Early the next morning, (Sunday) we got up & headed back to grandma & grandpa’s house to drop the kids off and the hubby & I were off to Chicago for a business trip for his job!
I tagged along for the ride! 🙂
We got to our hotel, only to find out that our room wasn’t ready! So instead of a room with a king size bed, they bumped us up into a suite with two queen size beds instead…..SCORE!!!
The room was AWESOME & the beds were COMFY!!!!
Once we got settled into our room, we quickly changed clothes and got ready for our dinner reservations at RPM Italian! For those of you who don’t know, RPM Italian is Bill & Giuliana Rancic’s new restaurant in downtown Chicago. My husband has a small man crush on Bill Rancic and made reservations early in the week…..this restaurant was kinda the highlight of his trip!
We were hoping to see Bill there, as we’ve been told he pops in from time to time, but no such luck on this trip! Maybe next time! 🙂
Monday was a rainy & cold day in Chicago! My hubby was in meetings all day & I stayed in the hotel to get caught up on some blog stuff! Monday night, we had the opportunity to meet up with my husband’s cousin (also in Chicago for business) for dinner at Gino’s East…..their deep dish pizza is to DIE FOR!!! We hadn’t seen Dan in FOREVER (as he & his family live in Indianapolis) & it was a total coincidence that he was also in Chicago for work purposes. It was great to see him & get caught up!
I snapped this picture of them on Michigan Ave. before we had to tell Dan goodbye!
Aren’t they handsome?!
Speaking of Michigan Avenue…..
There was lots of shopping to be done, but my favorite store was this one!
Ahhh…Forver 21 how I LOVE YOU, your CUTE stuff, and your ADORABLE prices! I bought a dress & a few other accessories here & also lucked into a couple more sundresses for summer at H&M.
I really wanted to go in here…..
Biggest Crate & Barrel Ever?!
I’ve never been in a Crate & Barrel and I was really looking forward to checking this one out, however, the store closed at 8:30 and we didn’t make it down that way in time!! BOO!
On Tuesday, the weather was BEAUTIFUL!! The sun finally made an appearance & the temperature was finally in the 70’s! I was able to meet one of my sweet online friends, Katie, from GiGisPetals!!
When I found out we were going to Chicago, I immediately thought of Katie, because I knew she lived in the area! So I emailed her & we made plans to meet up for lunch & do a little shopping downtown! We also got to walk down to see Lake Michigan & I was shocked by how BLUE the water was….
This was the first time I had ever seen Lake Michigan this close! It was beautiful & kinda reminded me of an ocean, but much calmer! GORGEOUS, right?!
Tuesday night, we did more shopping & more eating and then we went back to the hotel & CRASHED!!! Between my lunch date with Katie & walking all over downtown Chicago with my hubby that same evening…I was completely exhausted! I really wish I would have had a pedometer on that day! I had to have walked a gazillion miles…..in FLIP FLOPS nonetheless!
NOT SMART, Tonya, NOT SMART!!!
Here are a few shots of the city I took while we were out walking around….
On Wednesday morning, we got up & got ready to head home, but not before making a stop in Schaumburg, IL to visit IKEA!!!
And that my friends will have to be a post all in itself!! This was my first trip to IKEA ever!! It was AMAZING!! I could have spent days in there….I was even contemplating moving in!!
KID.YOU.NOT!! 🙂
After leaving IKEA, we started our drive home & I snapped a few pictures of the sky….
I’m not the type to usually get to worked up about clouds, but for whatever reason, I was quite fascinated with them on our way home!
Aren’t they beautiful?!
Definitely one of those moments where I was in AWE of God’s work! What a beautiful place he created for us to enjoy!
Hope you enjoyed this little recap of my week and I hope you had a great one yourself!!!
Thanks for stopping by!!!
Find me on Instagram: loveoffamilyandhome
Linking up here….
Looks like you guys had a TON Of fun up hear!! Isn’t Chicago beautiful? I really missed the city so much when I lived in Southern Illinois for college and grad school. Although sometimes, I still miss Southern Illinois and hiking in Giant City or fishing at Devil’s Kitchen or sipping beers at the Spill Way. And of course, when we are freezing our butts off up here and I see pictures of your kids SWIMMING already…I miss SoIL even more. Ha! Wish we could have met up on your trip but maybe you can head up with Mandy sometime for a GIRLS TRIP!!
Such beautiful pictures! My husband and I went to Chicago once before we were married and spent two nights – it was awesome! There is so much to see!
–kendall
songbirdsandbuttons.blogspot.com
What a fun week filled with so many great photos! I love that last shot of the sunshine through the clouds. Simply gorgeous.
Looks like you had a blast in Chi-Town! 🙂 LOVE those pool pics too! Happy Friday!
Your trip to Chicago looks like fun. Beautiful photos! Your little guys are sweet. I love those days when the kids are exhausted and they go to sleep easily and well! Have a great weekend!
Hey there found you through the link up. Your trip sounded amazing. I really loved Chicago the one time I was there for about a week was for our 10th anniversary and a church convention that we got to go to. I have really great memories there and recognize the place from one of your pics. We walked along that river it was right by our hotel, ate some really great pizza and I was really impressed with how clean Chicago seemed.
SO cool that you got to meet a blog friend. That is just awesome. I really hope to do that some day. Also I can’t believe that your weather is already so warm. Happy to be your newest follower.
ohmygoodness…that looks like SO MUCH FUN! and the giant crate and barrel? be still my heart.
thanks for linking up!
I hear ya girl isnt Chicago the best for shopping! You need to plan the trip with Claudia,carol an I when we go every Christmas. The lights are beutiful!
love nancy
it looks like you had a fantastic trip! i’m excited to hear about your trip to ikea. i’ve never been but have looked through one of the catalogs and it looks amazing.
We are getting ready to go to Chicago this Friday and your hotel looks nice. Was it close to things and reasonably priced? Love to know more and thanks for posting about your trip!
I just love your blog…and Chicago – makes me a bit home sick. Thanks for sharing your photo journal, I really loved it. I watch Guiliana and Bill each week and I guess because of the delay from filming to airing I found myself surprised that their restaurant is opened already! duh….little slow on the uptake today! Anywho…have a great one!
Mary Stack- (former M’boro girl)
I just love your blog…and Chicago – makes me a bit home sick. Thanks for sharing your photo journal, I really loved it. I watch Guiliana and Bill each week and I guess because of the delay from filming to airing I found myself surprised that their restaurant is opened already! duh….little slow on the uptake today! Anywho…have a great one!
Mary Stack- (former M’boro girl)
I benefit from looking at your web site. Appreciate it!