flash back: chicago (part two)!

Hello, all! I hope you're having a fine Friday. :)
On our third day of vacation, we decided it would be fun to make a day trip to Chicago. It's about a three hour drive from Madison, so we woke up bright and early to start our little adventure. When my sister and I were younger we would get really slap happy in the car after driving for a long time. Trips like this one always make me think of that! However, since we're much older now, and we've obviously matured...we still laughed like 5-year olds about things that aren't funny to anyone else. When we got there, I remembered exactly what the big-city-hustle is all about. It's always a little stressful at first, like trying to hop into an-already-moving jump rope (which I could never do, by the way), but it was really fun!

We went into H&M, where I didn't find anything (and my sister got one shirt), which was a little disappointing, but whatever. You win some, you lose some, right? Then, we went to the American Girl store. I've mentioned before that I was (still am) totally in love with American Girl dolls, but as a little girl, I never got a chance to go to the store. It was magical, people! I was seriously excited (more so than half the little girls in there), and it was a dream come true!

We pranced around Chicago for the day, making stops at the Bean, the Gap, and for the most amazing caramel corn in the history of ever. Seriously, you could smell it from like 7 blocks away! And, I don't know why, but I will forever love tourists. I mean, how can you not love people who are excited about every.single.thing? Right?! They're awesome! (And I enjoyed being one in Chicago!) After our whirlwind tour of Chicago, we headed to Frank Lloyd Wright's first home that he designed himself. He was 21 when he did it! It was surreal stepping foot into a home and imagining myself creating something like that at my age. Frankie was kind of a weird guy, but his talent was (is!) undeniable. I feel like explaining it won't even do it justice. My favorite room was the one he created for his children. He had a small stage built for them. It must have been so magical to act out little performances there!

After our Frank Lloyd Wright adventure, we meandered back into the heart of the city and enjoyed a very delicious dinner at a restaurant called Earwax. We sat on the back patio and split dishes of baked oatmeal topped with granola, a BBQ sandwich, and a veggie sandwich. We weren't very hungry, so it was enough. Big cities are always so tiring. I can’t imagine the people that live there all the time, but it was fun to explore for the day. I still prefer NYC (there’s just something about that city), but I loved Chicago because it felt just a little more low-key. I didn’t feel like I needed to be constantly moving around for fear of being whisked away by time-hungry crowds. So, I guess there are pros and cons to both.

On the way home we stopped at Culver's, a place in the Midwest that's famous for their butter burgers and custard. I got chocolate on a cone, and it was delicious!

I hope you all have an absolutely wonderful weekend! I hope to tackle some of this work I need to do, Jeffrey and I are going to get pizza with S+K, and I can’t wait to cozy under my covers in this newfound cold weather!

Next week I’ll write about the Farmers’ Market, baking with sister, dinner + Scrabble at a local café, and happening upon a trio of sweet little baby raccoons! Xoxo, R.