai,   struggling his way through a small pizza. …being two hungry american women we kindly took advantage of him, and shortly walked out of the restaurant with two pieces of HIS pizza in a to go box after a quaint conversation and cash put on the table.

two of those pieces were ours.

it was shrimp and cheese. never would have ordered it, but i will in the future. delicious grub. thank you dubai-man for humoring us.  it was worth it!

breakfast the next day was prepared at rick bayless’s Xoco resturant.  i devoured some of the best tasting empanadas and hot chocolate ever!!  followed by lunch at frontera grill.

chicago is ground zero for architecture so an architectural cruise was on the list of things to do.  the tour took us through the city on the chicago river. the buildings were simply breathtaking and unique.

the bottom half is a parking garage the top half an apartment building.  great idea right?   i have a difficult enough time not hitting my front bumper on the shelves in the garage, how would i safely park there?

I was drawn to this little creation. a house inspired by frank lloyd wright’s architecture sitting on the chicago river.  i wonder if they find st patricks day romantic when the water flowing by their home is a light snot-green color?

more buildings. picture taken from the pier.

the ceiling in the old macy’s building was stunning with all of its mosaic tile originally completed by tiffany. as in tiffany & co.  supposedly the city declared it a landmark so the building can never be torn down.  good thing,

claudia’s multitasking. shopping and planning a church activity.

the famous BEAN at the impressive millennium park. 

yikes! contain the orange belly.

we could have spent all day here. the reflections of the skyline and ourselves was too much fun.

okay, just one more.

visiting the city ended all too quickly.  we had to return to the suburbs to host a church gathering for all the 16 and 17-yr-olds in the area.

every detail of the trip was planned so well, up until the last 20 minutes.  we had to be at the train station, across town before 3:45pm. we already had our tickets, and if we missed the train we would miss the activity that claudia was in charge of that evening.

getting across town from michigan ave to the metra by bus or taxi in 20 minutes is usually not a problem.  so we were finishing our last minute shopping only to come out of the department store to find the streets crowded with people, sidewalks blocked off and magicians taking over corners to entertain the families that came in to watch the light festival parade. we couldn’t catch a taxi from our location, police were rerouting traffic, so we grabbed our luggage and extra bags (too many boot boxes!) then began to run in the direction of the train station as fast as we could.  with out a doubt i resembled a strange packing mule.  with the belly out front and the bags on the back and sides, it wasn’t a pretty sight.

after running 8 blocks and was suffering from serious contractions we found a spot where the crowds had cleared, signaled for a taxi and prayed the driver could fly the rest of the way, since we had exactly 6 minutes until the train left!  we had to take our chances. we were out of options.

he sped through twon over, around and through cars to get us there with a minute to spare. it was 3:44pm.  it probably helped when i asked if he had ever delivered a baby before?  claudia figured i was kidding. i wasn’t.

once we stepped on the train the doors shut behind us. not a word was uttered until we were safely in our seats.  it was then we both took a huge sigh of relief, and simultaneously said, “we made it!”

we were on our way back to claudia's.

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they recently bought and updated a house originally built in the 1950’s.  the combination of her classic taste and the passion to keep the house true to its style, which is modern, she has made a master piece.

one of my favorite creations was this glass and stone tile wall in the guest bathroom.

and of course the kitchen. 

i would wake up every morning feeling like a master chef preparing my eggs or bowl of cereal.  5000 people can be fed from this kitchen.  the picture doesn’t do it any justice. that is only the left side of the marble countertop the right side is the same length.

ahhh, someday.

thanks for the vacation!