Chicago Recap & Outfits

I took a last minute trip to Chicago Memorial Day weekend to visit my boyfriend! We ate to our heart's content every day and go to do some touristy sight-seeing things which was fun. Friday night we went out with some of my BFs friends to a local bar. I had planned out my outfits to the T because the coat I brought took up so much space in my suitcase, but when I arrived, I realized it was WAY colder than I anticipated. I ended up wearing the white sweater below 3 times when I only planned to use it as an airport outfit, lol. Didn't get too creative with my Friday night outfit because I just wanted to stay warm, lol.

Sweater: Old Navy (similar)

Skirt: Forever 21 (similar)

Tights: Ann Taylor (similar)

Booties: Madden Girl (similar)

Necklace: Forever 21 (similar)

View of Lake Michigan from BF's balcony

2 things happened in the last week which I can honestly say changed my (hair) life. I got a haircut at the same place I got "the best haircut ever" 2 years ago, and it was, again, the best haircut ever. I should never stray again. And second, I purchased the Hot Tools 2" Curling Iron. It literally makes my hair look like above every single time I use it. So basically, it looks like I got a blowout every day of my life. Who doesn't want that??! I also purchased some heat protectant and now I feel a little better about putting hot tools on my hair daily.

On Saturday, we had brunch at Yolk, a brunch restaurant recommended to me. The wait time was well worth it, as we both thoroughly enjoyed our meals. They had like 5 different kinds of eggs benedict (my favorite brunch dish) so I was content. I had the classic eggs benedict. There were about 20 other things on the menu I would have ordered, so picking one thing was really hard. After that, we walked around downtown Chicago and took a Chicago River Architecture Tour. It was so, so cold and windy on the river that we made it through about 2/3 of the tour before going inside to warm ourselves. The tour was very interesting though and it gave a great overview of all the famous buildings and architecture in the city. Then we headed to Millennium Park to see the "bean." I took the opportunity to take some outfit photos, lol.

Jacket: J. Crew

Sweater: Old Navy (similar)

Blouse: Gap (similar)

Jeans: Forever 21 (similar)

Boots: Steve Madden

Necklace: Forever 21 (similar)

Bag: B. Makowsky (similar)

Reflection in "the bean."

Standing inside the bean

After that, we walked around a bit more, BF showed me his office building, and then we had our first ever "Chicago style hot dogs" - which I really liked. We had dinner at a restaurant recommended to us by BF's coworker, Gilt Bar. It was very trendy but the place could have been a shack for all I cared because the food was amazing. I would definitely go there again. They have a semi-secret downstairs "speakeasy" which is hidden, and we poked our heads inside to see what it was like. We went next door to another bar for a drink called Bavette's.

Sunday we decided to wake up early and do some touristy things. We had brunch at Eggy's, and we both really liked our meals again. I had an eggs benedict which had pulled pork instead of canadian bacon and waffles instead of english muffins. The pulled pork had been saturated in maple syrup...so effing good. We then went to the John Hancock observatory (the 3rd?? tallest building in the country?? or in Chicago? Don't remember.) It's supposed to have better views than the skydeck at the Sears tower (although I wish it had a cool clear/glass platform like Sears).

View from the John Hancock Center

I finally got some great use out of my red coat!

View of the Water Tower from above

Tourist fun - pretending to wash the windows of the John Hancock center with Chicago in the background, lol. 

We stopped into H&M afterward and I found this cute white peplum top that I wanted to buy... but then I noticed every. single. top. had someone's ORANGE makeup smeared all over the collar. There were literally ZERO clean versions of this top so I got angry at H&M (and the, apparently, one customer who would treat the clothes like that) and left because that's disgusting. Then we went to the Field Museum which was basically like any big city's natural history museum. We stayed there for a really long time but honestly... not worth the time or money. We should have picked something else to do, because both of us just weren't feeling the exhibits (except Egypt..we freakin love Egyptian history). We went to dinner at Sable Kitchen and Bar, which was also excellent. It was a small-plates concept and we liked all the dishes we tried.

My Sunday outfit with Sue, the most complete T-Rex, in the background.

Striped shirt: Banana Republic (similar)

Jeans: Forever 21 (similar)

Boots: Steven Madden

Necklace: Forever 21 (similar)

Coat: J. Crew (similar but $$$)

Bag: B. Makowsky (similar)

Anyway, that was my little trip to Chicago. I can't wait to go back, possibly do some more tourist stuff, and definitely eat a ton more. What did you do during Memorial Day weekend?