This past weekend I went up to Chicago to meet and have lunch with some of my fave ladies from Instagram as well as visit my friend Michelle.
I had gone back and forth on flying and driving for awhile. The drive from Louisville to Chicago really isn’t too bad, but the last time I had visited my car got towed. I wasn’t all that mad about it, but more about the fact that the whole fiasco took a couple hours to sort out and by the time I finally got back to Louisville it was after 1 am.
This was the first time I’d ever taken Megabus and I was going by myself so it’s safe to say that the travel anxiety was 100% real.
We did take a half hour break in Memphis, IN (about 20 minutes north of Louisville) and I used the opportunity to snag all of my favorite snacks. After eight hours, I was finally in Chicago!
I was thrilled to be off the bus and able to stretch my legs. They unloaded all of our luggage, but once I snagged my bag I took off towards Union Station. The walk was about a block, so really not bad at all.
The cab ride to Michelle’s was about ten minutes and then I was finally reunited with my girl! We spent the first night catching up over deep dish at Michelle’s place and then went to bed.
Friday morning, I woke up and then went back to sleep while Michelle went to work. #LazyBones
We planned to meet up during her lunch so we could celebrate National Donut Day together. After I got up for good, I opened my bag and realized that the packaged shower cap I’d thrown into my bag was actually empty. I desperately needed a shower after the no air conditioning + 80 degree weather situation from the day before so I got beyond creative and made my own shower cap out of a kitchen trash bag. For real. The selfie is great but will remain unpublished at this time haha.
Once I was showered, had curled my hair and applied a little bit of makeup, I headed out to meet up with Michelle.
The city was overcast, foggy and absolutely beautiful. I’d brought a cardigan and immediately realized I should have brought a coat.
I finally managed to get to Michelle’s new workplace and we headed off to Glazed & Infused.
Everyone was celebrating Donut Day (as they should), and the selection at Glazed was more limited than usual, according to the staff. I went outside my comfort zone with the fried ice cream donut, but it was so good!
It has a vanilla bean ice cream custard and is topped with chocolate ganache and fried ice cream crumble.
Michelle went back to work and I resigned myself to the fact that I needed to steal a coat from her closet or buy myself one with the crazy wind.
One quick stop at Nordstrom Rack and I had a new coat and a better attitude. After getting denied access to Michelle’s building (LOLZ), I ripped the tags off said new coat and went out to take in the city and kill time for the next few hours. I made quick stops at T.J. Maxx, ZARA and a couple other shops before I settled in at Argo Tea Cafe. I grabbed a Hibiscus Tea Squeeze, relaxed and caught up on emails.
It was finally time to get Michelle from work so I headed back to Rent the Runway. I ended up choosing a gorgeous dress for the wedding I’m attending in a couple weeks. We headed out to the West Loop to get dinner and decided on Chicken Shop at Soho House.
If you’re in Chicago (or London where Chicken Shop started) you have to check this out. Michelle and I split a fry, it comes with ketchup and garlic aioli. The sandwich was one of the best fried chicken sandwiches I’ve had. The lettuce was soaked in a garlic lemon sauce, the sliced red peppers were hot for me but added a lot to the flavor and the chicken was so good. Oh, and if you’re anything like me and super curious what the “Dirty Balls” on the menu are, it’s fried cheese and bacon.
After eating a great meal we both felt super full and started making the walk back.
But who can really resist dessert? We stopped by Eataly Chicago and ventured into the line for gelato. I had fiordilatte back when I was in Italy and it’s one of my favorite flavors (mostly because I’m basic.)
Michelle and I went back to her place and watched a million Vines and researched butter sculptures (I’m obsessed?)
Saturday, I woke up and was immediately bummed out over how much anxiety I was feeling. I’ve talked briefly about my anxiety disorder in the past, but new experiences, especially meeting and being surrounded by new people, are the absolute worst for me. I knew this when I signed up to attend the meet up and was really determined to make myself go.
Michelle, being the real trooper of a friend that she is, spent the morning with me being a bit of a nervous wreck (#merp) and we explored a little bit after stopping at Argo’s for a to go beverage. I got the Hibiscus Sangria this time and it was bomb.com — definitely recommend; currently trying to talk myself out of ordering the instant packs from Argo.
Yay for finally seeing a bridge going up! We walked towards the Bean and ended up at the super Walgreens (seriously, why doesn’t my Walgreen’s have an OPI-Essie nail salon inside??) and then headed towards Wildfire.
I really can’t even do the meet up justice with words; it was a great experience to meet so many of the women I chat online with every day. I walked in so nervous and left with a sense of sisterhood and friendship.
Amy, Lynsie and Thuy did an amazing job setting everything up; I can’t even begin to imagine all of the work that went into it. And it didn’t stop there — once we were all sitting down, all three women continued to make rounds so that they could talk to everyone and make sure we were having a great time.
Megan, from Purple Peridot, was in attendance and was so sweet to give each of us a gift!
HB had the best Kendra Scott accessories on and I spent a good portion of our time at the table wondering how mad she’d be if I snatched them off her….
Heather was my swap match back when I did a Valentine’s Day bestie box. So crazy to get to meet her sweet self in person!
After all the excitement, we attempted to go over to SkyDeck, I got to cram myself into an Escalade with nine other pretty ladies (shoutout to Ailsa and Megan for riding in the trunk), only to find out the wait was three and half hours. I was starting to get a bit overwhelmed (in the best way) at this point so I headed back towards Michelle.
After telling M all about the meet up and discussing butter sculptures (again), we took a nap (typical) and then headed to dinner at Big Bowl. Note: I am all about trying local restaurants and taking in the city you’re in. Big Bowl only exists in the DC metro area, Chicago and Minneapolis. Yes, I am going to be in DC next month. No, I was not going to pass up this opportunity to shove my fave with asian fusion.
M and I had both agreed to no dessert after the fiasco/major feeling of illness that followed the previous night’s Chicken Shop/Eataly gelato extravaganza….but when I saw our waitress carrying the dessert tray I changed my tune.
This was otherworldly, I died and came back. That good.
Afterwards we went to Navy Pier and met up with some of the girls — Michelle got to learn all about the IG cliques, we watched the fireworks and then after hanging out awhile we said goodbye and walked back.
And that was all she wrote on Chicago! I’ll try to remember to do a review on Megabus before too long.
xo, Nicole
