Gladys Takes On Chicago

This past weekend was a very fun {& funny} one because two of my dear friends and I left St. Louie for Chi-Town.

Melissa was a dear and planned the lodging and offered to drive! She's a saint because I'm not an aggressive driver at all and Chicago drivers would probably eat me alive. Those who know me in real life know how true this is

We left last Friday right after school and when we arrived {thanks to Ms. Gladys (my GPS)} we headed straight to Gino's Pizza for some deep dish!

It was tasty pasty and I was in love. I ate two pieces like it was nothing...I must've been hungry because you all know how much two pieces of deep dish pizza is! Since we all had worked a full school week {we're all teachers!} we went back to the hotel and went straight to bed.

Saturday morning we woke up fairly early and took a stroll to Millineum Park to check out the bean and the city art.

Later we took a cab ride {oh those are always an adventure!} to Navy Pier and strolled the whole thing.

We also took a boat ride {where a bird pooped on Melissa's shoulder--crazy funny!} and rode the ferris wheel {where Melissa may have prayed for her life!}.

Next we headed to Michigan Avenue and had fun people watching and walking the street!

We enjoyed some street drummers and saw a couple of wedding parties. Melissa and Paige were so sweet to oblige my wishes and let me walk to one of my dream stores: the Jonathan Adler store!

I wanted that LOVE pillow in a major way but just could not justify spending over $100 for it! Maybe someday!

He's definitely one of my favorite designers that I look up to and compare my style to as well! He totally gets that design can be fun and colorful and I love that about him. I'm obsessed with his
design manifesto:

Afterwards we took a cab to CB2 so I could buy my beloved ferris wheel I've been wanting ever since seeing Emily use it on Secrets From A Stylist. So many people gave me a look as I carried that thing around town!

Later on we took another cab toward the Planetarium and Field Museum so that Paige could get a hot dog from a stand! I'm sure there were other places that had some but Melissa remembered this place in particular and since we hadn't eaten since morning we were all ready to chow down.

That night we came home to freshen up and went out to dinner at Carnivale. Our waiter was gorgeous {Jeannie, you would have been in LOVE!} and I had a delicious and spicy Gnocchi dish.

We finished our dinner with some churros dipped in some sort of sugary loveliness!

We had planned on going out that night but our daytime escapades had worn us out! We woke up early the next morning and ventured over to Wicker Park {I think?} to eat at Hot Chocolate {thanks, Cor!} and do some shopping. The hot chocolate was pure deliciousness and Paige, Melissa and I could not stop raving about it. Holy yum. ; )

We hit up the Brown Elephant thrift store {which was kind of a let down}, took a stroll through some neighborhoods, and then headed out of the city to end our adventures at one of my beloved stores: IKEA!

I bought some fabulous pillows {I'll share later} and some of my favorite cookies. I was super bummed that they didn't have my fig leaf tree I wanted. Sad face for sure...but I'm not giving up. Summer is just around the corner and I'm going to find that bad boy if it's the last thing I do!

I am truly blessed to have such great friends in my life and I am constantly reminded of my blessings everytime we laugh 'til we cry! Thanks, Melissa and Paige.

xoxo