Hi everyone! I would like to share with y'all a rundown of my birthday celebrations in Chicago. Yes, I have been to the windy city a million times. However, I wanted to go somewhere I could celebrate with my family and a few friends. Also, because I am a college student, who is saving up for a study abroad trip, I needed to be somewhat frugal. This meant I couldn’t afford to fly anywhere or pay for a hotel. Plus, this trip would have many new experiences, because now I was able to get into the bars that I could not before. Celebrating in Chicago and staying with my sister was a less expensive, yet very fun alternative. My friend, Madie, and I started our weekend early Thursday morning by heading up to the city. Although the five hour drive was long, it was for the most part uneventful and we arrived safely to the city in the early afternoon. Since Madie had never been to the city, and we wouldn't have an opportunity this weekend to explore the city on foot, I made a point of driving by some of the main landmarks. Some of the key ones I pointed out were Soldier’s Field, the Field Museum, The Shedd Aquarium, Navy Pier along Lake Michigan, The Bean on Michigan Ave and of course, we made time to make one stop...Portillo's! If you aren't from Chicago, or if you don't appreciate good Chicago-Styled food like hot dogs, Maxwell Street Polish, and Italian Beef, then I am very sorry for you. I ordered two hot dogs with everything plus ketchup. I know, ketchup is not the "Chicago" style, but that’s the way I like it! I also got a cheese fry and a cake shake. Madie was not overly impressed with her hot dog (she ordered it with ketchup only. What the???). But she did enjoy the cheese fries. I cannot think of a better way to start off my birthday weekend, than belting out the National Anthem in the United Center, and sitting in the 200 level-center ice. Thanks to my parents, Thursday evening we headed to a Blackhawks game. My sister and two of her friends joined us. Sadly, the Hawks did not win, but Ryan Hartman did lay someone out to cause a fight and who doesn't love a good fight at a hockey game?!! The next morning, Allie made a delicious, homemade breakfast along with mimosas. Later that afternoon, Allie, Madie and I met up with my parents and my brother, Chris. Chris and I actually share the same birthday; he is older than me. He decided he wanted to go indoor skydiving at iFly Chicago for his birthday so that is where we met. That was actually my second time going there. The first time I went, I was awful at it. I was hoping that this time I would do better. The key was to hold my body in the correct position in order to catch the air so that I would actually "fly" in the tunnel. There was an instructor in the tunnel with us, who helped and told us what to do. At the end of my two minute session, the instructor latched on to me and flew with me, up and down in the tunnel. That was exciting! (Since it was my birthday, that was complimentary, otherwise it is an additional $10). After everyone in our group completed their turn, the instructor showed off by doing cool tricks and flying around on his own. The nice thing about indoor skydiving is that it is safe, and the feeling of being able to "fly" was pretty exhilarating. I have been told, though, that there is something about jumping out of a plane and free falling that makes that feeling totally different. I, however, have not worked up the confidence to do that! Sorry these photos aren't the best, I had to freeze the frame from the video. The photo on the left is when you are flying alone. The instructor is pulling me down because you can't fly higher than the door until you are a certain level. The photo on the right is when the instructor latched on and flew me around the tunnel! After skydiving we went to D'Agostino's Pizza and Pub to meet my grandma, Aunt, Uncle, and cousin. This is not one of my top choices for Chicago style pizza, but the location and the fact that they have a gluten free pizza, was good for our group. I made sure that I ate plenty of pizza and drank lots of water. After a couple hours, we said our goodbyes to my family and “us three girls” headed back to the city. We met up with my sister’s friends in the Gold Coast. Allie decided this would be a good location because there are several bars close to each other. We started off at She-nannigans on Division Street. The people in there were a younger crowd. It actually has two bars (one on each side of the building), multiple beer pong tables, giant Jenga, and even an alley in the back with a basketball hoop! It was a lot of fun, especially if you are looking for more to do than just sit and drink. We played pong and horse, as well as danced. Shenanigans was a great time! Our next stop that night was The Hangge-Uppe. This was a large, dual-level dance club. One level played a variety of '50s through '80s rock and disco, and modern hits on the other level. It had five different themed bars and three dance floors. I love '80s music and I was really hoping to karaoke. Unfortunately, they didn’t offer karaoke…so screaming the words out had to suffice. We finally decided to call it a night and rolled back into bed around 4am Saturday morning. Saturday morning and afternoon was spent sleeping, lounging and recuperating from the night before. Later, we met my parents for an early dinner at Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! in Lincoln Park on Halsted. The restaurant looks small from the street, but it is massive inside! In the summer, they have a retractable roof so you can eat out on the patio! This trendy restaurant is a Spanish Tapas styled restaurant; which basically means you order several appetizers to share for your meals. Each of us ordered at least one of the tapas and we also ordered a paella. Paella is a Spanish styled dish served over rice. We paired our food with a pear sangria. As I mentioned earlier, we didn't get in until 4 am, so I also ordered a coffee, to try to catch my second wind! (Yes, I am in college. But I was exhausted from the prior evening’s celebrations and I DO enjoy my sleep.) However, I don't recommend drinking coffee and sangria together; weird combo. To end dinner we ordered the world’s smallest, but most delicious desserts. My favorite was the Caramelized Banana, but we also got a Gala Apple Empanada and Chocolate Truffle Cake, which were both amazing! I definitely recommend making a reservation in advance, if you ever plan to Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! It is a very popular and busy restaurant. After dinner we decided to walk to The J. Parker. This nice, mile hike woke me up, because it was cold and snowing. In my opinion, it is one of the best rooftop bars in Chicago. It is located on the 13th floor of the Lincoln Hotel. The fresh layer of snow on the city, made it look absolutely beautiful from the rooftop. There are several sections to sit at up there, including one with sofas, another with tables, there is even a patio with a retractable roof for warmer days! The J. Parker does serve food, although their menu is pretty limited. They have a wide variety of drinks to choose from. We were lucky enough to go while they were having a Valentine's weekend drink special! If you are looking for a more romantic or quite scene go earlier in the evening! Otherwise, be prepared for a loud DJ, later in the evening. Next, we took an Uber down to the River North area. We walked over to Three Dots and a Dash, but the line was crazy long. Also, it was still snowing and getting colder. There was no way any of us were going to wait in line outside! We made our way to the Public House on State Street. This was a perfect place to watch the Hawks sweep the Capitals 7-1. (Oh! At this point one of my sister’s college roommates joined in on the fun.) After Public House, we just bounced around to two or three other random bars which had no lines to enter. Let me tell you, we quickly figured out why there were no lines. We ended the night by stopping into Fado, an Irish bar. There, we actually found a table to sit at and got to listen to a live band! We ended the night, just in time, to get Portillos before it closed at midnight. Overall the weekend was a lot of fun and memorable, although the drive back to school on Sunday was not. Even though I have been to Chicago many times, I got to experience many places that I have never been to before. I was surrounded with a lot of amazing people who made my birthday extra special.
If you have any questions about the places we went or what I wore in the city, please comment below. I will be working on a few other pieces to post soon. I hope all of you enjoyed reading about my trip. Until next time…
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AuthorWith a life nowadays that now seems so pressured to be perfectly curated, Pinterest-planned, mason-jarred and Insta-liked, the everyday chick can’t help but feel a little overwhelmed from time to time. ArchivesCategories |