chicago

Last weekend, B and I got to make the 2.5 hour trek north to Chicago for a little get away (a la his birthday present from his parents - thanks, Mom and Dad Smith)!

We both really enjoy Chicago and had been trying to go for a visit ever since we moved to Indy, so we were very thankful for this gift that forced us to just go! We rode the megabus (so we didn't have to drive and mess with parking in the city) and it was awesome! We started out watching a movie but both konked out a few minutes in. We're a little behind in our zzz's these days... anyway, it was nice to not have to drive ourselves!

We stayed right on Michigan Ave in a perfect location that was close to everything we wanted to see! Although it snowed almost the whole time we were there, the air wasn't completely frigid and it ended up feeling nice and Christmasy rather than miserable and freezing.

(I just uploaded our pics and realized that they all involve food... does that tell you something about what we find enjoyable when we leave town? Ha ha!)

We got in late Friday night and although we had already eaten dinner, we made a stop at the Ghirardelli Chocolate Shop for one of their amazing brownie fudge sundaes! Mmmhmm! (Said sundae was long gone before we remembered to take a picture.)

On Saturday, we headed over to Gino's East for lunch. We had to wait about 45 minutes to get inside, but the pizza was well worth the wait! Can't beat Chicago-style pie!

After lunch, we walked over to Sprinkles for a sweet treat. The highlight of my trip may have happened here. I'm a fan of Sprinkles on facebook, so in my daily news feed, I read about their free cupcake deals. Every day they put out a "magic word" on facebook, and the first 25 people to whisper it over the counter get a free cupcake! I tried the magic word at the Dallas Sprinkles, to no avail. Well, it was my lucky day in Chicago - I walked out with a red velvet that I didn't pay for! Not much tops a free cupcake from Sprinkles!!! We also tried their seasonal chocolate peppermint and it was very delicious.

The afternoon held window shopping and marveling at the THRONGS of people that were out on such a wintery day! Our last stop before dinner was the eight-story Macy's/Marshall Field's. We had a great time wandering around the gigantic store, viewing the two-story Christmas tree and just watching all of the shoppers. Oh, and I got 50% off on a down coat that will serve me well during the quickly approaching brutal winter!

Our five-year anniversary is less than a month away (crazy!) so we decided to celebrate during this trip since we won't be able to travel anywhere on Dec. 30 this year. Carmine's, a local Italian favorite, offered the perfect celebratory locale and we spent a great evening enjoying our favorite type of food and toasting to the next five!

And that's it! I warned you... it was pretty much all about food... but that's just us! :)