To Chicago, with love.

The beautiful city of Chicago.

I have never been a very nervous flyer - airplanes actually make me feel quite safe and as most of you know, I am just happy to not be the one behind the wheel. Traveling to me is more exciting than anything else, and seeing as my passport is stamped with chasing down trains in Dublin and dragging a carry-on suitcase for an entire week throughout Italy, a simple non-stop Southwest flight from music city to the windy city was supposed to be a piece of cake. Well leave it to me (with Weston in tow) to be late for our taxi cab pick-up to the airport, be strip-searched at the security line for having liquids and then have the bitter security guard take away my toothpaste and scrunch gel (SERIOUSLY), only to then sit at the wrong gate waiting for a 4:10 arriving flight from Chicago instead of at our actual gate for our 4:00pm departing flight to Chicago. It was not until our intense game of Words with Friends was interrupted by a stuffy voice over the airport loud speaker botching my last name that we realized we were moments - literally seconds - away from missing our flight. We had to sit at opposite ends of the plane and field some pretty constipated glares from the waiting flight crew, but the anxiety of our whirlwind afternoon melted away as we flew over the Michigan lake and saw the Chicago skyline unfold before us like a pop-up book through the clouds below. We had finally arrived in Chicago, ready to embark on an epic weekend to visit one of my best friend's from college, Sal and celebrate Weston's 24th birthday.

We stepped off the plane, relieved to have gotten there in one piece, and even more relieved to have beautiful crisp weather. The humidity we feel everyday in Nashville had lifted and in turn, lifted our excitement that much more. Sal came to pick us up in his brand new Nissan Altima (Bella's new brother) and seeing him was like no time had passed and nothing had changed. We piled into the car and drove into town catching up, reminiscing and discovering how very little touristy details Sal knows about the city he calls home, along the way :) (No no, he was a wonderful tour guide, and thanks to google, no question was left unanswered).

Look at the sparkle in his eye. We love pizza.

We arrived at Sal's place - he has an awesome second story apartment right in the heart of Wrigleyville, a stone's throw away from Wrigley Stadium. Weston was like a kid in a candy store seeing the stadium and soaking in the surroundings of his first big city experience. In true Chicago tradition, we ordered Lou Malnati's deep dish pizza for dinner, sat around eating, catching up, freshening up, and then took an evening walk around Sal's neighborhood. His area is like a college town with a big city flare - high energy, tons to do, clean and inviting. Small enough to navigate, but big enough to provide variety, while avoiding the congestion and expenses of living in the heart of downtown. So proud of my friend for finding such a great set up for himself.

Later that night, Sal's girlfriend Jen and her cousins who were also in town for a visit met up with us. We played games at the apartment and then headed out for a night of bar hopping, Karaoke (BSB: I Want it That Way, of course), and doing what Sal, Jenny and Weston do best - channeling Chris Brown (his musicality, not his anger management issues) and dancing forever. eva. eva.

Saturday morning we woke up and had a great breakfast from Sal's stocked kitchen - such a great host. The sun was shining and the anticipation of taking the city by storm dulled the hangovers we were all surely feeling. On our walk to get the L Train downtown, we decided to buy tickets to the Under Armour All Star baseball game simply to get into Wrigley field to see where the Cubs play. The stadium is legendary to any baseball fan, and so of course Weston was smiling from ear to ear. After a series of pictures and watching the warm up for the game, we took the L downtown and walked around the city. We started on Magnificent mile and went into the Nike store and the Disney store (the boys begged to see mickey, so I kindly conceded ;).

Yes, you could see up her skirt. Scandalous.

We stopped by the Marilyn Monroe statue towering high by the Chicago Tribune right by the river, were in awe of the beautiful buildings and of course stopped for some famous Garret's popcorn, which was the perfect sweet and savory treat to top off our still comatose tummies from the deep dish experience. We sat by the river to munch in a roped off space we definitely weren't supposed to sit in (such rebels) and then walked to Navy Pier. It was a bit of a walk, and the closer we got to the Pier, the darker the sky became. It started to look like the world was coming to an end - the sky was so wicked. We decided to try to make it to Sal's office before getting poured on, but before we could, the sky opened up like a present on Christmas morning. We hid under a bridge (which Sal later proceeded to tell us was a similar location to where a man was shot at point blank by a sniper. Awesome), got a cab back to Sal's place for a nap and to watch the Brewers play baseball. The lazy late afternoon was much needed to recharge and relax. We had a 7:30pm dinner reservations at Lux Bar so we freshened up and headed back downtown for a great meal with Jen and her cousins - ten of us sitting on the second floor having mac and cheese, mini sliders, cocktails and of course indulging in a cookie sundae dessert. In a food coma, we cabbed to Lincoln park to Halligan's bar and enjoyed more of the local scene. It was still raining, so after a drizzly walk to another bar we decided to go back home and get a good nights rest for what was sure to be a big sight-seeing Sunday.

Sunday morning we woke up, had bacon made perfectly wiggly by Chef Sal and hit the town right away. We went back downtown to see Sal's Uncle Chaz's apartment where Sal lived his first year in Chicago. Walking through his place was like being in an episode of cribs. His Uncle's incredible corner apartment was in an elegant building overlooking the Michigan river and was one of the most beautiful, posh city apartments I had ever been in. His place was adorned with a grand piano, full dining room and kitchen, and decorated with tons of pictures of Chaz and famous people (Chaz is kind of a big deal).

Taking pics at the bean :)

After seeing what I dreamed could be my new home, we were off to see the Cloud Gate - more commonly known as the bean in Millennium park, right by the beautiful amphitheater. We also saw the spot where the Romans landed (Yes Sal, Jenny is very gullible). We then walked to Sal's office building which was gorgeous and in a great part of town, but which was deserted on the weekends leaving very few options for lunch.  We met up with Jen and settled on Quidoba - a Chicago original ;). We then headed to Sears / Willis tower to go to the top, but it was packed and we really wanted to do the Sea Dog Architecture boat tour, so we walked many miles back to Navy pier and saw a lot of the city along the way. We looked for a restroom for what seemed like another mile of walking and then got in line for the tour. The 75 minute Architecture tour on the Sea Dog speed boat was very interesting, capped off by some interesting barking sounds by the tour guide (Sea "dog" hence the company policy to bark). The best part was when this adorable little girl also decided to bark on her way off the boat. Precious.

We capped off the afternoon by taking a cab back to Sal's to get ready for dinner. We had a great final meal family style at an Italian restaurant called Mia Francesca's just the four of us and it was nice to really get a chance to talk and enjoy the amazing food. We headed home, watched the CMA Festival on ABC, had awesome homemade brownies that Jen made and packed up to prepare for our 4:30am wake up call and flight back home to Nashville.

Monday morning - Weston's actual birthday - came way too soon, but the airport experience went much more smoothly (with the exception of the speeding ticket (my first ever) that I got on my way from the airport back into work). Dear Cop. You suck. I have been awake since 4am. I am lucky I found my freaking gate to get back to Nashville this morning. I am 30 minutes late and balling my eyes out. WHERE IS YOUR HEART?

Perhaps his heart is in Chicago, where I certainly left a piece of mine.

Can't wait to go back and visit again soon. Big thanks to my friend and the best host to the windy city Sal, and to my partner in crime Weston for coming along for the ride... and for being born and giving us a great excuse to embark on a Chicago adventure together.