Chi Town Getaway!

This weekend was a blast!!!! Lori got a free night at the Blackstone Renaissance Hotel in downtown Chicago and blessed Joyce and I with a little girls night!

We ended up taking the Metra out of Elburn. A couple of stops into the trip, there was a "unruly" train rider that needed police to escort her off....quiet the experience for us small town/ farm girls!

Once into Chicago, we ate lunch at Miller's Pub. I wish I had taken some pics inside, but it was too dark to really be successful. It's decor is hmmm...German lodge-ish....have I lost ya yet?!? Very good food and atmosphere!

Next stop was Blicks art supply. Two stories of canvases and markers and paints....too cool! (and what a genius place to put an art shop...just a few blocks from all of the Chicago Art Institute students!!!)

We ended up seeing our bus at a stop light. Joyce asked if I thought we should make a dash for it...sure, thinking the stop would be within the next block! (a couple block mad run later, and thankfully one more stop light for the bus, we were able to jump on the 14 to the hotel!)

Oh, and the weather was phenomenal!!! Who expects 70's in November in Chicago?!? Total God thing!!!!

As we were crossing to go check into the hotel, we were passed by a Segway tour...how crazy is that!!!!

The Blackstone kept in theme with the whole mod-art scene of downtown.

Check out that crazy carpet!

(Joyce, Lori, and I)

The room was huge...and the bathroom was amazing! LOVE the square rain shower head....Ahhhhhh! Turn down service ROCKS! (hmmm...I wonder if I could talk the kids into turning down MY covers each night and giving me a chocolate....hahaha!)

The first thing we all thought of when seeing the bathroom was how fun it would be to color in the wall paper with bright sharpies!

The dining room kept the mod feel (breakfast was ehh, I thought it was expensive for lukewarm food, but it matches Chicago prices).
This was Lori and I's first time on the subway!
We met up with Joyce's daughter (who graduated last year from the Art Institute). Isn't she the cutest! It was so fun to catch up with her and hear all about her super cool new job! She was a total sport listening to all of our "old lady" talk! We ate supper at the Weber Grill....and then had to trek back with full bellies on the subway...urp!
The hotel is right across the street from Grant Park and a couple of blocks from the Chicago Art Museum. (the boys saw this picture and said "look, it's Asland!")
On Saturday we hoofed it to CB2...which is AWESOME....and then Crate and Barrely Outlet....and last but not least Trader Joes.

We took a bit of a detour through this Lincoln Park neighborhood on the way to the El. It was so pretty! The landscaping was so beautiful, but I couldn't imaine living so close to my neighbors..and trust me, we have a tiny lot!

The el, on the other hand, was not so pretty! None of us are big fans of hights, but Lori liked it better then the subway.....I was just waiting for it to derail and send us crashing down to the ground! (Joyce is concentrating on forgetting where she's at...AND not looking out the window!)

All in all, it was so much fun! We started out the trip as church buddies and now I feel like we're 3 peas in a pod! We spent the entire trip laughing, telling stories and just enjoying each other's company. I am truly blessed to have these two as friends! (Thank you so much Lori, anytime you want to do it again I'm in!)