chicago, day 4

our last and final day in the windy city started with getting some of the best donuts we've ever had at stan's donuts. while they were all to die for, the one that was stuffed with biscoff cookie butter won my heart, naturally.

from there, we hopped on a train to the museum of science and industry. this part of town was definitely a bit on the sketchy side, and our uber driver told us it was where obama grew up (not that this was a big deal to us, but, the more you know).

while the museum was fun and provided a lot of cool exhibits and interactive displays, we couldn't help but feel it was geared more towards children, so probably wouldn't recommend you put this on your "must-do" list, if you're planning a trip to chicago.

 we headed back into the city once it got dark, mainly because i wanted to snap some pictures of the bean at night. funny enough, there was a large anti-trump protest forming around the bean, and i carelessly waded through the people to get my pictures (go home, people!)

after a quick dinner, we made our way back to our place to start packijg our belongings for our early flight the next morning.

see you soon, chicago!

chicago, day three

our third day in the chicago was one of the greatest because harmony, jeff, and the boys met up with us for the day (they are currently living in indiana while jeff attends dental school, so it was only a two hour drive). we spent the morning at lincoln park zoo and seriously lucked out on weather, it was an absolutely gorgeous day and the fall colors were out in full force. 

 after the zoo, we headed into the city and hung out on navy pier for a few hours. kendrick and i left the others to take an architectural river tour, which was such a wonderful way to see the city (without having to walk everywhere- our feet were so sore at this point!) 

 once done with our tour, we headed back to navy pier, where we had a gorgeous view of the city for some pictures.

 we finished the night at portillo's for some dinner before saying goodbye to harmong and jeff. such a fun day spent with them and the boys!

we ended the night at the mall, where i visited one of my favorite places to be:

chicago, day two

our second day in chicago was raining and freeeezing, so naturally, we spent the day inside the art institute of chicago. this museum was absolutely fascinating, with thousands of pieces of priceless art.

absolutely looooved all of andy warhol's work.

and was super pumped to see the original of this famous piece.

and kendrick was so happy for the opportunity to recreate this picture (originally seen in ferris bueller's day off)

i was so excited that the museum had an original picasso!

and two whole walls of monet!

we must have been in the mood for art, because we spent the next hour walking the streets of chicago, looking at cool street art. 

the night was topped off with dinner at portillo's, which is basically the coolest restaurant ever that provided a huge variety of food (kendrick was happy to get his chicago dog!)

such a gorgeous city at night.

first day in the windy city

let me just start with the fact that this trip was sooo spontaneous. i mean, don't get me wrong, chicago has been on our "travel list" for quite some time, but it definitely wasn't on the calendar for this year. that was until i landed upon two round-trip tickets for $250 total. um, done.

we wanted to stay close to the city (since we were foregoing a rental car), so picked a darling airbnb in humboldt park. this was our first airbnb experience, and i am officially sold. we were able to stay in the cutest little neighborhood in a darling quaint house (one of those houses that you drive by and think to yourself, i wonder what those look like inside?), and were greeted by the sweetest and most helpful host. and all for the startling price of.... $32/night. try beating that, hotels!

our first morning in chicago was spent at cafe marie leanne where we had the best pancakes we have ever (or will ever) have.... and we don't take our pancakes lightly.

instead of taking an uber right into the city, we decided to attempt it partially on foot which actually ended up being a great way to see more of the city! after going through a few shops and admiring the tree lined streets and cute houses, we gave in and uber'd into the city.

our first stop was, of course, the bean. it was suuuper cool and we got some fun pictures.... but what all is there to really do with a large piece of bean-shaped metal?

next, we headed out for willis tower on foot (which ended up being much more of a walk than anticipated). i'm super happy that we purchased our tickets via groupon beforehand, because the line for the sky deck was super, super long (it felt real nice walking right on in).

getting up to the sky deck- no problem. actually trying to get onto the skydeck for a picture- so frustrating. the lines are suuuper long, and so many people walked to the front as if the line was invisible. i got particularly fussy with a certain lady who kept jumping in front of me, and I was so flustered when it was our turn, that none of the pictures turned out great. so, back into the line we went! luckily, the second batch of pictures turned out great. :)

we spent the rest of the day exploring the city. we visited the old Chicago theater...

... and made a crucial stop for some cubs hats, seeing that they won the world series a week before!

we also made a stop at the chicago cultural center, which not only was a gorgeous building, but also provided us a spot to rest our aching feet and to charge our phones (and take pictures of my super cute husband).

we ended the night with a stop for some deep dish pizza at giordano's, which lived up to all expectations (although, in retrospect, we probably shouldn't have ordered the mega sampler plate beforehand, but when you're told that your pizza will take 45 minutes to make... you do what you gotta do.)