A Weekend in Chicago & A Letter to Beebo

Happy Hump Day everyone! 

I'm just a tad bit behind on the whole weekend recap thing as I was a bit of a trainwreck on Sunday night / Monday morning...so I am just now getting my act together.

To say we had a good weekend would be a total understatement.
It was FABULOUS.
INCREDIBLE.
SO MUCH FRICKIN' FUN!

As soon as Jason was done with work on Friday we dropped our sweet Kenley off at my mom's house and were on I-94 heading east.

road trip baby!

We drove to Elgin, IL which is a little less than an hour outside of Chicago. Knowing that we wouldn't be arriving until almost midnight we decided to stay in a hotel out of the city which was more than half the cost. Let's just say we got our money's worth - as in, our hotel was brutal. Jason and I were pleasantly surprised to 1. wake up and still be alive 2. still have all of our belongings 3. see that our car hadn't been broken in to. We were up early and out the door to finish the last hour of our road trip in to Chicago!

We dropped our bags at the hotel and instantly hit the streets. We grabbed a coffee and decided to enjoy a nice long walk along Lakeshore Drive, cut through Lincoln Park and eventually make our way up to Wrigley Field.

After a few miles we decided that a cold beverage and some deep dish pizza was absolutely necessary, so we made a nice pit stop at Giordano's.

So amazingly delicious.

After lunch we had a little over an hour until we needed to get back to the hotel to get ready, so we decided to rent bikes to make our way through the city faster!

We rode up to Wrigley field which was really fun to see.

Once at Wrigley we were going to check our bikes (which you need to do every 30 minutes to not get charged extra) and got stuck behind some incredibly obnoxious and not very bright young ladies who took a good 20 minutes to figure out the bikes. So once we got back on our bikes it was time to book it back to the hotel. We decided to ride down Lakeshore, return our bikes and then cab the rest of the way.

Of course the bike rack we planned on was full. So we continue to make our way towards the hotel and when I see that it's 2:30pm (the wedding was at 3:00pm) I get off my bike, give it to Jason and run the last half a mile as fast as I could to the hotel. Poor Jason was riding aimlessly around Chicago with TWO bikes looking for a rack. SOMEHOW we managed to get in our room, get our luggage, both shower and get to the church with 10 minutes to spare. Needless to say it was extremely stressful and looking back completely hilarious.

The next hour was spent watching my lifelong friend exchange her vows and become MRS. KRISTEN O'BRIEN. It was a beautiful ceremony in a beautiful church and Kristen looked absolutely breathtaking.

I can't get over that gorgeous dress!

We had some time to kill before the reception, so we went back to the hotel to finish getting ready and enjoy a couple of cocktails. It just so happened that two of my best friends were also in town (one from LA and one from DC) for the weekend for my friend Alex's bachelor party. So, one of my friends, Pat, stopped by the hotel and joined us for a drink.

And then we were off to the reception. Joe and Kristen had their reception at the Chicago Cultural Center right across the street from Millennium Park. It was such a beautiful location and such a fun wedding!

We ate and drank, toasted the new couple, caught up with old friends from my childhood neighborhood, and the leader of the 12 piece band even let me play with his equipment.

We had so much fun celebrating Kris & Joe but our night didn't end there. It turns out the Bachelor Party was taking place at the bar RIGHT NEXT DOOR to our hotel. So naturally we had to crash it. OH -EM - GEE did I have fun! It was incredible to spend time with two of my best friends who I rarely get to see AND there was a wind machine at the bar which pretty much entertained me the whole night.

It goes without saying that I was in rough shape on Sunday morning. Thankfully we were able to sleep in a bit before heading to the Farewell Brunch which was held on the rooftop of the Rock Bottom Brewery. It was a beautiful morning and thank heavens there were bloody marys!

We said our goodbyes and then were on the road home to Minnesota.
It was such an incredible weekend and I'm bummed that it's over.
I am also officially in love with Chicago and want to move there. Like right now.

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On a completely different note...make sure to stop by Carolyn's blog today because I took over to write a letter to her sweet little baby boy due to make his appearance really any time now but for sure sometime in the next 4 weeks! 

Go check it out! 

www.lifeloveandpuppyprints.blogspot.com

Tin & Ten

When I was 4 years old my parents moved from Colorado to Minnesota. We moved in to a great house in a great neighborhood with a ton of kids. Because I was painfully shy, my mom brought me down the street to one of the neighbors house to meet their daughter, Kristen, who was my age. I remember Kristen was just as shy and was actually hiding in the garage when our mom's made us meet.

We've been friends ever since.

Because we have the same first name AND same middle name (not to mention our dad's are both named Tom) Kristen's dad nicknamed us Tin & Ten {KrisTIN and KrisTEN for those of you who aren't the sharpest knife in the drawer} so we'd know which one of us was being talked to. 

Every childhood memory that I have involves Kristen...whether it was playing Oregon Trail or Lemmings on her dad's computer, playing with our American Girl or Babysitter's Club dolls, making up dance routines to Janet Jackson in my backyard, playing pranks on her little sister Jill, sleepovers or night games with the neighborhood boys, we were ALWAYS together. I remember when we'd call each other's houses we would say "Hi Kristen, it's Kristin...can you play?". The same, every time.

The summer before 7th grade we moved to a new city. Ten and I were only about 15-20 minutes apart and still saw each other but obviously not every day. It's been 10 years since we've lived in the same STATE but even through different high schools, different colleges (me U of Minnesota and her U of Wisconsin) and now different states (me MN and her in Chicago, IL) we have still managed to stay in touch and see each other.

middle school

high school


college

Fun Fact: Kris caught the bouquet at my wedding and got engaged just months later! 

my baby shower

When we do have the opportunity to see each other it's like no time has gone by. In fact, I got to see her for lunch this past weekend while my mom and I were in Chicago. 

That fateful day that we met in Ten's garage was over 24 years ago now and this weekend Jason and I will be in Chicago for her wedding! 

I am so excited for my dear friend and CANNOT wait to watch her walk down the aisle towards the love of her life! It's going to be a very special weekend, that's for sure! 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!