Categories
Fabulous living

Light Up Night 2019

Hey everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! It was so nice to be home, see family, enjoy lots of homecooked food and get a lot done while I was in town. I am back to school and ready to finish up my last week of classes and finals week before graduation. I can’t believe I am almost to the end.

Keeping up with my series of college posts, today, I am sharing a tradition that I have kept up with since I came to college, Light Up Night! It’s a night in the city when there are vendors, live performances, trees set up and fireworks to kick off the Christmas season. You can read my post from last year here. I headed down to the city with my friend Danielle and we enjoyed everything the city had to offer.

The city all ready for Christmas

We started off the night with burgers and shakes from Burgatory which were delicious, it was also so nice to be inside and warm before we hit the streets. After dinner on the North Shore, we headed over to Market Square to check out all the vendors. We made our way to PPG rink where we got some pictures and enjoy the tree with all the lights. Following the ice skating rink, we made our way over to the Point where we saw another tree and enjoyed seeing all the windows and building decorated. It’s so nice to see the whole city out and about for the holidays. There were families, couples, teenagers, and college students all out decked out for the holidays. 

The Christmas tree at the PPG ice rink

We then made our way back to the North Shore to enjoy the fireworks. It was a 20 minute show and was fantastic. There were so many different kinds of colors and fireworks. 

An incredible fireworks show

Although, it was chilly it was so fun. I have loved going down to the city for these events during my time in college, it’s so fun to see the whole community to come out and enjoy the Christmas spirit. This has been one of my favorite traditions to get into the holiday spirit while being away at school and considering we are already in the month of December there is no better way to get in the Christmas spirit.

And snagged a selfie with my favorite person

On Thursday, I will be sharing my Thanksgiving outfit, it was perfect for the occasion and you will be able to wear this outfit for the holiday season. See you on Thursday for a new look of the day.

Categories
Travel

Chicago in the Summer

Hey guys!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and to our favorite dad’s I hope you had a great Father’s day on Sunday.

Oh hey there Chicago!

This past weekend, my family and I took a weekend getaway to Chicago! I had been to the Windy City a year and a half ago and I loved my time here. You can read all about it here! I was so excited to be going back with my family to share the city with them.

We left around 6:00 am on Friday morning and made our way out to the Midwest.

Once we arrived to the city, we started our time  with a boat ride with a tour of the river and Lake Michigan. It was incredible to see all the buildings and get a bit of a history lesson on the area. It was amazing to see all the the city meet the sea. Ironically, all of my favorite cities, including my hometown are all by the water. I’ve always lived by the water and near the city, this is a feature I hope to have when I move in a few years.

Out at sea

The City from the River

Can it get any more beautiful than this?

After our tour on the river, we headed to Millennium Park and the iconic Bean.

Millenium Park

The Bean

We then took a stroll on the Magnificent Mile, where there were hundreds of stores, everything from Brooks Brothers, Tiffany’s, the Disney store, Nike, Nordstrom’s and more.

I was loving Nike’s decor!

We picked up some sweet treats at Dylan’s Candy Bar. Anyone who knows me, knows that I have the biggest sweet tooth, so this was definitely a highlight!

Dylan’s…YUM!

One of my favorite things about Chicago is how it is a walkable it is. We were able to walk to most of the sites, meals, and other attractions. It was also a beautiful weekend, cooler and cloudy at some points but definitely summer weather.

A beautiful day in the city

We headed to dinner at Rosebud, a delicious and intimate Italian restaurant, just a few blocks from our hotel. I had a delicious pasta with Bolognese sauce. Incredible! We ended up calling it an early night, with an early wake up call, full day of travel and sightseeing, we were ready for an early evening!

Such a delicious pasta

Day 2 had us up bright and early, we ventured out of the city to head to Brick World, a lego comic con event. One of my brothers is a big fan of legos so we went to check out this event. Let me tell you, I was very impressed with the creativity and design work at Brick World.

Here are some of my favorite designs!

This Harry Potter display was so cool!

Another Harry Potter display

And who doesn’t love Mister Rogers?!

We spent the day at Brick World before heading to Portillos for lunch, this 50’s diner setup had sandwiches, hot dogs, burgers and fries. I opted for a southwest salad which was delicious and so filling.

Portillo’s

I loved this Southwest Salad, it was such a good combo

We made our way back to the city for the evening, we did some walking around near our hotel before venturing out for dinner at Devon’s a seafood place. I had some spicy shrimp for an appetizer, which was so delicious and then Lobster Roll for dinner. The lobster roll was so flavorful and filling. It hit the spot!

The Lobster Roll was to die for

We got dessert at our hotel while overlooking the city at night. This rich chocolate cake that I split with my mom and brother completed a delicious meal.

How good does this cake look?

Our final day in Chicago began with mass at the Holy Name Cathedral.

Gorgeous Cathedral

After we finished with Church, we planned to go to the top of the Willis tower, however, it was VERY foggy and there was 0 % visibility.

The Willis Tower

The view from the bottom

We then opted to go to the Field Museum down by the water and see a few exhibits. The museum was huge so we only saw a few sections. I would definitely recommend going back and doing the whole museum, just make sure you have enough time to see everything the museum has to offer.

The Field Museum

Sue the Dinosaur

After we finished at the museum, we made our way out of the city. Although we were only there for a weekend, we packed a lot in. I was so happy I got to go back to Chicago. I know I will be back for sure.

Goodbye Chicago

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and great week ahead!

See you on Thursday!!!