Chicago !!! — With Angela O'

Hi All, I did type this up while I was in Chicago when I had a tiny bit of downtime each day. I am sorry that I couldn't posted as promised while we were there. Thank you so much for your patience! ~Angela O'

Okay so I promised many a daily briefing but because the Iphone app does not allow the pictures to be posted in the order you want them I had to take back my word. Instead I did jot down a few notes so that I could have the photographs probably described. Overall John and I loved our time spent there together. I do miss being in Chicago (Illinois is where I grew up) but I don't miss the nightfall at 4:30 pm and I don't miss the frigid whether between January and March.

Night 1:

John enjoying his first Rock Bottom Brewery & Restaurant visit. You get free tastings of all the beers before you order or you can order a good size sample pack of 6 draughts to enjoy the majority.

After several minutes of talking me into it, John finally got me up into the Navy Pier Ferris Wheel. I don't know why but that circle structure that moves near your face while going up makes me panic. Best Part: On our way down it started to snow!!!

Day 2:

One view from our hotel room. If you zero in a bit you can see Soldier Field and the Field Museum.

Getting ready for the day. Double leggings, double socks, and double gloves.

Finally we have found a city thst Jamba Juice serves their apple cinnamon oatmeal till 5pm. Eat dust Austin, only serving morning oatmeal.

OMG...that ledge is so freaking scary, weird, creepy, and cool. I absolutely cannot believe I was standing over the edge of the Sears Tower (blah blah Willis). It took me several tries and backing in before I could get more than 8 inches away from the carpeted area but I finally did it. John of course was free-styling it the first moment the clear box was in sight.

After walking around the same three blocks like three times we finally located Argo Tea. Ugh... John got the seasonal Winter Spice and his one lasting thought was "Teeeaaaaa".

Making a pitstop at Ontario/Ohio at State St to grab Grahamwich and more tea for John before we hit up the Magnificent Mile. The Adagio Teas shop was fun and warming. Just what we needed for 30 degree afternoon weather. 2 cup tastings of black teas (only remember spelling of Ti Kuan Yin, sorry!) and grabbing new types of loose leaf for the house. Sweet Vitality and Loving Kindness tea. Loving Kindness is a blend of ti kuan yin, chrysanthemum flower, passion flower, st. john's wort, and lavender.

I spy two buck chuck!! Yummy. It's a darn Austin has to wait till 2014 to get a Trader Joe's.

Finally arrived on the mile. Burberry, Tiffany, Top Shop, American Girl Place, Henri Bendel here I come!! Well and for the hubby...Best Buy and Apple.

Last stop for the night, Millenium Park. What a great ending for a long day in the city.

Celebrity Chef Graham Elliott's Grahamwich

Day 3:

Field Museum ~ Definitely my favorite museum!!

Shedd Aquarium ~ The Jellies exhibit was very cool!

Mia Francesca's ~ The best. When we arrived at 5:00pm it was completely empty. Little did we know it was the celebrity hotspot and most sought little restaurant in Lincoln Park. Hey it looks like I have good intuition!! I just picked it b/c the outside was pretty in the dark!

Squid & Clam Pizza at Mia Francesca's....I of course had a special request and ordered it white.

Day 4:

Marquee Tour at the Chicago Theatre. This was so interesting, very historical. Did you know that it was the very first movie theatre in the United States, I actually think the world but I can't remember that far back. Barney and Abe Balaban and Sam and Morris Katz built this French Baroque style theatre. We hit up the Art Institute twice today because we both got sick. Thank goodness they had extended hours on Thursday. That darn Bella Bacinos restaurant at the hotel ruined both of our stomachs so we had to nap it off. Off to the magnificent mile! Alright, I know we could have had Eli's cheesecake over the Cheesecake Factory for dinner but here's the deal. Eli's is way on the outskirts of Chicago! We were starving after not eating anything but our horrible breakfast and then spending the afternoon at our hotel to sleep it off. So we hit up the Cheesecake Factory. If you get a chance to go to Michigan Ave be sure to stop in CF just to check out their Ladies Powder Room. Very intriguing. After stepping into what was marked to be the W room, there were an additional set of large dark wooden doors from ceiling to floor that had copper metal flowers the size of my hand. After double checking that I did walk into the ladies and was not mistaken, I opened one of the four unmarked dark doors to find my own stall equipped with my very own sink. The giant flower was turned up on this side of the door so I could hang my handbag on it. Please even if you don't want to eat there check it out. More ladies rooms need to be equipped in this fashion.

Day 5:

MOSI - okay so we hopped on the bus going the wrong direction.

I blame it on just not paying attention after a long week of running.

Whoops!

Finally a trip to the beautiful University of Chicago campus. This was only 30 minutes of pictures!! We had to rush because it was getting dark.

Delighted by a trip to my favorite Giordano's.

And of course some Lombard Hot Chocolate at Ghirardelli's one last time! I love know that I can make this drink at home. Just add four squares of the Ghirardelli's truffle milk chocolate squares to your steamed milk. Voila!

Charles Schulz is the only person who spells Gramma like i do. Of course that is titling my bestest Gramma Sharon, everyone else is Grandma.

Day 6:

Awoke to the crowd. It was only a tiny crowd in comparison to this afternoon but it was definitely a crowd. Street musicians, traffic cops (finally I wondered where they had been hiding) and activity tents for kids and adults alike. Free slices of Eli's cheesecake just to open the Festival of Lights tonight. Sorry we couldn't stay, I really needed my favorite Illinois Italian Beef at Portillo's before we left town so we had to keep running through the crowd. John gave Portillo's a thumbs up!

Portillo's

St. Louis.... and yes we enjoyed St. Louis just as much but didn't spend a lot of time there. Thanks to Aunt Peggy and Uncle Rick we had a lovely day. Lunch at Sage, where we had the best calamari in the city. Then our Anheuser-Busch Brewmaster Tour and seeing the beautiful Clydesdale. Then back to Lambert Airport to pick up my lost luggage.